A Little Beech

[Baxter Smith]

After recently having one of my wife’s friends decide “not to cut” the walnut tree in her yard this month, I had to console myself with something else. I had noticed this Beech in the woods not far from the road where I often ride my bike.
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After contacting the landowner and getting permission to cut, I spent Saturday morning bucking it up. After coming home with a load, I turned a few small 10” bowls from some of the limbs. I was too worn out to tackle the bigger pieces. :)

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The tree was only a mile and a half from my house and I could have driven the old Farmall there easily. Unfortunately, I probably would have gotten stuck coming out with a bucketful so the trunk sections needed to be split before I could pick them up. After thinking about it Sunday, I spent yesterday cutting and ripping the rest of the usable stuff.

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This is the third and final load.
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After seeing George Watkins beautiful English Spalted Beech posted on WTA, I knew I wanted to try spalting some.

Hauled 2/3 of it into the woods and spread it on the ground. Covered it with some shavings, then put on another layer of wood followed by more shavings.
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The center of the trees base was rotten so put some of those pieces into a couple tubs with some blanks and shavings.
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There is still a bit stacked behind the shop that I will start on tomorrow.

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Roughing out green bowls is fun but some of this will probably end up being spalt material as well.
Then there is the piece of the stump.....
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If you need some beech.......
Comments or suggestions are always welcome!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Baxter on a great haul.

[John Keeton]

So, life really is a beech!!! Looks like some great wood, Baxter. I would think spalting will occur quickly once the temps come up.

[Russell Eaton]

I have a couple of pieces roughed out waiting to dry. No spalting though, your should be great. Nice haul.

[Dennis Ford]

If those rough-outs have even a trace of spalting, you can improve the spalting greatly by coating the entire rough-out with anchorseal and storing it in the shade. This does not work every time but sometimes it works wonderfully.

[Alan Trout]

Baxter,

That is quite the haul and some nice bowls.

Alan

[Hayes Rutherford]

Nice work, I'm jealous of your hardwood variety.

[Tim Rinehart]

Some nice looking color in those pieces. I have a little bit of some kiln dry beech I got from a guy who knows a guy who makes furniture and they were the 'scraps'. Mostly 4/2 stock, but hard tough wood. I can see why furniture makers would like it.
I use it for handles, and it takes a nice finish. Looking forward to seeing some of the spalted pieces when they get finished!

[Michael Menzli]

Man..looks great...spalting may be a little slow this time of year as some of it requires warmth..perhaps covering it with a tarp will help..I will say Ive learned than specific fungi like specific species so understanding your environment will be key..are there spalting species in your woods? This time of year ive read some folks use an old fishtank indoors...something to ponder.

[Sid Matheny]

Oh Yeah, time well spent!

Sid

[Jon McElwain]

Nice haul! That stump section looks like it should yield some fiddleback grain.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Baxter, if you are going to spalt in a tub the spalt lady from Michigan Tech, who wrote the Fine Woodworking articles suggests vermiculite to aid in keeping the moisture high. The other thing necessary is a warm climate. I put my rough outs on end and only the lower half spalted. The next time I will just use contractor plastic bags (better seal and cheap). I don't anchor seal them, but I haven't done that many. I would think if the wood is really wet it may help, but if it were somewhat dry it would not be a benefit.

[charlie knighton]

good haul......

[Dan Forman]

Looks like very interesting pieces in there!

Dan

[Primvs Aebvtivs]

About the spalting technique - I've been informed (but not tried yet - stuff spalts like crazy on the ground here), try a pot of yoghurt (yogurt?) on the top end, and seal a plastic bag round it. The bottom should start splating from the moisture / contact with the floor, and the top from the yoghurt - may get a lovely pink colour if you tried strawberry...!

[Brian Libby]

Nice haul ! Look forward to seeing the end results.:)

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas!

If those rough-outs have even a trace of spalting, you can improve the spalting greatly by coating the entire rough-out with anchorseal and storing it in the shade. This does not work every time but sometimes it works wonderfully.
Thanks Dennis. I had never thought of doing it that way. Keeps the moisture in. I will give it a shot on a couple of pieces. Only the lower/inner couple of feet had any and most was too far gone, or not spalted at all.

Nice work, I'm jealous of your hardwood variety. Hayes, there is some variety in this local area, but it is not quality hardwood as far as lumber goes. But if you are a turner....and cheap.....;):)

Some nice looking color in those pieces. I have a little bit of some kiln dry beech I got from a guy who knows a guy who makes furniture and they were the 'scraps'. Mostly 4/2 stock, but hard tough wood. I can see why furniture makers would like it.
I use it for handles, and it takes a nice finish. Looking forward to seeing some of the spalted pieces when they get finished!
Tim, I know it can be tough stuff. I have yet to turn a dried piece of beech. I roughed out half a dozen bowls and a couple of HF's last spring but have yet to finish turn any of them. I probably should have tried one before I hauled all this.;)


Man..looks great...spalting may be a little slow this time of year as some of it requires warmth..perhaps covering it with a tarp will help..I will say Ive learned than specific fungi like specific species so understanding your environment will be key..are there spalting species in your woods? This time of year ive read some folks use an old fishtank indoors...something to ponder.
Thanks Michael. I know its mostly on hold for now. Things rot quite well around here with the warm temps and high humidity. Getting the right kind of fungus is the tough part!


