Lady Luck is smiling

[fuzzyturns]

On Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call from Steve Earis (se7enthdevil on this forum) to tell me that over at arbtalk somebody had posted that a 5t sycamore was coming down in Birmingham and people could contact him if they wanted some. So I got in touch with the guy, went there yesterday morning and (after a hard day's work) walked away with about 1t of the sycamore.

As you can see from the second image, it's rippled (also called fiddleback), and I can tell you, the rippling is in every single piece, all the way through. The biggest pieces are about 800mm wide (32"), 900mm long (36") and 150mm thick (6"). They are so heavy that I can hardly move them about, never mind lifting them.

[David Buskell]

Nice stuff! Steve always gets to know about the good wood before anyone else - not sure how he does it! I must pop over to see him sometime soon.

[seventhdevil]

i've never been called lady luck before...

i knew the wood had a high probability of it being very rippled as it was a big tree with a relatively small trunk splitting at only 6' off the ground and with a maple species that often results in some gorgeous ripple...

as for my sources it's all on arbtalk guys. lots of tree surgeons that sometimes need shot of the wood on the day and are often happy for it to go for free.

[Les Symonds]

Very lucky indeed....enough to last quite some time. What's your plan for drying it and keeping it free of grey-stain?
Les

[edbanger]

I can see someone's going to be doing a bit of green turning 

If your going to pick up wood like this it's worth buying an Alaskan Mill and a winch 

All the best


Ed

[fuzzyturns]

Les: the stacks you can see in the first image are stickered. I've now also covered the end grain with PVA glue, and put some old bulk bags on top to keep the worst of the rain off. What else should I be doing?

[Les Symonds]

Sycamore is very susceptible to a fungal attack that results in grey-stain in the timber. Many people stack sycamore on end to dry, but another worthwhile strategy is to wash the whole surface with a mild solution of borax.
Les

[fuzzyturns]

Thanks, Les. I presume I should have done this already?

[fuzzyturns]

Just did a bit of searching and apparently one cannot buy borax any longer due to EU regulations, only a substitute (which according to testimonies can't hold a candle to the real stuff). So where do you guys get your borax from?

[bodrighywood]

You can get it here if you are registered as a business.

Pete

[Tim Pettigrew]

Just did a bit of searching and apparently one cannot buy borax any longer due to EU regulations, only a substitute (which according to testimonies can't hold a candle to the real stuff). So where do you guys get your borax from?

Yes you can buy high purity (lab grade) Borax on Ebay as a private individual.  I purchased 500grams from THIS seller last November and received a very quick delivery.  Let me know if you would like more details.

Tim

[seventhdevil]

just out of curiosity, what has borax got over PVA???

i've used PVA for years and never felt the need to get another substance.

[ChrisF]

PVA seals and thereby prevents/slows evaporation and water ingress.  Borax is an anti-fungal so will actively kill and prevent fungal infections.

[fuzzyturns]

Thanks, Tim, I think I'll do that. Would be a shame to have some much nicely rippled sycamore lost to grey stain. Another question for the long term experts on here: do I leave the bark on or take it off?

[malcy]

Borax is used as a flux(prevents metal surface from oxidation when heating) with silversmiths. You can buy or from silversmith suppliers such as Cooksongold.com. Malcolm.