Really Small Pieces of Wood Worth Drying?

[Steve H Graham]

How small does a piece of hardwood have to be before you would refuse to waste your time drying it?

I'm in the process of cutting up the mahogany logs I found in the trash. Some pieces are very pretty but also small, like half an inch thick and nine inches square.

[Paul Stroik]

Never to small for a turner or scrollsawyer. How about door or drawer handles. Decorative pieces. I have a shop full of "scraps" that I can't part with because of the thought that some day I may have a use for that piece. A bunch of Apple tree branches only 2-3" diameter waiting on a shelf. For what?? Never know!!

Steve - I'd bandsaw it up into 1" thick pieces and see where it goes from there.

[Stephen Edwards]

I have barrels full of small pieces of stock that I just can't seem to throw away. Surprisingly, I frequently find a use for some of it.

[Steve H Graham]

I was just looking at one of the pieces. It's maybe eight inches on one side and seven on the other, and just under half an inch thick. Along each of the long edges, it has a row of red swirls almost like roses. They're like knots in pine, except the grain is blended into the rest of the wood. Really pretty, if I had somewhere to put it.

Someone said one of the boards I cut has a "dog's face" in it. I didn't know what that was, but when I looked, sure enough, three knots were arranged so they looked like a golden retriever.

I think I may make a regular practice of stealing mahogany from the trash. If I can get figuring like this, and I can learn to saw the wood well enough to save the good parts, I might end up with some wonderful stuff.

[David Christopher]

Steve, post a picture.....let us see it

[Steve H Graham]

Which piece? Dog's face or the other? You can see the dog's face piece here: http://sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1061218&postcount=17

The other piece is in the freezer right now.

[David Christopher]

Steve, that is a beautiful piece of wood. maybe you could a nice box or something like that

[Steve H Graham]

More likely scenario: I could turn a nice piece of wood into a pile of splinters. But I'll do my best.

Right now, I can't predict where these swirls and red things are from looking at the outside of the wood. I'm going to try to find telltale signs on the outside of the other logs as I work on them.

I think the log with the rows of swirls would have made an astounding bowl, if not for the giant termite tunnel down the center of it.