Ring Shake

[John Walls]

Last fall I had an old ash tree fall and destroyed my camper. I saved as much of the wood as I could salvage and have turned some of it. Just looked at that pile earlier looking for a piece to turn. I had sealed all ends heavily with yellow carpenters glue so I thought I was safe... yea, that's what I get for thinking, right? LOL Seems like every piece I have left, limbs and trunk has severe ring shake with heavy radial (?) cracks leading outward. I mean not just hairline fractures, but gapping holes/ring shake. I'm guessing it's not how I stored it in a covered shed? Is it possible it developed it while drying out? Or is it possible because the tree came down violently it was caused then and I just did not see it?
I guess I will split what's left for the firewood pile. Atleast is should... burn good.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Actual ring shake is separation of the wood at and along growth rings, and that most often is caused , yes, by falling , high winds bending or breaking the tree, among other things. It does not typically happen from drying (Though it becomes far more obvious as the wood dries) Tree that suffers ring shake early in its life can keep growing for many more years, but when cut down, still will have the original ring shake... Cracks that go across the rings are usually drying and stress cracks.

 

[Tim Connell]

Ring shake is caused by anaerobic bacteria that enter through the roots and travel slowly up the tree. While it often becomes evident after severe weather events, the cause is bacteria.

Rather than provide a bunch of links you can search "Gene Wengert, Woodweb, and ring shake". Gene is a former Professor and Extension specialist from Virginia Tech and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He has written extensively on ring shake.

If you want to delve more into the science, search clostridium & ring shake. Clostridium is the bacteria that causes shake.

 

[Dean Center]

It's a little unclear from your description of 'radial cracks' whether it's actually ring shake, but assuming it is, like Tim said. The problem was in the wood before the tree fell, maybe even was the cause of it coming down. It's not something that you did wrong or that can be prevented. Now if it's just really bad drying cracks--that could be simply that it's ash.

 

[hockenbery]

It is always disappointing to loose blanks.

Last fall I had an old ash tree fall

. It is July now. 6-9 months is often past the expiration date for blanks. They continue to dry and cracking will happen.

Seems like every piece I have left, limbs and trunk has severe ring shake with heavy radial (?) cracks leading outward.

Radial cracks are not ring shakes. Radial cracks are greatly delayed by cutting through the pith
This slide from a demo shows how a 1/2 log can shrink without radial cracking.

6 months is a long time and many 1/2 logs may crack if left that long.

 

[John Walls]

This is what I'm referring too. Is this ring shake or plain old cracked up?

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

This is what I'm referring too. Is this ring shake or plain old cracked up?

View attachment 45570

I think this is called spider checking, basically both ring and radial splitting, usually happens in over-mature and large trees.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Yup, thats pretty much just drying stress. ... (What Leo said) I got the same thing on an old over-grown apple tree. Too bad I don't have those pieces of Cherry tree I had last year, I'd be able to show you some pictures of actual ring shake, and you'd see the difference..

 

[hockenbery]

Same comments as @Leo Van Der Loo and @Brian Gustin

Had you cut through the pith the blanks would have lasted 2-3 months and possibly longer.
Leaving the blank in the round won’t keep unless it is in log lengths 8’ plus
Then you discard about 4” off the end to get to uncracked wood.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Same comments as @Leo Van Der Loo and @Brian Gustin

Had you cut through the pith the blanks would have lasted 2-3 months and possibly longer.
Leaving the blank in the round won’t keep unless it is in log lengths 8’ plus
Then you discard about 4” off the end to get to uncracked wood.

This is apparently often already present in the living tree, I have come across this only once, it was in a enormous Ailanthus that was just taken down, as I cut several pieces from the log and took some pieces to the get together where I gave these away, when I went to turn the pieces the next day I realized it had all these splits that I had not noticed while cutting it, so I did contact the people I had given the wood to, I did not want anyone to get hurt using that wood, I went back to the log the next day and I got several whole pieces from the very top end of that log, so it was not all the way up into the log.

I do suppose that these splits would show up if the log was left to dry, while I did not see them while green.

 

[john lucas]

I see ring shake a lot in trees that are blown down in storms. The problem is you most often don't see it until you start turning.

 

[robo hippy]

I had an ash bowl, and I bought a 12/4 board from the wood store. 5 or so years after I turned it, ring shake magically appeared. After it showed up, I noticed that particular growth ring was darker than the surrounding ones. I now know to check that out as well as other things when turning.

robo hippy

 

[Richard Coers]

To me the sneakiest cracking is lightning struck trees. The lignin can be boiled out, but the log looks very sound. Cut it up and you have nothing but kindling. The block in question is nothing but stress induced cracking from drying.