Hemlock

the BC Council of Forest Industries sponsored an exhibition promoting the uses of hemlock pertaining to furniture and turning. this did tour parts of the US and S.E.Asia. I had 3 pieces involved with it
a 5" dia bowl
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...923/LEyIvU.jpg

a 4" dia lidded container
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...923/X0BYh3.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...923/xPgEzQ.jpg

and a piece titled "Hu". 18"dia and the form comes from the kettles of the Japanese Tea Ceremony
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...922/hXKvtX.jpg

as they are made of steel originally I did give the surface a light sandblast to give it some texture and then dyed it black. as I was changing the colour and unknown to me a good friend had died in an accident. as I was changing the colour I also reflected that I had only ever changed the clour on only one other piece. this fellows wife had purchased that about 5 years prior. He was a GP and was not that great around mechanical things but he was the best doctor that I ever had. he also had a fairly good size farm and was using his old D6 Cat. and there was a problem with the winch and got off to check it and as he was back there the D8 started to back up. the family wanted to know if I could make a container for his service on the following Monday. I said that I did not have the time to make but that I could possibly use the one that I am just finishing. the service was the following Monday and the exhibition opening was Tueday night in Vancouver 500 miles away. It all worked out just right. the service was noon and we went out in a conoe a little later and released his ashes in the Nechako River. Drove back into Pr. George and crated it all up and got it on a plane and 1 hour later it was picked up and taken to the gallery.
It was then in another internal touring exhibit as it was in the Inaugeral exhibit of the Canadian Craft Museum. after it was over I gave the piece to the family and they donated it to the Museum. the Museum did go defunct and the whole collection has been sitting in the basement storage of the Vancouver Museum and no one really know what to do with it. frustrating situation
ron

I really like those pieces

I love these. They are elegant. The grain is wonderfully showcased and the forms do not try too hard. The restraint is perfect. Well done.

Hu we kidding? The Japanese got this aesthetic down.

A splendid example of a design that takes the woodgrain into account
Doug

I've looked around for hemlock since this thread started and don't find any. Any good sources for hemlock? I like the way the finished product looks.

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Originally Posted by Randy Heinemann

I've looked around for hemlock since this thread started and don't find any. Any good sources for hemlock? I like the way the finished product looks.

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Western hemlock does not seem to come on the market for sale very often. one may see it in the lumber yards as hemfir such as you see SPF marketed. when I was 16(1961) I worked at one of the big old sawmills in Vancouver and it was mainly western hemlock. it pretty well all went for export to Japan; all clear lumber and tight grain. i can also remember piling what they called 11/4s. 2 3/4" x 12" x 18 - 24'. For domestic use it is mainly an interior trim wood; stair railings, bannisters, spindles and newel posts.
I will post a pic on what I had to get to obtain the material for those 3 pieces. I waited for almost a years waiting for them to deliver me a piece large enough to make the black piece
ron

this was the piece of hemlock that my brother Mike procured for me to use for the above pieces. he just went down to Mayo lumber in Nanaimo(he lived in Nanaimo) and told the guys what he wanted and they found a log and brought it up for him and this is what he cut off it for me.
[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...922/SV51eK.jpg[/IMG]
the saw that he is using is an old McCulloch Super 797 putting out about 15hp. it was called a Walkerized saw as Walker his friend built them for racing. he also used that saw for his Alaska mill when he built his house; see link. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ke-s-log-house
[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...924/LAad7u.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/160...922/2z9spU.jpg[/IMG]
there was a nice tight grain in that log
ron

Wow! That was a big tree.
We have Hemlock here in Eastern Tennessee but most is growing in the mountains. I have found a dozen or so growing on my property but I will be long gone before they grow large enough to do anything with.
Thanks for posting the pics. Very interesting!!

I saw hemlock for the first time last week at a Home Depot here in Kansas City, in the trim lumber section. Looked very interesting, color and grain, for furniture work. Usually we only see poplar, red oak, pines and aspen.

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Originally Posted by daryl moses

Wow! That was a big tree.
We have Hemlock here in Eastern Tennessee but most is growing in the mountains. I have found a dozen or so growing on my property but I will be long gone before they grow large enough to do anything with.
Thanks for posting the pics. Very interesting!!

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If they survive, unfortunately. Apparently the hemlock woolly adelgid is still spreading in TN:
HWA is established in East Tennessee. In April 2017, HWA was found in Overton County. In March 2017, HWA was found in Warren County. There are now 43 counties in Tennessee that have infestations. The six US states with HWA quarantines are Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin. Canada also has a HWA quarantine in effect.
https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/artic...businesses-hwa

I have one hemlock tree on my property (one I planted) - I suspect isolated trees are safe. It is depressing to see more species threatened - what tree will be the last standing? I'm stingy with the chestnut stock I have and have started saving more ash.

JKJ

There is a small stand of old growth eastern hemlock on state land about 30 miles from here. Awesome trees. Hunted there many years ago, gets dark very early in that piece of woods.

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Originally Posted by Perry Hilbert Jr

There is a small stand of old growth eastern hemlock on state land about 30 miles from here. Awesome trees. Hunted there many years ago, gets dark very early in that piece of woods.

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Where are you in the east? I'd love to go see some big hemlocks sometime.

JKJ

The hemlocks are on a stretch of PA State Games Lands 211. Which is a valley that runs from Dauphin PA just north of Harrisburg and runs east to a town called Pine Grove about 25 miles. It is also known as "The Gold Mine" or St. Anthony's Wilderness. It and the Geographical names of places there were referenced in Conrad Richter's Book "A Light in the Forest." I am more familiar with the eastern half. Off Route 443. There is an old rail bed that runs the length of the valley but it is closed to vehicle traffic. But is along the Appalachain trail and is a popular hiking area in summer. PA Game lands are maintained as public hunting grounds, so it might not be wise to visit during hunting season. The Game Commission may have some regulations for visiting during the fall.

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Originally Posted by Perry Hilbert Jr

The hemlocks are on a stretch of PA State Games Lands 211. Which is a valley that runs from Dauphin PA just north of Harrisburg and runs east to a town called Pine Grove about 25 miles. It is also known as "The Gold Mine" or St. Anthony's Wilderness.

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Thank you. I'll put that on my list the next time I get up that way. I grew up in PA but on the other end of the state, south of Pittsburgh. JKJ