Sometimes a man just needs to buy lumber.

hackberry jake · April 03, 2015, 03:23:40 PM

I havent been doing much sawing this past year for one reason or another and my lumber pile is dwindling. What I use most of is what I call "utility" lumber. So I went and bought a bundle of "mixed grade" lumber from one of the local mills. It figures up around 900 board feet. About a third of it was cherry and walnut ;D, and the rest was sycamore, black gum, ash, and two basswood boards.

You guys notice anything strange about this cherry? ;D

Magicman · April 03, 2015, 03:27:45 PM

Yup, no good. You need to throw that back before WDH sees it 'cause da boy just can't handle seeing stuff like that.

Nomad · April 03, 2015, 06:44:23 PM

Lynn, are you saying Danny won't like that? :D

Magicman · April 03, 2015, 06:52:21 PM

He don't like what he can't have. :D

Nomad · April 03, 2015, 06:57:31 PM

Yup, that's Danny. (Hey waitaminnit. I'm gonna see him next month. He might be trying to stick me with something sharp for comments like this!)

ozarkgem · April 03, 2015, 08:57:16 PM

what are your plans for the lumber?

WDH · April 03, 2015, 09:47:14 PM

Serendipity. Serendipity, I say.

Don_Papenburg · April 03, 2015, 10:02:19 PM

I recon his plan is to keep it away from WDH

Magicman · April 03, 2015, 10:05:30 PM

Quote from: WDH on April 03, 2015, 09:47:14 PM
Serendipity. Serendipity, I say.

In Jake's instance, yes, very much so.

hackberry jake · April 03, 2015, 10:44:05 PM

Some will probably end up as framing material in an upcoming shed. From time to time I get people coming to me wanting cheap lumber for one thing or another. The mills around here sell their "3b" lumber for between $220 to $300. This one was $270. It is normally just used for stringers on pallets. I definately wouldn't want to cut 950bf of lumber for $270.

Magicman · April 03, 2015, 10:52:17 PM

I have sawed 950 bf of lumber for much less than that before.

hackberry jake · April 03, 2015, 10:53:33 PM

Quote from: Magicman on April 03, 2015, 10:52:17 PM
I have sawed 950 bf of lumber for much less than that before.

from your logs?

Magicman · April 04, 2015, 08:15:44 AM

Oh no. I rarely saw for myself, and lumber is never for sale. Within my first year of sawing I found my niche. I Saws-um and Leaves-um. ;D

Chuck White · April 04, 2015, 04:49:16 PM

Quote from: Magicman on April 04, 2015, 08:15:44 AM
Oh no. I rarely saw for myself, and lumber is never for sale. Within my first year of sawing I found my niche. I Saws-um and Leaves-um. ;D

Me too! ;)

When I do saw for Me, it's for me, and not for sale. :

WDH · April 04, 2015, 08:16:40 PM

Wow, if that was the "3b" curly cherry, I can't wait to see the FAS stuff. It might have slipped in.

hackberry jake · April 04, 2015, 08:56:59 PM

Quote from: WDH on April 04, 2015, 08:16:40 PM
Wow, if that was the "3b" curly cherry, I can't wait to see the FAS stuff. It might have slipped in.

I think the mills around here have a hard time marketing variety woods like cherry, sassafrass, locust, etc. They can sell all the oak and hickory that comes in but the rest usually ends up in 3b. I dont know how the walnut slipped in there... I'm not gunna ask too many questions though.

hackberry jake · September 25, 2015, 07:36:52 PM

Well, I did it again. This time it was about 1,500 bf of black locust.

Magicman · September 25, 2015, 07:57:40 PM

That is a nice whack of Black Locust. 8)

Larry · September 25, 2015, 08:14:53 PM

A few months ago Kathy came across a cast iron chair frame with all the wood rotted off. She gave a couple of dollars for it and handed me my marching orders. Her plan was to put it in her flower garden as a nice place to rest and reflect.

My thought was for a wood that had excellent rot resistance, strong, and would age well with no maintenance. One of the best for those requirements is black locust.

I slapped a couple of coats of an oil varnish mix on when complete and thought I would just let it go grey. After she saw it, she liked it so good she elevated its position to the covered deck.

What's interesting is how much it has changed color with exposure to the sun. It is now a rich reddish color.

I've done a lot of projects with black locust and really like working with it. It is also an easy sell if your doing commission work for something outside.

What kind of plans do you have for it?

hackberry jake · September 25, 2015, 08:20:47 PM

Sticker it in the chicken house for now. I'll be needing to build a small porch on the front of my house pretty soon. The old one is treated pine that is past it's life expectancy. The rest I will likely keep for future "orders" or peddle it on CL.

hackberry jake · September 26, 2015, 02:04:56 PM

Hey Larry, ole buddy ole pal. I just got a couple similar benches. They want them by Christmas. Since you are all practiced up on rebuilding benches...

