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It has been my experience, when buying trees or cut timber, that
the seller often has a very rosy picture of the wood he has
stashed away in the garage or of the tree that is currently
hanging precariously over his neighbour’s greenhouse…..
I may have travelled 30 miles to find out that what I have been
glowingly told is 50mm cherry in planks that have been seasoning
for 10 years, has been stacked in an airless space like a garage
and is mouldy, or is in planks that were taken from 600mm
sections of tree – I don’t want either ! I should have asked
right away what it was I going all that way too see, - my
mistake.
Other questions you could ask, before you go,
are – if it’s a tree; what species is it ? ( and if they don’t
know, I wouldn’t go) Poplar and pine, in fact any soft wood, are
really not worth buying – Poplar is sometimes used for organ
pipes, apparently, but never used for furniture, Pine is just
too expensive to process and there is the risk of blue staining
as it dries. Obviously there are provisos to this – a Granny
Pine, or a decent straight Douglas Fir without low branches
might be OK in the right circumstances; only you can decide this
– I am speaking as a commercial furniture maker.
Is the tree straight ? It needs to be. Does it split low-down
into several trunks? Doesn’t sound too good – these separate
trunks will have inbuilt stresses and strains due to their
imbalance, this in turn means that they may not be easy to work
with.
Is the tree rotten? Are there signs of rot? Has it been dead for
a long time?
Is it still standing?
If it is down, are there signs of rot in the
heart of the tree? If it’s a large Elm, and the rot is just
beginning at the bottom it may still be OK. If it’s an Oak, is
it growing in boggy ground? If it is – even if it looks good
don’t touch it – it probably has a ring shake running right up
its length.
There are lots of questions you can ask the seller before you
visit, here are a couple more that are very important;
Can you get it out of there? Should you get involved? The person
keen to sell you the tree may be having difficulty in getting
anyone to remove it; timber felling these days is an expensive
business and some trees can only be taken down a bit at a time
by specialist tree fellers with harnesses. This can be because
of the dangers inherent in the condition or position of the
tree, or the location of the tree. Tree
surgeons have big insurance policies as their work can involve
risk to property and to their operatives and the general public.
Is the tree too big for your equipment ? Ask what the diameter
of the tree is – if it less than a 400 mm it is probably not
worth bothering about – if it is more than 900 probably best to
leave it to someone with the heavy equipment and skill - don’t
be greedy ! Often the seller knows a lot about
the above and has already arranged for someone to take the tree
down. Try to impress on him that the lengths that the trunk is
cut into are important . I usually insist on 3.5 metre lengths,
otherwise the guy with the chainsaw will run amock and cut it
into the lengths that suit him (short enough to handle). It’s
best to mark the places where you want it cut and then you can
take into account large knots, bends and damage.
Finally be wary of branch wood – I’m going to experiment with
some because I have a lot of it here, but I have not been
impressed with it for commercial use – it contains inherent
stresses that are pretty upsetting for the furniture maker.
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