Fruit tree woods?

[John K Jordan]

Wild Cherry is really not a fruit tree, in that the fruit can be fatal if not pitted. The seeds and leaves emit cyanide when bruised (or EATEN) Cattlemen down the trees on their pasture land for this reason. The wood, however, is beautiful in woodworking, and even emits a nice aroma when scraps are burned in the shop stove!

Not to be argumentative, but fruit from wild/black cherry (Prunus serotina) is widely used. It may not be considered a fruit tree if defined as producing fruit you can commonly find at the grocery store, but it is edible (without the pits) and safe in reasonable amounts. (reference Turner and von Aderkas, "The North American Guide to Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms.") There are many books and on-line guides that describe what "wild" fruits are edible and to what degree.

It is true that the leaves can be poisonous to animals, but from everything we've learned it is the wilted leaves that are a problem. I raise llamas/alpacas, horses and donkeys (and previously goats) and the books, medical books, and vets confirm this. The cyanide forms when the leaves start to wilt. However, we do remove wild cherry trees from inside the fields and from the edges where a branch of leaves could fall and wilt before discovered. I patrol the fields every day for trees that might have fallen across the fence and am alert for cherry trees.

Other plants and trees are poisonous to animals: for example yew, oleander (extremely toxic), red maple, and even oak leaves. A llama ranch near here almost lost a prize animal when he ate a bunch of oak leaves.

The nice thing about wild/black cherry wood is the trees can be huge! I don't do much furniture (I have a lot of cherry in my barn going to waste) but I use it a lot for woodturning, along with fruit woods such as persimmon, hackberry, apple, pear, and others. Like any tree, some of the wood is boring, some is spectacular. Often fruit tree wood does warp considerably when drying and sometimes splits and checks.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

I have a lot of cherry in my barn going to waste)

[Mark Greenbaum]

I know a gentleman farmer who has a band saw mill in his yard, and arborists bring him the trees instead of taking them to the dump. He's got slabs of wild black cherry 4 foot wide, book-matched and stickered in his barn loft. He also has a friend that uses a 6 foot Husqvarna chain saw mill for the even bigger trees. Bradford pear is one common wood in Middle TN. Known to fall over when whispered to softly, or told that snow is coming shortly. Makes really nice wood turning.

[John K Jordan]

Most of this was from one massive tree that had to be taken down during construction. When I sawed it I cut a bunch of 4/4 thinking I might use it for flooring in the woodworking part of my shop. But at the rate I'm going chances of that happening before I die are slim! What am I going to do with it if I don't build furniture? Siding? Also in the loft are some hickory, poplar, oak, pine, eastern red cedar, and a little walnut, maple, and persimmon. It is fun to have a woodmizer behind the barn though...

I did cut some 8/4 cherry which I've been using for wood turning, cutting up into spindle blanks for the kids classes and for glue-ups for larger things. I use three pieces for these Beads of Courage boxes:

BOC_A_comp.jpg

I guess I could glue up 4/4 thicknesses as well. The kids aren't very picky!

The wood riches around here are almost embarrassing. I don't usually cut my own healthy trees but I do have another fairly big cherry on a property line I need to take down in a year or two. Maybe I'll turn it all into turning blanks.

JKJ

[michael langman]

Beautiful piece of work John!

[John K Jordan]

Beautiful piece of work John!

Thank you! I took up chip carving so I could carve on turnings but that was my first try at carving letters on a turning.

I'm soon going to make another one (or two) like it. My idea for the next one is to make it the same except with no carving. Then when a child choses it I could make a house call and carve her/his initials or name into the basswood band while they watched. Personalized! We are working on the logistical details of that.

BTW, I hollowed this using an idea I learned from Harvey Meyer - before gluing up the stack, cut a recess, mount in chuck, and partially hollow each layer. This leaves much less hard, dry wood to take out later.

For practice at carving letters I made this flat one for my shop.

chip_mess.jpg

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

John, if it accidentally migrates north... ...

[Jon Endres]

Cherry can loosely be defined as a fruit tree wood, although the "cherries" are tiny black berries better off eaten by birds and washed off your car and outdoor furniture. Anytime you see furniture or lumber advertised as "cherry", it's probably Prunus serotina, aka American black cherry. I've got about a hundred board feet of 5/4 and 4/4 apple boards, taken from a very large wild apple tree on a construction site. It was the first lumber I ever milled, and it's been stored for almost 15 years. No idea what to do with it. I also have some small boards of pear wood, although no idea what species. It came out of a producing pear orchard though. As others have said, the best use for most fruitwoods, except common cherry, is probably for turning.

I'd like to know if anyone has success with finding and using any type of citrus wood.

[John K Jordan]

Black Cherry, Prunus serotina

It is interesting how our understanding and opinions are different. A possible explanation? There are a number of sub-species and varieties of Prunus serotina that primarily grow in specific areas. I wonder if the fruit from some areas is more useful than that from other areas.

