Sawed some cottonwood

[Haytrader]

My nephew (FF Hack) came over this last Saturday and wanted to cut some shelving.
He had ERC, Cottonwood, Walnut, and Ponderosa pine here and decided on a 10' cottonwood.
The log produced 10 12"x10' and 3 boards that will trim slightly less.
We got them stickered with a fan blowing on them and decided it  was way to hot for another log.
Well, it was Sat. evening and he did have cold brew.
;D

[WDH]

I figure that you must have got heat stroke weeding the garden and had a dream since there are no pics :.

[Haytrader]

If you insist. ;)

[Dodgy Loner]

So tell me, does it really stink as bad as they say it does ???

[Part_Timer]

YES!!!!!

[Jeff]

YES FROM ME TOO!

[Haytrader]

I concur.
I DO like to smell ERC a lot better.

[Zundapp]

An old guy once told me that if you cut boards from cottonwood, you need to let them dry for seven years because they'll shrink an inch a year, for seven years :

I thought about it, then said, Jack, if thats true,  if you cut 1x6's, in 6 years they'll shrink away to nothin' :D

He scowled, and said, "smart ass!"  >:(

[Haytrader]

Oldtimers are qouted as saying "Nail cottonwood up the day ya saw it or else it is so hard you will bend yer nails."
When I got my first sawmill I got me some standing dead cottonwood thinking with no bark it would be much better to saw.
WRONG
Talk about dulling a blade quick.

[Zundapp]

That same old timer told me that cottonwood  was by far the best wood to use for decking on an equiptment trailer & by gosh, he was right. Lasts 10 times longer than fir. Grousers will bite in & dent it, but it won't splinter.

[Dodgy Loner]

Ya know, all the talk about how bad cottonwood smells just makes me want to saw it that much more, to see for myself . 

Reminds me of when I was little, my brothers and sisters and cousins used to get into boys vs. girls feuds during the summertime.  One evening, a big bullfrog found its way into the girls' bed.  Not sure how it made it all the way up the stairs and under the covers without somebody noticing it, but of course the girls blamed us for it ;D.  The next day, they were nice enough to forget the whole thing and fix lunch for us boys.  My older brother was the first one to take a big swig from of the Kool-Aid they mixed for us, and he immediately spit it out and went running to the bathroom.  That just made the rest of us boys curious, so we all took a sip of the Kool-Aid that was, for some reason, laced with a gratuitous amount of Tabasco sauce.  We were all lined up right behind by brother for a drink of water immediately afterwards :D :D :D

[WDH]

So, the post reverts to food......... :.

[Kansas]

Speaking of food, and cottonwood, I was looking over a few websites that detailed different hardwoods for smoking. I saw cottonwood mentioned on several of them, touting it as a good smoking wood. "Mild in flavor" and "subtle flavoring" were a couple of the terms used to describe it. It has to be a different cottonwood than what grows around here, unless you grilling skunk.

[MikeH]

 Yes, Cottonwood does produes a mildly plesant flavor in skunk in fact you can't even smell the skunk when smoked properly. ;)

[Tony]

      As usual the wind was blowing in my face the last time I cut some cottonwood.  smiley_sick  I knew right then why cottonwood is recommended for lumber in horse stalls. I think I'll stick with hickory and oak for cooking  ;D

                   
                                                   Tony   8)

[getoverit]

I dunno about the cottonwood, but I have cut some oak down here that smelled like somebody puked in it... almost gags you to smell it. I dont even think that smoking a skunk with it would be proper. it makes pretty lumber after the stink leaves it though...

[SCSawyer]

Have any of you guys cut any poplar that smells like rotten swamp water ? I sawed some over the summer that was quiet large and it STUNKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!.

[TexasTimbers]

Does anyone know how long the smell hangs around? We have two big logs to mill for interior siding. After air drying will it still stink?

[Haytrader]

No sir, it won't stink after dried and finished.
I think we have a shelf around here somwhere made of cottonwood. I will try to post a pic and you can smell for yourself.

:D :D

The stack I have air drying has already lost some of it's aroma. I have the shed door open and a fan running on the wood.

[Haytrader]

I guess the small cottonwood shelf was sold but I did find a picture with it in it. It is the blonde colored one in the middle of the bottom shelf.

[jrokusek]

I think cottonwood is some nice looking wood.  I'm a woodworker and and just dabble with a homebrew sawmill.  I had a guy in my office look at one of the samples in this photo and ask, "Birtch?  Poplar?  Maple?  Then what the !@# is it?"   It took stain real nice but looks best with just a clear coat, IMHO.  I never did get that sample back!

[Haytrader]

How about seeing some pics of your work?

[Captain]

If you don't like the stink, saw it frozen  _earmuff.

Captain

[jrokusek]

I'm a paper pusher by trade, but there's nothing more fun than making some sawdust, cussing, swearing, breaking tools and winding up with some piece of furniture.  Here are a few pic's.  Haven't built anything with cottonwood yet.  On Monday and Tuesday of next week I'm going to try and get some cottonwood sawed up - mostly for trailer decking.

Here's one of my first "real" projects



Built this for my sister-in-law for her kids to throw boots and shoes into.  All of the solid wood in this project was salvaged from old buildings that were being torn down.  Bought the wood from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and planed the old finish off and started  with fresh "new" wood.



Built this standard run of the mill bookcase for her at the same time.


This is a work in progress.  Hanging tool cabinet for woodworking hand tools. 



This is an older picture.  I actually have lots more junk in there now!

[Haytrader]

Very nice.
I especially like the boot chest and the book case.
I plan to do more things with cottonwood since it is abundant here.