Wood cutting

[R Dockrell]

Went over to my folks place yesterday to find my dad cutting down (trimming) the neibours ornimental flowering fruit tree. Thirty years ago I would have gotten hung for doing what he is doing now.
It seems the new neibours don't like the large berries (plums I think) littering the lawn. So dad chain saw in hand offered to trim away the larger lower branches for smokehouse wood now and remove the rest of the tree in the spring.
The thing is that there are these 8 in dia. limbs with at least 7 inches of nice hard cinimon colored hard wood in the core. I think they will make lovely handle material.
Question being how do I dry it and how do I cut it to get scales and blocks? I have been told to "quarter cut" it. Whats that and hows it done? Any sugjestions would be appreciated. The limbs are now cut to straight sections about 3 feet long. The rest of the tree comes down in the spring.

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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html

 

[Rob!]

Robert

I don't know how much this helps, but I used to used cedar for carving decoys. When I got a green log, I would leave the bark on and seal the end grain with parrafin wax. I'd let it dry at least two years in the (dry) basement before using it. I never had any problems. I presume at least of this would apply to your situation. At the very least, I would seal the end grain IMMEDIATELY. It is there that drying occurrs much faster than the rest of the log - resulting in cracking and warping.

The other thing I've found is that small pieces crack and warp less than big pieces. As an experiment, you might want to cut one piece up into scales and blocks right away - a bit oversize so you can trim it up later.

Luck

Rob!


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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives

 

[Terry Morris]

I agree with Rob, seal the ends fast. Wood from fruit trees is more prone to cracking for some reason. Depending on how much wood there is or future plans, you might consider building a solar wood kiln. Think miniature greenhouse with vents. Shouldn't cost. Try these links here if you are interested. http://woodworking.about.com/hobbies/woodworking/msub13.htm
Terry

 

[R Dockrell]

Ends are now sealed.
How do I cut it for scales and blocks?
Should I cut It now or wait a month or two?


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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html

 

[mikeS]

I cut my green stock up on my tablesaw, sometimes I cut one flat side with the chainsaw.

I cut it up into blocks and scales OVERSIZE evrything.

Get a metal 5 gal bucket or equivalent, plywood box would do, cut some air holes in the bottom edge of the bucket. Use a piece of screen or a cake cooling rack to suspend the wood in the bucket. Put stickers between the blocks and scales.

Rig a forty watt lightbulb in the bottom of the bucket, make sure it won't set anything on fire.

Weigh the wood, when it stops losing weight it's done. end sealing is very important, if you are drying logs, peel the bark, the wood will dry through the side grain and it will be more even.
Expect the log to take a long time to dry

Last time I dried some scales I put a lightbulb in an old refrigerator and used the racks to put the wood on, if you do this make sure the door is cracked open so the moisture can get out.

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Sola Fide