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pesticide hole in tree?

Zach LaPerriere

Zach LaPerriere

Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Messages
603
Likes
448
Location
Sitka, Alaska, United States
Website
www.zachlaperriere.com
I'm rough turning a beautiful mountain ash (also known as rowan tree) that came from a home in town.

The first disappointment with the tree was that an arborist (with no apparent understanding of woodturning) cut it into 12-20" rounds...with no rhyme or reason, and right through the nicest burls!

Just minutes ago I found a perfectly round hole with a plastic plug about 5/16 in diameter and 1/4" high. It's pretty clear from the healed-over scar that the hole was drilled from the outside of three. After I blew the airchuck in the hole inside the bowl, this plug came to the surface. Pictures below:

IMG_0542.JPG IMG_0543.JPG IMG_0544.JPG

I've heard this can be both fertilizing and/or pesticides. I don't know much about trees in town...has anyone ever run into this?

Thanks in advance!
Zach
 
Around here, you have to be wary of tree service companies. Not all of them are certified arborists. And, a few are plain old crooks offering quack treatments for various tree problems or alleged problems.

There is a certified arborist in Dallas who also is a very good woodturner. What an ideal job ... gathering material for your hobby and also getting paid to do it. 😀
 
Very true, Bill about being an arborist and turner. I'm good friends with the other arborist in town who always keeps an eye out for me. He routinely calls me and I check out the latest trees to come down. The main reason I haven't pursued arborcare is the dropping of 100' plus tree near houses... The other side is you could sure get too much wood fast!
 
Bill Boehme said:
Around here, you have to be wary of tree service companies. Not all of them are certified arborists. And, a few are plain old crooks offering quack treatments for various tree problems or alleged problems.

There is a certified arborist in Dallas who also is a very good woodturner. What an ideal job ... gathering material for your hobby and also getting paid to do it. 😀
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Same here in Tallahassee, and a member of our club.

Also, I agree about the possibility of a core sample. Apparatus is called an "increment borer." We used them to check timber piling in waterfront work. Plugged the hole with a creosote-filled dowel.
 
Zach LaPerriere said:
Very true, Bill about being an arborist and turner. I'm good friends with the other arborist in town who always keeps an eye out for me. He routinely calls me and I check out the latest trees to come down. The main reason I haven't pursued arborcare is the dropping of 100' plus tree near houses... The other side is you could sure get too much wood fast!
Click to expand...
There is an arborist here on the island who is a member of our chapter, and sells bowls at Pike's Place Market in Seattle. He seems to have more wood than even he needs! I have a standing invitation to go over and look at wood, but he hasn't set a date yet. Rumor has it, he's wants to clean up his shop first.😀😀😀
 
Turning and tree work go together. I love how turning gives us an eye to what might be inside the tree. It's so much deeper than all my years as a non-turning woodworker, and I can only imagine that this is the tip of the iceberg for true understanding. Those are the turners who really catch my eye: not just great forms, but great understanding of the wood. That's where the art passes the craftsmanship. But I'm digressing!
 
Zach LaPerriere said:
Turning and tree work go together. I love how turning gives us an eye to what might be inside the tree. It's so much deeper than all my years as a non-turning woodworker, and I can only imagine that this is the tip of the iceberg for true understanding. Those are the turners who really catch my eye: not just great forms, but great understanding of the wood. That's where the art passes the craftsmanship. But I'm digressing!
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly. I thought that I knew a lot about wood when I did flat woodworking, but woodturning has led me to a much greater depth of understanding. That's a big part of the attraction ... so much to learn about so many intriguing aspects of turning that it's hard to decide which way to "turn" (bad pun) next. Life as a flat woodworker was so much simpler ... cut it, glue it, sand it, slap on some polyurethane, and you're done. Now, I study a piece of wood, scratch my head, think about what's inside, mull over the possibilities, then come back a few months later and repeat these same steps. I've had a few special pieces of wood for nearly ten years waiting for the right inspiration.
 
Very well said, Bill!

That gave me a laugh on the special pieces of wood. I was given some of those some pieces that have been through two or three people over many decades...not sure what kind of wood, but it looks like and may be broadleaf maple burl slabs, if the story that has been handed down is correct. Needless to say, I feel unworthy, and am waiting my own decade or two before it feels right.
 
Zach LaPerriere said:
Turning and tree work go together. I love how turning gives us an eye to what might be inside the tree. It's so much deeper than all my years as a non-turning woodworker, and I can only imagine that this is the tip of the iceberg for true understanding. Those are the turners who really catch my eye: not just great forms, but great understanding of the wood. That's where the art passes the craftsmanship. But I'm digressing!
Click to expand...

I'll digress some more. I once ran into a 30 caliber lead bullet in bowl, it was pretty soft, didn't hurt the tool, and I left it in-- wish I had that bowl now. I have also come across healed scars from tap holes in sugar maples.
 
