Plum wood.

[MikeG.]

This damn gale has taken down one of my greengages, an ancient thing, with some very big branches. I'm seriously upset about it, as it was a wonderful tree, in a prominent position, and one of only a handful of mature trees on our land. Anyway......

What can I do with it? One of the branches/ forks is about 9 or 10 inches in diameter, straight, and seemingly free from defects. Remember, I don't turn. There's lots of smaller stuff that any turners are welcome to if they want, but shout quickly as it's fallen on my bike shed and so I'll be sorting it tomorrow.

 

[woodbloke66]

This damn gale has taken down one of my greengages, an ancient thing, with some very big branches. I'm seriously upset about it, as it was a wonderful tree, in a prominent position, and one of only a handful of mature trees on our land. Anyway......

What can I do with it? One of the branches/ forks is about 9 or 10 inches in diameter, straight, and seemingly free from defects. Remember, I don't turn. There's lots of smaller stuff that any turners are welcome to if they want, but shout quickly as it's fallen on my bike shed and so I'll be sorting it tomorrow.

I'd bite your arm off for a bit of that stuff Mike Lovely stuff for turning but .....doh! you don't turn :lol: - Rob

 

[marcros]

It would make some nice marking gauges like you made before.

 

[toolsntat]

Spoon carvers etc like a bit of this 8)
Cheers Andy

 

[MikeG.]

Can I season it, and if so, should I slice it up first? And if anyone wants any for spoons carving, bowls whatever.........shout quick.

 

[CHJ]

Can I season it, and if so, should I slice it up first? ...

I would slice it into short planks say 20-25mm thick and stick it for a couple of years (seal the end grain) and use it for boxes after it has settled.

 

[deema]

I think plum is one of the nicest woods for chisel handles (London pattern), saw handles, in fact any tool handle.
Cut to approximate dimensions, and put in stick (glue or dog the ends) under cover outside for a year / inch.

I have plum, pear and apple all at various stages of drying for handles and other things.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Leave it long and PVA the ends as it's prone to splitting.

 

[MikeG.]

Thanks folks. I've never worked with fruitwood, so this could be fun (in a year or two).

 

[Woody2Shoes]

You lucky man!

When our ancient greengage died, I simply cut the stem in half lenthgways and let it dry out in the shed. I suspect you could just cut a slit down the length of it as long as you get to the pith in the centre - any drying, in theory, then just opens up the slit rather than creating random radial cracks where you don't want them.

It's beautiful stuff to work with, and has lovely plum colours in the heart wood (sadly, these fade to brown eventually). I've cut bookmatched pairs of boards and jointed them together to make trinket boxes etc. It's nice wood for carving (you'll have to get more gouges!) and very tactile stuff so good for door/drawer knobs etc.

If you dry some of the smaller diameter pieces carefully, you might be able to make 'oysters' - this sort of thing: https://i.etsystatic.com/10973817/r/il/ ... 8_2m4b.jpg Which could be made into inlays or used as coasters etc.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/6266063 ... ch_click=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oystering

Cheers, W2S

PS many prunus species sucker, or produce new plants from root material - if you're lucky, new young treelets may rise from the roots left behind by the old tree - keep an eye out for them over the next few months.

 

[MikeG.]

Does anyone know how stable plum is? I have plenty enough wood to make a decent couple of hall tables, and before I decide on what thicknesses to plank it, I want to know if it is worth bothering. If I make a table in a year or two, will it turn into a piece of modern art by twisting and warping? If the answer is "don't do that", then I'll slab it for boxes etc, and for veneers, tool handles and so on.

W2S......there are already 2 good suckers at a reasonable distance which we've been nurturing for a year or three which we'll allow to just grow on. They'll thrive now they won't have the competition from the main tree (one of them is already about 4 metres tall). I'm thinking of just cutting the stump back to ground level to encourage rot, then managing the new suckers for a few years until they give up. Trying to dig the roots out would cause chaos.

 

[woodbloke66]

Does anyone know how stable plum is? I have plenty enough wood to make a decent couple of hall tables, and before I decide on what thicknesses to plank it, I want to know if it is worth bothering. If I make a table in a year or two, will it turn into a piece of modern art by twisting and warping? If the answer is "don't do that", then I'll slab it for boxes etc, and for veneers, tool handles and so on.

Plank it and stick it Mike and see what happens. It can't be any worse than Holly, which seasons like it's break dancing on steroids - Rob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Your suckers may well be wild plums (damsons) and not greengages if the original tree was grafted.

 

[MikeG.]

Your suckers may well be wild plums (damsons) and not greengages if the original tree was grafted.

No, it's a standard (not grafted). We've got damsons elsewhere, as well as bullus. Lots and lots of bullus. We've also got a standard plum.

 

[MikeG.]

.......Plank it and stick it Mike and see what happens. It can't be any worse than Holly, which seasons like it's break dancing on steroids - Rob

:lol: You're not filling me with confidence, Rob!

 

[custard]

I want to know if it is worth bothering. If I make a table in a year or two, will it turn into a piece of modern art by twisting and warping? If the answer is "don't do that", then I'll slab it for boxes etc, and for veneers, tool handles and so on.

It is definitely worth drying and furthermore it is worth aiming for the widest boards you can manage together with a couple of thicker boards that will yield rift sawn leg components.

Examples of smaller items of antique furniture that have been made from Plum command a substantial premium because of what a glorious timber it is. Plum patinates beautifully (and quickly) like all fruitwoods. But compared to say Cherry, it's close fruitwood relative, there's more colour variation and the grain tends to have that entrancing interlocked quality you'll often see in something like Olive Wood.

There's never any guarantees with any timber regarding how it'll dry, but Plum is such a prize when it works out that it's well worth giving it a go.

Good luck!

 

[MikeG.]

Brilliant. Thanks Custard.

 

[CHJ]

This is typical of fruit wood left to its own devices on the drying front.

One of several pieces that were looking good until the Bark was removed today .
And it had been split down the core of the log to reduce the drying stresses.

 

[MikeG.]

That's been cut across the grain, though, (for bowl blanks no doubt), has it not?

 

[CHJ]

That's been cut across the grain, though, (for bowl blanks no doubt), has it not?

No, The bulk of Bowl blanks are cut with the grain.
See attached PDF. (first image.View attachment Log_to_turn_Object.pdf


I usually slab or plank Fruit wood (Cherry, Plum, Pear etc.) and expect them to cup to some extent but I tried to save theses for some deeper bowls.