The Forestry Forum

Cottonwod? LeeB

Here are three different pictures of the same floor sample.The floor is t&g with a micro bevel, and stained and Varathaned.

(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/paul_bc_floor.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/paul_bc_floor_a.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/paul_bc_floor_b.jpg)

The sample has two different stains and one strip natural.

Any guesses on the species?

There is no prize but I'm curious to hear what you all think. 8)

Alaska yellow cedar?

I thought at first that you were going to show us Douglas Fir but that, I think, is no softwood.  It is some mighty fine looking boards though.  Somebody did a good job of sawing to get so much vertical grain.  That is indicitive of large logs too.  Can't guess on the type of wood.

Beenthere & Tom,

It is a "hardwood" native to BC.I got the pieces off of the oldtimer that I bought the MD from.He had Q-sawed them on the mill and they have air dried for about 15 years.

They were in 2x8 form and we resawed them in his shop then run them through the Heaps.

I hope that there are more guesses because the first time I saw this type of wood finished,it really caught my eye.

I never even came close to guessing what it was. :)

Yes! You got it Lee.

It's Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp trichocarpa)
and it grows west of the Rockies.

We are going to mill up some large butt logs when the snow leaves and see how it goes.The oldtimer told me that there was very little tension in the logs that he milled.

The one thing about sanding the floor sample was that it needed a light sand after the first coat of varathane.After that there was no fuzz problem.

But that was only a sample,the acid test will be when we run a whole floor.Glen,who put together the sample for me,wants to use it in a 20x40' youth room that him and his wife Lori are building.They want it as flooring,and panelling on one  wall.

Well Paul,
That's value added!  I imagine you can get a much better $ recovery from the flooring than you woud get from selling the Ac to Scott paper - not to mention the fate of the poor Cottonwood which goes to the paper mill!

The samples look great!....looking forward to seeing how the whole floor looks and holds up under "youth" pressure!
JW

Welcome to the Forum Whipsaw.

Yes,the Cottonwood logs are only fetching $45 cdn a cubic meter delivered to Scott Paper in New Westminster.The hauling cost from here is $18 cubic meter.

I hope it works out well,but only time will tell.

I would have never guessed that to be black cottonwood. It sure is different than the cottonwood here.

Looks nice, how do you get the micro bevel on the edges like that?

I went and grabbed the knives off of the bench.They were ground for a 3/4" finished board.I had them made for a customer(Tom) that wanted to lay the floor down after pre sanding.

I was told by a few people that it wasn't the correct way to do things,that the floor is layed then sanded.Surprisingly it turned out OK.

(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/paul_bevel_knives.jpg)

On the ends of the boards,Tom used a block sander and gave each end a couple of quick sweeps to make a bevel.

You might try a sanding sealer on the boards before the topcoat. Might help with the fuzzies and make the boards take the stain more evenly.  Some woods are blotchy looking when stained ( usually soft material ) and the sealer helps to eliminate it. I don't see any blotch in you pics but thought you may want to give it a try.  I'm not familiar with blk. cottonwood, but I would think it's not to hard a material.

I guess I waited to long today to come back to the forum.  tht is exactly what I would have guess, Cottonwood.  

Paul, I  have a couple thoursand feet of logs in the yeard tight now.  give me the dimensions and I will send you some, in the raw.  You process for drying, planing  and t &ging.   You can pay the frieght and pay my end when the job sells. 8)

I don't know one cottenwod from the other, but it looks like some I milled here in Texas. Some of it planed out real nice and some of it had tear out like crazy. The stuff with the bad tear out was also prone to fuzzing. LeeB

LeeB,
Do you remember if the tearout was worse in flat grain or VG?All the boards that we planed were VG but I would think that the flat grain would look nice too and we would sure like to use as much as we can.According to the charts,Cottonwood has a different cutting angle than Poplar.
I thought that they were the same species ???

Cutting Angle Chart (http://www.woodtechtooling.com/DML_FC_Cutterheads/Cutting_Chart/cuttinganglehookchart.html)

shopteacher,
Thanks for the tip on the sanding sealer.Does it harden like a varathane?

Frank,
You are a generous man but the shipping would kill me :D

Paul_H, Don't recall right off hand. I have some of it left. Will look and see. Most sanding sealers are shelac I think. LeeB

Sanding sealers are put on before the stain and are not a topcoat or finish coat. As LeeB said they are fast drying such as shellac or lacquer based.

Paul, went and dug some of the boards out from under my son's bed.(they stay dry there) Looks like most of the tear out was on flat sawn. Most of the time when I saw, I saw through and through. Makes sence as to why some of the boards had tearout on part of it and not all. LeeB

Thanks to the both of you for the help.It will be at least a month before I can begin milling again so this gives me time to address the problems that can arise.

That sure is some pretty stuff, Pawl.

I've been so excited about it that I went
back through my files to find where we
had planted some cottonwood just north-west
of here.

I'm gonna cut  me some of that flooring as
soon as it matures.  

How long does it take
to get big enough to quarter-saw, eh? :P
(https://forestryforum.com/images/YaBBImages/userpics/Toms-sth-ga-snow-opt.jpg)

Tom I think that is what they make cotton candy out of. Hey Jeff I got it to Food :D ;D

Talm,
That stuff will be ready to Q-saw in 18 months if you would take the time to sing to it every day.Not just quietly,but at the top of your lungs.Cottonwood also thrives if you roll around on the ground with it while you sing.They just love it and might be ready within a years time. :P

People around here are to "proud" to spend quality time with their Cottonwood and they have to wait 60 years for it to mature.

Take pictures :D

The old timers (older then me) would use a 50 / 50 mix of shellac and paint thinner as a pre stain, I have been using sanding sealer and thinner with good results. The stain can be applied wet or after it is dry.

When it's peach pickin time in Georga
Apple pickin time in Tennessee
'Cotton' Pickin time in Mississippi
Everybody Picks on me

written byJimmy Rodgers and Clayton McMichen


JIMMIE RODGERS, The Father of Country Music also known as the Singing Brakeman and  America's Blue Yodeler.

I'll do what I can!
That's some pretty wood.
It'd be worth a little aggravation. :)

 

 :D :D 8) I'm speechless :D