I think it might be important to take a picture, with tapemeasure, of that log to record that it existed. It really is rare if not unique at that size. Not sure what Ironwood is used for, other than firewood, fenceposts. Might make a great bat or axe handle, but it is often quite twisted and hard to split...imagine it would be hard to work with. Would be really neat, if that is a straight piece of wood, to try to get a nice table top and some butcher block out of it, if nothing else. Maybe a bowl? Something special. That is a special piece of wood.
I called my friend on the way home from work and he said it is in the bottom of his burn pile. I begged him to try and dig it out with his skid loader and offered a financial incentive. I guess there is a 13 foot drift across his septic mound cutting off access to the log pile and they are eager to burn the huge brush pile. Not too happy with the situation! I might be OCD about this one but I really want to get to the bottom of that pile!
Parents have quite a few Hophornbeam/Ironwood on their 10 acres.Understory tree,very rare to see them over 8"-10" diameter/40'tall. Most I see around here are 4" to 6" max,a couple I removed some years ago were just under 10" & they had started to hollow out a little at the core.State record is just over 12" diameter,in some protected isolated part of rural NE Iowa. Early settlers used the wood for things that took abuse/needed high strength & shock resistance,like certain tool handles,mallets,levers,wedges & rollers for moving heavy loads.Hard to work,like Hickory & Osage Orange/Hedge,but finishes very smoothly & takes a very high polish.Once in a while it can be found at some online or local hardwood retailers that deal in blocks & sticks for woodturning,carving. Most people will cut their own locally when available. Pic 1 - mallet,ironwood/white oak candlestick,turned egg ''art object'' with cherry vase,19th century German mortice chisel w/ironwood handle Pic 2 mallet
Thank you for posting that. I'm now going to try to make something of ironwood! What a beautiful finish the Ironwood produces! I'm guessing you made most of those? Very, very nice. And I have a 14" DBH Ironwood thirty feet from my sliding glass door, right near my woodpiles. The top is starting to die. I guess I'll take a picture of it with a tape measure in the picture, to record its size. Interesting that you have found them hollow. I am on limestone, with very little topsoil. Not at all uncommon to have maple and beech very hollow. But I have never seen an ironwood tree with any loss of wood. Rather, they stand for many years after dying, eventually the roots rot and they fall, but invariably the wood is still fine, and will remain so for a good number of years on the forest floor.
I heard that Black Sabbath wrote a song about it... "I like iron wood, hard on chains but sure burns good." I think the lyrics were eventually tweaked to be about some Iron bloke.
On the coast when they were building wooden fishing boats, they used ironwood to sheath the first few feet of the bow section. I don't know where they got the ironwood from but it was very distinctive on the white hulled boats. It was a very dark coloured wood. It was used to protect the bow of the boat from the anchors.
Have burned lots of American hornbeam. Bottoms are loaded with it here. Typically 4-6" with some upto 12". Great stuff for a furnace. No splitting, thin bark, low on ash. Hop hornbeam is common here also but not like American. Both burn about the same. Neither will dull a chain any more than any other wood. Myth.
Interesting, didn't know that Iron Wood has been used in boat construction, I bet it is interesting to work with. How do you like that that Woodchuck Justwood? We had one on the farm, but the Old man is too old to run it anymore unfortunately.
