Processing Old Growth Maple tree for turnings

[David B Thornton]

I'll start this out by saying that this will be the first time doing this. I've done some research and just wanted to affirm my thoughts and hopefully get some direction in a few questions.

I'm going to be picking up wood tomorrow from a recently downed old growth maple tree that I found on Craigslist for free. I haven't seen the wood, other than the CL pics and some that were sent to me. It looks like it has some spalted, quilted, burls, etc. and I believe a 7' diameter at the base.

I'm going to attempt to process it all on Saturday as I'm having a pig roast and what better to do while waiting for a pig to cook than to create a ton of turning blanks! This will be done at my brother's house, so I won't have my bandsaw accessible, but will have a chainsaw.

I think that I will air dry the blanks, which I'll need to further research, but my first goal is to get it processed.

My approach will be to take the "rounds", remove about 2" around the pith and either Anchorseal the end grains of the resulting halves, or process each half further into blanks prior to sealing the ends.

On pieces that have burls, I'll lop the burl off and then seal the exposed grain.

- Is there a suggested way of harvesting pieces that are spalted?
- Since I won't have my bandsaw, it should be fine to leave them as square blanks and just seal the ends rather than use the bandsaw to make the bowl rounds?
- On highly figured pieces, I should seal the whole piece, correct?
- Should I put two coats on the ends or should 1 suffice?

- How much should I get from a gallon of Anchorseal? I'm assuming I should seal as I go, so I should be able to stop if I were to run out.

If anybody has some thoughts, good threads or links that I could read prior to doing this, I would appreciate it.

[Doug Wolf]

Any that you can't process immediately just put in black plastic garbage bags for up to 1 week and process it later.

[John K Jordan]

I like to seal as soon as possible after exposing end grain, so I would certainly seal as I went. Maybe get your brother to seal while you saw? For wood that moves a lot I prefer two coats. Sugar maple, red, silver? Spalted I seal the same way. Seems the spalted I've cut was a bit more stable than non-spalted.

When I saw for later processing I leave the wood in rounds and seal the ends, then reseal as necessary after processing. Of course a 7' round would be a challenge... Might be fun to try the "old" way to split a big log - plunge cut a pocket, fill with black powder and boom.

I like to write the date on each piece. However, I mostly process for spindle turning and air dry before use so the date may be more useful than bowl blanks.

[Fred Belknap]

David I do quite a few bowl blanks. I cut them to length and then split them on each side of the pith, an inch on each is plenty. I Anchorseal the ends and about two inches down the cut side, one thin coat should be enough, just make sure the ends are coated. I store mine out of the sun in an old barn. I don't think it is good to wait for them to dry, it could take years and they probably will split. Turn them and then let them dry. You can rough out the bowls and leave them thick, about 10% of the width of the turned bowl. I then Anchorseal the outside of the bowl and turn it upside down on the floor of the shop to dry. I do spalted and burls the same as regular wood. The cut blocks will keep about a year if the ends are Anchorsealed before they start to crack. Good luck and congratulations on the maple.

[David B Thornton]

Thanks for the input so far! Here's a few pics that were sent to me

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HIQoFSeQ7TQ/VV5ikkON59I/AAAAAAAAE50/d1ihPUgRRfM/w646-h861-no/download_20150521_154846.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1LMvEOQPshU/VV5ikh-nBzI/AAAAAAAAE5s/FkzJ3HQfqSw/w486-h364-no/download_20150521_154849.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dMtq7sY4m4o/VV5ik7WsTuI/AAAAAAAAE5w/J-k9DSJT50Y/w364-h486-no/download_20150521_154851.jpg

[daryl moses]

That's some gnarly looking wood. I do see some spalting. It should make some very nice bowl blanks.
Better hurry with the anchorseal, I already see a crack!

[David B Thornton]

That's some gnarly looking wood. I do see some spalting. It should make some very nice bowl blanks.
Better hurry with the anchorseal, I already see a crack!

Should I attempt to anchorseal the ends when I go to pick it up tomorrow since I won't be able to process it until Saturday?

[daryl moses]

Should I attempt to anchorseal the ends when I go to pick it up tomorrow since I won't be able to process it until Saturday?
YES!! I would do it ASAP. I would also wrap it in plastic and get it out of the sun and into the shade.

[Reed Gray]

I would expect most of the trunk to be very punky to the point of being unusable. This one is unique in that it still has some thing left in the middle. Most that size are 3 to 6 inches of wood on the outside, and the rest is hollow. Most of the branch wood should be pretty good. Some times they will have a very sour smell, and that doesn't seem to go away as it dries. For sure it is worth looking at, and trading some bowls for. Get it off the ground, and seal the ends. Probably a good idea to cover it as well, unless you have it inside. It is getting into the dry season now. I am sure you have friends who would 'help'.

robo hippy

[robert baccus]

With so very much wood I might keep some of it under a tarp and keep wetted down. Maple spalts so very well and would give you more time to saw and wax.

[Ron Rutter]

David. I got most of a BL maple 4 years ago that had been topped years before. Twenty feet up it was like a wild hair do! The stump was 49" x 56" up 3'. There was a lot of spault with some punky but it was beautiful wood. It had been cut into lily pads 12-15" thick. I chunked it up & over time cut blanks. The grain seemed so homogeneous that very little splitting occurred. The spaulted stuff stayed very well. I did coat the outside with old paint. Still have about 200 blanks 6 -12" diameter left!! You should get a pile of good stuff that is surprisingly stable! Ron.

[Pat Scott]

If you can, seal the end grain or cover the load with a tarp for the drive home. I've had wood start to crack during the drive home when uncovered, especially if the sun is shining and if it's hot outside.

[Olaf Vogel]

I would expect most of the trunk to be very punky to the point of being unusable. This one is unique in that it still has some thing left in the middle. Most that size are 3 to 6 inches of wood on the outside, and the rest is hollow. Most of the branch wood should be pretty good. Some times they will have a very sour smell, and that doesn't seem to go away as it dries. For sure it is worth looking at, and trading some bowls for. Get it off the ground, and seal the ends. Probably a good idea to cover it as well, unless you have it inside. It is getting into the dry season now. I am sure you have friends who would 'help'.

robo hippy

Great looking wood, should make great bowls.
I've had pieces like that sitting around, anchor sealed, for over a year and they were still good for blanks.
I also keep them under a tarp, out of the sun.

I found the punky sections were less subject to cracking.

I have turned the punky sections, with great result. But you need to stabilize them first. I used Minwax Wood Stabilizer last time with good result.