Treasures Found

[Yonak Hawkins]

I need to make some drawers for a project. I know I have some too-thin ash in one of two general stacks in my wood barn which will work well for the drawers. Also, I've been planning to put some racks in there to keep my wood ordered and accessible. ..So I thought I'd go ahead and build the racks now since I needed to dig through the stack anyway for the ash.

Well, I uncovered 6 long, wide grey elm boards I didn't know I had. Also, I ran across a nice vein of some luscious sassafras .. I'm a lucky guy. I now know I've got more cherry than I'll ever use in my woodworker lifetime and I thought I was running low on walnut but, not to worry .. I found some beautiful boards. ..And a bunch of nicely figured maple, too.

There was a comedian (maybe Carlin ?) who said : Good fortune is finding a $20 bill in the pocket of some old jeans. For this woodworker, it's finding treasures I forgot I had.

[glenn bradley]

That is a great story. Congratulations. By the way, your post made my day.

[Bill Adamsen]

Sassafrass is a lovely native North American hardwood. It is light in comparison to most eastern Hardwood’s, a bit soft (Janka) but mills nicely, is easily worked with edge tools, and has a distinctive appearance. It is rare to find. I have one miller that cuts it on occasion. I often think of it in comparison to Chestnut (color, grain, density, hardness) though Chestnut’s habit is completely different (fastigate apically dominant). I also think it is softer than chestnut though the wood database indicates otherwise. As one would expect, Sassafras smells lovely when milling.

keep us posted on what you decide to make with it.

[Frederick Skelly]

Sounds like you had a darn good day! I'd enjoy a surprise like that, too. Congratulations!
Fred

[Marshall Harrison]

Great story. Finding wood is always good even if its just rediscovering your own stash.

I wish I had a barn full of wood. Heck, come to think of it I don't even have a barn. My wood stash is small and sitting on the floor (on spacers) of my garage. Gets in my way constantly as I walk around the "shop". Maybe someday I can fix that (and other) problems...

[Malcolm Schweizer]

There was a comedian (maybe Carlin ?) who said : Good fortune is finding a $20 bill in the pocket of some old jeans. For this woodworker, it's finding treasures I forgot I had.


Only if it's your jeans- otherwise it's called pick-pocketing

[Jim Becker]

I've also discovered some "gems" in my wood supply lately while looking for other things. It's times like that when I consider myself lucky to be a "wood pack rat". Even small scraps are valuable in light of the ability to use them for small things. :)

[Carl Beckett]

My wood stash is small and sitting on the floor (on spacers) of my garage. Gets in my way constantly as I walk around the "shop".

Well... maybe. But my personal experience is that I have an area I stash some wood. And another area overhead. And a pile outside stickered and covered.

And yet I still have a pile in the middle of my workshop that I trip over again and again...

A personal problem. I recently targeted a pile of QSWO to 'use up' and get out of the way. Am on my fourth piece from it, and dang it there is still a fair bit left to trip over.

Hello, my name is Carl, and I am a wood hoarder...

[Yonak Hawkins]

I wish I had a barn full of wood.

My term "Wood Barn" is a bit of a misnomer. It's really a 22X16X12 building outside my shop that I built for wood storage and as a passive kiln but, now that I'm not getting any green wood anymore, it's just wood storage.