What causes this?

[ft. churchill]

Regardless of what kind of tree or what might of caused it (I'm under the impression that it's naturally occurring) That is one fine piece of wood, it should be used for something nice, turned into a bowl, cutting board, pistol grips or knife handles. I also like doing humbolt cuts 'cause my logs have squarer ends and the notch falls out on its own. Good job on yours.

 

[Stihl310]

I've noticed these streaks in maples that we used to tap for syrup, ive always just assumed (maybe incorrectly) that they were discolored from the metallic spiles we used to tap them with.

 

[lone wolf]

 

[Arbonaut]

Nice hinge dudette!

Fixed.

I think it is "Spalt". Alot of woodworkers go for it. Not my cup of tea. Somebody say verticillium wilt? I'd like to see the adjoining trees in a couple months.

 

[Arbonaut]

End sealer?

Paraffin.

 

[kennyl70]

Easy answer when you think about it.......... GOD

 

[FLHX Storm]

Regardless of what kind of tree or what might of caused it (I'm under the impression that it's naturally occurring) That is one fine piece of wood, it should be used for something nice, turned into a bowl, cutting board, pistol grips or knife handles. I also like doing humbolt cuts 'cause my logs have squarer ends and the notch falls out on its own. Good job on yours.

With the amount of wood from that tree, I could make a whole set of bowl's, even a few large ones, a several big cutting boards for when I'm processing deer, n lots of grips for my revolver, maybe make a few gun stocks for my rifle n shotguns, cut a few cookies for use as a clock kind of similar to the picture of the one Lone Wolf posted, but using a cookie instead of a slab due to the unique design in the wood. Maybe carve a twisted spire out of a piece for my garden, n if I get good, maybe carve a full sized 3 dimensional motorcycle out of several chunks glued n pinned together ......... The possibilities are endless. But first I have to learn how to dry the wood so it won't check or crack. Do I remove the bark and fast dry, or slow dry, or leave the bark on and so on.

I do think my face and back cuts have lots of room for improvement. N though I use the conventional cut quite a bit, I am noticing more and more that I am doing the humbolt instead. To me it just seems more natural. Thanks for the compliment on the cut! :msp_biggrin:

 

[lone wolf]

With the amount of wood from that tree, I could make a whole set of bowl's, even a few large ones, a several big cutting boards for when I'm processing deer, n lots of grips for my revolver, maybe make a few gun stocks for my rifle n shotguns, cut a few cookies for use as a clock kind of similar to the picture of the one Lone Wolf posted, but using a cookie instead of a slab due to the unique design in the wood. Maybe carve a twisted spire out of a piece for my garden, n if I get good, maybe carve a full sized 3 dimensional motorcycle out of several chunks glued n pinned together ......... The possibilities are endless. But first I have to learn how to dry the wood so it won't check or crack. Do I remove the bark and fast dry, or slow dry, or leave the bark on and so on.

I do think my face and back cuts have lots of room for improvement. N though I use the conventional cut quite a bit, I am noticing more and more that I am doing the humbolt instead. To me it just seems more natural. Thanks for the compliment on the cut! :msp_biggrin:

Actually you are better off getting the wood or any other wood milled into lumber or planks or slabs whatever you want to call them. The reason for this is because cookies tend to crack and check a lot for some reason. Therefore milled slabs with painted ends left in an unheated shed for a year or two will dry out perfectly. Slabs don't check as much as cookies but you can use cookies just dry out a bunch of them slowly because most will crack but some wont.

 

[lone wolf]

View attachment 281171

 

[FLHX Storm]

.

Thank you for the tips and pictures. I will keep that in mind when I go to cutting or having the wood cut. I don't have a mill or an attachment for the chainsaws to make slabs ----- yet! So any cutting like that will have to be outsourced. I can do cookies until the cows come home though. :msp_smile:

 

[lone wolf]

Thank you for the tips and pictures. I will keep that in mind when I go to cutting or having the wood cut. I don't have a mill or an attachment for the chainsaws to make slabs ----- yet! So any cutting like that will have to be outsourced. I can do cookies until the cows come home though. :msp_smile:

Red Cedar is real nice stuff to look at and work with.

 

[Fred Wright]

Was out loading rounds today and thought I'd get a photo. This is a red maple I dropped a couple weeks ago.

We have a shallow well, the water is high in iron and other assorted undesirables. The woodlot is lower lying, it usually floods during a good rain and stays that way for days.

 

[flashhole]

Nice clean cuts Fred. That should burn really well when seasoned. I expect the bark will fall off in a couple months.

 

[lone wolf]

Nice clean cuts Fred. That should burn really well when seasoned. I expect the bark will fall off in a couple months.

Red Maple AKA Swamp Maple you can tell where the low lying areas are by the Swamp Maples that grow there profusely.

 

[haveawoody]

Fred Wright,

Got to love the pretty color stains in wood from high iron water.
Think it might even be the iron reducing bacteria that works it's way in.
Same bacteria that makes your water stink with iron hydrate as the waste product.

 

[FLHX Storm]

I went ahead an noodled the bottom part of the stump and this is what it looks like! I also checked to see if there was any oil residue present n there wasn't any. I did the sniff thing and it didn't have a smell of sulfur or any other chemical. It did have a real light smell of maple though.

 

[haveawoody]

FLHX Storm,

Some weird and wonderful maple disease then or just a very weak or bug laden tree at some point in it's life.
The bark layer on the tree looks very odd like a recovery from a few different wars.

 

[darkbyrd]

FLHX, we got a bandsaw mill iffin you're wanting to drive down the mountain.

 

[lone wolf]

FLHX, we got a bandsaw mill iffin you're wanting to drive down the mountain.

Lucky Bird.

 

[ultimate buzz]

Spalted Maple

FLXH,

I believe Stroker Ace nailed it when he said the maple was spalted. Spalted maple has all kinds of figuration, and as previously mentioned is prized by turners, carvers, cabinetmakers and various other woodworkers.

If you are contemplating working more extensively with spalted wood, one thing to keep in mind, is that spalted wood is caused by a fungus, and you want to absolutely keep any dust out of your eyes and especially out of your lungs. Woodworkers have had numerous lung problems caused by the fungal spores from spalted wood. If you do any prolonged saw work or ANY sanding on spalted wood, wear a quality dust mask and goggles. If you google spalted wood you should be able to find more info on this.-ken