destroying maple: edit

Ouch! Junior! Two years and you didn’t get what you expected! That really sucks. But there are many people out there (including myself) who would LOVE to get their mitts, and tools, on wood like that. There are thousands of small projects in that pile there.
Put up a posting somewhere for woodworkers to see… Hmm – I’m not sure where woodworkers would hang out. I’m sure that someone will take it off your hands and put it to good use!

-- Anything is possible when you don't know what you're talking about.

Was it in the shade? What a bummer.

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

Painting the ends of the logs and/or boards would help a bunch. By sealing the ends of the boards, it alleviates the checking because the moisture escapes the end grain faster than the side grain therefore making it dryer on the ends which makes it crack. I know, ” Now he tells me”.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

That Sucks…....Love the saw horse.. LMAO.

Can you cut 1X3’s and glue it up with the good stuff? If nothing else you have about 2,000,000,000 pen blanks there.

-- I like to turn

You’re a little too far away from San Antonio, or I’d swing by with the truck and a 12 pack and we could work an exchange…

-- If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem.

Seems like you should be able to slavage a lot of good wood for small projects by the looks of the pictures.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Yup , always seal the ends ! I’ve had good luck using left over waterbased paint on the ends. Sorry for your loss : (

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

looks like you could you strip saw and mill it for a bench top.

-- chebeaguewoodbutcher

The original plan for this wood had been to make a few workbenches for sale. I guess it could still be done but now they would be butcherblock style.
The wood had been stored in the shade. I had success with the exact same drying method, species , and spot, just the year before, guess i was lucky the first time.

Glad someone got a laugh from my camouflage saw horse.

-- Junior -Quality is never an accident-it is the reward for the effort involved.

I agree with the end sealing also. Another factor is the time of felling, both seasonal and what time of day, if the sap is up or down. The checking isn’t too terrible, there is a good amount of usable wood in there, though not for massive slab stuff. You could also cut boards out of the parts that only have hairline splits and resaw right through it along the split and follow the grain out on the bandsaw and then glue it back together, works really well actually. You can barely see the join if you follow the grain closely. Take lemons and make lemonade or take split wood and make toothpicks. Or something.

-- Ooo, er.

I wouldn’t cut it up into firewood. Even if you don’t want to take the time to cut up the “bad” pieces for yourself, post this over at the forum thread “Trade or Swap” here on LJ and I bet you’d get some one interested in the stuff. Or even your local craigslist. There’s LOTS of good wood in there still! Don’t give up!

A lot of wood is air dried ,but you have to take all measures possible for good results ,such as seal the ends ,allow for good air flow with stickers and cover just the top with metal or plywood with weight to help minimise cupping, also the sun should not be in constant contact with your wood. All said and done even with
all measures taken properly sometimes you still don’t get good results

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

what a shame, hopefully someone can use it.
Cheers

-- People who say it cannot be done should not interup those who are doing it

that’s unfortunate. from what i’ve read, you’re not supposed to ever put a tarp on drying wood….. perhaps trapped moisture inside contributed to that?

Yeah tarps are bad. minimizes air flow and traps moisture. But im sure there are alot of small project pieces in there!

-- I like trees ...... as long as their by the board foot.

yeah the tarp wasn’t lashed down to keep moisture in, but it probably didn’t help my cause any. i think much of the splitting problem arose from when the tree was cut(at it’s wettest) and the thickness i cut the planks(all 2 and 3 inch). painting the ends of the remaining boards at this point will( i hope ) help preserve the rest of this stack in the boat shed. guess i know what i’m doing this weekend.

-- Junior -Quality is never an accident-it is the reward for the effort involved.

Nice picture additions …you’ve got some really great stuff there !!I can’t imagine how much they would charge for that in the store / lumber yard .

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

some great saves. glad it wasn’t a total loss. drying lumber seems so easy, but the pros definitely have some tricks that set their products apart. Its still fun to learn though. thanks for sharing your finds!

If you aren’t into making pen blanks you could always make about 18,384,228,433,590,274 toothpicks. But that is just a rough estimate…

-- Trent Tidmore, Grapevine, TX