Applewood

[jmuscel]

Hi Everyone,
I'm so excited, my friend just moved to a new house and has some appletrees and chestnut trees on his property. The other day a moving truck knocked down a branch from the appletree (about 12 " in diameter and probably 8 or so feet long) he cut it up into 3-4 ft logs for me and I'm picking them up today. Has anyone evr used applewood? can I carve it wet and if so do I need to dry the finished piece before I seal it? Do I need to do anything special to the wood for storing or before I try chipping away at it?
I understand the wood is very hard but I really want to try it out. Has anyone had any expierience with this type of wood?

[Claude]

There's a ton of info over here: Carving Wood & Materials - Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board

But the short answer is that apple, once it dries, is one of the hardest woods around - beautiful, but hard. I carved a chunk of crabapple one time while it was still green, and didn't have any problems with cracking - but it was only a 1 inch diameter branch. Wood turned a beautiful golden-brown when it aged a bit and dried out.

Claude

[carvendive]

What type of apple? Those in the know will want to know.
I've got experience with crab apple wood and can tell you that the grain rotates 90 degrees along the center in a 16" length. I always bring it down to 8 - 10% moisture to eliminate checking but don't know if it's required. I was doing raised panels for kitchen cabinets and you never want a call back from a client saying it cracked. Bad for referrals.

[jmuscel]

Thanks Claude, carvendive not sure what type of apple tree it is. Small apples, I'll try to find out.

[Sharon of the Dell]

I would also be interested in learning about applewood.My cousin has a really big old apple tree that has to be cut down so 120yr old cypress trees can be cut and felled on the spot. I plan on scoring both kinds of wood.Sigh, I climbed those trees as a kid.Sad day it will be.

[Keoma]

SIIIGH...sHARON...don't be sad. Think of what you can make from it and pass it on for generations!
I make spoons from Apple. I ADORE it. I was given the burled limbs from a couple hundred year old tree last summer. WOW. It is the most amazing wood. It is rock hard and almost has to be cut and worked greenish. Once it is dry, well, it warped my table saw blade.
The spoons it made were the smoothest,tightest, warmest feeling things of beauty! The bits of burl were amazing. It is very much worth working. I also made hair combs and dolls with it. It works a lot like maple in that aspect, you can do such small fine detail with it. Oh and the smell is heavenly! Enjoy your score!

I forgot to mention, when doing fine detail and spoon bowls, I roughed out and left it a bit wonky for awhile. Then as it dried I finish detailed it. No cracks. Best of Luck!

[jmuscel]

I agree with Keoma Sharon, you will be able to make some beautiful pieces that will be cherrished! Keoma, do you use powertools or hand tools to work the applewood?

[Keoma]

Both! I am a firm believer in using whatever works! I rough out with My bigger burr on My Dremel, then use my exacto carving set for fine details, like eyes and nostrils. Being such a hardwood, I do the most with the power tools I think.

[mikeGinSC]

Get some Anchorseal to seal the ends of the logs. That should retard checking. I use it all the time for the Mtn Laurel and Holly I find and those are very hard woods.

Mike G. in SC

[Keoma]

***Slight Hijack***

Ohhhh...that Holly...THATS some nice stuff...and yes, this is me blatantly hinting

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