OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

250665 Gary Katsanis <gtgrouch@r...> 2014‑09‑28 Apple Wood
Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move from 
standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.

Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its 
desirability for handles?

Gary Katsanis
Albion NY, USA
(In the middle of one of the largest apple-growing regions in North America)
250669 John Leyden <leydenjl@g...> 2014‑09‑29 re: Apple Wood
Gary,

I happen to have a dwarf pear tree in my front yard. In addition to yielding
dwarf-like fruit, at not quite ten years of age were I to cut the tree down
tomorrow I might get a beefy walking stick out of the main trunk. Certainly a
bevy of chisel handles, maybe even a baguette pin. But there are no would-be saw
handles or burls worth turning in this thing. That it’s a “dwarf” doesn’t change
the fact that it’s a pear. It’s just small stuff.

Just my experience so far. Ask me again in another fifteen years.

JL------------------------------------------------------------------------
250670 Tony Blanks <dynnyrne@i...> 2014‑09‑29 Re: Apple Wood
G'day Gary,

Long answer I'm afraid, because the answer isn't entirely simple or 
capable of being condensed to one sentence.  Probably those not 
interested in apple-growing should leave now.

I can't say with respect to the strength, durability etc of the new 
varieties, but on the basis of my Ag Science degree, living in what was 
once "The Apple Isle" , and using scavenged apple and pear wood there 
are a few things I can say.

First of all, every apple will be of the species /Malus domestica/, so 
the physical properties of the wood will show some variation between 
trees and perhaps varieties, just as there will be natural variation 
between individual trees in a stand of Douglas fir.  But all the working 
characteristics will be much the same.  The way in which the tree has 
been grown, trained, pruned and forced to shape will have much more 
effect on any subsequent use of the wood.

No apple-grower in Tasmania has used seedling trees, ie tops growing on 
their own roots within living memory.  All have been cloned tops, 
cuttings from an example of a known variety grafted onto a seedling or 
onto a struck rootstock.  I have seen a few huge open grown apple trees 
in the UK, mainly cider varieties which pretty much look after 
themselves.  I have never seen such a tree in Tasmania, nor in Australia 
more generally

Here old varieties of apples and pears were grown on heavy clay ground 
because that helped to keep down the size of the tree in the days when 
they were open-grown, ie shaped like a vase or goblet and not grown as 
hedges on trellis systems.  The rootstock used was one known to cope 
with such conditions, the top grafted to the stock was the desired 
apple: red or Golden Delicious, Lady in the Snow etc. In the early 
1900s  a series of dwarfing rootstocks were developed in the UK at the 
East Malling Horticultural Research Station, later cooperating with the 
Merton Research Station.  If you know a commercial grower of apple stock 
(as opposed to apples) he or she will almost certainly know of the "M" 
(Malling) or "MM" (Malling-Merton) series of rootstocks.  Some are still 
used, others have fallen out of use, replaced by newer rootstock 
selections.   See http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malling_series, or
http://en.wikipedi
a.org/wiki/Fruit_tree_propagation  (Scan down to
"Rootstocks").

So, an apple tree can be "dwarf" because of its own genetic makeup, or 
because the rootstock that the fruit-bearing top has been grafted onto 
is suppressing the vigour of the top, or because the overall growth is 
being limited by the conditions in which it is being grown.

More and more the tendency is for production systems which increase the 
number of stems per unit area of land, restrict the height and width of 
individual trees, allow for mechanical pruning ("hedge systems") and 
even mechanical harvesting.  A young tree grows more good fruit per unit 
area of land and per unit weight of apple wood than does an old widely 
spreading tree.  So, once they are past the juvenile stage a young 
orchard planted at high density is more productive and cheaper to run 
than an old orchard using an  old cultural system.  Sweeping 
generalisation I know but good for almost all cases. In addition growers 
will cut trees right back and graft on cuttings from newer varieties if 
old varieties fall out of favour.

