A giant gives up.

[betterbuilt]

Willow.

My first thoughts are always, not worth it.

Well this one is kind of a no lose situation. I'm only interested in the burls. The tree service is gonna do all the work and deliver it.

Here's the smallest one I could get off it with a single cut. some of the burls are in the 5 to 6 foot range. The way the tree fell over there is like four feet of trunk below the ground.

The chunk behind the burl is the Box Elder I milled. I didn't take any pictures of it but I should have. It was pretty amazing.

 

[SDB777]

Well I'll be....

Never had the opportunity to even see a willow burled up, and you go show us a gaint!

As a 'turner', I avoid willow(doesn't turn worth a dang...too stringy), but I'm sure it can be used for something. Do you happen to have a photo of the wood grain inside the burly area? Does it have the 'eyes'??



Scott B

 

[tomsteve]

whoa!!! great score. so how is willow for woodworking?

 

[betterbuilt]

Well I'll be....

Never had the opportunity to even see a willow burled up, and you go show us a gaint!

As a 'turner', I avoid willow(doesn't turn worth a dang...too stringy), but I'm sure it can be used for something. Do you happen to have a photo of the wood grain inside the burly area? Does it have the 'eyes'??



Scott B

My plan is to take that chunk to my buddy with a woodmiser and have him cut it into 4/4 or 5/4 slices. I just want to see what I'm dealing with. I'll post some pics when i get him to cut it. It did have eye's. They were larger than I was expecting.

 

[betterbuilt]

whoa!!! great score. so how is willow for woodworking?

Honestly I haven't got a clue. I'm just trying to get something from it and see how it goes. I have no expectations.

 

[tomsteve]

oh hell, if anything, i'd mount the slabs on my walls and call it art!

 

[deeker]

I dropped and cleared a lot of willow last spring. It cuts great, both on the bandmill and the CSM. The wood works quite well too.

I am now dropping and clearing a lot of Box Elder for the campgrounds, and return it in 2.5"x 12"x 8'-16' table tops.

Been very pleasently surprised how well it works and holds up with paint on it.

Even cut a bunch of BE for shed siding at least five years ago...no paint or stain....no rot either.

Kevin

 

[betterbuilt]

oh hell, if anything, i'd mount the slabs on my walls and call it art!

That's the plan at this point.

 

[betterbuilt]

I dropped and cleared a lot of willow last spring. It cuts great, both on the bandmill and the CSM. The wood works quite well too.

I am now dropping and clearing a lot of Box Elder for the campgrounds, and return it in 2.5"x 12"x 8'-16' table tops.

Been very pleasently surprised how well it works and holds up with paint on it.

Even cut a bunch of BE for shed siding at least five years ago...no paint or stain....no rot either.

Kevin

I really like the Box elder. The crotch Piece I milled was just beautiful. The siding idea is interesting. I would love to see the red heart popping across a building. Cool

 

[trimmmed]

Well I'll be....

Never had the opportunity to even see a willow burled up, and you go show us a gaint!

As a 'turner', I avoid willow(doesn't turn worth a dang...too stringy), but I'm sure it can be used for something. Do you happen to have a photo of the wood grain inside the burly area? Does it have the 'eyes'??



Scott B

willow can be a pita but you can get a huge bowl that is light in weight with very nice grain if you are patient enough. Drying is very different with willow, it will suck up any available moisture that is available to it. It will also spray water all over you and your equipment when turning....... wear a raincoat, lol. There is a bunch of eye figure in a normal piece (if you can call willow normal) a burl might be kinda wild.

 

[jimdad07]

I didn't realize box elder was that good, I usually don't even touch it for firewood, I'll start doing something with it now. Thanks for the information guys.

 

[discounthunter]

wow,awesome looking tree. hope it yields some nice pieces.defineatly worth a try.

 

[betterbuilt]

Borrowed this picture from hobbit house inc.

This would be pretty awesome siding.

 

[oldsaw]

Boxelder is a strange beast. Took down a 24"+ leaner yesterday. Turns out the middle was completely rotted out. Some of it may have made some lumber, but all in all was a poor tree for it. They normally die off around here before they get that big. Much of it will end up in the burn pile, the rest will go to the neigbor's OWB.

Dad thinks I'm crazy for wanting to mill some up, but I'm going to give it a shot this summer. Just need to find the right tree. Got a ton of willow as well, but they are all severe leaners, and are well past their prime.

Good thing is that Dad considers boxelders to be weeds, so I can take what I want.

 

[betterbuilt]

Boxelder is a strange beast. Took down a 24"+ leaner yesterday. Turns out the middle was completely rotted out. Some of it may have made some lumber, but all in all was a poor tree for it. They normally die off around here before they get that big. Much of it will end up in the burn pile, the rest will go to the neigbor's OWB.

Dad thinks I'm crazy for wanting to mill some up, but I'm going to give it a shot this summer. Just need to find the right tree. Got a ton of willow as well, but they are all severe leaners, and are well past their prime.

Good thing is that Dad considers boxelders to be weeds, so I can take what I want.

Rot in BE isn't usually a problem around here. The problem i have is they seem to be metal magnets. They swallow fences and just about anything that's within their reach.

The red flame is enough to keep me looking for a perfect specimen.

 

[betterbuilt]

Well here's one of the burls from that willow.

The slab behind it has to be at least 40inches.

 

[betterbuilt]

These fall in the big catagory also

Cheers.

 

[Currently]

Boxelder is a strange beast. Took down a 24"+ leaner yesterday. Turns out the middle was completely rotted out. Some of it may have made some lumber, but all in all was a poor tree for it. They normally die off around here before they get that big. Much of it will end up in the burn pile, the rest will go to the neigbor's OWB.

Dad thinks I'm crazy for wanting to mill some up, but I'm going to give it a shot this summer. Just need to find the right tree. Got a ton of willow as well, but they are all severe leaners, and are well past their prime.

Good thing is that Dad considers boxelders to be weeds, so I can take what I want.

Never use leaners for lumber ... it will never hold its shape and will warp like crazy. It is called reaction wood. The cells in the wood compensate fighting gravity and the wood will curl away from the ground in the position it grew.

 

[john taliaferro]

Box elder looses its red and goes brown fast [days if in the sun] still if you keep it out of the sun it does ok . Makes a light case wood soft like maple.

 

[jimdad07]

I like your shop area, nice cants also.