- Welcome to The Forestry Forum.
How are things going?
Recent posts
#1
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??
Last post by TimW - Today at 10:08:23 PMDoc,
I guess Magicman needs a prescription. He's asking for you to Latin speak.
I guess Magicman needs a prescription. He's asking for you to Latin speak.
#2
The Outdoor Board / Re: WV Catfish 2024
Last post by WV Sawmiller - Today at 10:00:46 PMPicky, picky!
#3
General Board / Re: Making it through another ...
Last post by Old Greenhorn - Today at 09:56:12 PMWorking full days yesterday and today, but just working. I need some rustic stools for shows because they are a small item but seem to move fairly well. I sold all I had last year. I was out of legs completely after the last 2 rustic benches I made a few weeks back. Yeah, I didn't have a leg to stand on. 
(sorry)
So Monday morning I found some almost square and well dried stock I could make leg blanks from (I am really running out of wood) so I cut 21 blanks almost all maple, but a few were pine (by accident). The immediate plan is for small short step stools and my blanks are 21" long, so I should get a couple of legs out of each blank. Monday I got them squared up at 1.5" and put the mitered corners on them giving me hex legs. Then I put the rough tenon on them and called it a day. I get bored with production work after a few hours. Did some other stuff too. More later on that.
Today I did al the sanding on the tenons to make them fit my holes better. That step is a little rough on my hands and tedious, so I did them in groups then did something else for a while, then came back to it until I finished. I put them in stock. I have 4 round bottom slabs that I was going to make into benches and did most of the finishing 4 years ago and they have been laying around ever since without leg holes in them. I grabbed one of those and cut it into 4 pieces 12" long for these stools. I refinished the edges and rounded everything off, I drilled the holes and fitted the legs and got them all glued by quitting time. Tomorrow I'll trim the tops of the legs off, fill some ore glue in, and sand it all flush, getting them ready for leg trimming.
---------------
In between all that I had another 'thing' going on. When I delivered those logs on Sunday I was chatting with the clients and came to learn that they had about a dozen logs they had just inoculated under the guidance of the 'new gal' at the CFA who came over to take them through the process. Her name is Zahra and I know her and we have met a couple of times but never really sat and talked. She has been with the CFA for about a year now, seems like a sharp gal. But I learned that some of these logs were Red Maple and that surprised me. Common knowledge and direct advice from Cornell is that Shiitakes will not grow in RM. So That got my curiosity up. Sunday night I wrote her an email asking about it and inquiring if she had any information that supported growing on RM.
Monday afternoon I got a nice lengthy reply from her with all the citations she based her decisions on along with links to the associated research and she invited me to give her a call to discuss it. Well I read all the materials and the original study and data that they were based on last night. I was blown away with some of the details, it was a lot to absorb.
This morning I got up and read the research again, more carefully, it conflicted with a lot of stuff I had been told and a lot of stuff that is taken as common knowledge among my clients. But you can't argue with carefully controlled and collected data.
Yes, you can grow shiitake on RM, but the yields will be lower. However, if you use logs 5" diameter and up, and inoculate 4 weeks after felling, the yields can be competitive with the oaks and Hard Maple. This was a bit of a mind blower. But the detail that really got me was the scientists and researchers that know the science all seem to know that when you cut the logs, you need to let them rest for 2 weeks while the cell structures in the log re-arrange and the system that fights invasive assaults shuts down. This give the target mushrooms spores an easier and faster leg hold in the log. For RM this has to be even more and they recommend 4 weeks. SO when I called Zahra today we talked about this at length and we both sort of reached the conclusion that this rest period is important and varies by species. I wondered if it is connected to a species tendency to 'stump spout'. RM stump spouts like mad and way more than any of the other substrate species for shiitakes. Stump spouting is a way the tree ensures its survival, the same as it fights invasive molds. So we (I) are thinking they are related.
The whole issue of letting the logs rest was news to me. Almost all of my clients want to get them inoculated ASAP and it turns out this is not correct and may reduce their yields. SO tonight I spent an hour writing an email for my regular Clients that included the direct links to the studies and reports.
What this means for me is I don't have to make such an effort to cut and deliver these logs in such short order because they should sit at least 2 weeks anyway. The other thing I learned is that I can begin my winter cutting in December rather than waiting until February. I still won't cut RM for clients unless they request them, even though they will work, they aren't great and require extra care.
Mushrooms are a fickle, complicated, and largely misunderstood or poorly known organism. I learn something new every day and today was a big one. But knowledge is power, so I'll take it.
Tomorrow is another day.
(sorry)So Monday morning I found some almost square and well dried stock I could make leg blanks from (I am really running out of wood) so I cut 21 blanks almost all maple, but a few were pine (by accident). The immediate plan is for small short step stools and my blanks are 21" long, so I should get a couple of legs out of each blank. Monday I got them squared up at 1.5" and put the mitered corners on them giving me hex legs. Then I put the rough tenon on them and called it a day. I get bored with production work after a few hours. Did some other stuff too. More later on that.
