A monster of a Pilón

[crtreedude]

Sorry all, no picts yet. The tree is 3 hours away.

My wife put in a request for Hector our business partner that she would like to have our house we are building, remolding in a lot of pilón. This wood is a darker red, very pretty.

Anyway, Hector got some for a porch he made which came out well - but since the wood came from more than one tree, it didn't completely match. So, Amy and He searched for a tree big enough to be a sole source (yeah, I know, we are spoiled)

The tree has been found and it is already down. It is 7 FEET IN DIAMETER. I had to buy the whole tree - try more than 4,000 BF.

Hector just brought back some cross cut disc for tables that we just sold - three of them - as samples. They were 1 meter across. They were from limbs...

The wood is so dark it is nearly black. Yes, I will get pictures eventually.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  That the one in Pataste ??

[metalspinner]

I will get pictures eventually

Eventually!?!?!?

Them is fighten'words.

[crtreedude]

Pataste isn't 3 hours away, it is between you and me...

You've been up North too long..

[Fla._Deadheader]

You ride with me in the Jip, and SEE if it isn't 3 hours.  : :  I can't glide over the rocks like you do. 

[VA-Sawyer]

Three hours.... how far that is depends on a lot of things... is FDH doing the driving or is it CRTD ?  Maybe it is by horseback ?   ;)  Walking ?   Canoe ?   We need more info. 
Bottom line is , I think he was using the '3 hours' as an excuse not to go get us some pictures.   Anyone else see it that way ?  ;D
VA-Sawyer

[crtreedude]

That was 3 hours with HECTOR driving - so how far do you think it is... ?

[Jeff]

The real truth is Fred's camera has never been the same since this photo was taken with it.



Fred with a tree like that we need on site photos and sawing photos and all sorts of stuff. Get Hector and the guys and families in some of them photos too!

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Being as how Fred's camera is still broke, here are some photos of the Pilon, with my Sawyer and the crew.

  I think there are 9 logs from this tree, plus the stump for table slabs and limbs for stool seats.







  This is very colorful wood. I especially like the contrast from Sapwood to heart wood.










  Pretty Gnarly stump. Table slabs come from here.



Look like this.



Can hardly wait to cut into THIS piece.  8) 8)



I believe there are 3 limb crotches in there.

[Burlkraft]

Wow...That's some awesome lookin' stuff there Harold....

Make sure you send some pics of those crotch slabs....better yet I'll take couple.. ;D ;D ;) ;)

[LOGDOG]

Awesome stuff there FLA_DEADHEADER. Reminds me of our aromatic red cedar here only with less white sapwood. Is that stuff dense or soft? Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

LOGDOG

[crtreedude]

Dense! it is a hardwood which down here is HARD - oak is not considered hard here...

[Tom]

That tree certainly shows off the Peterson, doesn't it?

Your sawing crew needs a Dead Header uniform.   Maybe a T-shirt.

[metalspinner]

That's incredible!

In the first pic, the log doesn't look so big...until you focus into the guy with the t-shirt on. :D 

Is that lumber available in the states? Other common names, maybe? It looks like padauk, but I think that is from Africa.

[Norm]

Cool stuff and beautiful wood!

Thanks for the pictures Harold but strangely enough I don't see Fred in any of the pictures. You would think if nothing else he'd get a stunt double. ;D

[Don P]

How bout that, its a euphorbia
Pilon ID sheet
Kinda interesting, usually when the radial and tangent shrinkage are that far apart you have a warpy wood, this one says it's stable drying  ???

Sounds like neat stuff, I'll take a mbf if you have room in your bags next trip  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Is it a type of false rosewood? Looks like really nice wood. 

Is this it Fred? Link has latin and local names.

Don't try to understand the technical jargon, but I was curious if you had a piece of heart wood soaked in water, if it would fluoresce under ultraviolet light (chlorophyll will).  ;D

Fluorescence of Chlorophyll
I've done (observed) a similar experiment in Biology lab at university, of course I wasn't handling chemicals. That was done by the instructor.


principles of fluorescence microscopy

Got a hand lens? Check for crystals (mineral inclusions) in the tylosis of the wood vessels (think white oak). Fred that should give your forest engineer something to do in his spare time.  ;)

Ok getting above everyone's head, including my own.  :D

[SwampDonkey]

Thanks for the link Don P, that fits better than my link.  ;)

[Fla._Deadheader]

Sooner or later, we hope to get enough different species stockpiled and air dried to ship a container to the states. We have some really good and figured wood coming available, and I hope to have the bandmill working within a month. Brought back a bunch of parts and gearmotors.  8)

[Burlkraft]

Hope ya didn't forget sumpthin'...It's a long way to go for parts... ;D ;D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Key ingredients for now are Motorcycle sprockets and chains, and hydraulic valve bank and hoses and cylinders. You know, trivial stuff.  : : :D

[crtreedude]

I was looking for some info on Pilón and I ran across a nice article on a very interesting website...  ;D

Article from Finca Leola...

