Today's wood haul - and I struck GOLD!!

[John Keeton]

A crew had been clearing along the main road to move an overhead electrical line. I had been watching this wood for the last few days.

So, after finishing up the bench for the lathe, I went to check on some fresh cut walnut and cottonwood that a couple of neighbors had piled up.

There was a lot of both, but the walnut was either too large too fool with or too small. Not sure what happened that there weren't any manageable pieces. I may go back and work on a couple of the larger pieces, but my neighbor did have a piece of walnut that had been in his pile for a year or so, and I cut that in half and took it.
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Another neighbor had a whole cottonwood tree, but I wasn't very impressed with the wood - kind of drab. There was one piece that had a limb coming out of it, so I cut that. There is more if I decide to go back.
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But, as we were talking, I told him I bet if the cottonwood laid around for while, it would spalt. He didn't know what that was. I tried to explain it to him (not knowing a lot about it myself!!), and I said maple does it a lot as it get fungus and stuff in it.

And, that is when he said......

[David Christopher]

John, that looks some beautiful wood. too bad you dont have a lathe :eek: but I will give you my address, cause I still have mine :D

[Mike Minto]

John, and that is when he said what? :confused:

[John Keeton]

".......well, they piled up a bunch of maple up there on the hill a couple or three years ago, but I don't think it is much good now. I pushed a bunch of it up with the tractor so I could burn it!":eek:

Quickly, as it was getting late, I said WHERE?????

So, we walked up the hill a bit, and there were two large piles of maple, and some other stuff. He said you can have all of it you want.

I pulled a piece out, and cut it in half -
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I showed my neighbor and said THAT is what I am looking for! Couldn't wait to get home and cut it in blanks.
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I'm going back tomorrow if it isn't raining!! There are probably 12 - 15 pieces like this in those piles, if not more!!!

Now, I really want my lathe to come in!! Dang, this is fun!!

[gary Zimmel]

You may have too much to store John.
Send a bit up here and I will take care of storage for you.:D

Sweet gloat!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Yup - don't even have your lathe yet and you already need a bigger one!

Great looking bunch of wood John! Get all of the maple that you can! Have fun with it and be careful when lifting!

[David E Keller]

Great looking spalt... Can't wait to see it turned. Be careful with the dust from that stuff, as mold spores make some people pretty sick.

Like Steve said, get all you can. You'll never regret getting it, and when it runs out, you'll wonder why you didn't get more.

Hope your lathe arrives soon.

[Bob Glenn]

Nice find, John. I often get asked at reenactments, what my favorite type of wood is. I always tell them it's a little known rare species called freewood.

Show us the results after you put a tool to it.

[Steve Mawson]

You are just falling into everything here lately. How can one guy be so lucky. Now I want your lathe to come so you can show us what that maple is going to look like. Should be great. Keep it up.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I told ya John just put that folding bench down. It will hold all that wood for sure.;):rolleyes::cool:

Congrats on some nice wood John.

[Doug W Swanson]

John,
Nice score!

Now I bet you were wishing you had held onto your other lathe until the Delta arrives!

Maybe I'll have to start looking around more for the tree guys!

Doug

PS I did get some old true 2x4's from my brother-in-law the other day. The wood is about 100 years old and looks nice. It does have some nail holes so I'll need to get a metal detector. I could glue some up for turning but I know I could get some really nice end grain cutting boards out of it.

[Joseph M Lary]

Talking to my brother-in-law he said a guy that he was talking with took some mayo, and painted it on the cut side and ends of some wood and got some good spalting for it in about 3 month . Im going to give that a try with some cotton wood this year.Im going to paint it on and put it on the north side of the house under some plastic.

[Jim Slovik]

John,
Very nice. I can't wait to see what you do with it.
Jim

[Jamie Straw]

Ahhh, the wood-spirits are really taking care of you, John. Fabulous find!

[art san jr]

Sweet Mamma............The Saga Of Turning John continues.

Super nice score John. Thanks for showing.

Art.

[Jon Lanier]

I love spalted wood!! Had to leave much of my stash back in Ohio.

[Glenn Weathington]

Great haul John! Spalted wood is great stuff to turn. I'm looking forward to seeing the end results once you have your lathe.

[James Combs]

Sometimes the unexpected places are the best places. I was on a mission trip to a small church in Cumberland Maryland last fall and helped tear down and remove an old upright piano from their basement. I Got to keep the wood from it. Found a nice piece of birdseye maple inside the bottom being used as part of the foot peddle mechanism. Here's a photo. The pen went back as a thank you gift to the lady that put two of us up for 3 days . I made the case from a structural column from the back of the piano using a hinge from the piano key cover.

PS: The Piano was a 1924 model with most of the would being what looks to me like fir and poplar laminated with an outside layer of maple veneer. BTW John congrats on your find.

