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corbs
6th January 2013, 09:55 PM
Hey guys,
During my walk around town tonight I noticed a large limb has fallen from a tree infront of the police station. The heart wood looks a chocolate brown with cream sap wood. I've attached pics of leaves, bark and the tree itself. I should add that the pic of the leaves are from the suckers not on the main tree.

I've no idea if I can even get any of the wood but if it's worth the effort I may make a few enquiries :)


Corbs

DJ’s Timber
6th January 2013, 10:13 PM
Chocolate brown heart, cream sap and the leaves and bark, sounds like an Elm to me and yes it turns very nicely.

TTIT
6th January 2013, 10:20 PM
:whs:

corbs
6th January 2013, 10:30 PM
Might have to go for a visit to the station tomorrow then :D

Thanks for the help team :2tsup:

tea lady
6th January 2013, 10:49 PM
Elm leaves have one side longer than the other so they always have that little curl thing happening and never lie down flat. :cool: Just like those ones. :cool:

shedbound
6th January 2013, 11:12 PM
I would have to agree with the above (Elm), just turned a pen out of it no more than a week ago, very nice. But also prone to borers.

dr4g0nfly
7th January 2013, 06:48 AM
From here in the UK I agree, it's an Elm.

See that fallen limb, gives rise to the old saying, 'Elm hateth man, and waiteth'.

corbs
7th January 2013, 07:26 PM
Well, I had a chat with the SGT this morning and he was more than happy for me to clear his carpark and I could take what I wanted. A tree guy had been called and was going to chip the lot so I broke the tree down and stacked the branches I didn't want neatly then loaded up 2 1/2 trailer loads of Elm.

There's some good sized blanks in there and my trusty little Husky 445 should give you an idea of how big these bits are :D

issatree
7th January 2013, 07:49 PM
Hi Corbs,
Most likely not that one, but down here around Geelong, Vic. they usually have shakes right down the centre.
I think you could split a few of them down the centre, as they have be known to crack.
Great looking FREE Timber.

shedbound
7th January 2013, 07:50 PM
Very nice haul, my experience is that it does split very badly. I had only a small branch to play with about 6" Dia, never sealed the ends left it as a 3' length had it in a shed for about 12 years all I got was pen blanks, and again those pesky borers love the sapwood.
next time I would definately seal the ends when first cut and maybe precut the blanks wet.

corbs
7th January 2013, 08:56 PM
I've got another big day on the chainsaw tomorrow and it's going to be a hot one :-

With a bit of luck I can salvage a few pen blanks out of that lot :;

Paul39
11th January 2013, 02:41 PM
Nice haul. If you do bowls, turn some green and boil or soak in 50 - 50 dishwashing liquid. Do a search on methods.

At least split down the middle, and coat the ends, keep in shade if possible.

corbs
11th January 2013, 02:54 PM
Thanks Paul, I've taken the heart out of seven of the bigger ones. The ends on all of them have a very thick coat of paint which has slowed the drying significantly. I've given a few logs away with a few more to go on the weekend. The chain on my saw is pretty blunt at the moment so once I get my other one back (being sharpened at the moment) I will break a few more logs down into turning blanks.

Once I have them broken down I will have a crack at green turning a few and play with the 50/50 mix. It's supposed to be a hot weekend and I'm back at work next week so it might be a little while before I'm finished with them.

Paul39
12th January 2013, 06:48 AM
Corbs,

Keep a piece or two with the sapwood intact. See below for one of mine. I think this is cherry. The center of the log is along the rim.

If you have prominent grain in the timber and it is large, putting the center of the log at the bottom of the bowl with a wavy top rim following the curve of the outside makes a most interesting design.

shedbound
12th January 2013, 01:29 PM
249178249179249180
here's me experience, thus far,
pic 1 borers love the stuff funny enough never touched the sap wood only bark,
pic 2 one of my first ever turnings has good bark retention if the borers don't get it, I may have even turned this green(can't remember)
pic 3 a branch left to it's own devices in a shed

Willy Nelson
12th January 2013, 10:58 PM
Hey Corbs,
The first cuts looked great, chocolate and the white sapwood. Shame it is so hot, I try to all my milling in the cooler months. Hope you can save most of it
Willy
Jarrahland

dr4g0nfly
13th January 2013, 06:50 AM
Corbs, I'm actually jealous.

