Wood looks to good....feeling the guilts

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Phoenix Hatchling

Minister of Fire
Dec 26, 2012
713
New Fairfield, CT
image.jpg I was splitting away some of the shagbark hickory I had cut down a couple months back, and was constantly taken aback by the sheer beauty of the wood. The contrasting colors, the luster of the heartwood, and texture of the grain all made me sad that I had cut them down. The wood would have been awesome for furniture, and now I'll throw it in the stove in a couple of years. It will amaze me then as well, when it burns hotter than Hades.
 
Same thought here as I busted up some rounds a few months back! Good stuff!
 
Well seeing as I am no furniture maker and can barely make a birdhouse without it looking like a 1st grader made it at scouts (heck, they probably look better) . . . I'll just continue to make firewood as that I can make . . . and make well. Making fancy chairs, tables and mantle clocks . . . not gonna happen.
 
Well seeing as I am no furniture maker and can barely make a birdhouse without it looking like a 1st grader made it at scouts (heck, they probably look better) . . . I'll just continue to make firewood as that I can make . . . and make well. Making fancy chairs, tables and mantle clocks . . . not gonna happen.

Hell I can't carve a toothpick, but I know what wood I like and imagine it turned into something.
 
Very few woodworkers I know want to mess with Hickory so I say burn away.
 
felt that way hacking up a beautiful black walnut a year or two back... just filled up the stove with that same wood
 
Yeah the wife didnt want me to hit the wood pile when the temps dropped.

Just a lovely natural wall of wood. I didn't wanna burn it either.

It's 'Fruits of ones Labour'
 
I LOVE the look of hickory cabinets & hardwood floors... the contrasting colors look really pleasing to me.

If/when I ever build my dream home it will have both...
 
Very few woodworkers I know want to mess with Hickory so I say burn away.

Last week I decided to cut a blank for carving a spoon by the bonfire we host every year. Holy cow is shagbark hickory a hard wood to work with! It's hard to bog down my old belt driven table saw. But my little hickory split sure did!
 
I think my great grandma use to have a pair of old HICKORY rocking chairs.
I remember the contrasting light and dark colors.
 
Niiiiiiice pile :). I feel that way about a lot of wood. I burn it anyway. I'm using mainly Pine, Ash, Red Oak(2 year seasoned) and Maple for the next 2 years, but I'm starting to acquire BL, white oak and some of that beautiful shagbark for year 3. Hopefully I'm up to 3 years ahead by early spring. We'll have to see how much snow sticks on the ground this winter.
 
Niiiiiiice pile :). I feel that way about a lot of wood. I burn it anyway. I'm using mainly Pine, Ash, Red Oak(2 year seasoned) and Maple for the next 2 years, but I'm starting to acquire BL, white oak and some of that beautiful shagbark for year 3. Hopefully I'm up to 3 years ahead by early spring. We'll have to see how much snow sticks on the ground this winter.

After I'm through, I should have a full cord and a half of shagbark. I also am sitting on a cord of Black Locust which was down for 26 years and will be burned this winter. Lot heat waiting to be released!
 
I've got 3/4" hickory floors in my dining room and kitchen and it's beautiful.
 
I'm telling you, I really regret having taken them down as now I see what their potential was. :(
 
Every round of black walnut I split must take me 40% longer than it should because I have to stop frequently and just look at the wood for a bit. Beautiful stuff, but it was a blowdown, and a large part of the trunk was termite-eaten, so I don't feel bad about it. I do think I'll try to cut a block of the heartwood out and carve something out of it.
 
I see that Hickory and think dinner. That stuff makes good smoked brisket. I cut lots of Walnut and and frequently think about the gun stocks and table legs I toss in the fire. Some of the Walnut splits are too pretty to burn and I give them to my boss for wood carving projects.
 
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