Yellow heart

[Jim King]

Just got back from an inspection trip with the local DNR and with the recent postings of some yellow heart turnings I thought maybe some would like to see it before it is turned. Here is a photo of a tree cut down yesterday. A LOT of bowls here.

The last photo is the DNR of Peru checking some wood and numbering each piece to be sure it conforms with our license and then each piece is carried out a few miles to the road for transport to our shop.

The first photo shows the end cut of an interesting species that fell across our entrance. I dont know why the photos show in different order than I posted them.

[Mark Pruitt]

An awesome haul by my standards! About the stump of that yellowheart tree...will you go back and cut turning blanks from it? I would think there would possibly be some beautifully figured wood in that portion of the tree.

[Jim King]

Mark: Yes, we take the stumps down to at least ground level. The stumps and buttreses normally have figure equal to crotch wood.

[Dan Gill]

Jim, is yellowheart also called guaraparra (sp?). I ask because I was given a broken picnic table from Target a few years back that said it was made from a south/central American wood called guaraparra. I could never find any information on it and thought it might be a local name, or it might be something the Target marketers made up. It was stained a medium brown, but when I planed it down, it looked a lot like yellowheart to me. Very dense, a little bit splintery, quite yellow.

I used most of what I salvaged to make a podium for our class at church. I'll have to take a picture of the wood I have left and post it.

[Mark Cothren]

Nice pics - great wood - thanks for sharing. Do y'all cut 'em with chainsaws or handsaws of some sort? You haul 'em out by hand, truck, etc?

[Jim King]

Dan: It is very possible that it was Yellow heart or Mari Mari. One of the local names here for Yellow Heart id Guariuba similar to the name you remember.

Mark: Yes, everything is cut up into about 150 -200 pound peices and carried out a few miles to a truck and brought in.

[Glenn Hodges]

I enjoyed looking at those pictures, and reading about how you get your wood, keep them comming, thanks a bunch.

[Robert McGowen]

It is kind of wierd to think that the little bowl on the coffee table started out as one of those monster trees in a totally different part of the world.......:rolleyes:
Thanks for the photos. They are very interesting.

[Curt Fuller]

It is kind of wierd to think that the little bowl on the coffee table started out as one of those monster trees in a totally different part of the world.......:rolleyes:
Thanks for the photos. They are very interesting.

That's just what I was thinking. I have no idea what most of the trees look like that produce all the exotic woods.

[Terry Quiram]

Thanks Jim. I enjoy your posts. I am always amazed at some of the species you find.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for the pictures Jim - always educational!

[Gary DeWitt]

Great pics, thanks. Looks like you mill the tree into 4x or 6x pieces before you ever haul it out of the forest, do you do that with chainsaws, or haul in a portable bs mill? Seems to me chainsaws would waste too much wood...

Now, I've got some "exotic" walnut here, how about a trade, yellowheart for walnut?

[Jim King]

We cut everything in the jungle with a chain saw and carry out the blocks. It sounds wasteful but we loose less than if we cut the entire log on a disc mill as when we get the blocks to the shop we use a thin kerf blade. Plus we do not knock down hundreds of trees with a skidder to get one tree out.

I will attach some photos of our transport system starting with the guy in sandals. He is all weather and all terrain. When the wood gets to a road or river bank it is put on a stylish truck as the one shown or in an Amazon Greyhound as shown just arriving at the port. Then to the factory.

[John Hart]

Great pictures Jim! I sure envy your lifestyle. You must look forward to every day.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Jim, thanks for helping us appreciate on a much grander global scale!:)

[Tom Sontag]

Well this certainly explains why those huge trees always get sold to us as 4' or 6' pieces. Thanks for helping us close the circle on the process Jim. It is invaluable.

Thank you Jim. Thank you internet. Thank you Creek.