From the US Dept of Agriculture - the PLANTS Database: The fruit has been used to flavor rum and brandy (“cherry bounce”). Pitted fruits are edible and are eaten raw and used in wine and jelly. Elsewhere: The fruit of Prunus serotina is suitable for making jam and cherry pies, and has some use in flavoring liqueurs; they are also a popular flavoring for sodas and ice creams. The black cherry is commonly used instead of sweet cherries (Prunus avium) to achieve a sharper taste. It is also used in cakes which include dark chocolate, such as a Black Forest gateau and as garnishes for cocktails.

I found a video of a guy who picked and pitted wild black cherries and made a pancake. It looked like a lot of work for a pancake! Kind of like persimmon - we love the taste but it's so much work to get the seeds out it's hardly worth it. To bad, since we have a multitude of both persimmon and black cherry trees on our property.

JKJ

[David Sloan]

I have made bowls out of pear (the Bradford pear trees that are always falling down or being cut down!) and plum. Its just like working with cherry. The look is similar but different. No experience with apple but lots of people have used apple for bowls,etc.

[Chris Padilla]

Walt up there revived a 7 year old thread...FYI, Folks. You might be responding to people no longer around...but some of us still are.

[John K Jordan]

Walt up there revived a 7 year old thread...FYI, Folks. You might be responding to people no longer around...but some of us still are.

Ha! I didn't notice that! Interesting thread anyway.

When I browse the archives I can't believe the wealth of useful info there. Now if I can just figure out a reliable search strategy...

JKJ

[Bill Jobe]

Well, still, there may be interested parties regarding fruit trees.

Several years ago I bought through a seed catalog what was supposed to be a dwarf nectarine tree. Turned out not to dwarf, unless I was unknowingly looking at their DIY section and you created your own dwarf by harsh pruning.
It bore some fruit for a year or so after shooting up 30 feet or so. Then it apparently was hit by a disease/fungus and fell over.
I had just bought my first lathe and cut it up and began turning a piece. What was revealed was one of the prettiest wood I've ever seen.

[Jeff Booth]

I love apple, but it comes at a price. Knots, rot, checking etc. Or pay a LOT for nice boards. I bought 4 tree trunks from the local apple orchard and slabbed them with my chainsaw. They checked and warped quite a bit but with patience boards come out of those slabs a little at a time. Often I find myself applying a thick apple veneer over a cherry board to make a piece. The apple is much harder than cherry, has a rich color variation, sometimes the sapwood and heartwood are interspersed in interesting ways and when it spalts there are amazing other colors such as blue and grey which may be sitting in the midst of the rich reds. There also is usually quite a bit of curl. Apple is hard to work with, there is huge variability in grain direction and wood hardness all in a short space and tearout is likely. It is definitely not a species I would attempt to make something too big out of but gosh if it isn't beautiful. I have had considerably better luck with pear, it is hard like apple but the grain is straighter and it seems to me to be more stable. I have gotten European or Swiss Pear with amazing rich hues, but the local stuff I purchased from a guy while still hard and tight grained was fairly light in color. Those slabs were air dried, I read that steaming pear brings out the pink color but I honestly do not have a clue about that.

[Wes Ramsey]

Since the thread was revived and I wasn't around 7 years ago I'll go ahead and weigh in

Black cherry and choke cherry are two different varieties. Dunno what choke cherry wood looks like, but I've read that the smoke is very acrid and is not good for smoking wood. I read somewhere that it is even poisonous, but I've never found any other data to back that up. Black cherry is a favorite of mine, especially when green. Most fruit woods have a milder flavor in the smoker when burned green - mulberry is my personal favorite. Smells like apple wood, but lighter and smoother. Still good when seasoned/dry, but the flavor changes and in my opinion is not as fruity-smelling.

Before I really got into woodworking I spent a few summers selling smoking wood by the bundle from fence rows and storm damage cleanup. In the process I learned a lot about the flavors different woods give. Almost any kind of wood will give a distinct and good flavor, but you have to be careful. Most fruit woods give a light smoke no matter how much you use, but stronger woods like mesquite and walnut can get too strong really fast and ruin the flavor.

Allergies are the main concern with wood. I know folks with nut allergies that can't handle smelling walnut in a bonfire and turners that have developed a particular sensitivity to it. Same with oak. The other big one I have experience with is fig. The sap is latex-based and is a very strong allergen. I cut one in my mom's yard wearing shorts several years ago. The next day I had welps and blisters completely covering my legs from the sawdust and still had scars 2 years later. But it is still a great smoking wood even when green. Just don't touch the sap if you can avoid it!

As far as lumber, fruit wood can be anywhere in the range of boring to amazing. Cherry is really nice and common here in the wild, as is apple, persimmon, bradford pear and some others. I've even seen grape vines here that were 8" in diameter and the grain was gorgeous!