Yes Elm is a European wood and yes we can get it. But with Dutch Elm disease wiping most of them out in the 70's & early 80's they only come from the higher latitudes of Scotland (where it's cooler and the beetles can't live) so very expensive.

I don't suppose there was any Burr (burl) on it, Elm Burr is stunning.

corbs
13th January 2013, 09:23 AM
Well, I'm out of fuel, out of bar oil and have a blunt chain (spare is being sharpened so will hopefully get that back next week). I've given a few bits away and hopefully have some more going today. I've sliced the cheeks off 7 1/2 bigger sections and have them in my wood shed now. Still a lot of cutting to do but hopefully I can save a fair bit.

Willy, if you weren't on the other side of Australia I'd offer some to you. If you're coming over this way let me know and I will sort a couple of blanks for you.

dr4g0nfly, this was just a limb so no burl but there were a few good sized branch junctions which I'm hoping yield nice blanks. I will keep an eye out around town to see if there's any burls on any of the many Elms here :2tsup:

Willy Nelson
13th January 2013, 11:23 AM
Well, I'm out of fuel, out of bar oil and have a blunt chain (spare is being sharpened so will hopefully get that back next week). I've given a few bits away and hopefully have some more going today. I've sliced the cheeks off 7 1/2 bigger sections and have them in my wood shed now. Still a lot of cutting to do but hopefully I can save a fair bit.

Willy, if you weren't on the other side of Australia I'd offer some to you. If you're coming over this way let me know and I will sort a couple of blanks for you.

Hi Corbs
Very generous of you.

Sounds as though you need to learn to sharpen you chains though?? If I am reading between the lines correctly. Can get expensive.
Cut 3 ton of peppermint gum trunk yesterday with the 36 inch bar on the 660 and had to do it from both side, huge tree

corbs
13th January 2013, 11:51 AM
Sounds as though you need to learn to sharpen you chains though?? If I am reading between the lines correctly. Can get expensive.
Cut 3 ton of peppermint gum trunk yesterday with the 36 inch bar on the 660 and had to do it from both side, huge tree

I've been cutting end grain which kills the chains pretty quickly. I might have to keep my eye out for a sharpener, at $14 per chain locally it should pay for itself fairly quickly.

Paul39
13th January 2013, 12:58 PM
I've been cutting end grain which kills the chains pretty quickly. I might have to keep my eye out for a sharpener, at $14 per chain locally it should pay for itself fairly quickly.

All you need is a file of the proper size and a guide. After you have used the guide for a while, the angle to hold the file comes naturally.

Turners Log Burners - Silverline Chainsaw File (4mm) (http://turnerslogburners.co.uk/chainsaw-file-4mm.html)

Chainsaw Maintenance Made Easy | Scottie (http://scottiestech.info/2009/05/09/chainsaw-maintenance-made-easy/)

When you are cutting and the saw is not cutting as well, 5 minutes with the file gets you going again. The angle is not critical, but after repeated sharpenings if you have wandered off angle too far, you can have a professional sharpening.

Paul39
14th January 2013, 10:47 AM
HOW TO Manually Sharpen a Chainsaw Chain - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=-PTXj1VIlbc)

Willy Nelson
14th January 2013, 08:54 PM
I've been cutting end grain which kills the chains pretty quickly. I might have to keep my eye out for a sharpener, at $14 per chain locally it should pay for itself fairly quickly.

Corbs
I may be wrong in your case, but I have seen many people using a chainsaw to prepare blanks for turning by cutting the log down the middle whilst upright, truly cutting end grain which is really hard work, hard on the chain and the saw.

I hope you have the log laying down and in effect, you are ripping. You should end up with great ribbons of sawdust at your feet and the saw will cut very easily.
Hopefully some one smarting than me can put a link or a diagram on how it should be done
Willy
Jarrahland.

corbs
14th January 2013, 09:10 PM
No picture needed Willy, I figured it out :;... issue now is my saw needs a service. No idea what's going on but I can't get the damn thing started now. Full of fuel, bar oil full, kick back guard is all good but she just won't go :-

I'm not going straight down the middle but taking off the two cheeks to remove the core which had started to split radially. I'm hoping that by removing the splits which have started I will increase the chance of salvaging the blanks. It also leaves me with a nice thick blank through the core which, if it doesn't split will give me another nice blank but worst case should give a couple of nice grinder blanks for spindle turning.