# Persimmon?????



## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

While out running my dogs today I found two of the biggest persimmon trees I have ever seen. Well, at least they are the biggest ones around here. Big enough to mill into lumber. My question is; does persimmon make decent lumber and if so what does it look like or what is it close to? Are there any peculiarities in regards to working it? I am going to guess and say that it is useless…I am 56, been messing around with wood just about all my life and I have never heard of it being used for lumber. Then again there's a lot I don't know. Thanks in advance for any info, it is greatly appreciated. {especially BEFORE I cut this thing down and take it to the mill!!!}


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## Ripper70 (Nov 30, 2015)

Looks pretty good to me… See here for detailed characteristics.


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## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

That looks fantastic!!! Thanks a million for posting!!! I think it is safe to say these two trees are going to the mill. It's funny, they are wild here and not uncommon, but you don't see them get too big because for some reason the bugs get into them bad and they just die. Don't know why they didn't kill these two. Both trees are side by side and at least 35-40 feet tall. Best part is that I can drive a truck and tractor right beside them. Thanks again.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

Those pic don't look like the persimmon around here. I tried air drying some persimmon once and only once. It's a very difficult wood to dry. Most of what I had turned a awful gray color. I learned the sugars in the wood will spoil and bacteria takes over. It also cracked and warped badly.
The tress I harvested were about 70 yrs old.
Good luck.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

I know it's use in the states as boxing on moulding planes and for fine turnings and whatnot.

Actually trying to talk my pops into getting a persimmon tree he knows of killed up for me


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## cgooding (Jan 3, 2018)

I agree with Aj2. That doesn't look at all like the persimmon we have in the southeast. What we have looks like this:










Once dry it's very, very hard. Makes great tools and polishes rather nicely.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Persimmon is so dense and hard it is used for the heads on woods (golf clubs). Roy Underhill loves it for joiner's mallets. Personally, I enjoy the fruit…though I've been looking for a piece to use in a mallet.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Every persimmon golf club I've ever seen over the years, (and that is a whole lot, considering I've been making golf club hat racks for a few years, and used to refinish golf clubs in the 80's and 90's for a second hand sports shop), looked like the picture that cgooding posted, not like the pictures Ripper posted. Never saw persimmon that looked like that.
I'd use that for a lot of things, but have never seen that type of grain.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

It is all about age. Persimmon is in the Ebony family, and is often referred to as "American Ebony". The sapwood is like the last pic. The heartwood has black in it, very often streaked with black. It is semi-ring porous which gives it that beautiful grain, like walnut. So, to get the heartwood and black streaks, the tree has to be old. Younger, fast grown persimmon will not have the heartwood, and therefore the black figure and color. I have sawn and dried a good bit of it. It is difficult to dry without warp and checking. But the beauty is worth it if you have a large enough tree. I will add a few pictures of some that I have sawn and/or dried. The first pic is from a tree that was 19" in diameter breast high and about 75' tall.



















The tree that these slabs came from was closer to 2 feet in diameter. These slabs shows how beautiful the heartwood of persimmon can be. Persimmon is the most valuable native hardwood that I saw.


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## poospleasures (Aug 7, 2011)

A friend who processes some home grown trees gave me a plank of what he said was spallted persimmon. It was some very pretty wood. Easy to work and took finish very well. Wish I had more. Made a mans box from it. Pictures do not do this justice.
















Because of the very colorful grain pattern it was easy to wrap the grain all the way around the box.


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## avsmusic1 (Jul 10, 2016)

msinc - can I ask what part of the country you're located in?


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## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

> msinc - can I ask what part of the country you re located in?
> 
> - avsmusic1


Certainly sir, I am in southern Maryland. Thanks to all that have posted so far. I am surprised to find a wood so beautiful right under my nose that has gone "undetected" {at least by me and those around here that I know} for this long. 
It's funny, as a hunter I have relocated more than I can count of these trees because so many animals love and depend the fruit. In this area it is extremely rare to find one bigger than about 15 ft. tall and a trunk of much over about 10 inches….hardly what anyone would take to the mill. In fact, there is one on one of my rental houses that I have owned for 20 years, a little smaller than average. It might be 10 ft. tall and about 8 inches in diameter at the trunk. It seriously does not appear to have has grown one solitary inch in all that time. It must be doing okay, it gets completely loaded down with fruit every year. 
Now I don't know what to do…I hate to cut down and kill a tree if the grain is just all gray…it's worth more to me standing for the animals. It is on my land and not in the way and they are not by any means "rare" around her. The unusual thing about these two is their size for this area. 
The first thing I noticed different about these two was the bark. It is definitely different than the ones I have planted and are used to seeing. When I first found these trees I had to look up what they were. The bark almost looks like some one "tiled" the trunk. We are having a snow storm at the moment, but as soon as it quits I will go get some photos and measurements. It would be nice if there was an indicator or some way to help assess whether or not the desirable grain/heartwood is there BEFORE I kill two wild animal food sources. 
Thanks again for all the very informative posts and for all the photos, as always it is greatly appreciated.


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## Ripper70 (Nov 30, 2015)

You can use an increment borer to take a core sample or a plug from the tree. That may tell you all you need to know about what you can expect to find inside without cutting it down.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

I'm just curious how it works that one sees a tree on a run and can cut it down and take it to the mill. Not making any judgements here, but doesn't the tree belong to someone (even if that someone is BLM)? I need to be educated.


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## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

> I m just curious how it works that one sees a tree on a run and can cut it down and take it to the mill. Not making any judgements here, but doesn t the tree belong to someone (even if that someone is BLM)? I need to be educated.
> 
> - LiveEdge


I totally and absolutely agree 110% with you sir, no one should ever even trespass, let alone steal a tree that belongs to another person. All that said, someone must have posted something I missed….in regards to the two persimmon trees I {the OP} was posting about….not only do I own the trees, but I also own the 310 acres they are sitting on. I think in this case at least it is my choice whether or not either one of them goes to the mill or remains where they stand. Now I need to be educated, unless I missed something; how is it {based on anything posted here} that you were able to conclude trees are being stolen????


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