Stuff from the firewood rack

[Pete Staehling]

I am hunkered down for the Corona virus recommended social distancing and already feeling kind of shut in despite the fact that I don't go out all that much normally. Any way I was looking to do something that didn't tear into my supply of nice lumber too much and went out to the firewood rack for a piece of what I think is spalted pecan.

Does anyone else turn stuff from the firewood rack or otherwise use it to build things? I find some gems there. I think this one is from some pieces that a neighbor set out at the curb for the city to pick up. They were already cut to stove lengths. Most of my firewood is acquired that way.

fwoodbowl.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/GPv99ZK/fwoodbowl.jpg

[Frederick Skelly]

That's a pretty piece Pete. I love spalted projects.
Fred

[Steve Mathews]

Very nice!

And yes to your question. My latest find was rescued spalted grapefruit wood destined for a campground fire. I also have a good assortment of other wood from a local tree service that normally gets cut up for firewood.

[John K Jordan]

Many times I've turned firewood. Spotted this piece of white oak while splitting firewood:

whiteoak_bowl_02.jpg

I'm turning more now than I have in months. I even (gasp!) turned a pen yesterday.

With the clubs and the church closed down I've got at least 40 hours of extra time a month, part of it in driving time saved. By canceling our trip to Italy I have 150 - 300 extra hours after subtracting for some sleep and chores.

Nice job. I hope more people post pictures of things they are doing while hunkered down.

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

The only issue I have with firewood is it doesn't have the endgrain sealed so it's usually checked. Often it's not that deep but I have tried some maple that as soon as I cut away the bad stuff it would crack again. I'm one of the lucky few who's job is considered essential so I'm working normal hours no matter what. Great for the paycheck but a part of me was really hoping for a few weeks of me time in front of the lathe.

[John K Jordan]

The only issue I have with firewood is it doesn't have the endgrain sealed so it's usually checked. Often it's not that deep but I have tried some maple that as soon as I cut away the bad stuff it would crack again.

That's a good point. I personally have never pulled a piece from an existing pile of degrading firewood. But I have rescued a number of pieces while still fresh and green while sitting at the log splitter! When a chunk is hard to split I make sure to examine it closely for potential.

Alex, what kind of work do you do, if you care to say? I retired 2006 and I sometimes forget that lots of people go to work every day! We drove through parts of Vermont a few months ago but didn't visit Cambridge. The closest I've ever been was playing the piano and singing in a church in nearby Burlington in the early '90s.

JKJ

[Pete Staehling]

I have found that at least some of the time the checking doesn't go deep enough that you can't trim the ends with the chain saw and get usable pieces. If you do that right when you are ready to turn it won't check before you get working. It may not be too dry, but I have had okay luck with it being stable enough. I guess you could rough turn it like green wood and dry it before final turning, but I have not bothered and so far I have gotten away with it.

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

Yes, pulling good wood from the firewood supply all the time, both from green pile (or in the processing, even at the stage of bucking up a tree) and from the seasoned pile (as we are burning it). I am getting more selective, though, as time goes on and stockpile for turning grows...

[John K Jordan]

I have found that at least some of the time the checking doesn't go deep enough that you can't trim the ends with the chain saw and get usable pieces. ...

The other John Jordan (the famous one) recommends acquiring logs before they are cut into firewood length. He said he never seals the ends and doesn't worry about cracks. When ready to turn something he chainsaws 6" off the end then cuts his blank from the log. Apparently the cracks don't extend more than 6" into the log. However, he does store the log off the ground in the shade and probably uses the wood in a reasonable time.

My experience with logs left whole for long periods shows that much depends on the species. Some species tend to check and crack far more than others. Some will have minimal end cracking but develop deep longitudinal cracks down the sides. These cracks in dogwood, for example, can easily extend all the way to the pith. Species like walnut and eastern red ceder are often more stable. I recently cut into some quite old (and big, over 24" dia) osage orange and while the wood will not rot, longitudinal cracks extended at least 6" into the side of the log in places.

Even wood from different trees of the same species can behave far differently. For example, black cherry is known for rapidly checking, but chunks cut from one large cherry tree simply refused to crack, even years later, whether stored inside or left laying on the ground in the sun! (Wish I had more of that!)

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

I'm sure time of the year matters as to when the tree gets cut down and how much moisture is in it when it comes to checking. Since my firewood comes from my land most of what I cut is in the winter and spring when there's no leaves on the trees. I like dragging the logs in the snow so they don't get covered with mud and will buck them up the same day. It'll usually sit until late spring or even into fall before I split it up though as I like the rounds dry. I also don't cut the interesting trees very often, just stuff like red maple and yellow birch.

John I repair semiconductor equipment. We have sister plants in NY so when the gov decided to shut down none essential businesses our company had to send out an email saying that we would not be impacted. But we've also been screening everyone entering the plant for weeks now for elevated temperature. Being a clean room environment it's already very clean so there's a very low risk of transferring the virus but outside of the clean room (offices, meeting rooms, break rooms, etc.) are being cleaned multiple times a day.

[John K Jordan]

John I repair semiconductor equipment. We have sister plants in NY so when the gov decided to shut down none essential businesses our company had to send out an email saying that we would not be impacted. But we've also been screening everyone entering the plant for weeks now for elevated temperature. Being a clean room environment it's already very clean so there's a very low risk of transferring the virus but outside of the clean room (offices, meeting rooms, break rooms, etc.) are being cleaned multiple times a day.

That is interesting! Thanks.

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

It turns out the essential jobs list is based more on 9/11 and terrorist attacks and not a virus.