Working with pith in slabs

[Joe Cowan]

I am starting my first project with walnut slabs. I have heard of issues when dealing with the pith of a tree, but am unsure how that will effect my project. I have 5 slabs, all taken from one tree of about 18'' to 20" in diameter. Do I waste the pith, use it? I am using this wood to make a Maloof style rocker.

[Brian Holcombe]

The pith board can be split in half. Use the sides and discard the center. The sides will be pretty nicely quarter sawn.

[Prashun Patel]

+1 on wasting the pith.

split the slabs and waste an inch or two on either side. Then clean up the end grain.

Using the end and face grain queues, trace out your parts. For the front legs and spindles you may be able to utilize the area closer to the pith because the cross section of square billets here may be nicely rift.

It is critical that the rear legs be chosen from compatible grain direction. You will be tempted to have short grain at the bottom of the legs if you try to use the wood economically. nesting the rear leg patterns on a single large slab can save wood vs trying to cut them out of separate s4s billets

[Joe Cowan]

+1 on wasting the pith.

split the slabs and waste an inch or two on either side. Then clean up the end grain.

Using the end and face grain queues, trace out your parts. For the front legs and spindles you may be able to utilize the area closer to the pith because the cross section of square billets here may be nicely rift.

It is critical that the rear legs be chosen from compatible grain direction. You will be tempted to have short grain at the bottom of the legs if you try to use the wood economically. nesting the rear leg patterns on a single large slab can save wood vs trying to cut them out of separate s4s billets

I finally found this walnut and paid dearly for the "curly" feature that it gave me. Beautiful wood, and I am not going to try to be "economical" now. I will waste what is needed to make a nice chair as this rocker is going into MY house. My daughters have theirs already!!

[Jeff Heath]

The pith makes excellent firewood for the wood burning stove. The only time you want pith in a board is when cutting timbers for a timber frame or other purpose, and then, the pith is centered in the beam. This makes it more stable. We're talking 8"X8", and larger.

[Dave Macy]

Is "pith" the sapwood?

[Jerry Miner]

Is "pith" the sapwood?

No. the pith is the center of the tree. The sapwood is the outermost portion of the tree, often lighter in color than the older wood on the interior

[Scott T Smith]

Joe, for your particular project ditto the other's recommendations regarding removing the pith. In some instances it makes sense to fill the pith checks with epoxy but IMO not on a Maloof rocker.

Best of success to you on your project.

[Ed Aumiller]

The pith will make a LOT of good pen blanks or small turning blanks for your lathe friends...