Booty

[woodfarmer]

Today I did a 200 mile round trip to buy a couple of walnut logs. They were cut 10 years ago and been lying in a shed. bit rough around the edges but sure there is something good in there somewhere. Hopefully I will get £100's worth of fun from them. There were 3 of them but one had been lying on a wet earth floor and was rotten for at least four inches.

 

[cedarwood]

Very nice haul don't forget to show what you make even if it turns out to be firewood =D> firewood

 

[KimG]

You lucky Woodfarmer!! Very little Walnut grows around here, it's extremely rare to even see a tree, (I know of only three in the county!) Show us what you make from it!

 

[woodfarmer]

You lucky Woodfarmer!! Very little Walnut grows around here, it's extremely rare to even see a tree, (I know of only three in the county!) Show us what you make from it!

This stuff was inside a shelter for 10 years, hope it is stable enough to finish a bowl. I tried one in green pear down to 1/2" thick and in 8 days was 15mm out of round. I was amazed.

There was, still is someone with a walnut tree they felled for "Firewood" worst thing is he cut it up into short rounds thinking he was being helpful. only good for small stuff now.
South of me is a 3 metre walnut trunk cut last winter, complete and it was my second choice of wood. £80

What I can't seem to find is sycamore, birch or maple. The most common around here is oak,say 70% then 20 % ash. after that is a mostly a mix of fruit woods and acacia although I have had the odd bit of chestnut and hornbeam (in small sizes)

I chose the walnut because it looks good (certainly my rifle butt does) and will be a nice contrast to the pear wood I have.

Most of the commercial wood around here is sold in boards usually around 1 -1/12" thick but have seen it up to around 4 inches. but expensive. One 2 metre by 45cm x 100 mm thick seasoned ash board was £70 which works out at £14 for a 16" bowl. For me ash doesn't have a real strong figure, unlike acacia, but it is not common to find acacia much over 10" diameter. I have one in the lane coming on for 12" diameter but it is the biggest acacia I have seen.

 

[procell]

For sycamore try looking closer to London. Most areas have thousands of them growing on parkland and along roads/rivers. Contact local councils to see if their parks department can assist. My local council uses a contractor who is more than willing for me to take a few logs from his huge yard.
Not only is there a variety of types of wood but also some has been in the yard for years so is just in need of final drying.