Crusty Old Gray Stuff

A guy stopped by here this morning before I arrived needing money for gas and food. He had a couple crusty old gray cracked up rotten pieces of wood in the back of his truck that he wanted to sell to us. One of the pieces even had dog poop on it. So we bought them. The guy working this morning wanted to help the guy and gave him the $100 he wanted for the wood. So when I arrived one of the guys here said "Come look, we bought some wood for you". I asked what kind of wood and he said that the guy they got it from wasn't sure. He had pulled it out of the river years ago. They were teasing me because I am pretty picky. Figured I would think it was junk.


This is the one with the dog poop.


Looks a little like maple, but too many things made me sure it was not.
I had my suspicions that there might be something good in side. So I cut off a chunk and took it to the bandsaw.


By now I think I know what it is.



Quick sanding to be sure.


Just what I was hoping for. Black Willow Burl.


I haven't been able to find any of this for years. Last time I was able to get any it came from a guy who owned a veneer mill.
It is an obscure type of burl that finishes up beautifully.
Most of the wood will be waste but if I get a dozen blocks I will be happy.

OK, this is the part where things start to get crazy. DO NOT try to do this yourself. You will likely get hurt.
The bandsaw I am using is an old "Butcher Boy" meat cutting saw. I think it was from the 50s.
Trimming off an end.

Now I am going to cut off a portion lengthwise. If you can see little white fuzzy things, those are Black Widow egg sacks.


The big bark pockets and voids with dirt and rocks make this like cutting up Buckeye.







I think I cut through a few too many rocks. The blade is doing the high speed wobble that means it is cracked.
Figure it's time to change it instead of waiting for the loud bang when it breaks.

Do the black widows cause the burl?

Around here they like to live under pieces of old dead wood.
Along with the scorpions and rattlesnakes.
They are safe as long as you don't let them bite you.

Yeah, not biting would be the goal.

My wife gets mad at me when I catch and put them in a jar and then bring them home

Wonder why!

How do you get a rattlesnake in a jar....?

Thanks for posting Mark. Always love your adventures. Sometimes gold turns up sometimes it's dog poop but it's all good!

ecchef said:

How do you get a rattlesnake in a jar....?

Click to expand...

Same way you get to Carnegie Hall:tease:


Be well,
Mikey

ecchef said:

How do you get a rattlesnake in a jar....?

Click to expand...

Big jar, small snake. Early in the year there will be small ones about a foot long.
When I find any under wood I take them across the street where there is a field and no houses.
They keep the mice and rat population down but you don't want them where someone could accidentally get bit.

Like this:

Okinawan habushu....venomous snake awamori.