Buyers of Apple Wood

[Barron Shaw]

I have a commercial orchard and am pushing out a lot of apple trees that have large graft unions. This is where the variety meets the rootstock and forms a big bulb that looks from the outside like a burl; about 14-24" in diameter. Doesn't sound like much, but apple trees in orchards today don't get very big as no one plants trees that get large. Do you think these parts of the tree are good for turning, and where could I sell enough to justify having Santa bring me a new Laguna bandsaw ?

[Doug Hepler]

Apple is desirable for turning. How much do you (will you) have? Maybe show us a sample? You might be able to sell it here

Doug

[Bill Dufour]

Depends on location. At least give us a hint an tell us what country. There may be some serious laws about shipping that wood. I know California most likely will not let it in unless it is sterilized. If you get caught you may be facing serious fines and even jail time if you are making money on the sales. Can you say "fire blight"
Bil lD

[Lee Schierer]

Do you think these parts of the tree are good for turning, and where could I sell enough to justify having Santa bring me a new Laguna bandsaw ?

You could be come a contributor here and sell them through the classifieds. It costs a minimum of $6.00 to become a contributor, cheap advertising for your product.

[Steven Holm-Hansen]

Apple can be wonderful to turn. Sorry for the sideways orientation. Back to the Tech Support forum for me...
large apple burl 4.jpg

[Allan Ferguson]

Pushing out trees can cause ring fracture, making the wood worthless for turning.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Apple graft joint wood is nice, but it will move quite a lot, I have turned some,my problem was that the wood sat out in the sun before it got to me, I still turned it but it was a challenge with the large splits in it even before starting on it.

The harvester better seal and keep it out of the weather, sun and wind, or it will all be split, that happens quick with Apple and other fruit wood.

This one is endgrain turned from a graft joint area, with only some pith checks, probably because it had already started spalting, and not healthy solid wood.
Apple endgrain.jpg

This chunk of grafting joint Apple wood was badly split when I got it, hollowed it and added brass wiring to keep the neck from opening up, one we have kept for ourselves.
Grafting joint Applewood.jpgApple graft joint.jpg

[Bill Blasic]

At a club I belong to someone found this apple orchard they were removing and he got lots of the members to buy into these unions. Turned out that they were worthless for turning so buyer beware!

[Keith Outten]

Barron,

While you can sell your personal tools , machines and wood you cannot do any commercial advertising in our Classifieds Forum.

[Barron Shaw]

Wow! Nice job!

[Barron Shaw]

I'm located on the PA/MD state line (google Shaw Orchards). There are no quarantines here yet (although spotted lantern fly is in the next county over).

I'm guessing the shipping on a hunk of this stuff is going to be more than the wood is worth.

Still, if any of you guys are in the neighborhood, you could stop in and I could give you some to try.

Barron

[Reed Gray]

Hard to tell with apple wood if it is worth anything. Most of the time the trees tend to be rotten in the middle. Best bet would be for use for bar-b-q or for smoking meats. For this, it is worth firewood prices or trade. When you can find big solid pieces, it makes beautiful bowls...

robo hippy

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I never had to pay for the pieces I got, as it was too difficult to split for firewood and would be just discarded, Yes as reed says large old apple trees are often hollow, though I never found that to be the case with the graft pieces.

The reason for hollow trunks on large Apple trees would be the pruning where then the rotting starts and works it way inside, that does not happen with the graft union, though I have found that sometimes the graft isn’t totally grown together.

I have 2 pictures here of that, still all sound wood but with the inclusion that you can see here, still beautiful wood and it turns like a dream, even when returning it when dry.

Apple bad graft .jpg Apple graft.jpg

[Ted Calver]

I've rescued tons of apple from push-overs like this, all free for the taking. I was told the locals didn't like it for firewood because the orchards used systemic fungicides/insecticides and the fumes from burning might be toxic. Not sure if science supports this theory, but that's what I was told by the orchard owner. I found that the older trees with large amounts of heartwood vs sapwood were the best and prettiest for turning. If I thought my old truck would make it, I'd take the OP up on his offer.
APPLETREES.jpg

[George Guadiane]

Since many are posting pictures of their turned apple, I thought I'd add mine to the pile.
This came from the oldest known Apple Tree in the state of Massachusetts. Most of it came down in a storm so I got some really BIG pieces. These were a core from a single burl...
As expected, it started out cracked and got more pronounced as it dried.
As you can see, I didn't finish the last/smallest bowl. Just found it a couple of days ago. Buried it in the pile again.
_SCN9555.jpg_SCN9558.jpg