Wood Acquisition

Dave Hoskins

Member
Messages
5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
I looks like right after this next batch of storms have passed, in about a week I will be going into what I call my "wood acquisition mode". I have attached 3 photos of some of these modes in the past. The first one is bodark, with a friend of mine standing my it to show the size of the tree. The second two photos are of a pecan trunk. And, yes. That's my fat butt with the pecan log. Had to use a Case 580 just to move the pecan log around and get it on a trailer. The 580 could barely lift one end of the log, so we just rolled it onto the trailer. When I get into one of these times, hardly nothing else happens until all the trees have been moved. This time it could end up being as many as a dozen. Not sure, but could be. Have to still scout out the last area of trees. Only going on what the owner says right now.
 
I agree with Ted. (Although I refer to it as pecancrete. When dry, that stuff is harder than Chinese algebra.) Looking forward to seeing what Ma Nature brings you. ;)
 
That pecan log was about 2 years ago, and the bodark 3. I still have a bit of the bodark and that pecan is long gone. Like Ted, I love pecan. And so do my customers. My resellers in England and Singapore cannot get enough pecan bowls and serving dishes. Vaughn, I try to get all of my roughing out done while the piece is still green, then give it a denatured alcohol bath, and then stick in the kiln. I will turn an average of 200+ pieces a year and I do run through the wood. So, I go for big trees and cut them down according to the plans for the wood. When I'm not going to be cutting on a log for a while, I give the end a thick coat of paint to seal moisture in. I may be lucky right now and have the wood for maybe 60 pieces or so in my log yard right now. And, yes. I do use a Grizzly lathe and it works like a charm! Love the danged thing.
 
Dave, I'm with you on the turning wet. :thumb: I wouldn't want to turn pecan (or bodark, for that matter) from start to finish with dried wood. I'm not that big of glutton for punishment, lol. Both sure do make for a pretty finished piece, though. Looking forward to seeing the pics of the new haul. :thumb:

I'm also with you on the hunting big wood. My shop's in storage right now, but when I had things up and running in Los Angeles, I had pretty good luck finding big chunks of wood that the tree trimmer (or firewood lot) guys didn't want to have to cut up or move. It surprised me what I could get in the urban hardwood jungle, lol. I've got a lift gate on my pickup, so if I could roll a chunk of wood onto the tailgate, I could get it home. I envy you, though. I'd love to be playing with pieces that need a 580 and a trailer to get home. :thumb:

I did the DNA bath thing for several years, but eventually stopped doing it because I was getting pretty much the same results time-wise just letting the wood air dry wrapped in paper. But that was living in a pretty dry climate. I know for other folks it helps a lot.
 
Yep. Turning the harder woods dry is asking for pain and punishment. Tales of adventure and woe. More woe than anything. Don't envy me too much on that, Vaughn. Even though I had to recruit a buddy and his 580 to move it, there was still a massive amount of hand work to be done. And, as we get older that leads to massive body aches. hehe But, I prefer to be able to pick what I am going to work with on my own terms than depending on someone else having some wood. That's why I do it the way I do. Besides, this is Texas! Ain't we supposed to do things big? As humid as it can be here in North Central Texas, the dna does help. When it dries out more towards summer, I only use it on like cottonwood or hackberry and then I don't even put them in the kiln. After all if it is 100+ out there, for soft wood who needs the kiln? I just dna them and sit them on a shelf to dry.
 
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