So, all in all the chances of finding pieces of clear strong apple wood 
suitable for saw handles or whatever, are diminishing.  When I drive 
through apple-growing areas I keep an eye out for old open grown 
orchards being pushed out to be replaced with new training systems and 
varieties, or increasingly commonly, replaced by cherry orchards.  
Sometimes I can get one or 2 foot butt sections for the asking and the 
gathering.  That is rare now but.

The other type of dwarf apples are the "mutants": breeders have been 
seeking out individual trees with very short internode lengths.  These 
are "natural dwarfs"  Again a tree with desirable fruit characteristics 
will be selected and cuttings from that individual grafted onto seedling 
rootstocks grown from the same variety.  This ensures that the grafted 
trees stay tiny, but all the fruit is identical because the fruiting 
part of the all the trees is genetically identical.  These are aimed at 
the patio and tub specimen market and with the short intenodes would be 
full of knots and twisted grain, assuming one ever survived t a size 
large enough to produce a billet large enough for a chisel handle.   You 
would never get a saw handle out of one of these trees.

And if you come from an orchard owning family, my apology for telling 
you stuff you already knew.

Regards,

Tony B
In Hobart where the 30 yo backyard apple hedge is just coming into flower.






On 29/09/2014 3:51 AM, Gary Katsanis wrote:
> Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move 
> from standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.
>
> Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its 
> desirability for handles?
>
> Gary Katsanis
> Albion NY, USA
250691 galoot@l... 2014‑09‑29 Re: Apple Wood
Quoting Gary Katsanis :

> Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move

> from standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.
>
> Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its 
> desirability for handles?
>
Being also from upstate NY, and having kept an eye on apple growing for 
a future dream orchard for a number of years, the move has been going 
on for 40+ years, and the dwarfs aren't allowed to get big enough for 
handles.....

Gotta turn over those shorter-lived (but still more than a generation) 
dwarfs to the latest hard easy-to-ship fashionable brand of supersweet 
chunks of red protpplasm (google "club apple varieties" for some 
exemplars).

There is a school of thought that 10% of your total acreage should be 
non bearing (within 3-4 years of planting) so you can jump on the 
latest variety fad.

Esther whose taste obviously runs in the heirloom direction..
250692 Matthew Groves <grovesthegrey@g...> 2014‑09‑29 Re: Apple Wood
I'm about to plant 6 or so apple trees.

Can't decide whether to go with cider apples, fresh eating, or storing.
Maybe all 3?

Think I'll get some old world types from
http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/apple-
varieties/">http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/apple-varieties/

Anyone else with recommendations for cultivars....er....tool handle
varieties?

Matthew Groves
Springfield, MO

PS Shaped my first 5 windsor spindles today.
https://ww
w.dropbox.com/s/thnqz7czoukcztr/IMG_2671.JPG?dl=0

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 5:19 PM,  wrote:

> Quoting Gary Katsanis :
>
>  Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move
>>
>
>  from standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.
>>
>> Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its
>> desirability for handles?
>>
>>  Being also from upstate NY, and having kept an eye on apple growing for
> a future dream orchard for a number of years, the move has been going on
> for 40+ years, and the dwarfs aren't allowed to get big enough for
> handles.....
>
> Gotta turn over those shorter-lived (but still more than a generation)
> dwarfs to the latest hard easy-to-ship fashionable brand of supersweet
> chunks of red protpplasm (google "club apple varieties" for some exemplars).
>
> There is a school of thought that 10% of your total acreage should be non
> bearing (within 3-4 years of planting) so you can jump on the latest
> variety fad.
>
> Esther whose taste obviously runs in the heirloom direction..
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
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>
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250694 kevin bock <nashbok@g...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
Just curious -- why apple for saw handles anyway?

It would seem that apple wood would never have been available in great
supply and its properties are not that unique amongst dense hardwoods.

Google has never provided me with a satisfactory answer on this.

Kevin
250695 Steve Jones <stjones@k...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
Matt;

That's a pretty useless site. All they have is a bunch of pictures of
apples - no pictures of the wood!

