wind shake cherry

[Wes Ramsey]

Not sure if this is the right room to ask, but Friday evening I sawed up a big cherry tree that had a lot of wind shake in it. A few of the boards are okay, but most had already split pretty badly by yesterday afternoon when I went back to stack the lumber. There are a few bits and pieces here and there that don't appear to have any splits or cracks, but very few. I would be terrified to chuck any of it up on the lathe, so that's out, too. Is there any use for this wood beyond the fire pit or smoker?

[Steve Peterson]

If you already cut the wood into boards and have the space, then save it and see what it looks like after it dries.

I am not a logging expert by any means, but suspect that wind shake may be limited to certain portions of the log. Maybe the damage occurred when the tree was around 4-6" in diameter. The tree could have stabilized and continued growing out to 24" diameter. That still leaves a bit of good lumber, although a large percentage may be sapwood.

Steve

[Wes Ramsey]

I'm pretty sure it runs the length of the trunk. This log was just the bottom 8' of the tree and you can see the shake on both ends and the full length of just about every board we cut. The way it looks now I can't think of a use for it, but figured someone may have some suggestions.

[Mark Bolton]

Shake/shok.. is a bacterial/fungal issue that usually doesnt extend past 6-10' above ground. The problems (delamination along the rings) worsens with drying. If its severe in the lowest portions of the butt log generally the entire log is suspect and usually not worth fooling with. Degrade during drying will be high.

[Tom Giacomo]

I feel your pain, I recently received a large cherry log like that and wanted to use it for turnings. Ended up I could not use a single piece. Every time I cut a length off the log it would delaminate.

[Wes Ramsey]

I feel your pain, I recently received a large cherry log like that and wanted to use it for turnings. Ended up I could not use a single piece. Every time I cut a length off the log it would delaminate.

Yeah, I'm thinking firewood. I may take it to our campwood pile - cherry smoke is more pleasant than most others.