Tom Albrecht said:
I'll digress some more. I once ran into a 30 caliber lead bullet in bowl, it was pretty soft, didn't hurt the tool, and I left it in-- wish I had that bowl now. I have also come across healed scars from tap holes in sugar maples.
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Pretty cool, Tom! Nothing wrong with digressing. I was just looking at Dale Nish's book Artistic Woodturning (1980 and personalized to my neighbor, Frances!) There's a picture of a grafted bowl, two species of walnut. Apparently the grafting is usually sound with no voids. The grafting joint (I don't know the right word) is right in the middle of the bowl.
 
Bill Boehme said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I thought that I knew a lot about wood when I did flat woodworking, but woodturning has led me to a much greater depth of understanding. That's a big part of the attraction ... so much to learn about so many intriguing aspects of turning that it's hard to decide which way to "turn" (bad pun) next. Life as a flat woodworker was so much simpler ... cut it, glue it, sand it, slap on some polyurethane, and you're done. Now, I study a piece of wood, scratch my head, think about what's inside, mull over the possibilities, then come back a few months later and repeat these same steps. I've had a few special pieces of wood for nearly ten years waiting for the right inspiration.
Click to expand...
Bill I know the feeling in flat work. In turning I do not have that problem, just have to much wood for the time available and it keeps "growing " like it grows on trees. I usually just start turning and see what comes out.
 
That's it Zach! That is what it has been all about for me from the the moment I first used a wood lathe in my high school wood shop class in 1964. And the fact that the wood spins while I control the tools remains the reason the lathe is my favorite tool. I have done enough "flat work" to build a house full of furniture and the house to fit it in. Sometimes I've tried to find a reason to use the lathe to incorporate turned parts in my flatwork. But, here we go digressing again...
 
Tom Albrecht said:
That's it Zach! That is what it has been all about for me from the the moment I first used a wood lathe in my high school wood shop class in 1964. And the fact that the wood spins while I control the tools remains the reason the lathe is my favorite tool. I have done enough "flat work" to build a house full of furniture and the house to fit it in. Sometimes I've tried to find a reason to use the lathe to incorporate turned parts in my flatwork. But, here we go digressing again...
Click to expand...

Tom,

Would love to see pics of your shop. It looks to be moderate sized like mine & I am always looking for good ideas to replicate / steal.

Kind regards,
Rich
 
RichColvin said:
Tom,

Would love to see pics of your shop. It looks to be moderate sized like mine & I am always looking for good ideas to replicate / steal.

Kind regards,
Rich
Click to expand...

Maybe for the pics. I will tell you this, I used to have a designated ground floor shop of 800 sq ft. with 10' ceilings. Now I am in my bungalow basement. I have a big powermatic 10" saw, floor model drill press, floor model band saw, 12" disc sander, and a couple of benches all surrounding my American Beauty, which replaced my Oneway 24-36 with an extension. I can also tell you that it cost a pretty penny to get the laundry machines relocated to the second floor, but for the most part the basement is all mine.

Send me a PM/Conversation with your email and ill take some pics.
 
My shop is so tiny that I don't even have room to change my mind. There's hardly a square inch of floor or wall that isn't occupied with something. I have a mobility kit on my Robust American Beauty so that I can roll it outdoors to turn. Turning indoors just doesn't work for me.

IMG_2000web.jpg

The upside is that turning doesn't mess up the shop. Of course, weather is a factor.
 
Bill Boehme said:
My shop is so tiny that I don't even have room to change my mind. There's hardly a square inch of floor or wall that isn't occupied with something. I have a mobility kit on my Robust American Beauty so that I can roll it outdoors to turn. Turning indoors just doesn't work for me.

View attachment 20907

The upside is that turning doesn't mess up the shop. Of course, weather is a factor.
Click to expand...

Nice shop!
 
Bill Boehme said:
My shop is so tiny that I don't even have room to change my mind. There's hardly a square inch of floor or wall that isn't occupied with something. I have a mobility kit on my Robust American Beauty so that I can roll it outdoors to turn. Turning indoors just doesn't work for me.

View attachment 20907

The upside is that turning doesn't mess up the shop. Of course, weather is a factor.
Click to expand...
Bill
I throw chips a fairly long ways - that orange netting you set up to catch chips is down right impressive!
 
Maybe we should change the name of this thread to DIGRESSING... 😉 Digression is good. Thanks, Tom. It's amazing how spinning wood unites us and gets us onto similar paths of thinking. I wonder if making the bottom of our bowl flat can be stretched into calling it "flat work"???

I for one would love to see more pictures of small shop setups. I have an open air shop under my 100 year old cabin that was excavated below the old pilings. Bare bones is an understatement for my shop. I would love to see a finely tuned small shop like yours, Tom.
 
Tom Albrecht said:
Okay, I'll digress to that this weekend. Maybe I should start a new thread?
Click to expand...

Another reason to look forward to the weekend for me, Tom! Thank you. I feel honored to have my pesticide thread digress and evolve into the mere mention of a small shop thread. Sounds like a good time for a new thread, and the topic will be a little less prone to digressing.

I'll stay tuned, and maybe when I switch out of roughing mode soon I can clean up and post a few humble pictures, too.
 
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