-- 
  Steve Jones in Kokomo

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014, at 07:45 PM, Matthew Groves wrote:
> I'm about to plant 6 or so apple trees.
> 
> Can't decide whether to go with cider apples, fresh eating, or storing.
> Maybe all 3?
> 
> Think I'll get some old world types from
> http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/apple-
varieties/">http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/apple-varieties/
> 
> Anyone else with recommendations for cultivars....er....tool handle
> varieties?
> 
> Matthew Groves
> Springfield, MO
> 
> PS Shaped my first 5 windsor spindles today.
> https://
www.dropbox.com/s/thnqz7czoukcztr/IMG_2671.JPG?dl=0
> 
> On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 5:19 PM,  wrote:
> 
> > Quoting Gary Katsanis :
> >
> >  Recently, over the last 20 years or so, there has been a major move
> >>
> >
> >  from standard apple trees to the dwarf varieties.
> >>
> >> Does anyone know if this affects the quality of the wood, or its
> >> desirability for handles?
> >>
> >>  Being also from upstate NY, and having kept an eye on apple growing for
> > a future dream orchard for a number of years, the move has been going on
> > for 40+ years, and the dwarfs aren't allowed to get big enough for
> > handles.....
> >
> > Gotta turn over those shorter-lived (but still more than a generation)
> > dwarfs to the latest hard easy-to-ship fashionable brand of supersweet
> > chunks of red protpplasm (google "club apple varieties" for some exemplars).
> >
> > There is a school of thought that 10% of your total acreage should be non
> > bearing (within 3-4 years of planting) so you can jump on the latest
> > variety fad.
> >
> > Esther whose taste obviously runs in the heirloom direction..
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> > aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> > value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> > traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> >
> > To change your subscription options:
> > http://ruc
kus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> >
> > To read the FAQ:
> > http://swingleydev.com/arc
hive/faq.html
> >
> > OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/">http://swingleydev.com/archive/
> >
> > OldTools@r...
> > http://ruc
kus.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> 
> To change your subscription options:
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250697 <ruby@m...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I read a book a few years ago - something by Michail
Pollan? - about several crops, apples being one of them
(mary jane being another).

I was amazed to find out that the 10 or so seeds in each
apple will grow 10 different apple trees with different
unpredictable flavor in each tree's fruit.  Eating apples
only really occurred in the latter half of the 19th
century.  When someone discovered a flavorful apple - say a
Macintosh - the tree was worth thousands and all Macintosh
bearing trees now are branches from descendants of that one
tree grafted onto miscellaneous rootstock.  There was a
time when rewards were offered for new types of apples, and
it was all just chance.  Amazing.

Also, interesting to find out about Johnny Appleseed.  He
was growing generic apple trees with inedible fruit and
giving them to pioneers heading west so they could make
hard cider.  You couldn't drink the water reliably, so
cider was a way to hydrate safely (until you had too much
and got behind the plow).  So Mr. Appleseed was a pusher,
or at least an enabler, and not the jolly guy that Walt
Disney made him out to be.

Ed MInch


 Steve Jones  wrote:
> Matt;
> 
> That's a pretty useless site. All they have is a bunch of
> pictures of
> apples - no pictures of the wood!
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250698 Joshua Clark <jclark@h...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
Apple has a couple of things going for it. It's hard and wear-resistant
while being closed-grain and able to take a very high polish. Other woods
were used as well, but apple was one of the best. Less expensive saws used
beech for handles which is very nice, but won't take the high polish apple
will, nor does it feel as good in the hand.

During Disston's hey day there was an abundance of apple wood. My
understanding is that in colonial times apples were a key part of the
average homestead's diet. They provided a major source of both food and
drink. Sloane's books are filled with anecdotes about apples. The trees
these apples grew on were full-sized trees, not the dwarf varieties you see
today. By  the late 1800s to early 1900s, apple trees were becoming less
important and were thus sold for lumber. It was during this time that
Disston was transporting massive amounts of apple logs to Philadelphia to
be sawn into boards for saw handles. The scope of the operation is hard to
imagine. This 1917 advertisement should give you some idea of just how much
apple wood Disston used, and the size and number of logs they moved.

http://hyperkitten
.com/pics/tools/ads/disston32.jpg

It appears to be an entire train with carload after carload of nothing but
apple logs passing by more piles of apple logs on one side and stacks of
sawn and stacked apple boards on the other.