Larry · September 26, 2015, 08:18:56 PM

I'd jump right on that project, but I don't want to deprive you of all the fun your gonna have.

hackberry jake · September 26, 2015, 10:48:16 PM

My only question was eastern red cedar or locust. Seeing your bench answered that question for ke Larry.

kameljoe21 · September 26, 2015, 11:01:02 PM

My neighbor has about 25 pairs of these, they were from some theather seating, i only have a coulple at my place right now, but i have made a few benches from them from time to time, and they came out pretty nice

Quote from: Larry on September 25, 2015, 08:14:53 PM
A few months ago Kathy came across a cast iron chair frame with all the wood rotted off. She gave a couple of dollars for it and handed me my marching orders. Her plan was to put it in her flower garden as a nice place to rest and reflect.

My thought was for a wood that had excellent rot resistance, strong, and would age well with no maintenance. One of the best for those requirements is black locust.

I slapped a couple of coats of an oil varnish mix on when complete and thought I would just let it go grey. After she saw it, she liked it so good she elevated its position to the covered deck.

What's interesting is how much it has changed color with exposure to the sun. It is now a rich reddish color.

I've done a lot of projects with black locust and really like working with it. It is also an easy sell if your doing commission work for something outside.

What kind of plans do you have for it?

mesquite buckeye · September 27, 2015, 12:18:37 AM

That cherry looks turrible. :( :( :(

All wiggly lookin'. Probably will just bend around when it gets dry.

I could probably use it for hog crates or sumpthin' like that.

Not good for much else. :( :( :(

I would be willing to take it off your hands to get it out of the way so you can get some work done. ;D 8) 8) 8)

jmouton · September 27, 2015, 09:11:42 PM

i got customer s up here in mich calling me every one in a while looking for black locust,,, i sure could sell that here jake,,,

jim

Jemclimber · September 28, 2015, 08:18:38 AM

I wish I had more black locust. I just made a few Adirondack chairs that look nice. I also used it for my raised deck.

hackberry jake · September 28, 2015, 08:23:14 AM

I just found out that the bundles I bought were "locust", not "black locust". There is some honey locust mixed in. What's the best way to distinguish between them?

hackberry jake · September 28, 2015, 09:30:40 AM

I went down and got a couple sample boards. I tried to pick two with a large color variance. Other than color, I don't see a difference. Is that the only way to tell?

woodworker9 · September 28, 2015, 09:43:54 AM

The top board is honey locust.....I stand corrected. I went out and checked my plane stash, and it's more like the top board. I guess I'm color blind on memory.

hackberry jake · September 28, 2015, 09:51:44 AM

I was thinking the yellow one was the black locust.

woodsteach · September 28, 2015, 10:21:06 AM

I'd say the pinkish one was the Honey Locust. I've milled a lot of honey locust and it was all pink. I'd like to get some black locust, but I don't come across any.

woodsteach

Larry · September 28, 2015, 10:38:32 AM

The bottom yellow board is the black locust. I don't know any other way than color to tell the difference. As UV acts on the black locust, the color will move a lot closer to the color of honey locust Maybe @WDH has a suggestion.

mesquite buckeye · September 28, 2015, 10:57:53 AM

If you leave them both out in the weather the honey locust will rot a lot faster. ;D :( 8)

:-\

The bottom one is the black locust. Seems to me it is a bit heavier too...

Magicman · September 28, 2015, 02:52:48 PM

Our Black Locust is yellow like the bottom board.

WDH · September 28, 2015, 08:45:43 PM

Both pics are black locust. The pores in black locust are totally occluded with tyloses. That is the stuff that makes white oak so good for barrels for bourbon and fine wine. The tyloses are parenchymna cells that grow through the bordered pits in the cell wall and into the lumens of the pores, plugging them up.

The earlywood pores of honeylocust are more open, and not totally occluded by tyloses. In both your pics, the pores are filled solid. That makes me go with black locust.

hackberry jake · September 28, 2015, 11:39:30 PM

Well! I guess the color might have something to do with the age of the log? They don't get many locust logs, but when they do, they put them in the "locust pile". Some of these logs were over two years old. That's gunna make identification even tougher. Thanks WDH!

Coach · October 03, 2015, 05:35:00 PM

The yellow board looks more like the Black Locust I've got. I was going to suggest the black light method of id'ing, but it seems like Honey Locust reacts the same way.

hackberry jake · October 28, 2015, 07:38:16 PM

It's cherry next. I find buying lumber is easier on your back than sawing it ;D

YellowHammer · October 28, 2015, 07:50:40 PM

That is nice. 8)
Sometimes I also have to outsource some of my sawing. Around here it's easy to get the big mills to mow out grade oak and poplar, at a good price, but they won't touch walnut or cherry. Something about yield, profit margins, etc. but I'm not really sure. I've even asked a local mega mill, one where I buy some of my high grade cherry logs, if they will saw them, and they refuse.
They sell the logs to "somebody" if I don't buy them, but I can't find (yet) who it is or what they do with them.

So is this mill you are working with a small operation, pallet outfit, or mega mill? Might help my detective work.