I got a tree service that has a semi load of sweet gum they want to unload at my place. I have never sawed any what is it like? What could it be used for other than pallet?. Whats it worth? I can't see putting a lot of money in it but for blocking or something it might be ok I'm not sure.
There has been a lot of discussion in the past about sweet gum. It makes beautiful furniture but is extremely hard to dry and keep straight.
I think you might get away with putting it into ties. A semi load is only going to yield a few Mbf of lumber. I'd run it past a wholesaler to see if there might be any interest on that end, but I doubt it since it is a rarity in these parts.
I would do a search. I have never cut any, but it is very high on my 'gotta cut it' list. It makes beautiful lumber. From what I have read it must be dired slowly. Maybe Tom will chime in with some pics of a stool he made from S. gum. It is something to behold!
It's very hard to keep straight while drying. It is pretty wood in the end though. It grows like weeds here. If I'm not mistaken they call it "poor mans walnut". I made a table top out of some that is white with nice streaks of brown with bug holes and some spalting. It warped and twisted after I got done with it and brought it inside. I have to get some more to try it again. I'd cut some up and see if you can move it. Are they giving you the logs or do they want money for them? I certainly wouldn't pay for it. It is a pain to split for fire wood as well if you try to split it down the middle and keep halfing it. You have to take bites from the outer edges and keep rotating the piece around and around until you nibble away at the whole thing.
That ole' sweetgum just ain't got it has it! ::) ::) ............. A lot of people won't even pull it out of the woods. I love it, it's one of my favorites, it makes excellent paneling if sawn 3/4" thick and no wider than 8". Occasionally a wider board will behave without cupping. If it's spalted, like the photo it makes the room come alive.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12431/shaved%20wax%20002ff15.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12431/shaved%20wax%20012ff17.JPG)
i have cut about 100 or so sweet gum logs
it dries fast with alot of twist and checking
its very nice looking wood
i cut mine proud knowing it would twist
there is alot of 2nd processessing when u make it into finished lumber
BUT i have found once it is dry and jointed and planed , and brought into the shop it tends to say put
i have been processessing alot of my stash in the last few weeks , some boards u have to cut short to get a good board out it if
so have got many random length boards
my sweet gum was free, guy was clearing his lot to put up a house and deliver them with his tractor, 4 or 5 logs at a whack
both heart wood and sap wood are perdy
i have seen there is very little cup or twist once its inside, i have got on say 40 % a wee bow 1/16 over 6 foot board,
funny i had a few board dry looking like a propeller to an airplane, funny lookin for sure
Woodbowl, mine looks just like that except I have more white. It is pretty wood if you are into that kind of thing. I like it too!
They want me to buy this off of them. I wouldn't mind a couple logs to see what it's like but I think I'll stay away from the semi load.
Here's a picture of the stool.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-sweetgum-stool.jpg)
I wouldn't make it a habit to buy logs from a tree surgeon. It's not that I have anything against their making money, running a business or providing logs. It's that they charge the homeowner for disposal of those logs and usually have to take them to a landfill where they are charged by the ton. If the price is right and the homeowner is benefitting from not having to pay dump fees then money may be in the trade. Many of these guys are burning the candle from both ends, selling the logs and including dump charges in the price of removal too.
Most tree surgeons are more than happy to give you the logs just to get rid of them. The production mills shy away from them because of tramp metal.
Wow Tom, that stool is beautiful. Fantastic grain pattern and figure.
They want you to buy them because they can't sell them to anyone else. They really aren't worth anything. Next you'll be getting the "they are straight and big" routine. They are all straight and big. So straight and big that noone can get rid of them!! I'd tell them you charge half of what the dump does for disposal and see what they say!
My friend Bill, the local arborist, doesn't have dump access so I'm pretty sure he's not charging a dump fee. Around here he can sell logs to the local mill only if he can swear that they weren't yard trees and growing at least ~40' away from the house and the road. Anything he can't sell wind up back of his barn to be deal with as best he can.
