Black Cherry Worth Processing?

[Rob Gray]

An old, large wild "black" cherry tree at my place fell down today after the ice storm. This tree appears to be solid down to the ground and not hollow. I know that "cherry" is nice wood to have cut for lumber, but does anyone know if all varieties of cherry are good for this? The type I'm talking is the commonly called "wild" or "black" cherry that grows in the eastern US. It is not the fruit bearing type tree grown in orchards. This tree was about 45 feet high. For someone who never gets timber processed at a saw mill, is doing so worthwhile cost-wise for one tree, or is this a mistake even looking into?

Rob PA, USA

[Phil at small (vs at large)]

Cut off a bit of it -- cover the rest off the ground, take the cuttoff into the shop, split plane & sand-- see what you think. Put some finish on it to see the results. I used a piece of sour cherry from North texas in a bandsawn box. It wasn't too impressive-- Kinda gray brown.

[neal.don]

[J T]

Thu, Jan 6, 2005, 11:31pm (EST+5) [e-mail] (neal.don) says: Rob with my experience with this tree you may want to make fire wood out of it

In my experience, if it's free, take it. Figure out what to do with it later - even if it's just using it for firewood - or practicing with.

JOAT EVERY THING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.

- Death

[BobS]

S.

[John Keeney]

Running Explorer and got none or one, don't really recall.

Wild Cherry produces a very small black (extremely dark purple) fruit that's mostly seed, nothing you'ld want to try and eat. It does however make an excellent jelly.

[kwoodhands]

This is a beautiful wood, the tree probably bears small fruit the size of a pea. Birds love them, if the tree is not rotted and is large enough it is worth it. I have a nice pile of cherry air drying from two trees I had taken down.I hand split and band sawed the short (

4'-6" and under) logs myself. This is a lot of work. Check online with Woodmiser and other portable bandsaw owners that are in your vicinity. mike

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 03:47:08 GMT, Rob Gray calmly ranted:

I'm using Firefox. But so many sites I visit need to open windows for display, using the software options is usually more trouble. When I find a site which puts popup ads, I don't go back.

IOW: Uckfay Oodway Agmay.

-- Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud. ----

Comprehensive Website Development

[Dave Hinz]

Firefox is the answer. Blocks popups you don't request.

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 14:27:17 GMT, "BobS" calmly ranted:

I got one upon opening the site and had to close it to go to the 2nd page. I then received another and went into AdSubtract to turn off EVERYTHING extra for the bloody bastihd site. It stopped after that, but the amount of content per ad shown was about 1:18 at best. Man, what a bunch of lunkheads THEY are. On a 19" monitor at full screen, only a fifth of the screen showed article. The rest were ads and logos. A nasty grade of D- goes to the "designer" of that site.

I'm an ex-drunk so I don't drink it, I make sheelack wif it. (FWIW, Coors and Bacardi/Coke were the drinks of choice when I sobered up in '85.)

I haven't yet visited the eastern 3/4 of the state. Next year, though, I plan a tour. Maybe I'll go the long route through Klamath Falls/Bend/The Dalles on the way up to Bellingham. That'd make it half the state I'd briefly toured. Know of any wood mills I should look for?

-- Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud. ----

Comprehensive Website Development

[BobS]

Larry,

As for wood mills, I can't name them by name but yes there are several in the area of Klamath and just south of Crater lake and be sure to visit that too. There were two museum like places (old wood milling machines on display - some neat stuff!) but nearby there were some active mills but I didn't visit them at the time. We did the whirlwind tour one week when I flew the wife out while I was working in Christmas Valley and staying in Bend. There is an arts/craft village just south of Bend that also had a fair amount of woodworking going on but I never did see a mill in that area.

There is a log home manufacturer out near Bend that I visited one weekend that has their own mill setup and it was no small operation. Very nice folks and even though they knew I was just looking around, I got a grand tour of the operation. You haven't seen woodworking until you've been to a place that takes the tree, mills it, slices and dices it, kiln dries it, cuts to finish sizes for the logs, trim, doors, windows and even some pieces of furniture they make as a side line. From raw tree to a full log home - all in one place.

Above Bend are the big rapids (class 4/5) and another artsy town with some great turners (among many other artisans) making some fine pieces of art from wood, glass, pottery, metal, pine cones/needles - you name it. I managed to pry open the wallet enough to get a bowl set the wife liked and which I knew I would never get around to making... My wife then topped that and bought out the last of the long pine needle baskets being made by an 86 year old lady that was finally retiring. They still correspond to this day via email and my wife has tried to convince her to make more of those long needle baskets. We shipped back about 30 of them and they made beautiful presents for special occasions. I won't say making those are a lost art but they are a rare find today - so if you spot some during your travels out there - they're keepers.

So yes, there's some great places to see and visit in central and eastern Oregon that have plenty to do with woodworking. Not a lot in any one place but enough with other crafts thrown in to keep the whole family interested while you enjoy some fantastic scenery.

Did I say I miss that area........

Bob S.

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 21:04:08 GMT, "BobS" calmly ranted:

Crater Lake will be a trip on its own, probably staying in Klamath Falls for a night so I can spend the full day, 3 batteries, and 3 memory disks at the area.

Pukey Bears 'n Ducks, no doubt? Christmas Valley, eh? I hear that weatherwise, it's the meanest damned city in Oregon. First snow, coldest everything, etc.

Sounds like fun--even if it is all softwoods they slice and dice.

Yeah, sounds good. Should I continue up 97 to Rufus or head down to The Dalles (where I definitely want to see the water works) instead?

My neighbor used to weave baskets and I'm trying to talk her into going back to doing it (so she'll pester me less. ;)

I'm single (Hermit quotient: 100%) and would be touring alone.

Yuppers. Twice now. ;)

-- Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud. ----

Comprehensive Website Development

[BobS]

Now ya made me go look at the map. Heading north on 97 and about 60+ miles, you'll branch off on Rt 197 (ne) and head for Maupin and the Deschutes River Recreational area - the rapids. I suppose you can get there from 97 too but I followed 197 and ended up at The Dalles (on I-84) which then takes you on over to Portland but I branched off at White Salmon and headed south on Rt

35 to Mt. Hood National Forest then followed Rt 26 south to close the loop back to Bend on Rt 97 again.

Another beatiful area to see is the Three Sisters Wilderness just west of Bend about 45 miles. You'll get up to around 9,000' driving the logging trails. There are 3 lakes that if you can be there in the early morning while the fog is still on the ground - you better have lots of film or CF cards. And if you're up to it, you can hike on up to the fire lookout (at about 10,358'). Take some good cheese with you to swap for a cuppa Joe and some friendly conversation. The rangers (students) there are super and of course they don't get to many brave souls that hike up that far. They offered us some coffee and we had some Wisconsin cheese and crackers in our backpacks and they about gave us the lookout for half the cheese. They were BLM newbies fresh from Wisconsin and were a bit homesick.

That's all right too - still lots to see and enjoy. The other (artsy) town south of Bend about 15 minutes is named Sunriver - well worth a day trip when the festivals are going on. We had a bit of a surprise while visiting there. Got there early and was looking for a cafe. There are several but went into this one, sat down and the waitress came over. I looked up at her and we both said "I know you". Turns out I have a distant cousin that moved out there many moons ago and opened the cafe. This town really puts on a great festival in the summer and there is plenty of woodworking related happenings that will keep you interested and your camera clicking.

Having been in all 50 states, worked just about everywhere at some point - that area will be where I retire one day - so don't ruin it when you visit!

Bob S.