What free wood did you find today?

[sugarlady1980]

The trunk and big crotch are still at my friend's. We dont have the muscle to move it yet, but I will seal the ends today.

The limbs are 5-6" across. Where would I split them? I read to leave the crotches as a "y," for the cool grain, but how much "y" do you typically leave? I added a picture with my guesstimates, but I have no clue what I am doing.

 

[daniscool]

The trunk and big crotch are still at my friend's. We dont have the muscle to move it yet, but I will seal the ends today.

The limbs are 5-6" across. Where would I split them? I read to leave the crotches as a "y," for the cool grain, but how much "y" do you typically leave? I added a picture with my guesstimates, but I have no clue what I am doing.

View attachment 288212

Limbs will warp and crack more while drying but it should work. I like to leave about half a centimeter times the width of the log in centimeters on each side of the crotch to account for cracking. In imperial that would be half and inch for every inch of thickness. Keep the long straight pieces long and straight. Anything curved is nearly useless to anyone who doesn't turn or carve. If you check for local greenwood carvers you will likely find someone willing to take the weird branches off of you. Especially if you can saw them into blanks. (Spoons here)

 

[sugarlady1980]

Limbs will warp and crack more while drying but it should work. I like to leave about half a centimeter times the width of the log in centimeters on each side of the crotch to account for cracking. In imperial that would be half and inch for every inch of thickness. Keep the long straight pieces long and straight. Anything curved is nearly useless to anyone who doesn't turn or carve. If you check for local greenwood carvers you will likely find someone willing to take the weird branches off of you. Especially if you can saw them into blanks. (Spoons here)

Does it matter which way the curve is configured for spoon blanks or turning blanks? I reckon I should look for resources on milling yard trees.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Should be a few references on this site about chainsaw milling and bandsaw milling. Yard trees are generally more crooked. I have a saw yard full of yard trees. You have more short pieces due to crooked logs if you are using a bandmill. The chainsaw mill (CSM) is easier to mill crooked stuff if you want to use the crooked live edge stuff for odd furniture like I do. I have 3 of my 18 logs scheduled to CSM. The bandmill is much faster and cleaner and easier so I predominantly use the bandmill.
Short pieces on the bandmill can present a challenge all their own. That has been the source of multiple conversations here and on forestry.com and on woodweb.com

 

[Nature Man]

My friend gave me some chinese elm. Probably not worth the effort, but its a start on learning to dry wood.

View attachment 288210

Congrats! Chinese Elm is a really nice wood to work with. I’m finishing up a bowl and the grain patterns are super nice. Great that you will have so much to use for projects! Chuck

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

The other comment I have is, if they come back and trim off a stump at ground level, there are usually a few areas of curl in the stump cut. May make some nice bowl blanks.

 

[sugarlady1980]

This is great info, thank you all. They left the stump on the tall side, so she was fixing to have it ground down at some point. I wonder if we could dig down a little bit and use a chainsaw? She is semi-interested in woodworking. Maybe I can talk her into getting a lathe for this awesome wood.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Old chain, dig and if possible, spray off with water hose. Then cut in at about 5 degree downward angle toward the center and repeat the cut around the stump so you never cut out the far side. The goal is to have the cuts cross each other inside the stump. That's why the angle. It's also easier to cut close to the ground without dragging the saw in the dirt. A shallow angle often allows you to just pivot around the tree without removing the saw from the cut.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Warning, this cut can produce kickback, don't put your foot or knee anywhere forward of the chainsaw motor.

 

[daniscool]

Does it matter which way the curve is configured for spoon blanks or turning blanks? I reckon I should look for resources on milling yard trees.

For spoons yes because the grain really matters. For turning, (unless they use a pole lathe) it doesn’t matter. For spoons you want there to be a curve in plane of where the bowl will be. No curve outside of this plane if possible. Also try to avoid knots.

 

[Mike Hill]

For the strongest spoons, spatulas, scoops, etc, crooks and crotches are a good thing, especially on bent ones - meaning the handle and the working end are not on the same plane. The grain is not cut at strategic points - it runs along the bend. And if you're lucky, there could be some figure that you may be able to incorporate into the utensil.

 

[daniscool]

For the strongest spoons, spatulas, scoops, etc, crooks and crotches are a good thing, especially on bent ones - meaning the handle and the working end are not on the same plane. The grain is not cut at strategic points - it runs along the bend. And if you're lucky, there could be some figure that you may be able to incorporate into the utensil.

Yes! It should follow the crank!

 

[sprucegum]

A long time neighbor passed away last year. He planted a couple of oak trees about 40 years ago and one of them was too close to the house so his widow had it taken down. She felt bad about having to cut Joe's tree so I told her that I would make a few pens for her and the family. I went this morning to get ahead of the firewood guy who will take the remainder. The tree service stacked it nicely so I just found a likely round on top of the pile and milled it on sight. Hopefully I can get some blanks dry for Christmas.