Don't have enough wood to turn? Got a chainsaw? Got a pickup truck? For many Woodturners, the next purchases after the lathe are a chainsaw and a pickup truck!

Recently we found a construction site where two big pecan trees had been pushed over to clear the way for the new Shelby County pumping station on Lay Lake. The site is near Dave Chanslor's home so we could use his tractor to handle the wood in big pieces. Jerry Osmundson and Larry Thomas joined Dave to harvest some wood for turning. As you can see from the pictures, it got dark before we could finish but we loaded Jerry's truck to the brim with wood. I have a pile of it at my house too. We will bring some of it to the March meeting. We had a good time and got some very nice pecan wood. As you know pecan will spalt nicely and make beautiful bowls and other items. It is in the hickory family so when it gets dry it is tough to turn so rough it out green if you can. There is an article on the web at: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf if you want some ideas on how to turn some wood into the spalted variety.

So you missed this tree but you would like to get in on the harvest in the future? Let Dave, Jerry, Larry, Bill West and others know you are interested in wood when we find it. Even if you don't have a chainsaw and a pickup truck you can bring your work gloves and jeans to the party and share in the wood. If you find an interesting tree that is available let us know. Most folks are glad to let you cut up a downed tree but there are exceptions, like the lady who wanted us to dig up the stump too! At this same Shelby pump station site there will be some Hackberry, cherry and other stuff available in the next month or so as they clear for the pipeline.