Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-04, страница 48

Apple blossoms are a welcome sight ill the spring and attract bees from far and wide. IVIy beekeeper friend transports his hives to orchards across the eastern United States to insure fertilization and a bumper crop lor the- orchardist. Apple is now classified in the Rose (Rn.m\citae) family because of its blossoming characteristics.

Tlie apple, correctly called a "pome," provides substantial economic importance to farmers, with a noiynal full-size tree pro ducing 40 cases per season. Besides eating the apple, it is cooked into apple butter, made into pies, pastries, and countless delights. It is pressed into sweet cider, fermented into hard cider, distilled to applejack, or allowed to go to vinegar. They can be tart, sweet, store well, or not so well, large or small, with countless combinations in between, and by all accounts are very good for your health.

There is a negative side to the fruit, though. The seeds can lie deadly because they contain a naturally occurring compound of cyanide. One or two seeds can be ingested, although it is not recommended, without harm in most cases. Tlie cyanide is released from the compound by the digestive tract, and depend-ing on the number eaten, symptoms follow within several hours. Symptoms range from anxiety, confusion, vomiting, headache and dizziness ir mild cases to breathing difficulty, increased heart rate and blood pressure, kidney failure, convulsions and death from respiratory arrest in a fatal case.

Apple wood is in limited supply because the grow th characteristics of the tree do not allow a viable commercial harvest. The tree, branches close to the ground and grows in a crooked manner with many small pin knots. However, there are a number of small independent sawmills that have access to trees that ate being culled or cleared from orchards and will have the best selection of wood for 1 umber and hirning stock.

The wood will seldom be longer than six feet and more than twelve inches iu width. It is a difficult w<x>d to dry because it will twist and. warp whether it is air or kiln dried. Coat the ends of the board wil.li paint or wax, stack and sticker it as soon as possible after sawmilling, and dry it slowly with a lot of weight on the pile to keep the defects to a minimum. I have read of accounts that wide boards remain stable after drying, but I have found some cupping that would be unacceptable in raised panel applications, especially with the sapwood.

Ihe sapwood color ranges from a light tan to a medium beige, with llie heartwood ranging lrom a light nisset brown to a dark reddish brown. Like cherry, it will daikeu with age. It is best when the wood is quarter sawn, but even flat sawn, it has a very nice appearance.

It works very much like hard maple and cherry, and you have to pay attention Co gluing and fastening. Be sure to use shaip tools and cutters, and watch power sanding so as not to cause bunting. Turning green wood is a pleasure, and the end result will probably amaze you because of the contortions the wood takes while drying.

While 1 have not found apple listed as an allergic species, I have read of several cases of woodworkers having allergic reactions. So, if you have experienced any sensitivity to wood, consider ajjple to be on the toxic side. Also, consider that wood manufactured from orchard trees will have accumulated pesticide and fungicide residues from repeated applications over the years, so a little extra precaution may be in order.

There are no established tables for shrinkage and seasonal, movement for apple, but expect about a 17% shrinkage factor from green to 6% for dry. Since it is so close to maple in hardness, weight, and dur ability, 1 use hard maple characteristics as a guide. Therefore, plan on around i/4" seasonal movement. Even though it has never had much of a commercial application, it has been used as gear teeth in water and wind-powered machinery, wooden screws, golf club heads, tool handles, woodenware, novelties and turning stock. It is also excellent firewood, and adds a special touch of flavor to barbetjued food.5

Bid grain