River Birch

[Dave Novak]

About a month ago we had an ice storm that ruined many neighborhhod trees. A few blocks away I drove by a huge pile of 18"-24" logs from a very large river birch tree. Having recently purchased a bandsaw, I got excited and threw 6 of these logs, 12" - 16" in diameter in the back of my pickup. I only selected crotches or other "knarley" looking pieces hoping to get some interesting grain.

Is this wood good for anything other than the fire pit? How long must I let it dry before using it? Can I saw it up into 1/2" (or so) slices now, or must I wait for it to dry? My daughter recently moved out and she's bugging me to build her some furniture. If this isn't really suitable for end/coffee table tops then I'll probobly just burn it in. Thanks!

[Gary Breckenridge]

;) Slice it up now. Test dry a piece in the oven to see what it looks like and how it takes screws and glue. Try some stains and finishes. It will take a year to air dry and then a week or two inside the house with some furnace heat. I'm not sure the 1/2" slice will work. Warpage is a problem and you would have to plane off at least 1/16" from each surface to get it ready to use.:cool:

[Dave Novak]

;) Slice it up now. Test dry a piece in the oven to see what it looks like and how it takes screws and glue. I'm not sure the 1/2" slice will work. Warpage is a problem and you would have to plane off at least 1/16" from each surface to get it ready to use.:cool:

Are you suggesting that I should slice it thicker? I was assuming I'd square up the slices, glue them together, then take them to a local shop to be run through their drum sander. My plan was to then lay the finished pieces on top of something else (MDF?) to make tables. I've never worked like this before (just got the bs), so I really don't know what I'm doing, and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I did saw one of them in half, and the wood seems kind of pretty, it has red "swirls" of grain running through it. I've never seen river birch for sale at a hardwood dealer, so I'm not sure if it's even suitable or pretty enough for woodworking, and I have no clue as to how long I'd have to let it dry. If we're talking years then I'll burn it and just buy some wood, I just thought it would be cool to build something from scratch using my new toy. Thanks for taking the time to help out a novice!

[Pat Zabrocki]

I did a quick search on the web and found a site that might help you out
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/birch.htm

Plenty of pics and some were the river birch that you have. Another site I found said that it was good for turning and inexpensive furniture. If you've got some with nice figure to it then it might be just the thing for your daughter.

good luck and take care
Pat

[Dave Novak]

Thanks Pat, I'll saw it up and see what it looks like.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

;) Slice it up now. Test dry a piece in the oven to see what it looks like and how it takes screws and glue. Try some stains and finishes. It twill take a year to air dry and then a week or two inside the house with some furnace heat. I'm not sure the 1/2" slice will work. Warpage is a problem and you would have to plane off at least 1/16" from each surface to get it ready to use.:cool:

Are these very short time periods exclusive to birch~?? I have been told that maple will take as much as a few years per inch of lumber thickness.

I once tried an oven (250-Deg-F for several hours) to dry elm and ended up with pretzels for boxes after the elm started to move again.