miracle wood

[jartzh]

First some background.
My brother said there was a huge tree down in his neighborhood. he and his sons put a couple slabs in his truck. 48" diameter tree . I cut into it and it stunk like a sewer, would not sand , tried to stain and it didnt take so I threw it all away except for the fish I had started. I cut a slot in the belly length wise to let the moisture out. I painted it. I threw it in my wood pile. That was 3 years ago. I
found it and sanded . no smell, and it shaped and sanded great. Its hard enough to take detail and soft enough to work quickly. I love it. I put some poly on it.
its 32" long. am working on a base now. the wood is cottonwood. who would have thought? now how do I speed up the drying, deordorizing ? He has 2 huge trees dead from the drought so I have an endless supply if I can figure out how to prep it.
has anybody else used this before?

[GinnytooU]

Re: miracle wood

Can't answer you question about the wood but I wanted to tell ya that the Fish is beautiful. Good luck with the rest of the wood. Ginny

[Brian T]

Re: miracle wood

Gotta like the fish! The grain pattern came up nicely.
General rule of thumb is wood dries about 1" thickness per year. Live trees run maybe 30-40% Moisture Content.
So, a 4" thick slab should be down to 12-14% Moisture Content in 2 years, drying from both sides. Outdoors but out of the weather/under cover..
If you can find someone with a portable chainsaw mill =
get the logs slabbed, say 4" thick. Paint the ends with something, anything, to reduce the easiest water loss. When you stack the slabs, "sticker" them = 1x2 sticks in between to make air spaces. Fling a tarp over the pile and walk away. Standing dead logs from the drought might
dry a little faster. If you find you have really big slabs that dried nicely, talk to the cabinet people that make tables and such = sell it!

[jartzh]

Re: miracle wood

Ginny,
thats the problem. I dont have any more. I threw the rest way 3 years ago.

I need to find some downed cotton wood that is off the ground and start drying it from there. I dont want to wait 5 years for my next cottonwood project.

Believe me when I say this is the best wood I have ever carved with.

Robson,
The table top idea is good. I could slab them and see if they dry pretty.
I am beside myself. I have an endless supply of a perfect wood but I dont have a big enough saw to cut it and dont want to wait for years.

[hazmat]

Re: miracle wood

I can't be certain, but it looks like Poplar to me, certainly doesn't look like any Red Oak I've seen..

The best way I've found is to cut the green wood to size, remove the bark, and apply Anchorseal. I did this just a few weekends ago with a live oak that had been struck by lightning. Great way to get a lot of cheap wood.

Store them flat and straight. I have mine in the garage, I'm in Florida though, so my garage is basically a kiln all day in the summer.

-hz

[jiju1943]

Re: miracle wood

First some background.
My brother said there was a huge tree down in his neighborhood. he and his sons put a couple slabs in his truck. 48" diameter tree . I cut into it and it stunk like a sewer, would not sand , tried to stain and it didnt take so I threw it all away except for the fish I had started. I cut a slot in the belly length wise to let the moisture out. I painted it. I threw it in my wood pile. That was 3 years ago. I
found it and sanded . no smell, and it shaped and sanded great. Its hard enough to take detail and soft enough to work quickly. I love it. I put some poly on it.
its 32" long. am working on a base now. the wood is cottonwood. who would have thought? now how do I speed up the drying, deordorizing ? He has 2 huge trees dead from the drought so I have an endless supply if I can figure out how to prep it.
has anybody else used this before?

Back when I was doing woodworking for a living I could get green wood and take it to a local kiln and have them dry it for a really low cost, maybe you can do the same.

[Brian T]

Re: miracle wood

I think the machine that I'm thinking of is called an Alaska Chainsaw Mill. Fits on the log and a conventional chainsaw does the cutting.
a) I doubt that you have a big power saw with a 36" bar.
b) find somebody who does

[TreeWizard]

Re: miracle wood

From your description it sounds like the wood may be American Elm, The grain looks like it as well.

[Tommy Taylor]

Re: miracle wood

That is some beautiful wood grain and a great job on it.

[telecarver]

Re: miracle wood

I have carved cottonwood and I have to agree that it is a dream to carve. It also stinks as you have mentioned. It is similar to poplar but doesn't have that green color when freshly cut. BTW I can tell what many species of wood are by the smell when cut. Have any of you experienced this.

[markken5889]

Re: miracle wood

Ron,

Yes! more with some than others, ie cherry, butternut, zebrawood & cocobolo in particular.

Mark