I decided to bring this here. I just trimmed a couple of branches off a large Lilac bush. Got tired of them trying to knock me off the mower. Some of them are 2" to 3" in diameter. I was thinking about sawing them down with my table saw for maybe knife handles. Is this possible or are they to small? Don't know much about the finish on Lilac or Sawyering?
Now I know what to do with my lilac trimmings. I always liked the flowers and people thought I was crazy when I called a lilac a tree. I grew up with a front porch surrounded by lilacs that were over 20 feet tall and maybe 6 inches DBH. To me, that was a tree. I now have some smaller diameter lilacs in my yard that are reaching the rooftop on my 2 story house so again they don't seem much like bushes. They are in flower right now but some of them are encroaching on the driveway so at least a few branches need to be cut back. With wood being among the most dense in Europe, I bet they would burn well once dry. Thanks for the link Eric VW .
If you want to keep all of your fingers you'll definitely want to make some type of clamping jig before sending it through a table saw. There's a variety of plans for "table saw jointer jig" that could be made to work. But if it was me I'd probably use my bandsaw instead. If you can make it out to my place next month I can show you an example of this type of jig though mine is scaled for slicing 8' logs on my bandsaw. I also have some nice brass 2 piece rivets specially designed for re handling knives.
My only experience with lilac was putting a small piece on a lathe once, just experimenting because the color of the heartwood was very nice. It cracked before I was even finished turning it. I'd imagine that a large enough piece could be cut into some pen blanks or for small projects or inlay/marquetry work.
Some smoking website said this could give a bit of a floral flavor to that food. I guess some veggies being grilled might benefit?