Today I did al the sanding on the tenons to make them fit my holes better. That step is a little rough on my hands and tedious, so I did them in groups then did something else for a while, then came back to it until I finished. I put them in stock. I have 4 round bottom slabs that I was going to make into benches and did most of the finishing 4 years ago and they have been laying around ever since without leg holes in them. I grabbed one of those and cut it into 4 pieces 12" long for these stools. I refinished the edges and rounded everything off, I drilled the holes and fitted the legs and got them all glued by quitting time. Tomorrow I'll trim the tops of the legs off, fill some ore glue in, and sand it all flush, getting them ready for leg trimming.
---------------
In between all that I had another 'thing' going on. When I delivered those logs on Sunday I was chatting with the clients and came to learn that they had about a dozen logs they had just inoculated under the guidance of the 'new gal' at the CFA who came over to take them through the process. Her name is Zahra and I know her and we have met a couple of times but never really sat and talked. She has been with the CFA for about a year now, seems like a sharp gal. But I learned that some of these logs were Red Maple and that surprised me. Common knowledge and direct advice from Cornell is that Shiitakes will not grow in RM. So That got my curiosity up. Sunday night I wrote her an email asking about it and inquiring if she had any information that supported growing on RM.
Monday afternoon I got a nice lengthy reply from her with all the citations she based her decisions on along with links to the associated research and she invited me to give her a call to discuss it. Well I read all the materials and the original study and data that they were based on last night. I was blown away with some of the details, it was a lot to absorb.
This morning I got up and read the research again, more carefully, it conflicted with a lot of stuff I had been told and a lot of stuff that is taken as common knowledge among my clients. But you can't argue with carefully controlled and collected data.
Yes, you can grow shiitake on RM, but the yields will be lower. However, if you use logs 5" diameter and up, and inoculate 4 weeks after felling, the yields can be competitive with the oaks and Hard Maple. This was a bit of a mind blower. But the detail that really got me was the scientists and researchers that know the science all seem to know that when you cut the logs, you need to let them rest for 2 weeks while the cell structures in the log re-arrange and the system that fights invasive assaults shuts down. This give the target mushrooms spores an easier and faster leg hold in the log. For RM this has to be even more and they recommend 4 weeks. SO when I called Zahra today we talked about this at length and we both sort of reached the conclusion that this rest period is important and varies by species. I wondered if it is connected to a species tendency to 'stump spout'. RM stump spouts like mad and way more than any of the other substrate species for shiitakes. Stump spouting is a way the tree ensures its survival, the same as it fights invasive molds. So we (I) are thinking they are related.
The whole issue of letting the logs rest was news to me. Almost all of my clients want to get them inoculated ASAP and it turns out this is not correct and may reduce their yields. SO tonight I spent an hour writing an email for my regular Clients that included the direct links to the studies and reports.
What this means for me is I don't have to make such an effort to cut and deliver these logs in such short order because they should sit at least 2 weeks anyway. The other thing I learned is that I can begin my winter cutting in December rather than waiting until February. I still won't cut RM for clients unless they request them, even though they will work, they aren't great and require extra care.
Mushrooms are a fickle, complicated, and largely misunderstood or poorly known organism. I learn something new every day and today was a big one. But knowledge is power, so I'll take it.
Tomorrow is another day.
#4
The Outdoor Board / Re: Fishin
Last post by Magicman - Today at 09:45:37 PMIt should not be a problem except that he can't point as far as he once could. 
#5
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Stress
Last post by Magicman - Today at 09:42:52 PMI have related before about a customer that had one 16' log that would square 12" and wanted four 6X6's. I explained to him that it would not work, that he could not get them.
He insisted that he was a carpenter and knew what he wanted. After the argument, I sawed what he wanted and he got exactly what I had described; a banana peel.
I walked straight to the invoice book and wrote them down as he left with them draped across the tractor forks.
He insisted that he was a carpenter and knew what he wanted. After the argument, I sawed what he wanted and he got exactly what I had described; a banana peel.
I walked straight to the invoice book and wrote them down as he left with them draped across the tractor forks.
#6
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Help with cutting stringy ...
Last post by Magicman - Today at 09:32:12 PMAnd the next one that you open up by splitting the pith will do the same thing. 
#7
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??
Last post by Magicman - Today at 09:30:01 PMdoc, Just stick with your "other" language.......Latin.
#8
Timber Framing/Log construction / Re: have question about timber...
Last post by platinumphoenix - Today at 09:23:56 PM #9
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Help with cutting stringy ...
Last post by Jack jr - Today at 09:20:51 PM
#10
Sawmills and Milling / Re: Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??
Last post by doc henderson - Today at 09:20:41 PMcome on Lynn, don't dangle your participle. 
