Drying eucalyptus
- Thread starter davidwyby
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How does that work? I was considering doing one on a 50 ton h press i got, would give me another excuse to get it going. I have to rebuild/replace the ram, and was thinking about adding power hydraulics so i could use it for more stuff like forging, ironworker tooling, broaching, and now possibly splitting wood. That's almost a long enough list to be able to convince the wife that I'm actually doing important stuff out there and not just having her watch the kids! 
yep, looks simmilar to the sugar gums here we use for firewood, twisty grain, can only be split with hydraulics, tears up a set of gloves each session, and the splinters when loading the firebox are like steel.
burns well tho.
Looks a bit like greybox
edited to add.
burns well after a few years split and stacked, get about an inch dry per year.
burns well tho.
Looks a bit like greybox
edited to add.
burns well after a few years split and stacked, get about an inch dry per year.
Last edited:
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #105
Very wellHow does that work? I was considering doing one on a 50 ton h press i got, would give me another excuse to get it going. I have to rebuild/replace the ram, and was thinking about adding power hydraulics so i could use it for more stuff like forging, ironworker tooling, broaching, and now possibly splitting wood. That's almost a long enough list to be able to convince the wife that I'm actually doing important stuff out there and not just having her watch the kids!
@Trains I got better at hydro splitting it but it’s also easy to slice the rind with the saw and the inner parts split with half power 6lb swings
Your fortunate that you can do that, even pieces 10" dia can be impossible to split with a hand maul, its hydraulic only territory, it just tears the fibers apart as it splits due to the wavy grain of the timber and its hardness.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #107
Oh, I know...I have a lot of stuff that's been down decades. Some is deteriorated, some is still very intact. The first swing tells the tale. I have found if I cut it into rounds and leave them a year or two it helps...seems a bit stringe since they've already been down so long. Half green..forget it!
Had a treat yesterday. A burnt old log that looked and split like cedar (easy 6lb swings) but was heavy and smelled like euc. Very straight red reflective grain.
Thats awesome, some of the peppermint gum at a neighboring farm that was planted by their parents years ago has straight grain, some will pop quite easily, even 10" rounds, other bits, the maul (we call it a splitter) just bounces back off them and leaves a dent barely 1/8" into the end grain.
Some of the gum species about are quite easy to handle and split, but those types often dont burn any where near as hot or long, and the ones ive been using for the start of the season, ie not hot wood has quite a lot of ash build up as well.
Should identify exactly what they are, but I just call it hot wood for heating, or start or end of season wood that does not burn as hot.
Some of the gum species about are quite easy to handle and split, but those types often dont burn any where near as hot or long, and the ones ive been using for the start of the season, ie not hot wood has quite a lot of ash build up as well.
Should identify exactly what they are, but I just call it hot wood for heating, or start or end of season wood that does not burn as hot.
davidwyby
Desert Beaver
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #109
Today I was able to split enough fast enough to keep a man busy loading the trailer (with a little head start) with my cyclone splitter. I was doing the yellow stuff…halve it first, then split the easy stuff out of the rind…left the rinds in a stack to noodle later.
Kaveman
Treehouser
I'm sure there's a way.
I've heard of "hammered" oak being used as fence boards, and apparently lasting a very long time. From what I was made to believe, they'd run the board through a blacksmiths trip hammer, and kinda compress it. My father salvaged a few boards, and made a chair from one, I'll have to get him to photograph it for me. Anywho, he said you can't hardly drive a nail into it it's so hard, has to be worked with titanium tools.
Also anywho, I'd imagine a machinist could rig together a roller press or some such to pressure finish wood...
I've heard of "hammered" oak being used as fence boards, and apparently lasting a very long time. From what I was made to believe, they'd run the board through a blacksmiths trip hammer, and kinda compress it. My father salvaged a few boards, and made a chair from one, I'll have to get him to photograph it for me. Anywho, he said you can't hardly drive a nail into it it's so hard, has to be worked with titanium tools.
Also anywho, I'd imagine a machinist could rig together a roller press or some such to pressure finish wood...
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
Don't you need to heat seriously the crunched wood to "glue back" together the fibers (melting the lignin) while under pressure?
I can see enhancing the density by collapsing the vessels, but that means too a dislocation of the cell's walls and the loss of the cohesion, unless with either the add of resin or a heat treatment.
I can see enhancing the density by collapsing the vessels, but that means too a dislocation of the cell's walls and the loss of the cohesion, unless with either the add of resin or a heat treatment.
Kaveman
Treehouser
No, as a finish process bud, he's after the smooth, hard, shiny finish he mentioned from the forks in the picture above.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Great perspective. The angle. Picture perfect.
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
Funny thing, I always feel it strange to have a wood job in a metal work shop.
Nice bundles by the way.
Nice bundles by the way.
Yeah sawdust gets everywhere, but it's gotta get done and a compressed air blowgun does wonders. I really hate it when they use the powered bandsaw tho (if so equipped) the dust really messes with the cooling, as does pvc if they cut that (piping company so it happened from time to time).
SeanKroll
Treehouser
How about a shopvac next to the blades?
It kinda bugs me seeing firewood wrapped in plastic. If I were selling there's no way I wouldn't use sisal twine unless I was recycling poly twine from hay bales. I'd have to play with it to see if it would work, but soaking sisal twine in wax or oil might make a good firestarter for some added value, and no waste.
