We had this large Norway taken down well over a year ago. We had nice weather here today and it was time to GIBIR. I blocked out the stump and plunged in and across. I'll put them up to dry for a few months and see what happens. They will be either turning blanks or sawed into planks to make boxes. I had a bit of curly maple toward one side. The work took just over 1 tank of gas and 4 or 5 touch ups with the Pferd file set. I plunged in and across underneath and popped them with a wedge. Curly and spalting. The curl in the center is pretty visible standing back a bit. I have about another 12" left below this level as the stump is on the side of a hill. The grain of the wood should get interesting at this level as it is about exposed root level. It should be dense.
You'll get some beautiful project stock for sure from that fishingpol It'll take some time, but once you create something with that curly spalting, eyes will POP
Nice find! Seems like all the maple I've gotten has some nice figure somewhere. I'm salvaging firewood chucks with my bandsaw now. Not sure what'll become of it but I just can't bring myself to burn it.
You sound just like my SIL. He's the local high school shop teacher and he's always sneaking up to the wood pile to cut out a burl or a crotch or just about anything with an interesting grain. It's all good though because I really hate to block up some beautiful walnut or cherry, even oak for that matter for the splitter....but I don't like being cold worse. On a side note, he does some awesome lathe work too. Here's a little sample. Thread Hijack Alert !!!! Spalted maple, no finish. If a fellow looks real close, he can see a few of these stuck inside your last pic.....
I've read about Pentacryl stabilizing wet wood for turning and helping prevent checking. I need to do some reading on Polycryl for hardening soft spalted wood. Anyone use it? I have some nice spalted maple pieces that are a little soft in places. I kept them, and Polycryl may be the answer to making it usable. tractorman44, no problem with hijack, as that nice piece is relevant to the topic. I always like to see project pics. Looks like an eccentric chuck was used. Careful of the sawdust with the fungus in it. It can be a respiratory irritant.
I just watched an episode of "The Woodwright's Shop" last night on oval and eccentric turning. He used a standard chuck but offset the centers on the workpiece. I'd wager the narrower portion was turned first with offset centers. I'm interested in hearing more about stabilizers as well. I've worked with some spalted red maple; but for the most part it was just in the beginning stages around bug holes etc. so it was plenty solid. One piece was a little further gone, but I couldn't pass it by because it was so interesting. But it was a little softer and more difficult to machine. That one made it into the cutting board I made for my girlfriend. If you look closely there's a lot of grain tearout - my camera is picking it up as white flecks here, and you can see machine marks from the planer as well. A wide belt sander might have been able to clean it up though.
That is a nice contrast. I'll have a bit to read up on. These are the small planks from a stump i cut at a friends house. These are probably beyond use, but the grain is pretty nice. They are pretty light in weight, no density left. I sawed a few larger pieces down on the band saw and the fungus ran across the grain. These are not planed. I wonder if the Polycryl will provided some density to work it.
Yeah I bet it would have been impossible to turn that piece, but it still sawed pretty good and being surrounded by contrasting wood hides it pretty well. So it depends a lot on what you want to do with it I think. There's a lot of lightning damage in the black walnut from my sisters. Some of the pieces could be really cool though if they could be filled with something clear and hard. Ill keep you posted on my own research.
Pecking away a bit more today. The wood is more dense and flaring out to the roots. A bit of curl on this side. Curly.
