Crabapple Uses?

[Stew Denton]

A friend gave me a couple of limbs he got from trimming his crabapple tree.

The limbs are not all that big, at best maybe 4 inches in diameter, and are green. One is perhaps a foot long, and the other is maybe 3 feet long, but they are not very straight. The biggest straight section is probably about 18 inches long. I will need to split them and put some wax or something similar on the ends till they are dry. I think I could get a cylinder maybe 2" in diameter from he biggest section of them, going between the heart and the bark on the side with the largest rings.

I was thinking perhaps they would be good for chisel handles, or a mallet handle. I don't know how they would stand up for use in a firmer chisel, but think the lumber would be fine for paring chisels. I don't know how the lumber would stand up to use as mallet head either. Chisel handles and mallet heads are things I need to make, thus the question on suitability for those two uses. Other good uses?

Do any of you have experience with crabapple, and they limbs aren't very big, as to what uses it can be put to. In short, what is it suitable for?

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

If it is like regular apple it is prone to splitting. Sealing the ends is a good idea.

I have used it for chisel handles. Not ones I will be using with a mallet. It also good for saw handles if your piece is big enough or if you have gent's saw.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

I started looking for information on crabapple. There is not a lot, but what there is says that it is very hard when dry, and some has interlocking grain, making it hard to plane. It tends to split in drying, as Jim mentioned, if dried quickly, and not dried carefully with the end grain sealed well. It has been used for mallets, tool handles, etc. It is apparently strong and hard when dry.

Because of the interlocking grain, and it can be difficult to use with hand tools, extremely sharp tools are almost a must. According to one source, the limb wood I have is not as stable as trunk lumber and has a tendency to move, but the trunk lumber is pretty stable.

Yesterday I used two drawknives that belonged to my grandfather to debark the limbs, and will hopefully be able to split, cut, and treat the end grain in the next two or three days. I have used drawknives very little, but they made the debarking very easy. It was a pleasure to use my grandfathers tools and have them do a great job. Holding the limbs was a battle, and a shaving horse would have made the debarking step a piece of cake. The draw knives are a large one and a small one, and given the difficulty of holding the limbs, the smaller one was much easier to use.

Right now I am thinking it might be good for possibly some chisel handles as Jim suggested above, maybe a mallet handle, possibly even a small mallet head, and possibly spoke shaves.

Making a spoke shave or two seems like a good way to work on Neander skills, hopefully helping me improve in some areas.

Stew

[Wade Holloway]

I have been trying to get some to make some mallets with. That stuff is rock hard when dry. Did not know that there was a difference it limb wood and trunk Wood though. Seal it good and let dry you will be amazed how h and it is.

[Maria Alvarado]

Since they are still green, you could use the less straight sections and carve a couple of nice spoons. Easier to carve when green.

[george wilson]

I LOVE apple wood! It turns a lovely chestnut brown as it ages and is exposed to sunlight. That might take longer than I have left,though!

Another simple looking wood I love is YEW. If you have ever worked it,it is amazingly hard versus its appearance.

[Chris Fournier]

A tobacco pipe. For smoking meat. Curious wood turnings. A cheery blaze. It is very unstable and degrades horribly during drying. Try to dry your stock out and you really have nothing to lose. The only apple that I ever recovered came fro a freak tree that had been abandoned and grew wild in a forested area. It grew tall and straight to compete for light and looked like a maple more than an apple. We got two 10' veneer logs out of it. The veneer that we had sliced was absolutely gorgeous, it made cherry look dull!

[george wilson]

They made high grade saw handles from apple all the time many years ago. There is probably a certain way it may be dried.

Boxwood is another difficult wood to dry. They used to bury it in a pile of horse manure for many years and let it dry very slowly with the manure. In the old days they planned for the future.

[Nick Stokes]

Down here in Texas people call Crabapple the same as Bois D'Arc or Osage Orange or Horse Apples. I would guess that to be what you have.

Some people know the difference, and name them correctly.

[Stew Denton]

Thanks too everyone for all of the comments.

George and Jim, yes, I wish the pieces I have were big enough to make saw handles out of as making a back saw or two is in the future, but sigh.....not so. I do know that many of the classic Disston saws had apple handles.

Nick, the friend who gave me the crab apple branches told me that he gets very tired of raking up the small crab apples produced by the tree each summer, so nope, it is not Osage Orange, it is definitely crab apple. My wife and I had one in our yard until maybe 10 years ago. They are a fairly common decorative tree in the Texas panhandle, but normally don't get very large. I used to make crab apple jelly out of the tiny apples, it is incredibly good stuff.

Stew

[Allan Speers]

Boxwood is another difficult wood to dry. They used to bury it in a pile of horse manure for many years and let it dry very slowly with the manure. In the old days they planned for the future.


In the old days they also had a lot more manure!

(Politics notwithstanding.)

[george wilson]

In the old days they also had a lot more manure!

(Politics notwithstanding.)

Yes,we have large piles of it at the museum's stables!! One guy got fired for STEALING MANURE!! He was growing enormous plants in his garden. The museum has many gardens that they use it for.

Someone else got fired for stealing firewood. I'd hope that if they were going to get fired for theft,they'd at least make it more worth while!:)

[Stew Denton]

Hi all,

Well today I finally had a chance to cut up the wood into smaller pieces, and to dope the ends. I doped the ends with a mixture I made up from candle wax and bees wax, and used the wild guess method to try for a 50/50 mixture.

The shorter piece was starting to show some small cracking at the ends. The bigger branch seemed to be just fine. Now I have about a year and a half wait to see how the lumber turns out. I am hoping the cracks don't go very deep, and am thinking that they should be shallow, but you never know.

I also used a sharpie to write the type of wood and date on each piece.

For what it's worth, I also found some apple that I put there years ago, when I cut down a small apple tree in our yard that was either dead, or was dying. It may be big enough for a handle for a dovetail saw, but won't know until I try to build such a saw. A friend gave me a little maple a while back though, so I am good on lumber for saw handles I think, but the apple would be nice if it works out that it is suitable.

Stew

[steven c newman]

People say that if you place one of the ripe crabapples in each room of the house, all the spiders will leave. Something in the fruit, that they do not like......hey, it beats spraying the dang things,,,,

[paul cottingham]

Sounds like perfect wood for some spoons or maybe a spatula (or butter paddle) or two. If you are going to try that, do it while it is green!