I hope that helps provide some perspective on both the scale of Disston's
operation, and the abundance of apple at the time.

Josh

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 9:14 PM, kevin bock  wrote:

> Just curious -- why apple for saw handles anyway?
>
> It would seem that apple wood would never have been available in great
> supply and its properties are not that unique amongst dense hardwoods.
>
> Google has never provided me with a satisfactory answer on this.
>
250699 JAMES THOMPSON <oldmillrat@m...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
When I was a kid, my dad ordered a case of Washington Delicious apples every
year, and we loved both the yellow and red varieties. Then some years ago it was
decided that Washington Delicious apples bruised too easily, so they started
grafting new stock to produce apples that don't bruise so easily, but look the
same. They succeeded, but the result tastes like crap. Now there are no decent
Washington Delicious apples, but it's too late for them to go back. Sometimes
you just need to leave well enough alone.

Few people today have ever tasted a real Washington Delicious apple.

I just returned from a trip to Watsonville California where they grow apples on
small farms. They have many different wonderful apples. The farm I go to is
Prevedelli,  http://www.prevedelli.com/
They grow 40 different varieties on 400 acres. I have bought about a dozen
different varieties, and all are just wonderful. We brought back 40 pounds, and
now we have to dehydrate them.


On Sep 29, 2014, at 7:18 PM, ruby@m... wrote:

> I read a book a few years ago - something by Michail
> Pollan? - about several crops, apples being one of them
> (mary jane being another).
> 
> I was amazed to find out that the 10 or so seeds in each
> apple will grow 10 different apple trees with different
> unpredictable flavor in each tree's fruit.  Eating apples
> only really occurred in the latter half of the 19th
> century.  When someone discovered a flavorful apple - say a
> Macintosh - the tree was worth thousands and all Macintosh
> bearing trees now are branches from descendants of that one
> tree grafted onto miscellaneous rootstock.  There was a
> time when rewards were offered for new types of apples, and
> it was all just chance.  Amazing.
> 
> Also, interesting to find out about Johnny Appleseed.  He
> was growing generic apple trees with inedible fruit and
> giving them to pioneers heading west so they could make
> hard cider.  You couldn't drink the water reliably, so
> cider was a way to hydrate safely (until you had too much
> and got behind the plow).  So Mr. Appleseed was a pusher,
> or at least an enabler, and not the jolly guy that Walt
> Disney made him out to be.
> 
> Ed MInch
> 
> 
> Steve Jones  wrote:
>> Matt;
>> 
>> That's a pretty useless site. All they have is a bunch of
>> pictures of
>> apples - no pictures of the wood!
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Web mail provided by NuNet, Inc. The Premier National provider.
> http://www.nni.com/
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
> 
> To change your subscription options:
> http://rucku
s.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
> 
> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archi
ve/faq.html
> 
> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/">http://swingleydev.com/archive/
> 
> OldTools@r...
> http://rucku
s.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
250700 "Maddex, Peter" <peter.maddex@n...> 2014‑09‑30 RE: Apple Wood
We have Brogdale in England.

 "The National Fruit Collection includes over 3,500 named Apple, Pear, Plum,
Cherry, Bush fruit, Vine and Cob Nut cultivars"

http://www.brogdale.org/

At least some thing is being done for Biodiversity.

Was Diston just using apple as it was being removed and there for inexpensive?

Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: oldtools-bounces@r... [mailto
:oldtools-bounces@r...] On Behalf Of JAMES THOMPSON
Sent: 30 September 2014 07:04
To: Michele Minch
Cc: oldtools List
Subject: Re: [OldTools] Apple Wood

When I was a kid, my dad ordered a case of Washington Delicious apples every
year, and we loved both the yellow and red varieties. Then some years ago it was
decided that Washington Delicious apples bruised too easily, so they started
grafting new stock to produce apples that don't bruise so easily, but look the
same. They succeeded, but the result tastes like crap. Now there are no decent
Washington Delicious apples, but it's too late for them to go back. Sometimes
you just need to leave well enough alone.

