>I joined the wood scrounging club. I saw a lot being cleared and stopped to see what the wood looked like. A man walking the property asked what I was doing there. I told him I was looking for wood for tuning. He said he was the owner and said I could take all I wanted. He was just going to have to pay to have it carted away.
I grabbed two pieces. I fairley certain the one on the left (crotch) is maple.
The one on the right has very deep bark and chipping away at the bark is very reddish in color. The wood shown is wet since I just hosed off some mud.
Its 14 inches in diameter.
Any idea what I've got? I need to get back this weekend to gather more. There is a lot there.
>I agree the one on the right is Maple, you got yourself a nice piece there. The one on the left, could you describe the end grain? Tight grain or open grain? Almost looks like it could be a type of oak, but I do not know for sure, I'm probably wrong.
The photo seems to be reversed right/left. The crotch piece does look a lot like one of the Maples, and the other could be a few different things. A closer pic of the end grain and a branch from the site with a few leaves attached could help solve the mystery. Here the leaves are just beginning to unfurl, so they wouldn't help very much, but if there are a lot of Red Maples on the lot, the ground may be littered in little red flowers from the Maple (maybe brown by now way down south where you live). When you go to pick up some wood, which I would definately do, maybe you can collect a few more clues, too...
I am sure the "Y" is maple. It is possible the other is red maple. I have a couple in my yard with the very rough bark down low and the "newer groth" has a much smoother bark. Attached is a link that may help you. When you bring up this site it is very general. Click on the type tree, maple, and it gives a rough description. On the right side of the page near the top click on type of maple and then go thru the list. Each type listed shows photos of the bark and leaf.
>Right appears from the bark to be silver maple. The one on the other right appears to be poplar; deep cut bark red underneath and white wood in New Jersey usually adds up to Poplar.
My guess is that the left is probably chestnut oak. It's a sandy site tree in south Jersey and up close the bark looks like it's from dinosaur. Other one is red maple. John's guess of sassafrass is a good one too for the left pic. How heavy is it sassafrass will be lighter than the maple for the same volume. I'll bet the left log is really heavy.
>Funny, Mark, in my computer, the wood looks red rather than white. SWMBO, who often dumps a log into the trunk of her car for me, thinks it looks like cherry!
>I cut the logs down and just ran them round on the bandsaw. One problem though is the largest piece is too big to go thhrough my Craftsman 12" hbandsaw.
Here are pictures of the mystery wood. Maybe this helps. It does have a "different" odor. Not necessarily what I'd call sweet.
Jim - This lot is on your way to or from work. There's still a lot there.
>Looks like it could possibly be Catalpa. I have some that looks very much like that. Same color heart and sap wood. Did the tree have long bean pod things with it ? Is the wood very coarse (ring porous) and fairly light in weight ? Don't know if this grows in your area but it's fairly common in upstate NY and can get REALLY big. By the way, the wood is very rot resistant and turns and finishes pretty well.
I just roughed out a bowl and have it soaking in DNA. From the descriptions I have to believe it is Sassafrass. There was a strong odor while turning. I only roughed one sassafrass and one maple blank and I had to empty the shop vac twice.
I obviously don't have any experience with sassafrass. Should I try to get more? There are quite a few nice size pieces still at that lot they are clearing. Already cut into managable size sections.
If you can get the leaves you might tell for sure. Sassafras is unique in that it has three different shapes of leaf, all a soft, pale green. One type of leaf has a single rounded lobe, one looks like a baseball catchers mitt (one large lobe, one small), and one is three lobed like a three fingered alien. The larger trees seem to have mostly the single lobe shape, often in clusters of 5 or 6 at the end of a small branch, often with just one double lobed leaf in the cluster. (This is from direct observation of several trees just now, in the dark, with a spotlight!) The shrubs and smaller trees seem to have far more two- and three-lobed leaves and more leaves in each cluster.
The stems are often distinctly green, at least on the smaller trees. (I can't see the color way up high on the taller trees.) In the spring the trees are covered with soft clusters of tiny yellow flowers. Sassafras flowered maybe a month ago here and now have full leaves.
Sassafras is a bit course grained but turns nicely and smells great! Lightweight and somewhat brittle, but by the same token has a nice "ring" to it. I read where dulcimer makers were starting to use sassafras wood. Extremely stable.
After it dries there is almost no smell. A friend gave me a roughed 10" platter that was turned green perhaps 10 years ago and there was no obvious warping. There was also no sassafras smell. However, when I cut off a small chip I could immediately smell it. The real smell is in the roots, often used to make tea. Dig up a sassafras stump and you can smell it a long way.
Sassafras trees around here tend to grow to about 8-12" then rot near the ground and die. I've cut down a bunch and have many dozens more in tree size. (It is most often seen as a small shrub) The biggest one I've seen on my property is probably 20" or so but a friend of mine had a few much bigger.
If it IS sassafras and the chunks are fairly large, you might grab a few more. At very worst it makes good firewood.
