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Milling Kentucky Coffe Tree

Started by DR_Buck, September 13, 2010, 06:10:19 AM

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DR_Buck

Anybody ever mill a Kentucky Coffee Tree?   If so, what is the wood good for?   Is it hard wood, or is it a soft wood?   How does it react when milling?   I have a customer that has a number of them on his property and wants to know what they may be good for.
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

Larry

I've milled some.  Its a hardwood.  Grain is open pored and similar to red oak.  I sold about 500 board foot at a auction one time...the auctioneer and buyers thought it was red oak.  To me it is a bit too gaudy.

Shake was a lot more prevalent than other woods.  A lot of it ends up as pallets.

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Bibbyman

 



We've sawn some from time to time.  Nice sawing wood.  Medium hard.  It's figured and feels like ash but has a coffee color like a light walnut. 

We sawed some for a guy that panned to make coffins for himself and his brother.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Autocar

I use it for flooring trim, furniture and gun stocks , one of my favorite woods.
Bill

Okrafarmer

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

paul case

Quote from: Bibbyman on September 13, 2010, 07:31:25 AM




We've sawn some from time to time.  Nice sawing wood.  Medium hard.  It's figured and feels like ash but has a coffee color like a light walnut. 

We sawed some for a guy that panned to make coffins for himself and his brother.

now that really is selling to the end user. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

toploader Ford

I've sawn it. But every log has had shake.

Okrafarmer

You can use it for making coffee tables.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

r.man

Bibby that is either really neat or really creepy, I'll have to think on it.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Bibbyman

Quote from: r.man on September 13, 2010, 10:16:22 AM
Bibby that is either really neat or really creepy, I'll have to think on it.

I'd say it's planning all the way to the end!

It's said that Daniel Boone made his own coffin years ahead of time.  He stored it in the attic and it's rumored he'd sometimes to lie in it to check it for fit.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

DanG

Quote from: Bibbyman on September 13, 2010, 11:37:30 AM

It's said that Denial Boone made his own coffin years ahead of time.  He stored it in the attic and it's rumored he'd sometimes to lie in it to check it for fit.

That don't sound like "Denial" to me! :D :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Kansas

We have milled it and sold it. Shake can indeed be a problem. Around here, to get the good stuff, you have to get logs that grow up around red oak type timbers. We once sold about 4000 ft to a guy doing all the trim and floors in an old farmhouse he was redoing. I believe it is a member of the locust family, so be aware that digging out when you plane it can be a problem,especially if you have a straight knife planer. To me its like red oak but more red in color and more exaggerated grain.

Autocar

I live in flat farm county that can get crazy winds but Ive yet to cut a coffee bean that had wind shake. Now cottonwood that has wind shake in my country.  :D
Bill

5quarter

I have some drying in the stacks right now. Harder than Oak. Heartwood is pinkish with alot of color variation. one of the easiest woods to dry, imho. not much shrinkage, very little defect. I quarter saw most of it...even though there are no rays, boards tend to look cleaner and the grain tighter and it also tends to show more color variation. can be used in any application where you would use oak. it machines well as long your tools are sharp. The last coffee bean log I cut, a neighbor (older, retired fellow) from down the road stopped to watch and afterwards had to admit that it was the best lookin oak he'd ever seen. :D
   
What is this leisure time of which you speak?
Blue Harbor Refinishing

Ron Wenrich

I believe that shake has to do more with a bacteria than it does wind.  I'm not sure where I read that. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

beenthere

Quote from: Ron Wenrich on September 14, 2010, 05:37:16 AM
I believe that shake has to do more with a bacteria than it does wind.  I'm not sure where I read that. 

You are right Ron. (again.. :)  )

But calling it wind shake, has stuck as a name for a long, long time. But nothing to do with the wind.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

paul case

i know this is highjacking but i didnt know that ''shake'' in a tree wasnt caused by the wind. is this really true? pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

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