# newbie questions, found wood and branches



## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Hi all, I've been reading a while now and after countless fruitless searches and read through the entire forum until myeyes feellike falling out, I still can't find the answers I need. I figure that could mean my questions are just silly or I haven't hit on the right search string yet. So here goes…
We mo


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

Steve, try again…

BTW, Welcome to LumberJocks!

Herb


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

The search engine leaves a bit to be desired IMO. What are the questions?


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Welcome to LJ's. We'll answer anything we can.


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## dkirtley (Mar 11, 2010)

If the local search fails you, go to google.com and add site:lumberjocks.com to the search query and it will get a bit easier to find stuff.


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Haha, okay, let me try this again, sorry guys. I guess I can't trust using my tablet to post a question while watching the kiddos. Okay, here we go again. 
We moved into our House on the Hill a month ago. The property is line on three sides by trees overlooking a valley filled with crops (kind of hard to see through the trees but you can hear a tractor every now and then). East and west are pines of various sizes and species. The north border is all hardwood. I've been able to ID two massive oaks that anchor the line, with a smattering of much younger ones along it. In the middle is a big black walnut and a handful of younger ones around it as well. Then there's just a bunch of trees I can't ID yet. By the biggest trees, there's a a few branches (nothing more than say 4" in diameter) on the ground from previous storms (or…?). Also, there is what appears to be a pretty big tree (I don't know what kind it was, but what bark is left looks like it could be an oak or maybe a walnut, but more likely an oak) in pieces along the tree line. It's got that weathered grey, been there for years look. Each piece is probably 18" to 24" in diameter. For background, we are the second owners, and the house was built in 1995 (and they used all oak trim and solid oak doors throughout and took GREAT care of it…!), so I have no idea how old the trees are (the oaks are probably 70 feet tall, the Walnut maybe 60-65 feet tall).
Now, the questions (I hope you're still with me!): (1) is there anything at all that can be done with the wood on the ground (the mystery tree)...other than firewood (there is a convenient fire-pit right there within 30 feet of the tree line…). 
And (2) what is the generally accepted rule for how thick a branch (or trunk) should be before it's "usable" for something? 4"? 6"? The reason I ask is because I'm planning on building my first real workbench in the next month or so and (inspired by Chris Schwarz's workbench book) I'd like to try my hand at drawboring, and having some nice plugs for mounting hardware holes. I was thinking that since the top will be SYP or something similar, I'd try for a different species for the pins for contrast. I also thought, upon seeing my newly acquired trees, that it would be awesome to incorporate them into the mix somehow. Of course, since then I have come to understand a lot more about drying wood before using it…but…does that apply to dowels/pins/plugs as well or mostly to structural things like tenons and stretchers, etc.? Okay, so that was three questions…

Thanks for your patience and for the warm welcome already! Hopefully this post will make it.


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## NANeanderthal (Jun 2, 2011)

Don't use the branch wood, at all, no matter the size. It has more dense fiber structure on the top side, which mean it will forever be reactionary. 
Now someone may tell you that is all melo, they use branches, hell, they might use nothing but branches. But the truth is, branches or leaning trees are made for a fire pit, you may get lucky with one or two pieces, but it isn't worth the effort.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

If you make your plugs from green/wet wood they will shrink upon drying like any other wood and then be loose in their holes.


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Aha! Thanks guys that's exactly what I was looking for. My gut was telling me the same thing but I haven't seen anything that specifically says so. Looks like we've got plenty of firewood. Just to get an axe now (more tools!)...


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

Now that is not to say you can't DRY the wood pretty easily…  Especially if the pieces are fairly small to start with.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Branch wood isn't good for nothing…. if you ever get a lathe and get into turning, you can do some interesting things. But don't try to build a work bench with it.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Welcome to LumberJocks Steve.
Looking forward to your work bench in the project's thread.


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Wow thanks for the encouragement everyone! Makes me feel right at home already. I think what I will do is just play with what I've got and see what I come up with. If nothing else, it's scrap wood I can practice on!

@ Rick: thanks for the links and inspiration, fantastic stuff there


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

Joining in on the brach conversation..
What about band saw boxes?
I have some… curly Birch branches.. can these be used to make band saw boxes?


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Worst case is you cut it and try to do something with it and it turns into firewood. At that point, at least you tried.

I generally don't mess with logs if they are smaller than 20" diameter… that's just me though.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

You can be sure it will split through the pith. What every you do, take your wood from either side.


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## mtenterprises (Jan 10, 2011)

When I first read through this I decided not to comment just because I didn't like the comments that branch wood is usless. I returned with this historical thought, did you know that shipwrights used to send people (lackies or aprentices) out into the woods with a pattern for a part for a ship, something that wasn't straight, and have them bring back a branch that closely matched the pattern. This way the long grain would run through the whole part making the part very strong. I hope that I explained that good enough a picture would have been better.
MIKE


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Mike, you explained that very well. I use Youpon Holly for a lot of my dowels. It's hard, flexible and doesn't split easily. I find a branch of the closest oversize I can and then twist it through a home made form to make it the right size. The stuff is amazing in it's abilities to form to a hole and once a short piece is dry it's difficult to break.


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## mtenterprises (Jan 10, 2011)

See even the smallest pieces are useful. It just depends on how you use them. So let's go in a different direction here and let's say.. 
What do you use branch wood for? 
I have tons of black walnut branch wood and I use it for small projects and turning. There's some real pretty wood hidden inside those branches.
MIKE


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I do use branches for arts & crafts things. Not on anything big. But I also don't like waste so I try to use everything.


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## RaggedKerf (Aug 5, 2012)

Y'all are inspiring me now to give it a whirl! I have an idea to make a garden tool totefor my wife with oak branch handle and walnut branch sides found in our yard. Mike, that explanation was great: I have put wooden model ships together in the past and totally forgot about the branches uesed for knees in support structure of wooden ships below decks (learned during research and applied on a tiny scale though)! I'll be sure to post any work I attempt using my branches….if nothing else itmay give someone a good laugh!


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