Salvaged lumber is my favorite woodworking material source. Dead trees, pruned limbs, demolition leftovers- all are free game. Perhaps 'free' is the key word. Admittedly, I am a firm believer in 'free is always the best price', but there is something more to it than the impact of a project's cost on my pocketbook. There is simply something deeply satisfying about turning trash into treasure. I am consistently amazed at the wonderfully useful stuff that people toss into dumpsters or onto junk piles.

For example, I pulled two logs from the neighbor's brush pile. Both are the remains of 'weed' trees culled to make room for a rather shoddy housing development in the next-door lot. One is walnut, 10cm in diameter and 2 meters long; the other is red mulberry, it's three trunks twisted together and slowly fusing. I estimate that from those trees I will be able to salvage a total of twenty useable blanks. As I am selling the resulting turnings (mainly weed pots ) for $10-$20 apiece, that 'worthless' brush is obviously quite the opposite. Here's a shot of the few I've turned so far. Mel and I are selling them on Ultra Art.

Weed Pots

Granted, I don't expect construction workers to be knowledgable in the finer aspects of woodworking, but it is still frustrating to know that my fellow Americans are so stupidly wasteful and inefficient. What happened to "Yankee ingenuity"? Does no one believe in the power of dumpster diving any more? This is Iowa! Where are our practical farmers? Are people so spoiled with overflowing abundance that simple frugality and keen observation have gone completely out the window? Shop class? As for myself, I refuse to accept the programming of our modern consumer society. new != good; lab notes:

Comments

heavy pie
Wed, 03/30/2005 - 15:15
Consumer programming!
&& cost_scavanged < cost_new && cost_scavanged == 0; Not only is it cheaper, it's free! Did you ever figure out what flavor of tree that tree trunk we grabbed from that brush pile is? Other time... other space.

bruce42
Wed, 03/30/2005 - 23:14
Flavor to Savor
That tree turned out to be walnut. It was a little worm-eaten, but I think that adds some character. Otherwise, the wood was solid- only a few cracks here and there. I microwave cured the pieces so nothing will be living in it.
This brand makes the thing which a consumer is satisfied with. - engrish.com

heavy pie
Thu, 03/31/2005 - 16:00
It was a little worm-eaten

It was a little worm-eaten, but I think that adds some character.

Indeed... depending on the product. I doubt holes in a bowl would be a great thing. So, walnut you say. How dark is the wood? Also, I found an interesting block of something behind one of the log stacks. I've yet to identify it... not really any discerning features (that I can see) You'll have to take a look at it at some point, I'm drying out in the meantime. Microwave cured... that's awesome. Fortunately there were no nails embedded in it.
Other time... other space.

bruce42
Sat, 04/02/2005 - 14:54
Nails
Yes, nails would have been a bad deal, both from a turning and a curing perspective! I really need to journey up that way again. It's been a while since my last visit. Mel would like to go camping now that the weather is warming up, and I like that idea. Pitching a tent out by the fire ring would be a good warm-up for a stay out at Ledges. Speaking of trees, Mel and I did a little stomping around the city-owned woods behind her house. We borrowed "Forest and Shade Trees of Iowa" from the Urbandale Public Library and ID'd a few of the trees growing there. Among the varieties we found were black walnut, honey locust, aspen, river birch, red oak, staghorn sumac, and poplar. We also pulled out a dying walnut tree and a little honey locust growing too close to a fence-line and it's parent. I now have a big-ass pile of turning stock to play with including a previously liberated dead limb from a white mulberry. One thing that struck me while hiking was the poor management and outright mistreatment of what should be a highly valuable timber, wildlife and recreation resource.
This brand makes the thing which a consumer is satisfied with. - engrish.com

heavy pie
Sun, 04/03/2005 - 20:04
Survey Says....
Cherry! Or at least that's what we here at the homestead have concluded. The block is in sad shape, pretty cracked and split. However, it looks like there's a usable chunk at the heart of the mess... so. You'll have to see. Also, if you did swing by you could get your hands a some fairly large logs of Willow. And possibly a fresh cutting of White Poplar. It's a 2... 3 inch diameter branch. I think. Could be useful.. though it's quite quite sappy so you might have to dry it for a while. Otherwise it's getting fired.
Other time... other space.

bruce42
Mon, 04/04/2005 - 01:40
Sap-tacular
Green is fine. With the microwave method I can turn green wood and cure it in under an hour. I have a huge pile of freshly cut honey locust that has a beautiful golden-orange hue. I think the paleness of the poplar would contrast well with the darker woods I have on hand. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Large logs would be great! I'd love to turn some bowls upwards of 12 inches; any stock approaching that diameter would be fantastic. As for the cherry, yeah I'll have to see. It's amazing what you can get from gnarly chunks; maybe it'll be something cool.
This brand makes the thing which a consumer is satisfied with. - engrish.com

heavy pie
Mon, 04/04/2005 - 19:08
Hmmm... I don't think there's
Hmmm... I don't think there's anything over 12". There are probably close to 6"... maybe. Other time... other space.