Wood-Eating Tree

Vaughn McMillan

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Thought I'd show what I found inside a piece of ash I turned tonight. It was a root ball, and it looks like it engulfed a piece of redwood landscaping lumber. That's the only explanation I can think of for the straight line and the completely different kind of wood, with grain going in a different direction.

CIMG1865T - Root Ball 800.jpg

The other half of this chunk of wood had the same (mirror) inclusion.
 
Might want to check for nails, could be that this chunk of wood was nailed to the tree at some point?

It could also be that the 2x4 looking wood was a stake to hold the tree upright?

Sure is not something you would expect to find in a root ball :dunno:
 
...It could also be that the 2x4 looking wood was a stake to hold the tree upright?...
I think that was the case. I turned it completely away in hollowing the bowl, and didn't run into anything unexpected. I did have a garden slug flung on me when I first spun it up on the lathe, though. :eek: He had a fatal accident shortly thereafter. :rolleyes:
 
last year when I was hunting down a water flow problem at a friends home I found that the water line went straight through the middle of the tree trunk that was in their front yard. The tree had grown right around the water main and had squeezed it to a trickle. Goes to show how long ago that tree was planted and the age of the home. So I can see something like that happening with a root ball. I bet that will make an interesting bowl to say the least and the stories of Kamikaze slugs just adds to the entertainment.
 
Remarkable spot Vaughn, you can only guess were it came from, but sometimes wood can really surprise you.
 
Nice surprise Vaughn! It's amazing what you can find in some wood sometimes....Oh and the grub.....teaches you to wear a face shield or turn with your mouth closed!
 
I think that was the case. I turned it completely away in hollowing the bowl, and didn't run into anything unexpected. I did have a garden slug flung on me when I first spun it up on the lathe, though. :eek: He had a fatal accident shortly thereafter. :rolleyes:

Oh no. That was no slug. That was an emissary from another world who traveled here in his lanscape-lumber-esque spacecraft to try to stave off an intergalactic war that could destroy both civilizations. He had been waiting, years, for some earthman to free him from his arboreal prison. All is lost.

 
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Oh no. That was no slug. That was an emissary from another world who traveled here in his lanscape-lumber-esque spacecraft to try to stave off an intergalactic war that could destroy both civilizations. He had been waiting, years, for some earthman to free him from his arboreal prison. All is lost.

:rofl: Now that is funny!

Around here we've got lots of hackberry trees, basically weed trees, but if they get some spalting going on, they make wonderful turning stock. The trees, though, are particularly fond of sprouting up along fence lines and eating barbed wire and such, so one definitely needs to be careful when cutting them open. I think birds eat the berries from the trees and the seeds are not digested, but passed on through, so to speak. The birds hang out on the fences for their communal constitutionals and the undigested seeds get "dumped" to the ground under the fence and the rest is history.
 
Oh no. That was no slug. That was an emissary from another world who traveled here in his lanscape-lumber-esque spacecraft to try to stave off an intergalactic war that could destroy both civilizations. He had been waiting, years, for some earthman to free him from his arboreal prison. All is lost.



Glenn...STOP..back away from the exotic wood chips, sawdust etc. You have overexposed yourself again. Any further exposure could result in this form of brain damage becoming permanent ........and then of course you'd become a turner famous for developing new techniques.....like a concentric, eccentric off centered centering chuck with disappearing jaws that are automatically adjustable using brainwaves.........Of course, you body would like a frog and it'd be hard to hold tools but you might be able to make a living on the patents if you could get others to sniff exotic wood chips too.....:eek::rolleyes::D
 
Ken, you may want to back away from the woodchips too!

That poor slug. He ended his life with an incredible roller-coaster ride only to find himself in mortal danger. I'm sure the slug-world will have something to say about that. The Slug Uprising is coming, friends!! Get your salt ready.
 
About once a year we drive a log through the sawmill that has some sort of embedded shrapnel in it. One year we hit an old porcelain electric fence insulator and I thought for sure Earth First had swept across East Thorndike and riddled our trees withs pikes. As that insulator passed by my nose...with chunks of saw teeth quickly following, I thought the world was going to end.

That was on the old 52 inch rotary saw so it was quite a sight. It was quite the carnage too. Teeth, inserts and maybe even hammering the blade was all in order when you hit something good with that saw blade configuration. Now that we saw on the bandsaw mill, all it means is a ruined blade. No big deal 25 bucks maybe??:dunno:

I am just hoping I never find my old two-bit ax. I was down in a section of my land just cruising around one day and needed to do something. I ran my ax into a tree to hold it and kind of forgot to pick it up when I left. I searched for it a dozen times since then, but have never found it. Some day, some sawyer will find it I'm sure.

Still wood amazes me. From figure, grain and even embedded items, its truly amazing what this simple plant can overcome.
 
I did have a garden slug flung on me when I first spun it up on the lathe, though. :eek: He had a fatal accident shortly thereafter. :rolleyes:

Slugs are hermaphrodites: they all have male and female reproductive systems. Yes, they can mate with themselves!!! They can stretch to 20 times their normal length enabling them to squeeze through openings to get at food. Slugs can follow slime trails they left from the night before. Other slugs can also pick up on this same trail creating a slug network to the host plants! Slugs and snails actually both have shells. Slugs' shells are much smaller and not visible as they are underneath the flesh on their back.
Slug eggs are in the soil just about everywhere. They can be there for years and then hatch when conditions are right. It actually takes moisture to allow them to hatch. To identify the eggs look for oval shaped white colored eggs in moist soil areas, under rocks, and boards. Eggs are laid in clusters of two dozen eggs each. The adults also overwinter in the soil and can live for many years. In the Northwest they have banana slugs which are bright yellow, grow to 8 inches with some up to 18 inches! There are at least 40 species of slugs in the US.

Vaughn ...You beast! :eek: That's It... I'm calling the Humane Society!
or maybe that bug man that was on Men in Black! ...He will fix your wagon buster!

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Sorry... I've became a little more sensitive to the perils of bugs ever since I saw the movie it's a bugs life.....:rofl:

But seriously, Vaughn are you going to finish the bowl?
 
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