Doug Rasmussen
09-23-2016, 9:00 PM
From a neighbor's fire wood pile being cleaned up.
Big leaf maple roughly 16" long, and all split to fit his garage wood stove. The piece shown is one of the smaller ones, about 4" square.
I spotted the grain and realized what it was. Far too valuable to be used as firewood, I salvaged 15 pieces. It had been stored outside under a roof. Moisture content in the piece shown was between 12 and 14% probably because we've had an unusually hot summer. Almost no end checking (???).
The second picture shows the piece with one side planed smooth with a coat of sanding sealer.
Given the size, none is large is enough for a bowl of any size.
Any thoughts on designs to take advantage of the figuring?
And the sad thing is the old man who owned the tree had paid to have it taken down and cut up. Strange that nobody realized the tree at 4 foot at the base was worth many thousands to musical instrument makers. Wood like this is so sought after that until recently there was quite a thriving industry stealing the trees out of the national forests.
Big leaf maple roughly 16" long, and all split to fit his garage wood stove. The piece shown is one of the smaller ones, about 4" square.
I spotted the grain and realized what it was. Far too valuable to be used as firewood, I salvaged 15 pieces. It had been stored outside under a roof. Moisture content in the piece shown was between 12 and 14% probably because we've had an unusually hot summer. Almost no end checking (???).
The second picture shows the piece with one side planed smooth with a coat of sanding sealer.
Given the size, none is large is enough for a bowl of any size.
Any thoughts on designs to take advantage of the figuring?
And the sad thing is the old man who owned the tree had paid to have it taken down and cut up. Strange that nobody realized the tree at 4 foot at the base was worth many thousands to musical instrument makers. Wood like this is so sought after that until recently there was quite a thriving industry stealing the trees out of the national forests.