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Discussion Forum

“Silver Maple” – Should I keep the wood?

rasher | Posted in General Discussion on March 13, 2006 07:56am

Hello all,
I posted this over in knots, and just didn’t get many responses. I need to make a decision quick. Please advise if you can:

As part of a garage expansion project we’re starting in a couple of months, I’m having a tree guy come out in a couple of weeks and take down this tree in my back yard. (See attached pics)
My wife says it’s a “Silver Maple”. It’s about an 18-20″ caliper tree and the straight section from the ground to the “crook” in the middle (see pics) is about 10′-6″.
At first, I was just going to have the tree trimmer take it all away, but now I’m wondering if I want to make a table out of it, you know, so that he’s still with us…
First off: Is this wood any good for working with?
Second: Is this particular tree any good? It’s got a lot of “knots” down low where I’ve had to cut off sprouts over the years.
Third: If it’s good, then what instructions should I give my tree cutter? What portions and how much of the tree should I save? How long do I have him cut the logs?
Forth: If I end up with some logs, then what do I do? I assume that I’d take them immediately to a mill to have them cut down, so that I can stick ’em and dry the boards. What instructions would I give the mill? What dimensions would I have them cut down to?

As you can probably tell by now, I’ve never dealt with wood this raw, I usually just pick up what I need down at Paxtons.

I’m looking forward to any advice you all might have. Thanks for the help.

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Replies

  1. stinger | Mar 13, 2006 08:19pm | #1

    Silver maple is soft, and not that great a furniture wood.  I did what you are thinking of a long time ago.  Took the bole to a sawmill, airdried the flitches for a few years, then slowly started to use it.

    I just today ripped up the last of it to make some blocks, which will be hidden, for a staircase project.

  2. User avater
    draftguy | Mar 13, 2006 08:34pm | #2

    I had a former neighbor with a silver maple in her backyard . . . about the size in your picture, maybe a little bigger. The thing was constantly dropping branches in our yard, and eventually did some damage when a storm knocked a good-sized branch on the roof (of course we were trying to sell the house when it happened, and we ended up having to pay for it).

    Not an expert on wood species, but from the number of branches I picked up over the years it seemed like a very pourous, light wood. I wouldn't imagine it would stand up to a lot of abuse.

    1. rasher | Mar 13, 2006 08:40pm | #3

      One idea we have is to use it to make a rough "beater" table to use outdoors when entertaining guests. I don't intend to try to make a finished interior peice.
      Sounds like even this might not be worth it?

  3. User avater
    Sphere | Mar 13, 2006 08:45pm | #4

    As noted previously, Silver Maple is soft. I find it very attractive at or around the root buttress area. It can have spectacular grain whorls.

    But my pragmatic side says you will have a catasrophy if and when the metal is found in the tree.

    You assert that you will pay for the mill's blade(s), you just bought some already processed wood with out the gamble.

    Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    " the best investment in life, is a handle on love''

  4. Jer | Mar 13, 2006 09:03pm | #5

    Silver maple can be nice like Sphere said, at the roots, especially if you can get a hold of some good burles for turning. It's not a particularly great wood for furniture because of the instability. Lots of branches etc. Good firewood.

  5. Warren | Mar 13, 2006 09:03pm | #6

    Silver maple makes excellent fire wood if it is cut into 16 inch lengths and split when it is green. ( Not worth the effort if let dry so that you have to fight it to split it). Stack loosely off of the ground and reverse the pieces so that air can get to each piece.  Cover with black plastic or visqueen to keep it from the weather but leave openings  on the ends of the stack. The plastic allows for solar heat as well as keeping rain off.

    All I ever Needed to Know I learned in Kindergarten- Robt. Fulghum
  6. User avater
    razzman | Mar 13, 2006 10:19pm | #7

    Take the straightest 6 ft you can find and put it on blocks as a bench in the back yard. Maybe lightly groove a couple sitting areas on it.

    Yer friend will always be with you without a big involved project.

    be a Maypole

     

     

     

     

     

    'Nemo me impune lacesset'
    No one will provoke me with impunity

  7. RW | Mar 13, 2006 11:09pm | #8

    I've used silver maple in furniture, and I've cut it and dried it. So my thoughts. It is much softer than sugar, but harder than pine. So arguably, if you can make pine furniture, you can make it out of silver.

    The coloring is really the neatest thing about the wood. Far more into the golden/yellow color than sugar maple is. You can get streaks of a greyish tinge to it as well. And depending on use, that can either be an eyesore or a pretty neat design element. I've used them, bookmatched, into table tops.

    Cutting and milling a city tree is risky. You have no basis to grade the thing on, you have no idea what metal might be in there, and as sphere said, if you have it cut into lumber, you've already agreed to pay for blades that break hitting metal.

    The knots from removed branches are an indicator of the number of knots in the wood. From a rough tree like that, by the time you cut it, mill it, dry it, weed out the unusable portions, and selectively cut for stuff you can use, call it poor mans grading, you might get 40% of what you started with as usable lumber. At the same time, that 40% is going to cost you not much in the way of money, just a great deal of sweat equity. Knowing someone with a 16" jointer is a great thing.

    Last time I did that with a silver maple the thing was 44" and 48" diameter at the base cut. I gambled and let it sit on the ground, and about six months later had it cut. I got a lot of waste, but about 800 bf of usable spalted silver maple. I think I had about $400 in everything.

    "A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you." -Bert Taylor

  8. DougU | Mar 14, 2006 03:08am | #9

    I think Duane touched on it some, you have a city/yard tree and the sawyers dont like city trees.

    If they or their saw finds a piece of metal in the tree  they'll probably charge you for the damage.

    Doug

  9. DavidxDoud | Mar 14, 2006 03:28am | #10

    I don't see anything to disagree with so far - I'll go at it from a different angle -

    I've got a mill - if you would approach me about sawyering that tree,  I'd be concerned about metal - I'd have you lay $25 on the controls - if I hit metal,  I put the $ in my pocket and if you want me to keep going,  you lay another $25 on the controls while I change the blade -

    there's not more than an hour or so of sawyering in the two logs in that tree - so if you want me to come to you,  there's a set-up charge - put the logs on a trailer and bring them to me on a day the mill is set up and I'll waive the set-up -

    have your tree feller lay it down without splintering it (not hard with that size tree) and cut two logs,  cutting the trunk in two in the middle of the bend -

     if you have some specific project in mind to use the wood,  maybe it would be worth the effort - but the metal bet is not a good one,  at least in the bottom 8' ....

     

     

     

     

     

     

    "there's enough for everyone"
  10. highfigh | Mar 14, 2006 05:59am | #11

    Soft maple is commonly used for drawer pieces. If you mill it to 3/4" wet, you'll have a lot of material to work with since they're usually 5/8" or 1/2" thick. The kink in the middle would make me want to have it cut so there would be 2 logs. If you remember the leaves, they would be smallish with the bottom a greenish-silver, hence, the name.

    "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

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