Growing your own Lumber?

[Mohamed Hossam]

Hey everyone!

I was thinking of this idea, somewhat crazy, after watching a few episodes of the New Yankee Workshop last night. Making your own furniture, that's very self sufficient. Growing your own lumber? Is that feasible? Or will you have to wait 5 years for a little table, if you know what I mean?

Do you think this idea is feasible? I was thinking about Cherry Trees, since cherry wood is normally used, plus it produces cherries, and they are very nice looking trees.

So, any ideas, comments, etc? I know this is an extremely crazy idea, but hey, we learn by discussing.

cheers,
Mohamed

[Millymollymandy]

Well I think you might be waiting a bit more than 5 years for a cherrywood table! I believe that the wood used in furniture making is wild cherry not the edible cherry - well that is the case in France, though I don't know about other countries.

Now sycamore is quite a fast growing tree though I still think you'd have to wait 20-30 years to get a big enough tree for making furniture out of it.

[Jack]

Gidday

Well mate I reckon even in a good growing climate you will be waiting at least 25 years.

Good investment though.

[Annpan]

What about bamboo? it grows really quickly but I guess it would be a different style of furniture?

[frozenthunderbolt]

some species of Eucaluptus grow very fast. Here in NZ we planted 150 odd twig sized trees in 2002? - 2003? there are now some with a trunk 15-20 cm say 7-8 inches, thick at head height.

It is a matter of choosing the right tree for the right climate.

For investment - long term growing - retiring on or hand down to kids i would favor oak, sweet chestnut and black wallnut. all three have excellent versitle timber and drop nuts that will feed pigs. sweet chestnut is ground retentive and it and black wallnut will feed people aswell as hogs!

[Jack]

Gidday

Eucaluptus needs to be at least 600mm small end diameter before it is suitable to cut for lumber. Otherwise there is far too much strees in the timber. Then if you do manage to get it sawn up, many of the 500 odd varieties are no good for anything except firewood.

[possum]

do a goole on paulonia, we have just bought some seeds and it is a very fast growing timber tree
you could always try growing your furniture which should take less timehttp://www.pooktre.com/

[Jack]

Gidday

Nearly 20 years ago thousands of paulonia trees were planted in New Zealand and they were going to make everybody rich. Yes they grew very fast but I have never heard of one of them ever getting milled into usable timber and I have had a portable sawmill for 17 years now.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Jack, we are growing jarra and carrie - both are usefull woods by what i have read.

on a more genreal note i would say it depends what kind of furniture you are setting out to make as to the size that the timber needs to be.
It should be noted though that mills will only take timber over a certain size as Jack says.

Learning to use a Froe and hammer, maul and splitting wedges then an adze, plane and drawknife to make small timber is very rewarding and is a remakably versatile craft.

[possum]

Gidday

Nearly 20 years ago thousands of paulonia trees were planted in New Zealand and they were going to make everybody rich. Yes they grew very fast but I have never heard of one of them ever getting milled into usable timber and I have had a portable sawmill for 17 years now.

the ones i am about to sow are mainly for their visual effect rather than their timber, so no problem if we don't get rich, we want some rapidly growing shelter belt/lanscaping trees. If they do grow well, i may plant more, like everything at our place it will be trial and error

[Jack]

Gidday

Yeah, I must admit that they are nice looking trees. And they are also very good bee fodder I believe.

[Smooth Hound]

Hey everyone!

I was thinking of this idea, somewhat crazy, after watching a few episodes of the New Yankee Workshop last night. Making your own furniture, that's very self sufficient. Growing your own lumber? Is that feasible? Or will you have to wait 5 years for a little table, if you know what I mean?

Do you think this idea is feasible? I was thinking about Cherry Trees, since cherry wood is normally used, plus it produces cherries, and they are very nice looking trees.

So, any ideas, comments, etc? I know this is an extremely crazy idea, but hey, we learn by discussing.

i dont know where you are but here the fastest growing tree would probably be the willow





Mohamed

[kirkpatc]

I have always thought that an old piano, kept by the elderly person who gave piano lessons to all the children, would be an excellent source of good lumber. Many of those old instruments are made out of beautiful wood, and I have found that often they can be had for little money, since moving the thing is such a chore.
An old family friend of ours was an organ builder, and he would bring us old pieces of lumber from the hundred-year old church organs that he was working on (I know, not very old compared to some of the organs in Europe), but that lumber burned so much more brightly, somehow. I often tried to catch a faint whiff of incense coming from that church organ wood, but it was just my imagination.

Chuck

[Annpan]

NOOOOO!!! not the old pianos... please.... old musical instruments make the nicest noises I have ever heard.... new instruments seem so clinical or mathamatical to me.

That said, re-useing the wood to make something else would surely be better than burning it

We have been burning parts of other people houses (150 year old floor joists), a few people we know are having work done... we help out by burning the wood... anything to save landfil

[justskint]

Being a bit of del boy, I might be inclined to sell your timber/lumber instead of turning it into ash, albeit I don't think slugs like soot/ash too much as it dries them out.

Getting back to reclamation, many a restorer of house or furniture might like the oppertunity to purchase your newly aquired, too long to grow tree wood.