Baxter, if you are going to spalt in a tub the spalt lady from Michigan Tech, who wrote the Fine Woodworking articles suggests vermiculite to aid in keeping the moisture high. The other thing necessary is a warm climate. I put my rough outs on end and only the lower half spalted. The next time I will just use contractor plastic bags (better seal and cheap). I don't anchor seal them, but I haven't done that many. I would think if the wood is really wet it may help, but if it were somewhat dry it would not be a benefit.
Thanks Bob. I used these same tubs and vermiculite to try and spalt some Holly the summer before last. Left them in the top of my polebarn. It worked poorly at best. The insides of the lids were dripping but it just never developed much color and the zone lines were pretty weak. I don't expect anything to start happening before the summer. Putting it in the tubs and woods now is just an attempt at keeping the end checking to a minimum.

About the spalting technique - I've been informed (but not tried yet - stuff spalts like crazy on the ground here), try a pot of yoghurt (yogurt?) on the top end, and seal a plastic bag round it. The bottom should start splating from the moisture / contact with the floor, and the top from the yoghurt - may get a lovely pink colour if you tried strawberry...!
Pink!! Once it warms up I will give the strawberry a try!

Put one of the larger sections on the lathe this morning.
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I had hoped to get a little more heartwood deeper into the bowl but upon closer look this morning, I found the remains of a tiny crack coming from the pith. Ended up taking another inch an a half of the top of the blank before I even got it mounted.
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Cleaned up the inside and ended up at 18 x 5 3/4. 7/16 at the rim tapering to 5/16 on the sides.
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If I can someday stop collecting wood that needs to be turned, maybe I will sand it.(someday/maybe):rolleyes:

[Kathy Marshall]

Nice haul Baxter!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

You did the Beech at the right time of year Baxter, I have done/turned some Beech and it is one of the most difficult woods for me to get dry without splitting.

I would be wary of all those blanks sitting out there, the stuff just wants to split :mad:.

Other than that it is kind of ho-hum wood without some darker area or other defects for interest.

It does look nice when spalted, i was lucky one time finding a big piece just sitting in a campsite and it was spalted quite nicely, it didn't get burned but turned :D

If you have a shady cool spot, like the place where you got the wood and set it upright on the ground with some leafs and dirt on top, I bet you get some nice spalting by the end of the summer, if not, let it sit for another year.

I had some White Birch that took 2 years to spalt, but the summer/warmer weather up there is shorter and I'm sure that does make a difference, anyway good luck.

[Norm Zax]

Love your pictured stories. Draws one in to the scene and adventure. Keep em coming!

[Baxter Smith]

You did the Beech at the right time of year Baxter, I have done/turned some Beech and it is one of the most difficult woods for me to get dry without splitting.

I would be wary of all those blanks sitting out there, the stuff just wants to split :mad:.....

It does look nice when spalted, i was lucky one time finding a big piece just sitting in a campsite and it was spalted quite nicely, it didn't get burned but turned :D

If you have a shady cool spot, like the place where you got the wood and set it upright on the ground with some leafs and dirt on top, I bet you get some nice spalting by the end of the summer, if not, let it sit for another year.

I had some White Birch that took 2 years to spalt, but the summer/warmer weather up there is shorter and I'm sure that does make a difference, anyway good luck.
Good to hear from you Leo! Have you finished your move?
Only two of the 8 or 9 beech pieces I turned last spring developed a crack and one was a vase turned from a crotch. It wasn't so bad that I can't someday finish it though. That wasn't true for anything that didn't get turned pretty quick though. Within a month it was cracking everywhere! I cut up some of those lost pieces into 3 or 4 inch blocks to try and dry long term and they mostly split again.
Everything I didn't bury the day this time, got a second coat of anchorseal today. It is on the North side of my shop and doesn't get any sun. There is a tarp over it as well to cut down on the air movement. Hopefully it will be good for a week or two.


Love your pictured stories. Draws one in to the scene and adventure. Keep em coming!
Thanks Zach. Sometimes they are fun to do and it helps me remember what I did! Not sure what that last part means.:eek::)

Nice haul Baxter!
Thanks Kathy. It hardly compares with your weekly exploits though!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

No we haven't been able to finish our move Baxter, we did move all my tools and the lathes, wood and rough turned bowls, platters etc, and some of our furniture and glass and dinnerware etc that we don't need for everyday living, but as we have been unable to sell our house here in London, the rest of our furniture and wares for everyday living are still in London, as are we.

My son in Atikokan is keeping a eye on our house up there, and we are hoping to sell the house here in London this coming year, but the economics up here have deteriorated and that is not helping the real estate market, we just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best, we're going to take some time out and relax a couple of weeks in Cuba, hope the weather will be warm and sunny, I can use a bit of a tan and a drink or two ;).

Yes try to rough out all you can and turn them to finished size, the reason Beech splits is that it moves a lot, so you would need thicker walls or finish turn it green, I think the latter is your best bet, sanding etc, you can do after it is dry, the wood cuts nice and you can get a pretty good finish right off of the tool, so sanding can be kept to a minimum, have fun and be safe :)


Good to hear from you Leo! Have you finished your move?
Only two of the 8 or 9 beech pieces I turned last spring developed a crack and one was a vase turned from a crotch. It wasn't so bad that I can't someday finish it though. That wasn't true for anything that didn't get turned pretty quick though. Within a month it was cracking everywhere! I cut up some of those lost pieces into 3 or 4 inch blocks to try and dry long term and they mostly split again.
Everything I didn't bury the day this time, got a second coat of anchorseal today. It is on the North side of my shop and doesn't get any sun. There is a tarp over it as well to cut down on the air movement. Hopefully it will be good for a week or two.

[Rob Cunningham]

Looks like a nice haul Baxter. I really enjoyed turning the beech I had recently. The stump should have some wild grain inside. Enjoy.