• January Turning Challenge: Thin-Stemmed Something! (click here for details)
  • Conversations are now Direct Messages (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Gabriel Hoff for "Spalted Beech Round Bottom Box" being selected as Turning of the Week for January 6, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

selecting wood from a stump dump

J

Jake Truxal

Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
90
Likes
0
Location
Pittsburgh
I have accesss to a huge stump dump that has stumps and logs anywhere from 1 day to 10 years old (maybe older). What sections should I be looking for to get the most interesting grain patterns? I'm used to identifying trees by the leaves so I'm having trouble determing what type of wood I'm looking at. This is in northern Pennsylvania if that helps to identify what trees would be indignenous to the area. Alot of it is probably pine but I'm sure there are lots of other stuff too. I saw one old stump today about 6 feet in diameter that had a 10" diameter root coming out of it. Would the root be a good piece to get? If getting part of the stump is good, please describe how I want to cut it off with my chainsaw for the best grain patttern. Thanks.
 
That's the ideal way to get wood. Avoid the stuff that looks very old, at least until you get better at it. Same for the roots etc. Cut the end of logs of a size you can deal with and look for colors etc. You can also slab off a little bark to see if there's curly figure etc. You are MUCH better off with straight grained sections of logs/stumps and looking for color/figure.

Identification is not that difficult for most woods. Use what you know and the process of elimination. Even grained woods will likely be maple of some kind or cherry-you can tell which is which. Open grained woods may be oak or ash for example. Oak has rays that are clearly seen on the end grain, ash does not. If it looks interesting take it home, but don't take home tons of stuff if you have easy access. Sample and learn

You can get the Hoadley book on identifying wood and you can post GOOD pictures here. It's important that we can see the grain.

Have fun,

John
 
Stump dump sounds municipal. If so, you can run into a lot of different kinds of wood that never did grow in your area.

Open-grown trees spread rather than climb, so they have all kinds of internal stresses that give them interesting figure. If you can get down under an area which once had a big limb, you can get some amazing "reaction" wood. It's not well-behaved in drying, so bring it down slow.
 
I've got both Hoadley books and a Bausch & Lomb 10x loupe. This has helped identify a lot of the woods that I've "blanked" but never marked what species it was. While "Identifying Wood" has many photos of grain structure, more can be found using google.

If you decide to get a loupe, get something larger then 10x. If I had to do it over I'd get 20x as 10x is barely enough.

Wood identifying is an entire preoccupation in of itself.

Enjoy,
Burt
 
Most books and websites concerned with wood identification concentrate on trunk timber. And 20X seems excessive, unless your natural vision is deficient; probably more expensive, too.

Tree root growth is a stunning example of adaptive biology. It has all the self-discipline of a Mid-East bazaar. And carving or turning from root balls can also be an entire preoccupation. Pressure-washing should be the first order of business, to locate any embedded rocks. Chain saws aren't exactly self-sharpening. A spare chain won't hurt, along with sharpening tools. Also a geologist's pointy hammer, and an axe.

Start small, and work up from there. If a root looks like it's intact, it probably is. But greet each failure as a learning opportunity.
 
stump dump

Jake,
I too get most of my wood from a farmer near me who allows a tree trimer to dump his cut on his property. The farmer calls me every time a new load comes in and I high tail it over and cut a few blanks. Some of the wood I got is oak, wormy maple, mullberry, locust,cherry, walnut,osage orange,many more. What a perfect storehouse of material. The only problem is storing the blanks I get. This spring I must have cut a hundred pieces and my garage is full. I cut them into round blanks when I get home and seal them and wait till winter to turn them. I rough turn them , armorseal them,when I get a minute to spare and bag them to dry. I would love to find a easy way to get rid of my shavings. Anyone have an idea? Thanks Gary
 
Yep, walnut makes 'em founder, and the folks around here don't like cherry, either. Too tempting for them to dine on, and with the leaves/bark toxic, they don't need it.

I keep my planer shavings separate from my lathe shavings, and segregate by species. The first are great oil soakers and small animal bedding, the second are for larger animals (or chickens) and fire starting.

Nice thing about sending your shavings out is that they come back with added nitrogen for good compost. Other than that, put the nasties under the electric fence and save some money on roundup.
 
I turn a fair amount of root and stump burl I pick up as driftwood. I go for the heavy, solid pieces which will have a dense core. A little rot is OK but carry a long screwdriver to probe into bad areas to determine how far it goes. There is often some very nice staining around the rotten spots. You never know what the figure will be exactly but it is always interesting. All of this material is more challenging to prepare and mount than straight grain material but I like the challenge.

- Scott
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top