Few people today have ever tasted a real Washington Delicious apple.

I just returned from a trip to Watsonville California where they grow apples on
small farms. They have many different wonderful apples. The farm I go to is
Prevedelli,  http://www.prevedelli.com/
They grow 40 different varieties on 400 acres. I have bought about a dozen
different varieties, and all are just wonderful. We brought back 40 pounds, and
now we have to dehydrate them.


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250702 Michael Blair <branson2@s...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I'm not sure that book has all its facts straight.

> Eating apples only really occurred in the latter half of the 19th
> century.

Apples were a Colonial period staple in the States, with a number
of varieties available.  Something distinctly American is still
said to be "as American as apple pie."  Eric Sloane's book,
A Reverence for Wood, talks about apple trees at some length, and
tells the story of the "Seek no Further" apple.  (I'd love to
try one of these.)  The book has a lot more information about
apple trees -- grafting and other methods of growing from starts,
handling practices and storage of apples.

> [Johnny Appleseed] was growing generic apple trees with inedible
fruit and giving them to pioneers heading west so they could make
hard cider.  You couldn't drink the water reliably, so cider was
a way to hydrate safely.

We might check out what Sloane had to say about Mr. Appleseed.
It's been many a year since I last read A Reverence for Wood
and though I remember him writing about the fellow, what he
had to say is fuzzy to say the least.

About hard cider.  No difficulty in making hard cider.  The
difficulty was keeping cider not hard before the advent of
refrigeration.  The other carpenter at Sutter's Fort once
brought a gallon of unprocessed cider on a summer day.  By
noon it had a sort of piquancy and by 3:00 in the afternoon
it was effervescent and alcoholic.  (and we were very happy
carpenters!)

Water had not been dependably safe to drink for centuries.
In fact, it has been said that the whole of Europe lived in
an alcoholic haze until the introduction of tea and coffee
around the late 1500s.

My favorite apples are mostly regarded as cooking apples.
Gravenstein, pippin, and Granny Smiths -- all slightly
tart.  Plenty of all of them in northern California.
Santa Rosa has a Gravenstein fair.  Up in the foothills
East of Sacramento are extensive orchards, and the annual
Apple Hill festival.  One of the features is a cider that
is a blend that uses 50% Gravenstein juice.  Wonderful stuff
that isn't to my taste cloyingly sweet.

Scott G has some things to say about apple wood saw handles,
and why they are superior to other woods for this use. I
hope he will post on the topic.

Mike in Sacto
250703 William Ghio <bghio@m...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
On Sep 29, 2014, at 10:48 PM, Joshua Clark  wrote:

> During Disston's hey day there was an abundance of apple wood. My
> understanding is that in colonial times apples were a key part of the
> average homestead's diet. They provided a major source of both food and
> drink. Sloane's books are filled with anecdotes about apples. The trees
> these apples grew on were full-sized trees, not the dwarf varieties you see
> today.

I have a friend that has a hunting camp up in the Poconos up near the PA/NY
border. Between his holdings and several neighbors there are about 1000 acres of
largely uninhabited land. It was once small farms, but they were never very
productive and were largely abandoned in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Those that remained were given up for taxes in the 1930's. As you wander the
land you run across the foundations of these old farmsteads, and the occasional
apple tree. My friend explained that when he was a kid there were lots more
apple trees but as the surrounding forests reclaim the land the taller trees
shade the apple trees too much and they die.

Bill
250706 JAMES THOMPSON <oldmillrat@m...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I don';t know what they teach them now, but soldiers used to be taught that you
can't drink any water you find without treating it first. Even in a cold clear
creek, you don't know what is upstream. Of course, as a child I drank from
streams all the time without ill effect. I just didn''t know any better. :>)


On Sep 30, 2014, at 3:40 AM, Michael Blair  wrote:

> Water had not been dependably safe to drink for centuries.
> In fact, it has been said that the whole of Europe lived in
> an alcoholic haze until the introduction of tea and coffee
> around the late 1500s.
250708 John Holladay <docholladay0820@g...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I remember,  as a kid,  going hiking with my dad.  We happened upon a
stream with a stone bed and it was clear,  cool,  fast moving water.   I
remember my dad telling me that the rocks actually filtered the water and
that it was safe to drink.   I know he was not correct,  but I sure wish he
was.   It seemed like nothing in the world tasted better than that water.
Oh well,  it didn't kill me.

