Surprised by old lumber

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I had a piece of lumber I purchased at least 25 years ago, probably angelin (Hymenolobium petraeum). It spent several years outdoor as a post in our vegetable garden and in the last years at my lumber rack in the garage. Today I resaw it for a project.

Great wood but I was really surprised to find it (yet) very resinous... at such point you could bet the wood was just waxed!

I ask for you (much) more experienced guys: is it common for the wood to preserve its resinous characteristics even after some decades drying?

Thanks in advance for your input. It is much appreciated.

[Grant Aldridge]

The antique heart pine I use a lot is the same way. Even if you Kiln dry it the resin is still there.

[Andrew Seemann]

I've seen 100 year old studs in a house have resin pockets, although it usually has crystalized by that point.

[Dave Zellers]

Agree with Grant about antique heart pine. Thought it before I even got to his reply.

Beautiful wood. Is it orangeish?

[johnny means]

I was slicing up some 100+ year old SYP beams last week. Some of the stuff was rotted three inches deep, but when ripped the rotted face off it looked, smelled, and felt like the tree was felled last week.

[Dave Zellers]

I was slicing up some 100+ year old SYP beams last week. Some of the stuff was rotted three inches deep, but when ripped the rotted face off it looked, smelled, and felt like the tree was felled last week.

The interesting thing here is when we fell a tree, we count the rings and say "This tree is 159 years old". Those beams were 100+ years old but they were milled from trees that were perhaps 200 years old if not more.

These old SYP beams that are still being salvaged from old warehouses up and down the east coast today, are very special. That lumber will never exist again.

[Mike Cutler]

I would say, yes. Especially the tropical hardwoods you are more familiar with.
I have some "pallet lumber",that was recovered from the shipping pallets for luan sheets, from Brazil ,in the 70's. For fun I milled a few pieces once and the wood inside was just as "oily" as new. I kinda stopped using them to support the car floor jacks after that. It's actually pretty nice wood.

[johnny means]

These old SYP beams that are still being salvaged from old warehouses up and down the east coast today, are very special. That lumber will never exist again.

True. The craftsman in me loves the stuff. But the business side of my mind can't quite get comfortable with the amount of labor required.

[Brad Barnhart]

I use a lot of barn wood in my scroll saw projects. Most of it we get right off the old barns ourselves after getting permission from the owner. Some of that wood is 100 years or better, & still good, useable lumber. I have to cut rotten edges off sometimes to be able to run it over the jointer, but once I start the cutting of the project, you would be surprised at how much sap & crystalized pockets are in the wood. Most all of the barn wood we get is 3/4" thick or better. I have used some that nearly the complete center of the project was like sapwood, & had wet, sappy places in it. And it sure smells good! Most barn wood doesn't have the best aroma to it!

[Mark Blatter]

These old SYP beams that are still being salvaged from old warehouses up and down the east coast today, are very special. That lumber will never exist again.

I read an article quite a few years ago, so the details are hazy at best, but it was about removing, to reroute or raise, a train trestle that went over the Great Salt Lake. It was built with some large pylons driven into the lake bed as I recall. The point was they were salvaging the pylon because they were old growth and worth a fair bit of money. I just checked and the original trestle bridge was built in 1902 and the wood was being salvaged in the 1990s. Apparently you can still buy it. I have no idea what kind of wood it is though.