Ideas wanted for tree "slices"!

[Bigmallly]

#42 VC it was the diameter as well as length he was drooling over.

You know when you're getting old when you can't remember where you last heard that..............

[Potstubsdustbins]

^^^^^^^^^^^Whoops..............

Seriously VC If you want to do something other than burn it. You might get help and advice from the South Wales branch of the British Woodcarvers Association. There are also several well known wood turners not to far from you.

[veggiechicken]

TBH, Potty, if it keeps the home fires burning, I'm happy. Its only because there are these large slices, that look attractive, that I'm wondering about using them in the garden somehow.
I gave some cherry wood to a local woodturner years ago. Never heard what he did with it..........

[Potstubsdustbins]

^^^^^^^^^^That's a great shame you would think he would have the courtesy to let you know. They think nothing of paying to get enough wood to make a pen and a lump of cherry is worth a few quid in their game.

[veggiechicken]

By coincidence there's been a long trunk of cherry lying on the ground for several months from a previous felling. Today they cut it into chunks, so that it could be moved!
I also have freshly cut apple and oak from the last bit of "heavy pruning".
Maybe I should take up wood turning

[Tripmeup]

Would mushrooms grow in them???
Could you hollow them out and make flower buckets out of them

[Glutton4...]

Wood is a funny thing. I've lost count of how often I've drooled over handmade items at craft fairs. I saw some beautiful table lamps on one stall, and when I went back later in the day, he'd sold out. He was so pleased I wanted one, that he said he'd make me one especially. When I went to collect it, it cost twice what I was expecting but I didn't complain, as it must have taken him ages to make.

Being craft-minded, I love wood, and did woodwork at school, instead of cookery lol. Even now, if I see a fallen tree, or a pile of logs, I keep pondering over doing something with them.

At the end of the day, if they keep your home warm over the winter, they've still served a purpose. Guilt-free too, if you've planted more for future generations.

[noviceveggrower]

How about tacking them somewhere and make a wooden rockery?

[vixylix]

I'm so jealous - they are beautiful!

Maybe you could combine ideas - make one into a coffee table, one into a stool, one into a cheese board, several into stepping stones and the rest for firewood!

[Potstubsdustbins]

Been doing some rough calcs.

9inch thick x 36inch dia roughly translates to 5 cubic feet of timber. Green ash weighs approx. 55lbs per cubic foot. 55 x 5 = 275lbs or very close to 2.4 hundredweight.

One thing for sure our VC isn't going to be moving these things round with ease, to do anything with these lumps you are going to need some decent lifting gear and then some very fancy machinery to shape, mould etc.

Even if you are going to cut them for logs it ain't going to be easy doing it with hand tools.

First we need a 'Monday hammer' so called because nobody likes to swing a 18lb steel sledge hammer on a Monday morning. Then 3 or 4 steel wedges which we will drive into the timber to crack it along a grain.

Back to reality first we will need professional help...........................

[veggiechicken]

Thanks Potty! It'll be a challenge
The lads have just left and I have some photos - still a bit dark!



The spade and pups are for scale!! Couldn't keep them out of the sawdust - they're filthy
The dark grained wood with ivy on it is cherry. Its beautiful.

[Lumpy]

I agree with NVG - leave them there (if possible), cram MPC into all the gaps and crevices, plant alpines? and strawberries or if it's really damp Venus Fly Traps etc then start re enacting the Sound of Music when you spot your own Edelweiss.

[Lumpy]

Me again - on our local freebie site someone was asking if anybody had an old garden bench for their pigmy goat to climb on - any one local got goats who need a new climbing thrill?

[Lumpy]

Yes and again.

VC I read the whole of this poem years back and have never forgotten it so just for you as it was written by a Welsh Bard

The Battle Of The Trees

Thus, Alder — Battle Witch, pre-eminent in lineage, the brown blood in it roused — took its place at the fore, and was the first to strike.



Walking Willow and the Rowan — Delight of the Eye — were both late to move and take the field.



Blackthorn, sharp, came swift into the battle as a pack of wolves, dispensing strife.



Thorny Plum, no man's friend, was hungry for bloodshed and turned its twisted trunk to the fore.



According to the knowledge of its roots, Bean sheltered ghosts beneath its shade. Terrible was the sight of them, roaming through the fray.



Strong Dogwood, protecting prince, contended gladly.



Rose-trees turned thorns to the host in wrathful forms; each bright bud turned red with eagerness.



Raspberry played its part, worked not for defense, did not enclose, but provided flesh for life's protection.



Wild Rose and Woodbine wove themselves with Ivy and formed a shield impenetrable. Their fair buds and eager vines became the very tapestry of war, recording every noble deed.



Poplar, long enduring, Preventer of Death, was much broken in the battle.



Cherries disparaged the foe, hurling their stones like shaming satire.



Mindful Birch armed late, not because of cowardice, but because of greatness. Its white hands touching madness to the enemies' minds; many would wear a birchen crown before the setting of the sun.



Goldenrod, Wound-Weed, did not lose form.



Fir trees were swift to the fore, stern as striding lords of war.



Maker of Roads Between the Worlds, Ash was exalted before the eyes of Kings.



Yew foresaw in signs the shattered hosts of the foe and fought bravely for the vision.



Elm, terrible in its onslaught, strayed never from its roots: Instead, its reaching arms would strike the middle, the flanks, all sides of the enemy. Its root: mother to rising heroes.



Hazel wood was named a weapon; nine times it struck and marked the contentious field as a place of war.



Privet, proud, became a bull of battle, a chief among the tribe of trees.



Prosperous Beech resisted all blows and moved quickly into the heart of the fray.



Holly was green with it, courageous it was in the tumult; every edge a sharpened winter spike, wounding every summer hand.



Fierce Hawthorn delivered pain. Terrible was the hag-tree then; night-crows hung about its branches, chiding Annwn's minions.



Wandering Vines wove about the foe, hampering their advance.



Fern was driven from the field of fighting.



Broom, before the host, was battered down into the rising soil.



Unlucky Gorse was for spite turned into an army, and carried quickly on, leaping to the fray.



Consoling Heather had become a standard. Boldly it pursued the rest and was Luck-Bringer to the battle.



Pear pursued a thousand.



Chestnut earned the badge of shame.



Oak was a giant striding forth across the ground, and all worlds trembled at his approach. Enemy of Annwn, Branch of Heaven, King of the Wood, Stout-Door-Keeper-Against-The-Foe, are his names in all lands


.............................This is only part of it.

[Greenleaves]

We could make new tables for the GR considering how short the kitty is after buying the freehold?