Black Cherry Score

[John Kananis]

Huge black cherry dropped a limb last night. This is what I got out of it.

484181

[John Kananis]

Terribly sorry for the formatting, on a mobile device.

[Reed Gray]

I am jealous! We don't have that out here on the west coast..... I have some planted, but 30 or so years away from being able to do anything with them..... I may not live that long...

robo hippy

[John Kananis]

Thanks! Cherry doesn't grow too well out here in NJ so I'm lucky to have the tree on my property. There's another smaller one next to it.

[John Kananis]

Just realized I don't have any anchorseal in the shop. Quickest I can get it is tomorrow afternoon. Should that be OK or should I put the pieces in black trash bags?

[Earl McLain]

Go grab a gallon of cheap white glue--or at least enough to coat the ends of that crotch piece in the front!!
earl

[Kevin Jenness]

You can use pva wood glue.

[John Kananis]

Ok, I rolled on two coats of tb2... what was handy. Enough?

[Steve Eure]

You can also use latex paint in a pinch.

[John K Jordan]

Ok, I rolled on two coats of tb2... what was handy. Enough?

John. Probably sufficient. You can also use several coats of oil-based paint (moisture can pass through latex more easily). Put in garbage bags always works for a few days or just spray with water and cover with plastic or plastic tarps. Don't want to leave them like this too long in hot weather or mold/fungii can develop.

For future reference, you can also preserve green wood by what's called "ponding", submerging in water. Change the water occasionally and they will last indefinitely - no way they can dry out and the water doesn't hurt them. I've read about people putting them in a 55-gal drum.

I love cherry. I rarely turn it green but process it into turning blanks with the shop bandsaw, seal as needed, and put them up to dry.

We are almost overgrown with black cherry here! I had to take one down once over 2' in diameter. I and friends got a lot of great wood from that. We always cut any cherry close to the horse and llama pastures. (Wilted cherry leaves are toxic to livestock - trees near the fences can drop or have branches blown in during storms.


BTW, I took the liberty to rotate your photo.

JKJ

[John Kananis]

Thank you for the advice everyone - I won't be able to get to them until about mid October so going to put them in the back of the shop and let them equalize a bit.

And thank you, John for fixing my post!

[John K Jordan]

Thank you for the advice everyone - I won't be able to get to them until about mid October so going to put them in the back of the shop and let them equalize a bit.

And thank you, John for fixing my post!

Do you know how you might use them yet? That might suggest the best way to manage the pieces. If it will be a while, another coat or two of sealer on the end grain can't hurt. Any time you might have to rough turn some won't be wasted. If possible, cut rounds down the pith to minimize radial cracking as the wood shrinks.

Some advice I've heard over the years is try not to take more wood than you can use in a few weeks since otherwise there is a risk of it going to firewood. For the future, and if practical, you might do like the other John Jordan (the famous one) does: get the whole log, even if he has to pay to have it delivered. Store it off the ground in the shade. When he's ready to turn something he cuts about 6" off the end (to cut away the endgrain checks), cuts his blank, and turns it. He only turns green.

I turn dry wood so I process pieces like you have into blanks and dry them.

[John Kananis]

Hi John, I'm going to use them for small bowls, lidded boxes and some miscellaneous smaller items. I wish I had space to set up a log like you describe. I felled a black locust about a year or year and a half ago and that was close to my intention but she's sat on the ground the whole time.

Edit: the anchorseal gets here this afternoon. Should I coat with more glue or use the sealer on top of the glue (thinking the former).

[John K Jordan]

Hi John, I'm going to use them for small bowls, lidded boxes and some miscellaneous smaller items. I wish I had space to set up a log like you describe. I felled a black locust about a year or year and a half ago and that was close to my intention but she's sat on the ground the whole time.
.

For boxes and other small items I highly recommend cutting some of the log sections up into smaller blanks, seal at least the end grain, and put them up to dry. This is easier with a good bandsaw but can be done with the chainsaw. Record the weight of similar blanks every few months and when the weight quits changing that blank and other similar blanks are dry. This saves all kinds of grief, particularly the wood seriously degrading while drying in log form. Also, when turning a box, some wood will warp severely if not dry - I've seen roughed-out wet or damp box blanks warp so much turning the box was difficult or impossible. (Even with dry, it's best to rough turn the box and lid and let them stabilize at least overnight to relieve any residual internal stresses.)

JKJ

[John Kananis]

I have a full shop so I can saw any way that's needed. I left these all about 12 to 18 inches long with some smaller pieces and one piece at 24 inches. Plus a couple crotch pieces. That said, I'm new to turning and would appreciate any resource on how to prepare blanks. Are you saying that I should rip the logs intended for bowls? What about the box blanks (I have more of those than I do pieces intended for bowls... or do I)?