John R Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 It was about Pacific NW firewood: I will put some words to this later, got to run to the barn and feed the livestock. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryCarroll Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 I've made stocks for muzzle loaders and shotguns for years from curly maple and wild cherry and some curly walnut I found in the mountains in eastern Ky. but nothing I've ever found compares to that kind of figure in wood!!! That's gotta be the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen. Thanks for the pictures. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 wow, thats really nice wood!! That would even make nice knife handles! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 55 minutes ago, JerryCarroll said: I've made stocks for muzzle loaders and shotguns for years from curly maple and wild cherry and some curly walnut I found in the mountains in eastern Ky. but nothing I've ever found compares to that kind of figure in wood!!! That's gotta be the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen. Thanks for the pictures. Jerry Just imagine what it looks like with a nice hand rubbed oil finish. The small red piece is about 3 inches wide and has 21 coats of oil with a touch of red stain. Clear coat finish: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Interestingly, the flame/tiger stripe effect is not genetic, but environmental: maple trees can acquire this growth pattern as a result of growing in areas with high winds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted November 30, 2017 Author Share Posted November 30, 2017 2 hours ago, JHCC said: Interestingly, the flame/tiger stripe effect is not genetic, but environmental: maple trees can acquire this growth pattern as a result of growing in areas with high winds. Very true. The wood is Pacific Northwest Big Leaf Maple. Very strong stuff, harder to carve than Walnut. I live in the middle of its range, there are Big Leaf trees 20 feet behind the shop. The blanks shown were cut in 1993 and are continuing to silently air cure in my shop. Both environment and terrain influence the grain. We have found the best figure in trees that grow on steep slopes and are exposed to the winds. Prime example below: On the side of a north facing valley. The slope is about 60 degrees. A big double trunked widow maker below, it was a bit of trouble to fall both trunks and stay out of trouble. This area receives a lot of rainfall. Maples need a lot of water. North Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, the trees below were anywhere from 2 miles to 7 miles from salt water. Knarley and twisted. Both trunks were full of beautiful grain. A good idea of the steepness: At the sawmill. Still knarley!! Another tree. This one was hanging over a canyon, about 5 miles north of the one shown above. The road was too bad to bring in a logging truck, so we slabbed it up with chainsaws. Wood to die for. No finish on the wood, just ran through the planer. The grain depends on how the log is sawed. Note below that the top flat side is tiger stripe, the front edge is "flame" or "quilt". Quilted: 13 hours ago, littleblacksmith said: wow, thats really nice wood!! That would even make nice knife handles! Littleblacksmith I will look through the box of cutoffs for a hammer handle sized piece. I save all the cutoffs from the blanks for knife handles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 In your second recent picture that tree also looks full of raccoons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedefiddle Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Just quietly eyeballing what is going on!!! Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 I wish I could find one tree with lovely figuring like that, just one would set me up for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 Yea finding the tree with the good figure is not easy. We have a lot of Big Leaf Maple here where I live but the figured trees are not too common. Back in 1994 and 1995 when we were cutting the Maple trees I got to the point of being able to recognize a tree with good grain: Peel off some bark at the trunk and look for the wavy rippled knobs on the surface. The wood in the photos has been silently curing since 1994 and is now at a good moisture level for stock making. 11 percent is about as low as the wood drys here in the wet Pacific Northwest. I live about 2 miles from salt water. Rippled surface: Checking moisture On 11/30/2017 at 7:54 AM, ThomasPowers said: In your second recent picture that tree also looks full of raccoons... He hit the ground running when the chain saw was started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Reminds me of my avatar!!! Coons show up in the darndest places!! I believe that's a bunch of the most beautiful maple I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 On 12/4/2017 at 5:10 PM, arkie said: Coons show up in the darndest places!! amen to that! had one a few months ago jump down from the top of my shop door when I walked in and scared me half to death. littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.