Thread: Fresh apple wood

I was doing a little tree trimming before work and kept a 6" dia. Apple tree limb. I want to make some scales out of it mainly because its my tree.

So this is green for sure at this moment. How do i go about making it season or do i just throw it under the shed and wait for next year? Or should i cut it i to blanks while its green?

What do you recommend on how to deal with this fresh cut piece of wood?

Just got word my son hauled it all off. Damn.

If you have a table saw or band say I would cut in 1/2" planks. Stack them with spacers between planks put a weight on top and let them sit and dry out for six months. Don't know if putting them in oven at real low temp. would work.

Found this article in the ShaveLibrary

https://shavelibrary.com/w/How_to_ri...ut_power_tools

Just talks about cutting the wood, but not about curing/drying it to avoid checking and warping. For that, try

https://www.instructables.com/id/Sea...s-from-fallen/

Hey that's always a fun one!
I took down some trees at my parents house, got some great spalted wood, and peach, cherry, and Japanese maple.
The spalted was already cured.
But the other two were wet.
When I dried them I did somewhat of a bonehead move, put them in the basement. It was too humid and they did not dry and rotted because of the excess humidity.

I know little about such things though it is on my list of skills to learn.
Going out wood hunting can be a cool trip, or just keep your eyes peeled for various woods when hunting.

If you chip some of it up, it makes a great smoking wood for pork! (Sounds like your son took care of it, though-too bad).

Yep, wife had him haul it all off. I had a piece set aside and they hauled it away too. Bummer. I might ha e to cut another limb soon. Ha.

You can seal the ends with latex paint or bees wax and strip the bark, and it will dry with little to no checking. It is easier to cut it green. So if you cut it into some sort of cants and then seal the ends it can dry that way too. It is most stable if you quarter it, bu you will loose the fancy cathedrals in the grain.

Never throw out fruit wood, wood workers will always come and get it.

So three options:
1. Seal the ends of the log with paint or wax. And let it dry for a year per inch of diameter. This will give you a perfect piece for turning, but it will be rock hard and difficult to work.
2. Split into flat planks at least one inch thick. Plane it or saw it to 1/8" oversize of what you want (it's going to shrink). Remove the center pith with a knife. Seal the ends of planks and let it dry for a year per inch thickness of the planks.
3. Split it radially into quarters (triangle pieces). Remove the center pith from the narrow edge of the quarters. Seal the ends. Let it dry for a year per inch of average thickness.

When you lay the wood up to dry, put some stakes under it to keep it off the ground and so air can circulate around it. Also flip the wood over every couple of months.

For a 6" diameter piece of apple, I would plank it into 4 pieces about 1-1/2 inches wide. I would keep the two center planks as planks. I would radially split the outer two planks in half.