So I've got this big hunk of wood in the back of my truck........

[Mark Rios]

A tree service cut down a tree in my neighborhood yesterday. The top of the trunk, where the large branches emanate from, was rotted and the branches were in danger of breaking off. However, the first 5 feet or so of the trunk was still sound and I was able to get that section. I was also able to get a fairly sound round, about ten inches thick, that was between my trunk section and the rotted part. The tree guy cut it off before I could cross the street to ask him to not cut it up. :D

My city is a "Tree City USA" city so they map the trees. I called the city Forestry department and I was told that this tree is a "Pearl Pistache". Upon googling it I find that the name is "Pearl Street Pistache" (patented in 1994) but not much more info than that. The "City of Davis CA. Master Tree List" lists the Pearl Street Pistache as a fruitless variety Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis).

Is this a hardwood? Anyone know anything about it's woodworkability (;))?

Now.....the neato thing is......there is this red/pink staining in the wood, I assume made by the fungus/disease that rotted the top parts of the tree in the first place.

These first two pics are of half of the ten" round.....

58649 58650

These next two pice are of the two halves of the trunk section that I got.......

58651 58652

Is this spalting? What would be the best type of cut to use to mill this so that the red/pink coloring shows up the best?

Lastly, is this even a good find? Or did I just get a big ol' hunka junk wood? It rained real heavy yesterday evening so the wood is real wet. Should I go ahead and paint the ends of the trunk or would I just be wasting my time?

Thanks very much.

[Kyle Kraft]

Mark,
We get that same red staining in box elder trees in SW Michigan, and it is relatively sought after. Box elder is regarded as crap wood by most all of the woodworking types I associate with, and up until I heard about the red staining, I have been cutting box elder into 4' sections and piling it in the fencerow to rot. It doesn't even make good firewood.

Now that I know about the red streaking, I'll watch for it and maybe save a few chunks out of the termite bait pile for a small project!

[wayne ateser]

seems like Ive seen the line of thought before...........

[Jim Becker]

Yes, it's a hardwood...if it has leaves rather than needles. That doesn't mean it's necessarily "hard", however... ;)

Nice haul! And great to have a piece of history to work with and preserve through your art.

[Joe Chritz]

If it has leaves it is a hardwood.

That being said I can't say if it is good for projects but like Kyle said it may be good like boxelder.

I haven't done it yet but some "non-premium" woods make outstanding turning projects.

I need to get a spinny thingy someday.

Joe

[Bruce Page]

Yes, it's a hardwood...if it has leaves rather than needles. That doesn't mean it's necessarily "hard", however... ;)
So soft maple has needles?:D
Seriously, I have never heard that definition before. Learn something new everyday.;)

[Jamie Buxton]

You can seal the ends of completely wet wood with asphalt emulsion. It is intended as a roofing patch, and bonds to stuff which is completely rain-soaked. You buy it in the roofing section of your local Home Depot or Lowes or the like.

[Jim Becker]

But if you do the asphalt emulsion, you need to be able to completely remove that portion of the wood before you get it near your power tools. It's best when you have longer boards and can sacrifice some stock. AnchorSeal or similar will provide what you need with less material loss.

[Jamie Buxton]

But if you do the asphalt emulsion, you need to be able to completely remove that portion of the wood before you get it near your power tools.

Why is that, Jim?

[Joe Chritz]

Jim beat me to the buzzer on the leaves by a hair. No real suprise there.

I haven't used the stuff but I assume it is pretty hard on tools and probably stains up a section of the wood. I try to keep everything off my blades except wood, wood fibers and the occasional plexiglass.

Joe

[Jim Becker]

'Cause anything with asphalt is very yucky stuff!! The wax emulsions like Anchorseal have much less yucky properties... ;)

[Jamie Buxton]

'Cause anything with asphalt is very yucky stuff!! The wax emulsions like Anchorseal have much less yucky properties... ;)

In my experience, it dries to a coating like paint, but thicker, and very resistant to water going through it. Once cured, it is not sticky. As far as I can tell, it is not abrasive.

[Jim Becker]

Jamie, it's not a "problem" to use the stuff. Most folks that I've seen post about it over the years have stated that they prefer to cut it off before processing the lumber, however. I think that's what I'd do, too, just to avoid any chance of getting anything asphalt on my tooling. You also don't want something "too water resistant". They idea is to slow the moisture leaving the porous end grain to about the same rate as that leaving via the side grain, not to stop it all together.

[Mark Rios]

Have I heard correctly that an interior latex paint is good also?

[Jim Becker]

Paint will work, Mark. It's not as good as the wax emulsions, but the price and "availablity" is often right.

[Mark Rios]

Thanks very much Jim. I think I"ll slap a bunch of latex paint on it until I can get some Anchorseal. I can't seem to find it locally here 'round these parts. While the website shows that there are indeed a few Nor Cal dealers, they are at least an hour away from me, one way. Same distances for Woodcrafts incidentally.

Shipping out here to me is $33 for one gallon but $75 for the five gallon shipped. I"m sure that shipping would be about a week or so.

[Keith Webster]

I have some South Texas mesquite logs that I want to do something with but have no band saw to rip them yet. I dream of the things I will get to make from those logs.

[Mark Cothren]

Rios, you KNOW the answer to this...:rolleyes: ;) Cut it into blanks and TURN, TURN, TURN!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks very much Jim. I think I"ll slap a bunch of latex paint on it until I can get some Anchorseal. I can't seem to find it locally here 'round these parts. While the website shows that there are indeed a few Nor Cal dealers, they are at least an hour away from me, one way. Same distances for Woodcrafts incidentally.

Shipping out here to me is $33 for one gallon but $75 for the five gallon shipped. I"m sure that shipping would be about a week or so.


That's the advantage of using asphalt emulsion. It is inexpensive, and readily available.

[John Shuk]

Anchorseal can often be bought at local lumber yards that stock Ipe since it is recommended that you use it on freshly cut ends. It can also be bought less expensively from Rockler by the gallon than from UC coatings. They just call it green wood end sealer. Same stuff.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1178&filter=green%20wood%20sealer

[Dick Strauss]

Mark,
Here is a link to some pink pistachio bowls posted in the turner's forum...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46780&highlight=pistachio

If your wood looks anything like the items in the link above, turning would definitely be the best way to show off its beauty.

Take care,
Dick