[SwampDonkey]

Now that's kinda like what I'm talking about.   8)

Will this person cut firewood for cooking to?


;)

[Burlkraft]

Interesting read Fred....

Are you planting them at all  ???  ???  ???

I had never even heard of them before, but from what I've seen of Harold's pictures....I like it ;D ;D ;D

[crtreedude]

Yes, all those and more, I think currently we are planting about 30 different types of trees - and that doesn't include what is included in the permanent forest and protected areas.

There are more than 150 types of trees here used for wood - and almost all are gone and rarely seen. About 30 to 50 are grown in plantations, but usually only about 5 different types, 3 of which are not native to Costa Rica.

The value of some of these natives will be very high in the future in my opinion. Pilon is an excellent tree for us, grows fast, and of course is beautiful. The younger trees look so much like walnut (the wood) that you would be hard put to tell the difference.

[LOGDOG]

If a person were to order a container load of that shipped to the states how much could they buy it for per board foot? 

LOGDOG

[crtreedude]

Alright all of you KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY PILON!

you know, it comes to my mind that perhaps I might have a problem - you see, I find wonderful wood and I buy it and KEEP IT.... perhaps I am going to have to join Wood Hoarders Anonomous...

"Hello, My name is Fred and I have 10,000 BF of rare hardwoods in storeage.. (truth) GASP!"

Just so you know, a container (20') on a boat costs about 1,500 dollars. Getting from here to there of course is more - and then getting from the dock to you - but it isn't that bad.

Air dried I figure for run of the mill stuff (not slabs!), probably 2 to 4 dollars a BF. Slabs of course are more.

[Burlkraft]

But...But...What about the Forestry Forum discount.. ???  ???  ???

We haven't been so nice to you for this long for nothing... :D  :D  :D  :D

[crtreedude]

Man, you first want some of my PILON and then you want a discount.... !??!

[Burlkraft]

It nescessarily doesn't have to be YOUR pilon...It could be someone else's  ;)  ;)  ;)

We are not too particular who's fine wood it is...Just so we get some of it.. ;D  ;D  ;D

WOOD HOARDER.... :D :D :D

[crtreedude]

I think I could do you up a load - I have Spanish Cedar - think Mahogany but a little lighter - great stuff. I have beams of ojoche, and I have planks of corteza and some weird wood called yema de huevo (egg yolk) sort of looks like it.

I know I won't manage to use all the Pilon so I should manage to do that too.

You know something I have been thinking for a while is to accumulate a load here and send it to someone who can then split it to multiple people up that way.

I do have 1,000 BF of cocobolo too - but unless I finish it - I can't ship it! (law)

[Burlkraft]

There ya go...a FF container to be shared among the masses.....

I like the sound of it already... ;D  ;D  ;D

[crtreedude]

and a commission to FF for making it possible...

[Burlkraft]

Absolutly... ;) ;) ;)

[beenthere]

What constitute's a "finish"?  if dried, sanded, varnish that's one thing.  If sprayed with mineral spirits and borax mix on rough-sawn, that might be another......
Is the "finish" spec'd in the law? Or is it at the discretion of the inspector? Or up to one's imagination? 

[crtreedude]

dried sanded varnished - perhaps not varnished, but the rest. The issue is that it has to look like furniture or close to it.

[crtreedude]

Got to jump on my bike and pedal on home before it gets dark, we will pick this up tomorrow - just don't going committing to all the pilon! After all, my wife has first dibs and she could get mean...  :

[Burlkraft]

Fred...We would never think of getting you in trouble   ;D  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Still Light down there? The sun drops out of sight here at around 5:00 now. :'(

[crtreedude]

We have 12 hours of sunlight pretty much year round - that is what it means when you are almost on the equator...  ;)

[SwampDonkey]

@P~     :D :D

[Tom]

Shucks, Fred,  I though y'all did better'n that.  We get that much almost every day. :D

[SwampDonkey]

We out pace'm up here in the summer with over 16 hours daylight. But 9 hours isn't too bad in the winter, just wish they'd leave the time alone. It's useless to change clocks back and forth.  :

[crtreedude]

I assume you probably average about the same as us...  :

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D  Probably.  ;)