# Is wood from an apricot tree ever used in anything?



## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I accidentally killed my prized apricot tree this summer and I’m cutting it down today. It feels pretty hard now that it’s baked in the sun all summer and I have a small project that I’d like to use it on. I don’t know what it will look like after I cut into useable pieces or if it will keep its shape.

Anyway I need it out of my yard today because it’s bugging me and I need to know if I should cut it all up into fire wood or try to save some long pieces.


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## J Thomas (Aug 14, 2012)

Save some long pieces & see what you can do with them.
You can always make it into firewood later should that become the choice.
..Jon..


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

J Thomas said:


> Save some long pieces & see what you can do with them.
> You can always make it into firewood later should that become the choice.
> ..Jon..


 Thanks, I guess do just that and I’ll rip a piece to see what it looks like inside. I was just outside looking at it and there are a lot of straight pieces long enough for what I need. I have and apple tree that is a lot wider that is probably going to die soon as well, but I’m going to wait on that.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Apricot has some nice color. I've only turned small pieces but it turns nice. Apple is actually quite plain, but it also turns well. Not sure how they work flat. Do know that apple is prone to cracking.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey sleeper it's really good to make turning blanks and give away on WWT. Especially to certain mods. :thumbsup::laughing:


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## J Thomas (Aug 14, 2012)

Schmooze!!!


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I was just starting to cut some branches until my wife called me into breakfast and was surprised at how hard the wood was. Is this concerned hard wood?


Richard, I never even thought about turning it until today, but then I don’t have a wood lathe. What would be a good turning size?


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Any tree with leaves is considered a hard wood, any tree with needles a soft wood. There are harder soft woods (douglas fir) and softer hardwoods (poplar for example). As for turning blanks, it depends upon use. Pen turners use blanks as small as 3/4"x3/4"x5". Bottle stoppers 1.5 -2.5" square and from 1.5-3" long. Bowls/platters can be from 1" thick and anywhere from 4" square up to whatever size your lathe can handle, 12", 16" 24" or more depending.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

I'm no expert but this is my experience with fresh cut trees and turning blanks. I like the cut logs seal the ends with anchor seal or similar then you can cut it up later into the desired sizes as sawdust factory mentioned.

I just learn the trick of writing the wood type and date sealed on the end. 


Seriously I would like to get some if you think you might want to get rid of some let me know.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

rrbrown said:


> I'm no expert but this is my experience with fresh cut trees and turning blanks. I like the cut logs seal the ends with anchor seal or similar then you can cut it up later into the desired sizes as sawdust factory mentioned.
> 
> I just learn the trick of writing the wood type and date sealed on the end.
> 
> ...


 Well I’m a little disappointed. I really thought there would be more that I could use. I still have a 4’ trunk to cut that I might be able to use, but it’s not enough for me. most of it is probably going into my outdoor fire pit, because its way to hard for the chipper. 

I’m open to shipping some if you want and here is a photo of what I got.










I don’t know about being fresh because it’s been dead for at least 4 months baking in 105°F heat the whole time. I had a hard time cutting it with my chainsaw and was about to get out my wormdrive saw.


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## Dave66 (Apr 6, 2012)

> Any tree with leaves is considered a hard wood, any tree with needles a soft wood.


Deciduous trees (leaves) are hardwoods. Non-deciduous trees are softwood. Believe it, or not, but balsa is a hardwood. - lol


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Ok I finally got the apricot tree out of the ground and it sure gave me a fight. Luckily there was another tree close by to tie on a come along puller. Besides a sore shoulder, I broke my favorite posthole digger. I’ve had this for 30 years and I have another one but it doesn’t dig like this one did. I can’t even guess how many holes I’ve dug with this and I haven’t looked yet but I’m hoping that I can buy new handles.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Your pic looks familiar to the olive burl I just removed from the earth. Lol




















Except I used my truck.
So why did you up root it?


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Handles are easy to replace in diggers. They sell them at the big box stores. I got fiberglass ones for mine.


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## J Thomas (Aug 14, 2012)

Sleeper... Hose that root-ball off in good shape.. Let's see what it looks like. Ya might have the makings of a funky lamp stand.
..Jon..


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

J Thomas said:


> Sleeper... Hose that root-ball off in good shape.. Let's see what it looks like. Ya might have the makings of a funky lamp stand.
> ..Jon..


Really! I go do that right now before it gets dark. I still haven't cut it the trunk off yet, my chainsaw came undone and it needs sharping pretty bad.

I'll right back with a photo if its not too dark


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Well I washed it the best I could as the light was fading. It looks pretty small now, but I’ll have to check it out in full light tomorrow. My original stake was still buried in the middle of the roots after 16 years. I wonder if that was what was holding it after I cut all the roots. :shifty:


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Dominick said:


> Your pic looks familiar to the olive burl I just removed from the earth. Lol
> 
> 
> View attachment 53352
> ...


