Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in message ...
The message
from (N. Thornton) contains these words:

from John Rouse contains these words:

Some time ago I mentioned that I had some applewood from an old apple
tree. I have recently cut off another of the major branches, and so I e-


Can one do much with choped off garden trees? Not just apple, various
things, eg holly, oak, maple, etc. Trunk sizes varying from 1.5" to
maybe 10". I mean for most of us who dont have sawmills.

Allow the cut ends to dry sufficiently to take emulsion paint. Paint
over the ends and allow to dry, then melt wax over them. Store in stacks
with air gaps between pieces under cover - preferably under just a
cover, not in a dry shed, and leave for (IIRC) about a year for each
inch of the diameter.

Holly is good for turning, as is maple. Maple makes fine chopping boards
and boards and plugs for use with chessets in cheesemaking. (Though
sycamore is the bees knees for cheesemakers.)

Apple twigs, shavings, chippings, sawdust etc is lovely for smoking
fish, meat and cheese.


Good stuff. If I ever get the time I might try turning the holly into
knobs with an angle grinder and drill - dont have a real lathe but
I've seen this work fine for small objects. Put screw into wood, cut
head off (not own), put screw into drill. That gives you a small
lathe, but without much sideways strength. Use angle grinder as the
wood carving tool. The high speed and grit allows fast cutting with
little pressure.

On a bigger more useful scale, for those of us that dont have the
inclination to store our felled trees for 10 years, what can one do
with trees green? Ie without long storage. Anything?


Regards, NT