He and at least one of his guys have outdoor wood fired boilers so they can burn most anything but they can never burn enough to clear the yard. He's more than happy drop off free logs for me to mill and pick up the slabs I can't burn.
My record for his logs includes one 5/8" bolt (it blunted all the cutters so perfectly it left me wondering why the saw had slowed down) and a cable that had been put on the 20" log when it was an 8" tree.
A tree surgeons logs can hold true treasures like Tom's stool but I'd think twice about what else they hold were I running a bandsaw.
I've never milled any sweet gum, but over 80% of the logs I mill are from tree services. I'd never pay anything for the logs (I also pick them up). I wouldn't offer them anything more than a delivery fee.
I know all about these so called tree experts and the games they play. The trucker that brought the semi load in yesterday wasn't thrilled when I pulled out the Rens metal detector and scanned every log as it was unloaded. I sent 7 logs back plus 8 huge logs that my 120 prentice had all it could do to lift from last fall when they came in the dark so I couldn't see what they had on. They had brought 3 semi loads in and I told the tree company owner when he sent a truck to pick up the big logs full of steel that I told not to bring in the first place I would pay him for the good stuff. Only took him 7 months to come back and the logs were still waiting for him ;)
Tom thats some grain in that wood! I bet that would make a beautiful floor if you could get it to dry flat to work.
I really like sweet gum, the tie yard down the road will buy all the
gum ties I can mill. Also the oldtimers say it is very good for lath (sp)
because of its nail holding ability when dry... :) :) :) :)
Tony 8)
I'm not sure where all this "info" comes from, but my experience is that Sweet Gum is no harder to dry straight than Oak. I've only cut a couple dozen SG logs, and I've had better luck with air drying it than most any other hardwood. The Oak that is drying beside it has a lot more cup, twist, etc. I keep a couple of skip-planed boards laying around, and everybody that sees them just drools over them. I gotta find some more logs, because I'm about sold out. ;D
I like to use sweet gum to floor low boy trailers as it doesn't get as brittle as white oak and when you are crossing one of these bridges in Ga. the backhoe doesn't go through as easy.
I came across this thread today
it is from last year .... some good info
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=10095.20
RED
I ran across an elderly gent who made wooden wheels for farm wagons and buggies. when I asked him what his preference was for wood for hubs, to my surprise, he said sweet gum. My experiences with sweet gum had always been bad, it cracks and warps badly. His answer was simple and it works. NEVER use the center 2 inches of sweetgum logs for anything. I followed up by quartersawing a big old sweetgum log and air drying it. Where there were knots, it warped just like any other wood, but surprise, otherwise, it made nice straight boards with a minium of cupping and twisting. I planned some of it and made some small pieces of furniture. It works well and takes a stain nicely. Where I live, sweetgum is considered a nuisance, it grows everwhere and quite rapidly. Maybe it's getting a bum rap???
My recollection is that the "old folks" around here used BLACK gum for the uses you described................
Sweetgum,, sortof like a Euculyptus? thats what i was thinkin,. anyway, i have milled some Eucs, and figured out early that if the bark has twist in it......then its firewood. Wait for 5 yrs then it splits like butter. Iif the bark is straight...then mill it sticker it, weight it down....lots of weight. I have some beautiful red gums, that would make a good inlay for flooring.
What do you know about the twisty bark thingy?
whats your experience?
Jack
I think their sweetgum is Liquidamber, but 'gum' here is one of the various flavours of Eucalyptus too.
The spiral grain will cause you grief every time and some Eucs are bad for it. But the straight grain ones can be really nice if you take care drying them.
Cheers
Ian
I wish I could have taken some pics. of the gum I cut, looked nice but blew apart. I put it on the lower part of a stack so it would have plenty of weight and keep it out of direct sunlight. 75% of the 1 1/8 boards I cut cracked in at least 2-3 places and right through the center. Most of my boards were 15-20 inches, I'd like to use some for projects but scared if I put them in the kiln they might explode and destroy the kiln :D
My bet is ties or really thick slabs on the bottom part of a big stack.
Flip