Thread: Tree felling,,, When?

Interesting question and one I haven't thought of before, would be very interested in the reply.

Gday Andy,
No I don't think time of felling to timber appearance is an issue,
location of where the tree is grown, as in hight above sea level,rain fall, faceing north, south, east or west can change appearance but I would think time of year may only change seasoning time.
Regards,Bandd

To reduce bluestain in softwood, felling in winter when moisture levels are lower is worth doing.

Originally Posted by rsser

To reduce bluestain in softwood, felling in winter when moisture levels are lower is worth doing.

Also weighs less though that's nothing to do with the question.
Cheers,
Jim

True.

Here Downunder I've found winter-felled tree turning blanks easier to dry, so there's less wastage from checking.

Recently we had a forum turning day at my place and green-turned some spring-felled Elm; it sprayed wood juice all over the shed.

This is also nothing to do with the original question and I agree with Bandd that where the tree grows is a major influence on its figure.

Its age can also have a big effect. Eg. a young Silver Birch is of no interest; a mature one is a very different ball game.

I would like to hazard a guess that the region the tree is growing in is closely linked to what could be a small change in the variety of the tree, eg. Scots pine grown in extreme conditions are very hardy, Scots pine grown in Cyprus, not so, same tree but the seed has different ancestry, look at the huge varieties of your Gum tree, that thing is very promicuous and will cross with almost anything, so a common Walnut grown on one side of a country may have slightly different characteristics of a common Walnut grown in a different part of the country depending on it's parentage.

The grain on a tree is effected by it's cell structure and medullary rays, quarter sawn timber will show that, so it leads me on to think that cell structure at different times of the year may have some effect on the finished item albeit very slight.
Andy

Winter felling is the european tradition. I think it is because there is less sticky sap and no leaves to deal with.

logic says that winter would be better because of reduced sap flow a lot of trees go semi dormant in the winter .
if you are ( like i some times do ) falling trees for fence or yard building and the tree has to be debarked ( mainly talking iron bark here ) then the more sap flow the better because the bark pops off a lot easier , and is a lot easier to do a few weeks after a big rain event .
giving this some thought you would think that during a long drought when the trees are really struggling would be even better again for getting turning timber .
mental note to self , make time in drought for collecting blanks .

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Winter felling is the european tradition. I think it is because there is less sticky sap and no leaves to deal with.

Easier for snigging on frozen/snow covered ground too.
Cheers,
Jim

Trees felled in winter will retain their bark more so than trees felled during warmer months. Worth keeping in mind for natural edged turnings

i have 3 packs of different lengths of silky oak, that were cut from different trees and locations, Hervey Bay - Gladstone - and i just picked up 6 -1200x250x25 lengths from a house sale here in mackay region, all these peices a different color and different grain - the timber from Hervey Bay was cut in 1987 in the feb of that year and it has a long and wide grain and dark in color the area it came from was the "dundowran" and about 1km from the beach, grown in sandy/lome.

The Gladstone timber was cut in 2002 in november from a tree that was blowen over by a small cyclone, it was in a front yard next door ( dad and I have been watching it for years - and no there was no chain saw marks before it fell over) it has a short grain and light in color

the Mackay timber is very light in color and no striking grain at all like the other timber, it is old timber it was black in colour when i bought it after i cleaned it back i found it had very little patten in the grain.

Like I thought, If these were seed raised then it is no surprise they are very different, Japanese maples from seed all have a different characteristic, sow 100 seeds and you will get 100 different trees, leaf shape, autumn colour etc. so I don't doubt that the timber would show some slight differences.
The scientists can tell from the growth rings what the weather conditions was like when they sample old trees so there must be some slight differences in the seasonal growth therefore it must certainly have some effect on the finished item.