What free wood did you find today?

no it is dry, actually darker in real life. it may be a hybrid since it's a landscape tree, sure seemed dark and well defined heart wood to me.
internet pictures look a lot lighter than this heartwood. possible due to dry air here, slower growth with lots less water?
Would not think the less water part, but more like different soil parent materials from the native range up north, so maybe different minerals and heavy metals.

My first thought was Oriental thuya, Pladycladus spp. Can't see enough to say based on your pictures. Did you have other pics when it was still standing?
 
Would not think the less water part, but more like different soil parent materials from the native range up north, so maybe different minerals and heavy metals.

My first thought was Oriental thuya, Pladycladus spp. Can't see enough to say based on your pictures. Did you have other pics when it was still standing?
sorry no standing pics but a couple of bark and green branch tip pictures if you like

KIMG0251.JPG

KIMG0250.JPG

KIMG0249.JPG

KIMG0246.JPG

KIMG0245.JPG

KIMG0252.webp
 
Last edited:
View attachment 251936View attachment 251937
These are Wikipedia pics of the Pladycladus, cones, before ripening and after. Notes also say that most of the Oriental thuya foliage have very little smell. The US & Canada native Northern White cedar foliage has odor. What you think?
the wood shavings were very fragrant. and when i wanted my wife to smell it last night i grabbed a little foliage rubbed it between my thumb and finger and got a very good pine/cedar smell
 
the wood shavings were very fragrant. and when i wanted my wife to smell it last night i grabbed a little foliage rubbed it between my thumb and finger and got a very good pine/cedar smell
Got me wondering now....
Yep, and here is the rabbit.View attachment 251940
Field mouse or donkey???

Another thing, the seeds inside the oriental thuya do not have any wings they look like elongated pine nuts. The Northern white and Western red cedar seeds have a paper-like wing.
 
Got me wondering now....

Field mouse or donkey???

Another thing, the seeds inside the oriental thuya do not have any wings they look like elongated pine nuts. The Northern white and Western red cedar seeds have a paper-like wing.
sorry i didn't see any seeds
 
sorry i didn't see any seeds
You pictured several opened seed cones, did you see any that were still closed? How big are the cones you have? The Oriental are like twice as big as our natives. The native cones are never glaucous either.

Here is a picture of Northern White Cedar. You can see the cones are only about 3/8ths long and less than a 1/4 wide closed and about that open. The foliage is a plagiotropic spray (flat plane).

1704751938078.webp
 
Last edited:
@Mr. Peet
Will do. Probably be a several weeks before I get to cut. I'm gone all next week for firearms instructor training. Home a week then gone another week for some other training. I'm itching to get into it
 
Eric,

When things start to return to old hat, I'd like to buy or trade for a few sample blanks of chestnut oak burl if it just so happens to work in your favor.
Well, we sawed these burls today. Pretty much total bust. The oak wasn't oak. It was sourwood. And the maple looked good when we took the cap off. The farther we got into it, the worse the ant damage was. The maple wpuld make some awesome resin projects for someone. I'll keep an eye out for a chestnut oak burl and save some pieces

20240113_121718.webp

20240113_122139.webp

20240113_122153.webp

20240113_131923.webp

20240113_131945.webp
 
Well, we sawed these burls today. Pretty much total bust. The oak wasn't oak. It was sourwood. And the maple looked good when we took the cap off. The farther we got into it, the worse the ant damage was. The maple wpuld make some awesome resin projects for someone. I'll keep an eye out for a chestnut oak burl and save some pieces

View attachment 252135

View attachment 252136

View attachment 252137

View attachment 252138

View attachment 252139
Well.....what makes you say Sourwood? Sourwood is diffuse porous. Those first few pictures look a lot like oak, an onion burl, showing some sunburst.

That maple looks like it still has some possibilities. Stabilization required I'd guess.
 
i got called thursday to pick a california pepper, landscape tree. fresh cut still live standing. i prefer california pepper cut dead standing, better spalt and lots drier. i swear they are 60% or more moisture when live. in las vegas they get fungus inside and spalt while still standing live. one time drying some cookies in a warmer i counted at least 5 different colors of molds/fungus that grew on the wood as i was trying to dry it in a closed warming cabinet.

KIMG0298.webp

KIMG0297.webp

KIMG0296.webp

KIMG0295.webp

KIMG0294.webp

KIMG0293.webp

KIMG0292.webp
 
Back
Top