Vine Maple

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ArtB

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renton wa
May not be the best category to post this, but my best guess as to who has seen the most VM may be folks following the forestry/logging column.

Uses for vine maple question for PNW folks who know what it is.

Have used VM for peavey handles, seems to work about as well as hickory.
Probably should try to make a few maul or axe handles and see how they work?
Anyone made various VM handles?
Anyone used VM for other purposes, and how well did it work?

Other use of a big thicket - one of the best 'jungle gyms' ever per my kids and grandkids, I never saw VM till I moved out her in '67. Where else can a kid grab a branch and swing 20 ft down to the ground?

Saw a few web sites where guys are selling a single stick of VM for $30 for bows. May have to try that someday. Both making a VM bow and trying to sell VM.

Have a few acres of VM in amonst the fir near my Mossyrock woodlot. No great grandkids yet for the 'jungle gym' usage, and GKs loose interest after 12 YO and would rather get turned loose with a double bit to see how fast they can drop a 12" fir by hand.

One of first experiences with VM trying to clear a patch with old small dozer 50 years ago was that it is tough enough to roll the tracks off a D2 or slap you in the face a good whack.
 
used to make self bows out of it when I was a kid, then I got a job and just bought a good one... Some day I hope to make a well finished and "nice" self bow out of either vine maple or Pacific Yew... but yeah probably not

I have used it for axe handles, and peavy handles does ok but you need to let it season better then I ever did

The strangest thing has been a leaf spring on a snowmobile trailer, had one break on the way up the mountain, bent axle whole shebang... jacked er up, come-a-longed the axle more or less straight, sawed up a chunk of viney maple, wired it in place and continued on our trip.

The really messed up thing is that my dad then took said trailer and said viney maple spring to mt Baker the following weekend...

Makes a dandy catapult if you ever find yourself storming a castle too.

Mostly though its just good for denting helmets and getting stuck in tracks
 
We use it to smoke jerky and fish. I prefer to peel the bark off of mine since it seems to give it a bitter taste. The old timers that use it for lots of things. I remember the first time I battled a patch setting choker, VM patch kicked my ass.

D
 
Very good for smoking Salmon. Vine maple grows in the canyon behind the barn.

Other woods I use for smoking fish include Alder and Pacific Big Leaf Maple, both local and I have both growing on the property. I like Mesquite and Hickory, but have to buy at the Sporting Goods store.
made some bl maple smoked bacon a few years ago, cured in brown suger... sadly it didn't make much, or last very long
 
Can't think of any fond memories of vine maple. Baldface hornets like to make nests in it. Not much fun when dive off the hill with the cat to pick up a turn and see 2or 3 nests hanging about head high. knowing you have to run through at least one. Can hide a lot of elk. It is kinda cool to see a big bull through his horns back and run through it. Quite a clatter.
 
Pork Ribs and my three bean meld. Smoked. Worth killing for.

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