Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-03, страница 24
Finding and Using Introduction In the past few weeks f have finished scroll saw projects made from box elder, eastern eottonwood, willow, horse chestnut, elm, apple, mulberry and pear woods. All of these woods came from local Ontario trees that were not harvested or clear cut but rather recovered from farmer's fields, town dumps and construction sites. All of the finished pieces are beautiful and most of them sold at a sale this past weekend. My main supplier describes what he sells me as "guilt-free wood." t consider wood selection to be one of the key factors that makes my work unique, and it certainly helps to sell it. This is not the kind of wood that you can normally buy at a local lumber yard. .Nonetheless, 1 have been able to find wonderful local woods in several states and all over Ontario, so these and other woods can be found. The rewards are numerous, including the ability to use the unique characteristics in the wood to highlight the patterns' features, great stories to tell people who are the recipients of the finished work, and a low-cost supply of wood. What To Expect Local woods are usually not. cut to standard widths, thicknesses or lengths. This can make them a poor choice for furniture but great for most scroll saw work. On occasion. T have also found the wood to be finished on one side only. Again, for scroll saws this is fine and it very often leaves interesting features (such as the bulges on willow trees or the stress marks on crotch pieces) intact for use in the designs. There is also a greater risk of flaws in the wood since the trees are not usually harvested in their prime, are not cared for. or have spent some time lying in fields or dumps. Sometimes the tree's centers are rotten and the finished boards have to be trimmed back 10 solid wood in order to be safe for cutting. However, on balance, the risks are well worth the rewards. 14 • Creative Woodworks S. Crafts March 2004 Box elder detail. Box elder detail. Some Examples of Great "Junk Wood" Box elder or Manitoba maple This is an excellent wood if you can find it. In its basic form, .it is a fairly plain white wood with very-faint grain. Sometimes I am able to find pieces with burl or stress marks from branches, and at other times red streaks that are great for fire effects in dragon patterns. 1 have also found pieces with blue streaks from nails that have been dissolved by the tree over a period of years and, if the tree is cut in late spring, yellow sap wood just under the bark. All of these features can be used to make your finished product unique. Recently, a friend of mine, Edgar Werner, who operates as Durham Wood Products, found a box elder tree in a farmer's field had a section with a soft, center great red burls. To be safe, and to Wayne's friend, Edgar Werner, found the box elder tree that has the beautiful coloration shown in the other two photos in a farmer's field. This same wood was also used in the Year of the Rooster and Horse projects in this issue. that them strength, he cut the tree into but planks just over an inch thick and sold give me about eight planks. The pictures |