Doc
250711 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I guess "wild" drinking water is about geography.
  If I was in the desert or out on the plains and came across a small 
mudhole, I would definitely think twice.
  I know Matt Dillon would drink his fill and fill up the canteens, but 
I would certainly hesitate.
     Meanwhile, when the creek is flowing at 1000 gallons per minute, 
splashing and gurgling and swirling strong current,  and you can count 
the pebbles on the bottom of a 10' deep swimming hole, and fish are 
f-cking in it?
  Yeah I drink that water everyday.
My town has a water system that has nothing but a filter and a meter.  
The filter is not all that big because there isn't much to filter out. 
The meter watches bacterial content but seldom needs to correct with 
chlorine at all.
   We bathe and wash our cars in natural Sparkletts here.

  Apple wood is like no other. Not maple, peach, pear, walnut or 
cocobolo is anything like it.
       Your ancestors were not idiots!
  Regardless of the latest sales pitch, nothing else compares to apple 
in a saw handle. Its velvet. Once its polished and worn in just a bit, 
it reaches back and caresses your palm better than velvet, as you work.

     Don't bother to believe me. Go get yourself an old apple handled 
saw and clean it up and try it out for a few hours -hard- work.
  Beechwood or even rosewood will have blistered your unaccustomed palm 
in an hour.
     Apple won't though.   You can go all day, if you can take the labor.
     yours Scott




-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.n
et/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcr
est.net/kitty/hpages/index.html



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250713 "=?utf-8?B?cGhpbHNjaGVtcGZAZ21haWwuY29t?=" <philschempf@g...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
I had an experience with a small stream coming down a steep ravine in central
Alaska, enough water to get a drink and not much more. I drank my fill and
continued to climb. Found a dead sheep decomposing in the stream a couple
hundred feet farther up the draw.  No adverse consequences though.

Phil

Sent from my HTC
250714 JAMES THOMPSON <oldmillrat@m...> 2014‑09‑30 Re: Apple Wood
And that is exactly why.... Ya never know what's upstream. Mountainous areas are
not so bad, but swamps, jungles, deserts, and populated areas can be. Not so
much in this country, because we have pretty good sanitation, but elsewhere,
it's very risky.

On Sep 30, 2014, at 1:50 PM, philschempf@g... wrote:

> I had an experience with a small stream coming down a steep ravine in central
Alaska, enough water to get a drink and not much more. I drank my fill and
continued to climb. Found a dead sheep decomposing in the stream a couple
hundred feet farther up the draw.  No adverse consequences though.
> 
> Phil
> 
> Sent from my HTC
250715 Mike Rock <mikerock@m...> 2014‑10‑01 Re: Apple Wood
I just had to cut an old standard apple tree.  I couldn't even give the

  logs away to a local woodworker, who collects saws!
The trunk was two feet through, splitting into three just above the 
ground.  I have some five and six foot long chunks between ten and 
twelve inches diameter.  It is not checking, just drying down well.  If 
anyone wants them......I don't think UPS handles logs.  Yours for the 
taking.  If I cut them into boards they will get aged a year or two, 
then made into ...  something, I'm sure.

Mike



>      Apple won't though.   You can go all day, if you can take the labor.
>      yours Scott
>
>
>
>

-- 
Rock Creek Mill & Heritage Farm, LLC
N7297 County Road A
Argyle, Wisconsin 53504
608-636-3322
250716 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2014‑10‑01 Re: Apple Wood
Its 5 1/2" wide Mike.
  Cut them a little over a full inch rough, 1 1/8 would be good,  and 5 
1/2" wide.
   This is your target. You can do most all saw totes with that.

  Imagine 6' planks of saw tote stock?
        Yummo
Lets see, that is 12 saw tote blanks per plank and how many planks can 
you saw out of 3, 1 foot diameter logs?
3 years air dry, stickered under cover away from direct sun??