[Glenn Weathington]

Sometimes the unexpected places are the best places. I was on a mission trip to a small church in Cumberland Maryland last fall and helped tear down and remove an old upright piano from their basement. I Got to keep the wood from it. Found a nice piece of birdseye maple inside the bottom being used as part of the foot peddle mechanism. Here's a photo. The pen went back as a thank you gift to the lady that put two of us up for 3 days . I made the case from a structural column from the back of the piano using a hinge from the piano key cover.

PS: The Piano was a 1924 model with most of the would being what looks to me like fir and poplar laminated with an outside layer of maple veneer. BTW John congrats on your find.

James, that reminds me of the piano I've got that's been sitting in my barn for 15 years waiting to be 'deconstructed'. It'll be fun reusing all that old wood and hardware. :D

Nice pen and case by the way. That is some nice figure.

[Eric Kosanovich]

Oh snap!!! i'v been burnning this type of wood.

[Curt Fuller]

Nice wood haul John!

That new Delta is going to come in real handy for turning finials and collars for all those big hollowforms you'll be turning from those logs when you get that new PM3520B.;)



BTW, the chatoyance in those cottonwood crotches will blow you away when you take them off the lathe and rub a little oil on them.

[Dan Forman]

John---Looks like the wood spirits are being kind to you. Go back and cut some of that big walnut down to manageable size. It's the best to turn. You can get some nice spindle blanks out of it as well. Think 3 x 3 x 10 or so for peppermills. Is that maple solid enough to turn? I have some spalted birch that is a mess to turn because it's so punky. Hope your lathe comes soon.

Dan

[Jeff Nicol]

John, Once the turning bug bites you, recovery is impossible! The wood you have is exellent! I have a pile of cottonwood that is just about perfectly spalted right now and will start cutting it into blanks and bowls! Hope your new lathe gets there soon!

Like many have said, it is just a stepping stone to a larger lathe! Better get turning and selling the wares to justify the PM3520B!

Take care,

Jeff

[John Keeton]

BTW, the chatoyance in those cottonwood crotches will blow you away when you take them off the lathe and rub a little oil on them.
Curt, I had asked Steve Schlumpf about cottonwood, and he sent me some links to pieces you had done with it. That is why I ended up getting some of it.

Is that maple solid enough to turn? I have some spalted birch that is a mess to turn because it's so punky. DanDan, the part that was next to the ground is a little soft, so it will be interesting how well it turns. The upper portion is very solid. I am hopeful that from the rest of the pile, I can salvage several nice blanks. On the walnut, I have quite a bit of seasoned 8/4 walnut. There may be 3 or 4 larger chunks of the wet walnut, and the work of splitting it down for that purpose isn't worth it to me. Walnut is fairly easy to come by - or at least, it has been.


I have a pile of cottonwood that is just about perfectly spalted right now and will start cutting it into blanks and bowls! JeffJeff, I may get some more of the cottonwood and try Joseph Lary's mayo trick on it!! I have a big pile of shavings outside where I have been filling in a low spot with my DC refuse. May just throw a couple chunks of cottonwood in there and see what happens!!

[Roger Bullock]

John, nice haul, can't wait to see some finished projects.

In February I can just hear your wife saying "Don't know what happened to John, a delivery truck showed up one day and I haven't seen him since!" :confused:

James I also look for wood that has a history to use in my pens.

[Rob Cunningham]

Good looking wood John. I hope your lathe shows up soon.

[kenneth walker]

I am with Steve on this one you already need to upgrade your upgrade to a bigger lathe. This is the best Hobby.:D

[Matt Ranum]

John,

...and I mean this in the nicest possible way...

You suck!






:D Congrats and enjoy!




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[Bill Bolen]

Yup, you got it bad! Hope that new lathe gets to you soon as I am looking forward to the results from your "GoldHaul". Gotta agree with Steve. Start your upgrade process now before the price goes up again. Mustard or Mayo?...Bill..

[Brian Effinger]

Congratulations! Some guys have all the luck! And yes, they are just like lays potato chips - you can never have enough.

The spalted maple looks nice, but that cottonwood should be stunning when you turn it. I just hope your lathe comes soon. The anticipation would be killing me. :D

[Mike Wilkins]

Nothing like finding a diamond in the rough. Several years ago I 'rescued' some Walnut firewood from an uncles' firewood pile; still have several pieces.
Happy turning!!!

[John Keeton]

I cut round blanks from the cottonwood - the two pieces with the crotch figure. There was another piece that was split from a larger piece. I buried it outside in my shavings pile just to see what would happen in a few months - if I can remember where it is!!!;):o

The rain has let up, and this afternoon I hope to go back to see how much of the maple I can recover. There are some other unidentified chunks in these piles, so I will open up some of it to see what is there. One never knows......

[Baxter Smith]

One mans trash is another mans treasure! How ones views can change given the right circumstances!:D

[charlie knighton]

good gloat, free wood is the best, yours looks a little bit better than best