Firewood or Lumber

[Joe A Faulkner]

After one of the hottest, driest summmers we've had in a while a thunderstorm rolled through today and dumped a good amount of rain. The high winds took down part of an old maple tree. The good news it, it didn't hit the house - the playset took a beating, but the house was spared.

I thought I'd seek advice from the Creek.
1) Is any of this worth saving for lumber? As maple goes, I'm fairly certain this is a soft variety.
2) How big of diameter do the branches need to be to make it worthwhile to try to havest lumber rather than firewood from this?

I won't be able to get to this for at least two weeks.

3) If I am going to "cut lumber" from any of this, what's the best approach? Is it okay to simply cut logs, paint the ends, then cut lumber later?
Or should I cut the logs, paint the ends, and cut the lumber fairly soon?
Or should I just turn the whole mess into firewood?

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[ray hampton]

the diameter of the branch are not important to everyone , what is more important is "how straight the branch is ? how big of a branch do we need to turn a PEN or a bottle stopper ?

[Bill Moser]

My (completely uneducated) opinion is that there's not a lot of straight trunk there, so maybe not so great for board harvesting. I am, however, a top expert on play, and I have to say, get rid of the playset, and just leave the tree in its place

[jason wilson]

Being a sawyer for 10+ years I would say not much straight bdft in that tree.But I see alot of crotch slabs altough with the soft maple I get down here not much figure in them.I would shy away from sawing branch's do to stress.Jason

[Johnny Kleso]

I'd make some turning blanks and sell them local..

[gary Zimmel]

Joe if you don't have a lathe put it in the turners forum. It will be gone in a couple of minutes....

[David Keller NC]

I saw a fair amount of my own lumber with a chainsaw lumber mill. The branches aren't suitable for lumber of any sort, and it could be downright dangerous to saw a board made from one of the branches on a table saw. The branches are reaction wood, and they are full of stress. Even when completely dry, the kerf will invariably close when sawn, and the risk of kickback on an electric saw is extreme. If you use a handsaw, you're unlikely to be injured, but there's a high probability of kinking the saw when the kerf closes.

The butt log may be worth saving - you can usually get usable wood from about 1-1/2 feet up from the root flare to the point where the first branch begins. If that section is too short to make boards out of, it would be excellent turning wood for small bowls, etc...

[David Nelson1]

Would any of the branches yield good chair parts if broken down and shaped by hand?

[Tony Shea]

As has already been stated, your trunk is about the only potentially good furniture grade lumber. Mr. Keller is right on the money as far as stresses in branches, and any other portion of a tree that has a lean one way or the other. A good simple way of picking up on stress wood is to look at where the pith is located on a sawn log end. Look for the pith to be perfectly centered. If it is off center then chances are very high that there are stresses in the wood and you will want nothing to do with them. Not sure how this reacts on a lathe as I have zero experience turning.

[Chris Fournier]

Turning stock or a cheery fire.

[harry strasil]

that kind of maple made a nice table for a preacher I liked.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1313252313

[Ryan Mooney]

I'm a certified wood hoarder so take this with whatever size grain of salt you want...

I'd probably try to salvage a bit of boards out of the two straighter looking pieces. The rear piece before the crotch looks potentially interesting for that and maybe (good suggestions above on how to tell) bits of the front piece (although the salvageable section there looks like it might be pretty short which the splitting before it). The rear crotch piece is also potentially interesting, it could be a total loss but you won't know unless you try. I'd try cutting it along the crotch (wood pattern like a Y) and see what it yielded. For any of that make sure you cut off _all_ the splintered bit, the cracks will just follow along and ruin any chance you had.

For the rest of it, if you're interested in playing around, I'd suggest trying to rive some pieces out by splitting. Depending on how well that goes you may end up with some decent furniture splits (like you said for chair legs/backs) or you could pretty definitely use some for little carving bits like some long handle spoons, etc.. You might also be able to rive out some more rustic slabs, etc.. but I wouldn't hold my breath there, shorter and "flowing forms" are likely your best bet.

The advantage of trying to rive some pieces out is that you will:
- get some experience with it
- already have it all split into firewood when it doesn't work out
- maybe acquire some cool new tools
Good overview of riving here (random google search) http://www.greenwoodworking.com/RivingArticle - don't expect to get anything useful, but hey.. split wood is fun to try..

Unless of course you're a turner, then you have a long weekend ahead of you

[Joe A Faulkner]

Thanks Ryan. We've been in the current house for 19 years. All of my kids (six in all) have enjoyed playing in the shade of this old tree. It had a tire swing that they all enjoyed. I'd like to salvage some lumber, if for nothing else, to make a few picture frames or small boxes or something (cutting boards) for each of the kids. The riving process looks interesting. I just might have to give that a try.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Though hard to see from the original photo, there was one 10" branch that ran somewhat straight for about 14' or so. I cut four 3' logs from it, painted the ends and let it dry in my shed for the past three plus years. I decided last month to resaw one of the logs on my bandsaw and was pleased to find some nice spalting. Just in time for Christmas, I'm making a few simple boxes for girls. Not sure yet what to make for my son.

[Ryan Mooney]

Looks like it ended up being a worthwhile save! Pretty looking stuff anyway.