Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Coring Salvaged Birch
George Van
>I just finished roughing 13, 14�-17� bowls plus 5, 7�-9� from a small trunk, the white birch pieces were being thrown out to be burned in a scrap pile at the neighbors. I couldn�t let that happen without roughing one to see if they were still good. I�m glad I hauled them home! I will now core them out with the McNaughton for sets.
Thanks for looking, George
You hit jackpot !
Fred in NC
>
DING! DING! DING!
Mike Schwing from Md.
>Wow! That IS some jackpot. Damn!
We Have A Winner!
Ron in Drums PA
>
17" White Birch!
steve antonucci in NW NJ
>I've only been lucky enough to get one white birch log, and it was lucky to be 8"...
You hit the mother lode.
S
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
Rick in Colgate, Wi
>George, beautiful spalting marks!
Do you know how long that birch had been lying around since being cut?
I have a 20" across the stump white birch that I'm going to cut down this spring and would like to duplicate that spalting if I could.
Rick
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
George Van
>Thanks all.
Rick, I will check with the landowner tonight and let you know, I would hate to guess and mislead you.
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine
>Rick,
You would be better off cutting the tree when it is very cold and the sap is down, last spring I did cut a white birch and roughed a mess of bowls out of it.
Man!, What a mess!, sap flying over everything, the face mask has not been the same since.
About spalting, it does not take long if you leave it right on the ground, it is a touch and go thing, at one point you have a nicely spalted wood, shortly after you have mush.
Nice stuff!
Mike Rubes, Apex, NC
>Hi George,
That's some great looking wood. Post up a pic or two when you get some finished. They promise to be spectacular!
Thanks for the pics,
Mike
An hour of turning today in Apex, NC...
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
George Van
>Rick, I checked with the neighbor but he is in Ohio for the week. His wife said the tree was dead or almost dead when they cut it down and stacked the sections. It had lain in the pile under the hemlocks for a year.
Jorge has good advice, I have been told to create good uniform spalting it is helpful to roll the logs occasionally to even the moisture and therefore the rot. I also have been told it is touch and go. Maybe because it is cold here for more months I find that I am more likely to be disappointed by the lack of rot (spalting) than too much.
I am going to be rolling some logs this spring, give me a call if you are ever up in our area.
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
Rick in Colgate, Wi
>Thanks George!
My large birch tree is starting to show signs of dying, they are not long lived trees and once dead they start ot rot almost instantly.
I've got some large sugar maple logs lying around now as a spalting experiment, they were cut a year ago.
What state are you located in?
Rick
Re: Coring Salvaged Birch
George Van
>Mercer,WI, on Long Lake. About 5 hours away. Hwy 51 North.
