The don't make stuff/timber/lumber like they used to

[Fitzroy]

A piece of timber removed from the out outhouse roof, I kept to use for scrap projects. Having cut a piece to hang my clamps on I discovered this, 103yrs of growth in 4".

 

[rogxwhit]

Looks like pitch pine. Old growth forest. Not the modern planation stuff.

 

[thetyreman]

that's why I always search local skips, it's rare but I have on occasion found wood this nice, including old pitch pine doors with very similar looking grain, you can't beat old wood.

 

[MARK.B.]

I wonder how many people that view this thread will have had even just for a second, the urge/temptation to count those growth rings , i did and got 102 . Now i wonder if Fitzroy will be able to resist the temptation to count again just in case

 

[rob1693]

I work as an electrician in student land in Sheffield and grab all the roof joists and perlings ripped out of old houses I see in skips had a lot of good free wood for projects and firewood

 

[Fitzroy]

I wonder how many people that view this thread will have had even just for a second, the urge/temptation to count those growth rings , i did and got 102 . Now i wonder if Fitzroy will be able to resist the temptation to count again just in case

Nope

 

[MARK.B.]

Nope

 

[Pedronicus]

When we had major extension works done to our bungalow in 1994 I made sure that I snaffled all the decent useable lengths of old floor/ceiling joists and roof timbers that were cut out (The original build was 1929). These have been sitting, suitably protected, down the side of the house since removal just waiting for me to get my act together and start making things!

 

[clogs]

just seen a load of that stuff cut up for firewood........grrrrr......

Oh, went to a house to buy some metal garden furniture this week end....
the stuck up lady had a v large Mullberry tree cut down as she didn't like the squashed fruits on her driveway....
she spoke to me with plums in her gob, hope she chokes on em.....
worst yet the guys took it for firewood.....
anyone know what Mullberry wood islike to turn.....?

 

[Keith 66]

Dont know what its like to turn but the fruit are absolutely gorgeous, A rare tree these days, Philistine.

 

[Beatsy]

A century to grow four inches was relatively compatible with usage rates back then (yes, I know our island was once woods from shore to shore, hence "relatively").

Were that the growth rate of modern, domestic lumber we'd be living on tundra!

 

[Dionysios]

@clogs, Mulberry is the most valuable native timber for luthiers in Greece, especially the black one.

I don't know if it turns well, but on a bouzouki made of mullbery that I have the pores of the timber look quite open and If I remember well my luthier told me once that it tends to spinter more than other timbers so it might not be ideal for turning.

 

[ajs]

A century to grow four inches was relatively compatible with usage rates back then (yes, I know our island was once woods from shore to shore, hence "relatively").

Were that the growth rate of modern, domestic lumber we'd be living on tundra!

But the natural trees are mostly slow growing deciduous types, oak and the like. Now it seems any managed forest is evergreen, dark, and reeks of mould and sap.

We did get some benefit from mostly deforesting the country, in essence it's what kick-started the industrial revolution. Running out of fuel (wood) so switched to an alternative (coal). Coal burns hotter than wood permitting large scale iron smelting. Coal is generally underground, to drain the mines you need steam engines made of iron.

It's something I keep pointing out to the climate change deniers - you can't change the tide but you can make sure you're on the crest of the next wave.

 

[Fitzroy]

When we had major extension works done to our bungalow in 1994 I made sure that I snaffled all the decent useable lengths of old floor/ceiling joists and roof timbers that were cut out (The original build was 1929). These have been sitting, suitably protected, down the side of the house since removal just waiting for me to get my act together and start making things!

I thought I was good at saving stuff for the future!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Black mulberry is wonderful stuff to turn.

 

[Orraloon]

@clogs, Mulberry is the most valuable native timber for luthiers in Greece, especially the black one.

I don't know if it turns well, but on a bouzouki made of mullbery that I have the pores of the timber look quite open and If I remember well my luthier told me once that it tends to spinter more than other timbers so it might not be ideal for turning.

I have made a few tool handles with mulberry and find it turns really well.

The handle on that press is mulberry as is my vice handle and a few chisel handles. Not only is it good to turn it is great for handles in general.
Regards
John

 

[Bob Chapman]

A piece of timber removed from the out outhouse roof, I kept to use for scrap projects. Having cut a piece to hang my clamps on I discovered this, 103yrs of growth in 4".

I wonder how many people that view this thread will have had even just for a second, the urge/temptation to count those growth rings , i did and got 102 . Now i wonder if Fitzroy will be able to resist the temptation to count again just in case

Does 102 rings = 103 years? A bit like fence panels and fence posts.

 

[MARK.B.]

May well be right there Bob, a bit like on my birthday will i be X years old plus 3/4 of a year added growing time in my mum's tum

 

[Bob Chapman]

Ha! You need more to do Mark!

 

[mudman]

Does 102 rings = 103 years? A bit like fence panels and fence posts.

Each year you get two rings, a light one from summer growth and a dark one from late summer/autumn growth. So count from the outside o one dark ring to the next for the years. I started counting the years in the one above but gave up in something like the late 70s when the rings got narrower and my eyes more squinty.
Interesting the width of the rings, can't tell which way was the outside of the tree but you can clearly see a period where the climate was more favourable to growth and a period where much less so. Although, musing on it a bit makes me wonder if maybe it grew in a clearing with plentiful light then was crowded by taller growth that reduced the amount of light it received and hence restricted its growth resulting in narrower rings.