Sounds like a long range mail order business opportunity to me. Apple is 
nearly impossible to get.  I bet you could get 5 or even 8 bucks a 
blank. Pretty good board foot price.
   yours Scott

-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.n
et/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcr
est.net/kitty/hpages/index.html



-----
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Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
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250720 Dwight Beebe <dwb1124@g...> 2014‑10‑01 Re: Apple Wood
Gracious Galoots,

Unrepentant apple wood gloat.  Stacked and stickered since 11/2010 in my
shop, as we digitally speak.  White piece of paper stuck to the wood is 6"
square.   Some planks are almost quartersawn.  Lovely grain and beautiful,
rich color.  Although some cupping has occurred, most planks are 5/4 to
6/4, so it's good.  Saw handles and lots more in the raw.

http://goo.gl/EbK38Y

Regards,

Dwight

On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 8:42 PM, scott grandstaff 
wrote:

> Its 5 1/2" wide Mike.
>  Cut them a little over a full inch rough, 1 1/8 would be good,  and 5
> 1/2" wide.
>   This is your target. You can do most all saw totes with that.
>
>  Imagine 6' planks of saw tote stock?
>        Yummo
> Lets see, that is 12 saw tote blanks per plank and how many planks can you
> saw out of 3, 1 foot diameter logs?
> 3 years air dry, stickered under cover away from direct sun??
>
> Sounds like a long range mail order business opportunity to me. Apple is
> nearly impossible to get.  I bet you could get 5 or even 8 bucks a blank.
> Pretty good board foot price.
>   yours Scott
>
> --
> *******************************
>    Scott Grandstaff
>    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
>    scottg@s...
>    http://www.snowcrest.
net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
>    http://www.snowc
rest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html
>
>
>
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2014.0.4765 / Virus Database: 4025/8302 - Release Date: 09/30/14
>
>
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250726 Michael Blair <branson2@s...> 2014‑10‑01 Re: Apple Wood
Gorgeous stuff!


> Unrepentant apple wood gloat.  Stacked and stickered since 11/2010 in 
> my
> shop, as we digitally speak.
250727 Ed Minch <ruby@m...> 2014‑10‑01 Re: Apple Wood
Lifetime supply there.  It appears to be enough wood to make a small piece of
furniture!!  Now that would be cool - a spice cabinet out of apple!

Ed Minch

On Sep 30, 2014, at 10:29 PM, Dwight Beebe  wrote:

> Saw handles and lots more in the raw.
> 
> http://goo.gl/EbK38Y
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Dwight
250741 Charlie Rodgers <crodgers3163@c...> 2014‑10‑02 Re: Apple Wood
All this talk about apple wood - and especially the beautiful plane 
Andrew made (kinda unfair of him, backing up his stories with pictures 
like that) are like salt on a fresh, open wound to me.
   As the houses we're building get close to completion, turns out a 
couple of trees needed to be removed so the adequate slope can be graded 
on the 350' driveway.  Also turns out, they were full size apple trees 
the Dad of the previous owner planted ~60 years ago.  When the builder 
told me he had to take them down, I told him to leave the trunks, from 
the butt swell to the first fork, on the ground.  Of course, the 
landscaper chipped everything on site.  When I got there Saturday, there 
wasn't a branch or leaf to be seen.  I should've had two apple logs ~18" 
diameter by 5'-6' long.  They did offer me all the wood chips I want ;-( 
  I don't even want to ask about the black walnut tree that they were to 
take out this week...
Charlie Rodgers  For another 6 weeks or so, in
Clinton, Maryland
250746 Scott Garrison <sbg2008@c...> 2014‑10‑02 Re: Re: Apple Wood
arggghhhh - such a loss. I would be furious but then again my wife wold
caution me to lighten up

On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 8:27 PM, Charlie Rodgers 
wrote:

> Of course, the landscaper chipped everything on site.  When I got there
> Saturday, there wasn't a branch or leaf to be seen.  I should've had two
> apple logs ~18" diameter by 5'-6' long.  They did offer me all the wood
> chips I want
>

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