# mystery crotch wood and other fun stuff



## bond3737 (Nov 13, 2009)

hey all, Im new here and new to wood working.Thought I would introduce myself and show some pictures of some of the things ive been working on, get some feedback and ask some questions. I'm a bit of a workaholic when it comes to wood and realized recently that I really dont know what I am doing. I'm here to learn as much as possible about milling, refine my craft, improve my art and learn from those wiser and more seasoned than I! So with no further blather here are some of the things ive been working on... any help would be greatly appreciated..:yes:


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## bond3737 (Nov 13, 2009)

1. This is a cookie I got off a lovely piece of cherry that fell in a buddy of mines yard. I would like to build a desk out of this one
2. This is the mystery wood I was talking about, found this on a buddies farm. He claims it is elm but the lady at woodcraft said it didnt look like elm so who knows... Im not super knowledgeable about species. I'll try and throw up some bark pics in a bit. It had been sitting for about six months before I slabbed it.
3.same tree second cut 
4. same tree third/ middle cut
5. close up of 3
more pics to come... 
I would like to put legs on these and make tables, end tables and so forth. 
I cut these with a stihl ms250 then planed them with an electric hand planer to the point where I could see the grain but not to the point where they are of equal width on both sides. So far all Ive done is put anchor seal 2 on the ends, stack them in my basement and put a fan on them. I hate to ask too many questions on my first post so I guess I'd just like to know- if these were your pieces what would you do with them to get them prepped to be worked? I would love to hear some discussion on the process you all go through from cutting to end product. My goal is to cut as much wood as my girlfriend will allow in the basement so that when the drying process is complete I can just launch into it. And This may be an idiotic question but I was wondering why drying is even necessary. If I were to seal a piece of wood from stem to stern with multiple layers of epoxy or something so that moisture could not get in or out then wouldnt it remain in the same shape regardless of atmospheric influence?Thanks so much for any help you all can give!
Bond


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## Corbin3388 (Jan 22, 2011)

Doesn't look like elm to me either. How about a close up of the grain. It's kinds hickory-ish to me

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum


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## bond3737 (Nov 13, 2009)

few more pics


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## Corbin3388 (Jan 22, 2011)

I'm reniging it's fo Sho not hickory. I think it is elm. Ask Phinds he's the specialist

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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

My first thought was walnut but that just doesn't feel right. Can you get a closeup of a flat, cleaned up piece of end grain? And Corbin's request for a face grain closeup is good too. Sand it down as well as you can (220 grit is good enough)

On slabs like this I find TT and Daren are better at ID's than I am, so maybe we'll hear from them.

Paul


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

I don't know, but I can see something beautiful in the future. 

Looks like you've got hooked on SAWDUST:icon_smile::yes::laughing::blink::thumbsup:, things will never be the same especially if your the workaholic as I've became. But that's what seperates the DOers from the DONTers and why some succeed and others DON'T. Keep up the sawing.... WE ALL started out learning and making mistakes. As the old saying goes..."IF you ain't made a mistake...YOU AIN'T DONE NOTHING!!!!" and that's part of achieving.

Have a Blessed day in Jesus,
Tim


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## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

bond3737 said:


> 1. This is a cookie I got off a lovely piece of cherry that fell in a buddy of mines yard. I would like to build a desk out of this one
> 2. This is the mystery wood I was talking about, found this on a buddies farm. He claims it is elm but the lady at woodcraft said it didnt look like elm so who knows... Im not super knowledgeable about species. I'll try and throw up some bark pics in a bit. It had been sitting for about six months before I slabbed it.
> 3.same tree second cut
> 4. same tree third/ middle cut
> ...


Butternut??


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Your crotchwood looks like elm to me (not the best pictures to ID from though, camera phone ?) The grain looks right, the color is a little off, but that could just be the picture-or my laptop monitor.

As far as your cherry...http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/3ft-oak-disc-16497/ there are links within links discussing drying cross sections. Good luck.



bond3737 said:


> I was wondering why drying is even necessary. If I were to seal a piece of wood from stem to stern with multiple layers of epoxy or something so that moisture could not get in or out then wouldnt it remain in the same shape regardless of atmospheric influence?


And drying wood...YES you have to, no you can't just slather something on wet wood-it doesn't work that way. Some reading on air drying...
http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rp/rp_nc228.pdf
Some of us have kilns, either solar or dehumidification to speed up the process. Depending on how dry you basement is, it could take a year (or more) to dry the wood. 


bond3737 said:


> I would love to hear some discussion on the process you all go through from cutting to end product.


Most of us just patiently wait (and keep milling more stock for the future) as our wood dries before we use it.

.


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## bond3737 (Nov 13, 2009)

1. top grain
2. bark
3. endgrain
hahaha, daren yes my phone takes crappy pictures but it's all Ive got at the moment seeing as every penny goes towards wood working supplies. Figured that was the case with the drying but never hurts to ask I suppose looks like the biggest hurtle I will need to overcome is patience. BUT the good news is that in the mean time I get to hunt around for good pieces, which is always fun. Now the number one goal is to make sure that these pieces do not go to waste. I forsee a good deal of reading in my future! Please feed me as many articles as possible. As painful as taking a break from the actual wood working is, I realize that in order to make this ol dream come true I've got to educate myself on the process...
immediate questions are, what do I need to do to these slabs to give em the best chance at not cracking to oblivion. Is there an ideal thickness that I should go for to aid in the drying process? Do the slabs need to be uniformly thick or can some parts be thicker than others without causing issues. I can promise my questions will become less and less green as the wood does! thanks for all the help, Bond


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

looks like elm as Daren said but ALSO as he said, the color is wrong. compare the actual wood to the elm pics on my site and see what you think.


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

It's Elm.


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

Looks like Siberian elm to me. Color is always varying in those trees. Grain is almost certainly an elm. Bark is consistent, too.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

i have to agree on the siberian elm. I have siberian elms on my property and a few were big enough to mill. The crotchs i got from my trees look very very similar to your photos. A few of the slabs i got were a bit yellow after drying while others were brown. I cut some down last fall and those were a cocolate milk color when freshly cut then lightened up considerably after drying.


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## woodtick greg (Sep 12, 2011)

i'm with the others, it is elm, I just milled a siberian elm last week and your sample pics of the grain look spot on, color is a little off but elms can vary quite a bit. I have milled them and fresh off the mill they are very redish, when dry they seem to turn a light brown, crotch figure can be awesome, like a snakes belly.:smile: It turns well and is easy to work with, with an oil finish the beautifull grain realy pops and is a light coco brown. imo looks best flat sawn not quartered. air dries well and is very stable, my experiances with it have been good and i try to get it when i can. I chainsaw mill and it mills easy.


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