Trip to the sawmill today

[Ky-Flinter]

I had to cut down a redbud tree in my backyard a few years ago.  Saved a log from it and finally took it to be sawed today.  Redbud is really hard wood, but they don't usually get big enough for stock blanks, but we will see.  I went ahead and sawed the planks into stock "blanks" and have them stickered and added to the stack in the shed.  Redbud turns dark brown after its been exposed to air for a while.  Have any of you guys used it for a gun stock?

My sawyer gave me a big oak slab for a primitive bench, and a piece of quarter sawn sycamore with figure that looks like snake skin.



I don't know what kinda wood this is.  It came out of the "trash" pile.  Looked interesting to me.



-Ron

[Billy Mike]

Impressive. The sycamore is highly unique.

I am completely unfamiliar with redbud.

[BOB HILL]

Is the wood in the center Osage or mulberry?
Bob

[Sawfiler]

That last one looks like walnut. Looks like it’s mostly sapwood which is why it was discarded. Run a handplane over that middle section looks like I can see some dark heartwood under the dirt.

[Marcruger]

Are you sealing up the ends of the blanks?  That last one has a heck of a check already. 

[David R. Pennington]

Ron, I have not heard much about redbud use. I would imagine it is pretty dense? Have you laid a pattern on those redbud pieces yet? Looks like a void where the branch came out might be a problem. All very interesting. I have a big walnut slab I got the same way. I was thinking about making a shaving horse with it. Show us a close up of that snake grain if you can.

[Goo]

It is Nice to see someone willing to step out of the box and try something different.

[rich pierce]

I’ve made small handles from redbud.  It seemed plain but with a fine grain.

[Ky-Flinter]

Is the wood in the center Osage or mulberry?
Bob

The short sticks in the middle are redbud.

-Ron

[Ky-Flinter]

Well, it is a good day when you learn something new.  Today I learned some reasons why I've never heard of a gun stock made of redbud.  One, as mentioned, they don't usually get very big.  Two, they check and crack like crazy.  Three, the one I have is full of some kind of grub worm that makes 1/4" diameter tunnels in the wood.  On the good side, it is really dense wood.  Would probably make good mallet heads.

Good eye David, you're right, on one of the redbud planks the void where a branch came out went at an angle thru the blank ruining it.  But since it was on an angle it worked out on the other plank, so I got 1 useable stock blank, but with a lot of worm holes.  I'll hafta ask Mike Brooks to show me his wood patching secrets.

Sawfiler, good eye too.  I took a small cut off the end of the plank in the last picture.  Yep, walnut!  15" wide, 2" thick, and almost 14 feet long.  And there is a good bit of dark heartwood in the middle and toward the big end.  The big check was already there, but hey, I dug it out of the trash pile, for free!

-Ron

[Ky-Flinter]

Are you sealing up the ends of the blanks?  That last one has a heck of a check already.

When I felled the redbud, I painted every cut surface.  It still cracked thru the bark about 3 weeks later.  I filled the crack with paint and luckily it didn't go very deep.

The big walnut plank does have a dandy check.  Happened before I got it.  I don't know how long it laid in the trash pile, but I had to dig it out.  What do you all think, should I cut it off to get rid of the check and paint the end, or just not worry about it?

-Ron

[Ky-Flinter]

Here's some close-ups of the quarter sawn sycamore.







-Ron

[Dennis Glazener]

Are you sealing up the ends of the blanks?  That last one has a heck of a check already.

When I felled the redbud, I painted every cut surface.  It still cracked thru the bark about 3 weeks later.  I filled the crack with paint and luckily it didn't go very deep.

The big walnut plank does have a dandy check.  Happened before I got it.  I don't know how long it laid in the trash pile, but I had to dig it out.  What do you all think, should I cut it off to get rid of the check and paint the end, or just not worry about it?

-Ron

Ron,
If I were you I would cut off beyond the crack and paint heavily hoping to stop the crack. I have had this work a time or two but not always. I think I had better luck with latex paint than oil.
Dennis

[David R. Pennington]

What are your plans for the sycamore? I would do a plain iron mounted redbud gun with the worm holes, warts and all! They were sawing with a steam engine at the museum one day and as usual they needed something from the blacksmith shop. I asked the sawyer what he was cutting and he said sycamore so I asked him for a good thick plank to make a dough trough out of. It is waiting in the shop rafters with the ends painted.

[Eric Krewson]

I have cut and cured more wood from osage trees than I can remember. You had to leave that redbud out for a while with the bark on before the bugs attacked, they are probably wood wasp larva. If you strip the bark and sapwood off the bug problem will never happen because the eggs are in the bark. If the wood is green you have to seal the ends and backs with shellac or the wood will check like crazy.

I lost a lot of wood to wood wasps before I learned how to handle it correctly.

[n stephenson]

I can`t speak of Sycamore that is kept dry , but we had a few Sycamores by a spring . They blew over in a storm . These were 20 plus inch dia.  . Within a year maybe , a few months more, you could roll them around VERY easy , just using your feet. I can`t say for sure but it seems that they hold a lot of water. They seem to mostly grow around water , kinda like Willow. Might be interesting to see what you can make out of it. The grain that yours shows , looks similar to some Beech I`ve seen.

[horologist]

My clock bench has drawer sides made from quartersawn sycamore. It would be excellent material for the tops of Shaker oval boxes. In a pinch you might also be able to use it for clock plates although oak would be more traditional.
I've never heard of redbud but it sure looks nice.

Troy

[Nordnecker]

From what I've read, sycamore is a very unstable wood. The figure yours shows is referred to as "beeswing". It is called "plane" in England. Some luthiers use it for the backs of mandolins, maybe fiddles,too. I had a few sycamore boards in a mixed bag of lumber. Some of it was spalted and striking. Some got used for shelves around the shop. I've never tried to carve or shape it.

[David R. Pennington]

Sycamore likes water. I know a civil engineer that uses the presence of sycamore trees to locate water sources when cruising an area on jobs.

[Sawfiler]

I've sawn sycamore and if it isn't stickered off the saw it'll rot in the stack. Very heavy water content. I hate the smell of sycamore, smells like a swamp to me. We have used it for sheathing boards under tin. I am not sure I would take the logs if someone offered them for free now...

[Craig Wilcox]

Definitely a wetland tree.

When I built a small sailboat back about 1980, I used sycamore for the thwarts (seats).  Such a lovely lacy grain!  Looked better than mahogany, worked better also.

[JBJ]

Some more definitive information.
https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-291-W.pdf

Book mark the following for future questions you might have about wood properties of various species:
https://www.wood-database.com/

J.B.