Waste wood into profit Sawyers turn wood otherwise destined for the landfill into a business. June 5, Managing a Neglected Old Stand of Red Pine A sixty-year-old red pine plantation is now crowded and unhealthy.  Planning for a Successful Timber Harvest Plan carefully and balance your priorities as you decide who should harvest your saleable trees, and how. July 30, How to Notch When Felling Timber A discussion of Harvesting Wood For Turning Key the pros and cons of different notching strategies used when cutting down trees. June 14,   Blown Down Tree Lumber Possibilities Uprooted tress may yield undamaged timber when snapped trees do not. June 15, Tree identification guide Recommended resources for identifying the trees in your region. Harvesting of wood differs radically from harvesting of other crops. The yearly growth of each individual tree cannot be detached from the living plant.  Harvesting includes marking the trees to be removed (in selective cutting), felling and processing (conversion) of trees, and transportation of the wood from the felling site, or stump area, to a roadside storage site or a central processing yard (landing) in the forest. Processing includes top removal (topping), delimbing, crosscutting into logs (bucking), debarking, and sometimes chipping of undesirable trees or logging residues. Wood harvesting contributes to SDGs: Wood harvesting encompasses felling, extraction, on site/landing processing, and loading of trees, logs or other tree parts onto trucks. Harvesting has a lasting impact on forest structure and ecosystem functioning. Environmentally sound forest harvesting and transport operations are therefore essential components of sustainable forestry.

A recent storm broke 2 large limbs on the big cherry tree in my garden. Rather than cut them up harvesting wood for turning down fire wood I decided to turn them into blanks and leave them to season naturally for future use. Cherry is a hard wood that would be expensive to buy pre seasoned especially in large pieces so i could not let this opportunity slip past. Fallen tree limbs are heavy and can be very dangerous if they are still attached harvesting wood for turning down the tree, I will not go into how to remove fallen limbs as it harvesting wood for turning down best done by someone who has had experience working with trees.

Once the limbs where sawn up into manageable piece i turned them into down to remove the bark and make them into uniform cylinders, these blanks are then left to dry out naturally, seasoning will take up to harvesting wood for turning down couple of years depending on how thick the pieces are.

Blanks should be stored in a cool harvesting wood for turning down place that has a good air flow around it but not be in direct sunlight or near any source of heat.

I store small blanks in old cardboard fruit boxes with a loose cardboard cover blanks should be stacked with enough space between each other to allow a good air flow this will help reduce the chance of mould growing on the blank. About 2 years ago I seasoned some pieces of white thorn from a big thorn bush that grew in my back garden it would have been about years old and I turned as much usable pieces as possible as i would be unlikely to be lucky enough to get hold of large bits of white thorn again.

These pieces are now nicely seasoned and are proving to be very nice to work with. Turning green wood is kind of a messy affair as depending on the wood and its density can leave you soaked in sap that gets flung out by centrifugal force when the piece is spun on the lathe.

Large pieces of wood can be very off balance when mounted on the lathe and may should be spun at the lowest speed harvesting wood for turning down they had harvesting wood for turning down trued, green wood is very soft and cuts like butter but until the blank is truly round be aware that bark or large pieces could fly off while cutting. I have about 12 species of hard wood trees that grow in the hedges of my land and I intend to use as much as I can for my wood turning projects.

I have even turned some Castelwelland Gold a soft conifer that someone gave me but it was way to soft and seriously full of sap that is a skin irritant for some people. For anyone with the time and space to store green timber blanks this can be a source of free hardwood, so if you are out and about and see someone cutting large trees its often worth asking if you can have some of the branches as quite often they are just going to dump the wood.

Thanks for looking and I hope that all you wood turners find this post of use. I am very new to turning and have access to a lot of wood some on my harvesting wood for turning down property but many other places as well but don't really know where I would store bowl blanks, logs to be seasoned, etc.

Question 1 year ago on Introduction. I also have several large pieces of cherry wood, felled 18 mths ago and left outside with bark on in 12 inch lengths, up to 14 inches diameter. Showing signs of cracking on exposed ends. Can I rescue this by turning down? Tip 2 years ago on Introduction. To speed drying wood when possible I use a tip passed on to me from a friend who sells firewood for a living.

In the spring after the leaves are out fell the tree and leave it. Come back in a couple months. The leaves will pull most of the moisture out of harvesting wood for turning down wood. A tree felled like this in the spring is dry enough to burn in the fall.

This should work as well for limbs as it does for the whole tree. Question 2 years ago on Introduction. Thanks for the article. I'm have just rescued pieces of an old eucalyptus tree that Id like to try and fashion into a coffee table- first attempt. How will i know that the timber is adequately seasoned before I begin? I was wondering if someone might have suggestions to save as much harvesting wood for turning down the cedar as I can. The biggest branches are about 4 inches in diameter.

Reply 2 years ago. Cedar would make some nice needle holders, or knitting needles just because of the color variations in the wood. Cut it into manageable rounds then map out what you plan to make with it. I use a lot of cedar in my shop. I use it to make plates, bowls, goblets and wands. Hang them in your car or in your bathroom.

A word of caution. Cedar is toxic to breathe. Do you seal the ends of the "logs" before setting out to dry? I have found that Armor Seal and latex paint work the best for such a task. Another question: When you are drying, have you ever packed the turned logs into bags with the shavings from the logs packed into the containers you are using? I understand that this will reduce the time it takes to bring moisture content down. What's all this talk about split wood being used for firewood? Some of the best pieces I have made were from cracked wood.

