Massachusetts Spruce Tree

[BradKlein]

I am talking to someone in a suburban massachusetts neighborhood who has recently felled a spruce tree, >24" diameter, and willing to let me haul portions away.

Is anyone willing to give me some basic advice on this?

My thought is:
- ID species if I can, and check that it is straight grained
- crosscut to 2-3 foot lengths
- split into eighths, and air dry for 5-10 years for future archtop instrument building

I've been a cabinetmaker, but never dealt with lumber in the round. No relevent experience beyond firewood splitting.

[Spruce]

Is anyone willing to give me some basic advice on this?

Yeah....
Walk away from it...

I've never seen a street tree that would make even an ukulele, so you're counting your mandos before they arch...

I'd go have a look at it if it's in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't waste the gas to travel over 20 miles or so...

Even if it was old-growth (and odds are it isn't), the odds are about 25-to-1 that it would be a straight splitter....

Just my .02, but I've done this a lot...

[Charlieshafer]

Have to agree with Spruce. We'll get some really neat figured wood off street or yard trees, especially maple, as they grow all wanky and weird, being that they're more exposed and subject to wind shake, uneven sunlight, slaty water from road salts, etc. Usually it's never very long, needs to be re-sawn a number of times as it dries, and usually ends up twisting. That said, the figure is great for cabinetmaking, but the waste factor is high. Stability and straight grain....er, no.

[fishtownmike]

Yeah i wouldn't travel from NYC if thats where you are now to suburban Massachusetts for what most likely will turn out to be fire wood.

[BradKlein]

Thanks guys for the considerations to think on. I will be in the neighborhood in Mass, so if I am able to swing by I'll take a look just to see what I can learn. I'll be sure not to count my chickens too soon... or at all.

[swain]

If it is not out of your way, why not take a chance? It depends on how "suburban" the locale actually is. Check back with us in 5 years. The worst that can happen is you end up with some nice dry kindling. If you need ID guidance or ideas, pm me.

swain
Vega F (apart on the bench)
Peterson Octave

[Michael Lewis]

If the tree has clear section (no branches/ knots) of the trunk and there is no, or very little, twist it should be good to use. Good luck!

[John Arnold]

I would be willing to bet that it is a Norway spruce. You can identify it by the long cones (6+ inches) and the drooping branchlets.
Here in the South, the NS yard trees I have seen or cut myself were pretty wide-grained, and the heart was full of pin knots. Even so, I have gotten some mandolin-sized wood from NS yard trees, but no guitar wood.
If it does pan out, my advice is to remove the bark and wax the bark edge and end grain immediately. If you don't remove the bark, the sapwood will sour and turn brown, and the borers will hatch out and produce worm holes. Also, blue stain can grow in the sapwood whenever the temp is above 55 or so. You may think 24" is a big tree, but if you give up 1 1/2" of sapwood around the outside, the yield is drastically reduced. Those complications are why I always recommend cutting the tops right away, and then sticker the wood and put a fan on it. Once the MC in the sapwood gets below 12%, you can rest easy.

[Mandobar]

be very careful of trees felled in Massachusetts. there is an Asian longhorn beetle problem and when we had trees taken down they had to be destroyed by the state. you cannot transport the wood out of state.

[John Arnold]

All the more reason to remove the bark. I learned early on to remove all traces of bark when shipping wood to other countries, particularly Australia. For the most part, the insect eggs are already in the bark when the tree is felled. Once the tree dies, it somehow triggers the hatching of the eggs.

[BradKlein]

This particular tree, outside of Boston, will have to go un-utilized, at least by me, since I'm back in good old NYC. But thanks for all the advice. I will have a chance to use it some day soon.