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Mockernut Hickory?

Started by dgc1962, February 15, 2017, 09:22:07 AM

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dgc1962

Was trying to ID this with a friend in Tennessee.  Thanks much.


Don P

Welcome!
Black locust... robinia, darn, somebody.
That punky heart is very common. There is a locust borer, a fungi, a leaf miner, lots of stresses on this fast growing colonizer. Here they come in 3 or maybe 4 grades. Timber, on the rare occasions when one yields a nice 6x6 or 6x8. Next is fencepost, with some defect. Then landscape timber for raised beds in the garden. Firewood comes from what you are showing but if the other side of that tree isn't doty I'd throw it on the mill and at the very least make dimensional firewood on the way to looking for that nice timber. Grubbing them out is a chore.

Mockernut, white hickory has a wide pretty bright white sapwood and then a red brown heart with lots of streaking and usually bird peck.



dgc1962

Thanks much for the reply and the welcome.

Don P

Quite welcome.
Look also at your pic, locust has a very narrow off white sapwood then mostly heartwood.
another way to tell if you have locust is to smell the cambium, right under the bark. I had one homeowner who said "It smells like Death!". I had never thought of it that way but it is a unique aroma that does not improve with age.
Ah, here we go Robinia Pseudoacacia
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/htmlDocs/robiniapseudo.html
Many people think it is too hard to work with. It just requires more patience and sharp tools. In timberframing it is one of the strongest, most dimensionally stable woods I can get my hands on and it is naturally decay resistant as well. Notice in the mechanical specs when dry it has a modulus of elasticity of 2.05, an engineered LVL is 2.0, the end grain compression strength is 10,200 psi, when I call for a concrete slab they are making 4,000psi mix. The old timers would say of a locust fencepost "When you plant the post set a rock on top, when the rock wears out its time for a new post." It's some serious stuff when you get a good one, and when you don't it is awesome firewood, that smoke has an unpleasant characteristic smell as well. I think of it as the American teak.

The index to those Forest products labs tech sheets is here, good stuff;
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/techsheets_display.php?geo_category_id=2&genus_commonname_criteria=c&sorting_rule=1a

dgc1962

Wow!  Thanks again for all of the excellent information. 
Glad none of it was large enough to bring home for bowl blanks.  :-)
If memory serves, I turned Black Locust.  Once.
I have 3 more blanks on the shelf, and they look really good there.
I'm thinking that they might be better used as bandsaw boxes (or paperweights).
Forums like this one are the best thing about the internet.

WDH

Black locust only ever has 1 or 2 annual growth rings of sapwood.  Also, the pores are clogged with tyloses. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Don P

I had never thought of it as a tight cooperage wood but I guess it could be. I was going to demonstrate what tyloses do in white oak next week with the schoolkids by splitting out straws of red and white oak and having them blow into glasses of water. The red will blow bubbles and the white with its vessels blocked by tyloses will blow up their cheeks.

One thing with turning locust or making a bunch of fine dust, keep an eye on your respiratory. Some people have a hard time with the dust.

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