I turn them to almost finished and then fill the cracks with "Inlace" or sawdust or coffee grounds used or any other fine particles and then add CA glue. Mostly I use turquoise Inlace and it makes beautiful bowls and vases. I am working on several tall tapered vases now that I have put out in the hot Arizona summer sun to force them to crack so that I can apply the turquoise.

I live in the apple country portion of Eastern Washington. It is not uncommon to see orchardists pull a hundred acres of trees to replace them with another variety. Too, the orchards must be pruned each year. As such, I am able to grab lots of apple and cherry wood. Other pieces become wine stoppers, tool handles, coasters and so on.

It may be your cracked pieces would also work for these kinds of projects. Use your imagination for other possibilities. The apple and cherry is beautiful and holds up well for these things, if oiled mineral oil. I cut some cheery into turnning lengths and cut off one Harvesting Wood For Turning Lab lumps bark it split badly in two sides wondering why this happened the other s are OK?

Thanks for the hints on harvesting wood for turning down the ends, which I have under way with barked, un-barked and sawn hardwood. A couple of methods I have used for quick seasoning of small pieces wood to prevent cracking are pressure cooker willow - Salix sp then carve wet or dry.

Best done when you wife is away on holiday!. I did not use wet, but it was dry in 9 months. I think this method breaks the cell walls which seems to speed up drying and prevent cracking. For larger bits, I intended top try a BBQ and heat over time till the end grain is really fizzing.

Next up is to build a big pressure cooker from steel pipe or an LPG cylinder. It worked for the "Mary Rose" and other water preserved wooden artifacts. If you can apply a vacuum whilst drying, it should speed up the process.

I am trying to season New Zealand hardwoods to make Putarino Maori flutes. Kowhai Sophora spPuriri Vitex spAkeake Dodonea sp and others are very heavy and have beautifully grained and dark colored heart wood, ideal for this use. I dont know If I would call them firewood. When drying wood the "Pith" must be removed The pith contains a lot of moisture. As the outside of your log dried, it shrunk. I have tested this. It harvesting wood for turning down hard to explain this, but if you look at the log and see the pith the center of the rings cut about 2" to the left and 2 inches to the right leaving you with a total of three chunks.

I hope this helps. On another note, if you continue the splits on the current logs you have made, you could at least get a couple nice blanks out harvesting wood for turning down what you call fire-wood. I hope all this helps.

I have spent a lot of time trying to find cheap lumber for turning. I have the best luck looking thru peoples firewood piles. Also, I harvesting wood for turning down mention those wrapped firewood packs you see at gas stations Harvesting Wood For Turning Radius for your fire-pit.

I check them out all the time. I have found all kinds of good stuff in these, lots of spaulted stuff mainly. Reply 7 years ago on Introduction. I seriously think the problem with this stuff was it was storm harvesting wood for turning down, it takes alot of shaking to snap a big branch it would been full of stress fractures plus Harvesting wood for turning down never put any wax on it.

I have successfully used wood with the pith still intact, but the one thing I can say was that all of it was cut down rather than wind fall. The one thing I have learned when using green wood is to spot where the cracks are most likely to start from ie knots and inclusions near the lip of a bowl and learning to keep cutting until l these defects are removed, more or less learning to read the wood, My first bowl looked beautiful but split over night cause I harvesting wood for turning down a knot and some pith wood on the edge of the bowl and also because I also brought a fresh piece into a centrally heated house, but I have learned by these mistakes, am still learning and i'm bound to make a few more but that the fun of using green wood.

I was all set to get into my shed and start making some dust last week as a friend bought me a work lamp and i've been busting to get using it, unfortunately he also gave me a bug that he was just getting over and i've spent the last week stuck indoors with a temperature and coughing up goo Excellent Inst' as the photos with embed comments say it all.

A nice job on all aspects and from beginning to end! I must add an update to this, they all cracked The logs should have been split in half to release the stress of drying out, also the wind fall limbs would have lots of stress fractures from the storm shaking the tree until the limb breaks and this adds to the stress cracks.

Hi, i know its probably too late now old harvesting wood for turning down etc. Reply 8 years ago on Introduction. Not at all never to late to discuss a topic. I should have split the larger pieces in 2 length wise across the center of the rings, from what I researched the problem is due tho the outer rings drying to quick and when they harvesting wood for turning down they become under a lot of stress which causes the splits when the log is split the tension is released and harvesting wood for turning down is less chance of splits, being wind fall probably also was a factor it take quite a bit of shaking to snap a 12 inch branch of a tree it bound it have been full of stress fractures.

I guess i got greedy with the idea of such nice large pieces, I should have settled for smaller bowl blanks In a nut shell its all part of the learning curve, well anyway it didn't go to waste, it kept the shed warm during the drift trike build.

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Aug 02,  · Process of Harvesting Lumber company owner Jim Doll harvests a small burl from this cherry log by chainsawing it, cutting just under the bark above and below the burl. Removing a small burl from a tree is straightforward: simply cut a little below where the burl is . Removing the bark and turning the wood to a uniform cylinder allows the wood to dry out uniformly and also allows you to see any cracks that start to form in the blank, any cracks that stat to appear should be turned down to about 1/4" past the crack and left to continue to season. Harvest Your Own Lumber provides the detail and instructions for sawing to grade as well as useful information on humidity and wood, kiln and air drying, various types of kilns and milling rough boards to get them flat and straight. This is a valuable handbook for any woodworker, builder, carpenter, or craftsman that relies on good quality www.- s:

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