Native Wood

[Rivari]

I was curious if anyone was using wood that they actually cut down themselves. I have seen a few projects where a log has been sawed down to about 3/4" and the bark had been left on. I thought it made a nice presentation and didn't know if anyone was doing similiar things.

My only question(s) about doing this is how do you keep the bark from flaking off during cutting and is there anything you need to do as far as aging the wood?

On my property we have Aspen, White Birch and Black Spruce, has anyone tried to work with such wood?

Thanks folks!

[Back2Jake]

I am currently working with Aspen, and it is the first time.

I originally liked the wood because of the visual characteristics of it. I was very pleased with the overall cut of aspen. The project I cut was from 3/4" aspen, and it was an intarsia piece. The wood cut smooth and there was no burning on the cut edge. So far, sanding and contouring the wood has been just as nice.

I recommend trying aspen!

[BobD (Archive)]

Harvesting wood is a little tougher than it sounds! Most of what you buy in stores has been kiln dried to get the proper moisture content. It's possible to air dry lumber, but it takes longer and your work is very likely to check or crack!

My father has a chainsaw mill and cuts down a lot of Black Cherry on his property in NW Pennsylvania. To keep the wood from checking, he paints the ends with oil-based paint or dips the ends in parafin. This prevents the wood from drying out too quickly and cracking.

As far as keeping the bark on, I'd suggest several coats of clear coat. I've done some things and kept the bark on just using Krylon!

Bob

[jadings]

My father in law and I have been cutting trees into lumber for several years now. We have only cut up trees that have been blown over or lightening or something like that. We have not cut up a fresh fallen tree. We have a friend use a portable saw mill. The logs are cut to approx 1 inch thick. We found that any thinner really twists. The painting of the ends of the lumber really helps keep the checking and cracking down but the ends still seem to split. We had a maple tree fall about 4 years ago and just had it cut up this past summer. The wood was georgeous. It was spalted slightly with a few burls and knots. So far the drying has been good. Other kind of trees were cherry, oak, apple, elm, they all seem to be okay.

[jadings]

native wood

I would like to attach a picture of a project i did with that maple however i do not know how to upload an image. Any ideas?

[GrayBeard Phil]

Jadings:

Using wind blown wood, have you had any problems with the wood being insect infested? I thought I read some where that one needed to remove at least 1/4 of the bark rather quickly because of insects.

Phil

[jadings]

insects

I have not left any bark on the wood we used. I have had it cut into square lumber. It also was dried in an outside garage.

As far as insects, I have not had any real issues.

How do i upload a photo?

I think you would like the project a did with that maple.

[jadings]

self harvested maple

Hope this works: