Going to start checking everyone's woodstoves instead of woodpiles

[Jeremy Leasure]

Someone told me they had a chestnut tree that had been blown down about a year and a half ago, and thought the log was still laying around somewhere on the property. She called home to ask about it and found it it had been pushed up with a bunch of other left over storm debris and set on fire. I went ahead and ran out there to check on it because I hadn't turned chestnut before, or even seen it for that matter. I didn't hold out much hope, one end was just charcoal cinders and the first three or so inches had shake. One section seemed fairly solid so I cut it off, wrapped it in an old sheet and threw it in the Tahoe. Anyway, turned out to be pretty cool so I'm glad I got it. There was also some hackberry around the pile that hadn't been set on fire, but so far the pieces I've cut open don't have much promise. They were out in direct sunlight all this time and so only the bottoms touching the ground had spalted and even then it wasn't pretty. Mostly just rotten.

http://i.imgur.com/zce1t.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZS2Ds.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wLkmI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EviYf.jpg

[Ted Evans]

Beautiful piece of firewood, well worth the effort.

[Roger Chandler]

Once you get past the charcoal grit, that one is pretty nice! Great save on an otherwise discarded piece of wood. Good work on the form............I wonder if the heat treatment made it a more stable blank?

[Mike Cruz]

That's awfully purdy... Would have made a cool NE bowl with the charred edge...:rolleyes:

[Jim Burr]

Shazzam Jeremy! That is a sweet bowl and a great save! About 14" maybe...that'll hold some M&M's sir!! On closer peeking of the pic's...how about some more details? Looks like more than your average "found-in-the-gutter-in-Fresno" chunk of wood!

[Jeremy Leasure]

Once you get past the charcoal grit, that one is pretty nice! Great save on an otherwise discarded piece of wood. Good work on the form............I wonder if the heat treatment made it a more stable blank?

Guess we'll find out in a few months :) Although I haven't really looked up the characteristics of chestnut yet, might be stable without the trial by fire.


That's awfully purdy... Would have made a cool NE bowl with the charred edge...:rolleyes:

Way ahead of you there, however the shake on the first 3 inches or so was pretty bad, and it didn't feel safe to try it out. Here's a box I did a while back from some walnut harvested from a lightning struck walnut though:

http://i.imgur.com/6obfd.jpg


Shazzam Jeremy! That is a sweet bowl and a great save! About 14" maybe...that'll hold some M&M's sir!! On closer peeking of the pic's...how about some more details? Looks like more than your average "found-in-the-gutter-in-Fresno" chunk of wood!

Oh no, not quite that big. It's at a guess 9.75 at the widest point. I guess I should start measuring these things more often. It turned "ok". The tear out was fairly mild but got bad between the growth rings in places on the outside. Doesn't have a particular smell I noticed. Anything else feel free to ask.

[Ted Evans]

It is hard to beat a pretty piece of walnut.

[Denny Rice]

I love to see beautiful things made from wood that was rescued from a firepit. I cannot believe people burn such pretty wood to stay warm.

[Jerry Rhoads]

Niiice save Jeremy

[Steve Schlumpf]

Going to be a beauty! Well worth the time and effort to save it!