Fatwood

Delkancott

Delkancott

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Joined
Dec 30, 2010
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615
So I did a little reading about Fatwood and it seems its the heartwood and/or pit/trunkcore wood on pines. My questions are: Is there a best tree (in New England area) to dig into for fatwood? What are some positive signs of a possible donor? What would be most advisable method to retrieve said wood (knife/axe/stihl/etc)? And what are the advantages?

Thanks a ton as always!
 
White and red pine stumps after they have broken or been sawed off.Hemlock doesnt appear to do it. Sometimes the best fatwood is in the root stucture. Look for old standing rotted pines and use a machete or hatchet to take the outside off. Fatwood will have a strong turpentine smell and a golden color. If you use a chain saw, thin the chain oil with kerosene to make the cleanup easier.Do a fatwood search on here. Lot of postings on this subject--KV
 
There is no fatwood in northern Missouri. A fellow forumite sent me a couple of pieces and I quickly used them up. A few weeks back while grocery shopping at a Kroger store, there in the bar b que section, were two boxes of fatwood. It is called Starter Stikk. Its a pound and a half box for five bucks. Theres quite a bit there.
 
The most obvious sign of fatwood over here is when there is a rotted stump with preserved Fatwood fingers coming out of it as in this one I saw yesterday....

p2100001k.jpg

By Pitdog2010 at 2011-02-11
 
I'm in NH and have had best luck looking around all the blowdowns from storms of recent years; many fatwood pockets higher in the trees (from damaged areas like lightning, or other fallen trees) are now on the ground for the taking. I've not found a "fully loaded" stump yet, but not for lack of whacking.
 
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