We have a big arbor vita right in front of our house. My wife told me this morning she wants me to chop it dow because its growing into the house and she wants to plant some smaller shrubs in its place. Woot. Don't have to ask me twice. I think I'll use my 18" AK. Now I just have to convince her to leave a little bit of stump in the ground so I can harvest some fatwood later.
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Will be chopping down big Arbor Vita later today
- Thread starter Rich_S
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As soon as I posted this, I said to myself why wait chop it down now. So I did. Unbeknownst to me, arbor vitas (or at lest this one) don't have a single trunk, rather it's 3-4 trunks together. Chopped it down with ease.
I was wearing sandals and halfway through my foot was itching. I looked down to see a black spiny haired caterpillar crawling on top of my foot. For whatever reason I thought it would be a good idea to chop him in half with the khuk while he was still on my foot. Actually it was less of a conscious thought and more of an instinctive reaction when I saw the thing crawling on my foot. So I gave him a light tap with the tip of the khuk. Cut him right in half and also broke my own skin (not bad, just like a little paper cut). Anyway, the sucker must have stung me because now I have pea sized welt on my foot that itches like crazy.
I was wearing sandals and halfway through my foot was itching. I looked down to see a black spiny haired caterpillar crawling on top of my foot. For whatever reason I thought it would be a good idea to chop him in half with the khuk while he was still on my foot. Actually it was less of a conscious thought and more of an instinctive reaction when I saw the thing crawling on my foot. So I gave him a light tap with the tip of the khuk. Cut him right in half and also broke my own skin (not bad, just like a little paper cut). Anyway, the sucker must have stung me because now I have pea sized welt on my foot that itches like crazy.
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You realise after injecting yourself with caterpiler blood you may may start to mutate?
Perhaps you should take the caterpilar {& your foot} to a hospital?
Tommorw you might be covered in hair & have the urge to crawl evrywhere.
Spiral
Perhaps you should take the caterpilar {& your foot} to a hospital?
Tommorw you might be covered in hair & have the urge to crawl evrywhere.
Spiral
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Shouldn't we add this to the safety thread? Don't chop yourself with caterpillar-infected khuk, or you'll turn into a were-caterpillar zombie? 
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Glad you weren't holding a .45 when you had your instinctive reaction.
Might be time to review the safety thread again, although I'm not sure catepillar attacks are covered.
(Just a thought, if you find yourself encasing yourself in a silk-like thread, make sure you are firmly affixed to a branch that can hold your weight.)
justsayin'
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Rich is any of the trunks large enough to make knife handles with?
Arborvitae is also known as Thuja, part of the Latin name, and is a very beautiful wood!!!!:thumbup: 
I got the pic below from This website that has more examples of the wood in finished projects.
I had never heard of Thuja until I got my Barkie that was handled with it and I immediately fell deeply for it!
So if some of the wood is of a good size you might want to lay it flat in a nice dry place with good ventilation to dry for further possible projects.
But then it may be the wrong kind of Arborvitae and have lousy color and grain.
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Lovely wood indeed, thats root ball Thuja from the Atlas mountains of Morroco.
it was the most sought after wood for furniture in ancient Rome.:thumbup:
I think American thuja is not quite so amazing perhaps? but could be wrong, I have never had any.
Spiral
it was the most sought after wood for furniture in ancient Rome.:thumbup:
I think American thuja is not quite so amazing perhaps? but could be wrong, I have never had any.
Spiral
Rich is any of the trunks large enough to make knife handles with?
I got the pic below from This website that has more examples of the wood in finished projects.
I had never heard of Thuja until I got my Barkie that was handled with it and I immediately fell deeply for it!
So if some of the wood is of a good size you might want to lay it flat in a nice dry place with good ventilation to dry for further possible projects.
But then it may be the wrong kind of Arborvitae and have lousy color and grain.
Most of the trunks were around 1.5" in diameter, but one was closer to 3". I doubt it has the beautiful grain in the pic you posted though, but I'll double check.
I heard of this happening before, a friend of a friends mothers brothers sons best friend cut himself on the arm with a blessed Khukuri which a catapillar happened to be on and it stung him. One month later he went into a caccoon and several weeks later emerged as butterfly man. His only 2 super powers were the ability to fly and drink sugared water at an incredible rate unfortunately