I wish I could have gotten a truck in there. It sure would have made things easier. 
I uprooted it because it was dead after I pruned it too much and too soon. I found out rats were eating the apricots and I wanted to get rid of all the apricots not knowing it would kill the tree. It works out because I want to lower the elevation to a little lower than my patio and extend it out a little, but the tree and its roots were in the way.


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

Send it to me and I'll let you know 

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Sleeper said:


> I wish I could have gotten a truck in there. It sure would have made things easier.
> I uprooted it because it was dead after I pruned it too much and too soon. I found out rats were eating the apricots and I wanted to get rid of all the apricots not knowing it would kill the tree. It works out because I want to lower the elevation to a little lower than my patio and extend it out a little, but the tree and its roots were in the way.


Thanks. Sorry to hijack. 
Please resume. Can't wait to see it all cleaned up. Ill bet that stump with the roots would make a great base for a table.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

rayking49 said:


> Handles are easy to replace in diggers. They sell them at the big box stores. I got fiberglass ones for mine.


 I just looked up posthole digger handles and Lowe's doesn’t carry them anymore. HD only has the round, but Ace Hardware has the square hole so I’ll have to wait until I’m near an Ace. We used to have one near me, but the Lowe's put them out of business. 
Is your fiberglass round or square handle?


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I cleaned up the Apricot roots and cut a little off, but it’s too small for me. Plus my little cheap chain saw hit some rocks inside and now I’m having trouble keeping the chain on. 

I stuck a screwdriver inside the root ball to see if there as much of a burl and it went in deep. I just don’t have the time right now to fool with it and I have just too much other stuff to get done today so I’m going to put it up for a while at least until I get a better saw.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

rrbrown said:


> Hey sleeper it's really good to make turning blanks and give away on WWT. Especially to certain mods. :thumbsup::laughing:


Yes and begining turners with the initials JH 

"The truth is more important than the facts"

Frank Lloyd Wright 


"Facts are the enemy of truth"

Don Quixote


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## DaveTTC (May 25, 2012)

I've turned plum, lemon and olive - would like to try some apricot.

Dave The Turning Cowboy


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

My handles were square I believe. I'll have to wait till I get home to check


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Some has been used building hand planes.

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I haven’t done anything since I burned up the chain on my little chainsaw. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sharpen it because of the nicks from rocks and may have to buy another one.

Anyway I was looking for something else in my storage shed and came across a marble or porcelain table top (?) and now I kind of wish would not have tried to cut the root ball off. I don’t know if I can fill in the cut or maybe utilize it for something else


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I have experience with apricot, peach, cherry and nectarine wood all cut from my orchard. With the exception of cherry they all have a nice grain pattern, a reddish amber with brown growth ring lines. 

The only disappointment with this wood is the very low yield you will get from the lumber. Most of it will check, twist or split as it dries. You will get mostly small pieces even from logs up to 12" diameter but those small pieces could be precious. The wood you do end up with works nicely.

Coincidentally, I just cut down a peach tree that had reached the end of it's life cycle. I got a nice log from the trunk about three feet long and about 14" diameter but the main branch about 4' x 8" shows the most promise due to the tighter grain.

This first photo shows a quartered bookmatched apricot panel I put on a cabinet end. 








This photo shows a small apricot vase, lower left. 








This shows a peach coopered bucket which I just finished yesertday. This was part of another thread on the math required to figure the cuts on these segments. The photo does not do the wood justice. The wood on this piece in person is no less than stunning.








Ditto








Another type of "Peach" harvest.








Bret


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Wow, Bret, that's beautiful. I had no idea that it looks so good. I may have buy a lath. :smile:


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Al B Thayer said:


> Some has been used building hand planes.
> 
> Al
> 
> Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


 Well up until I saw Bret’s photos I was thinking of what you said about plane handles. I have a broken plane handle and I’m not sure if I should try to replace it with the apricot or not.


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## chicago (Jul 5, 2012)

Sleeper said:


> I accidentally killed my prized apricot tree this summer and I’m cutting it down today. It feels pretty hard now that it’s baked in the sun all summer and I have a small project that I’d like to use it on. I don’t know what it will look like after I cut into useable pieces or if it will keep its shape.
> 
> Anyway I need it out of my yard today because it’s bugging me and I need to know if I should cut it all up into fire wood or try to save some long pieces.


Apricot is very hard and makes for some great hand plane material. Here is a page on my website that shows my apricot plane. Sorry for the unfinished web page.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

chicago said:


> Apricot is very hard and makes for some great hand plane material. Here is a page on my website that shows my apricot plane. Sorry for the unfinished web page.


 Thanks, I’m glad you mentioned about the hardness, because I’m am shocked at how hard it is and was wondering if it was just me or what. 

I don’t have a lot of experience with hardwoods and oak is the hardest I’ve ever cut until this apricot. I remember seeing a hardness chart years ago of hardwood, but I don’t remember all the woods.


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## Gary Beasley (Jan 21, 2009)

Whatever you don't use for projects be sure to save for your smoker. Fruitwood does good there.


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## Lola Ranch (Mar 22, 2010)

I haven't found the apricot wood to be that hard. About like walnut is all.

Bret


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