Salvatore Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 So yeah, that is essentially the question right there, I've always been curious about that. I have an easier time finding Holy woods than Japanese maple, yet they are much more prevalent. Any idea why that is? I had a Japanese maple growing in my yard, but it was cut down a number of years ago, the wood has been curing ever since in my garage. Last year I decided to attempt finishing a piece out of curiosity, it has turned out to be easily one of the nicest woods I have ever worked with, period. The grain is just phenomenal. With that said, once I'm out I'm out, I can't find any other sources. Thoughts? Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Its an ornamental tree. Call some of your local tree services and let them know you are willing to take what they cut. Its usually not very big but a decent sized tree will net some decent turning blocks or narrow stock. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick2cd Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 i'd love to see a picture of what the grain structure looks like. i have a japanese maple in my front yard, but never considered its woodworking potential Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 From the specimens I've seen, the things are branched pretty close and they don't grow straight in any direction for more than a couple feet. I would suppose that this deters commercial mills from wanting to deal with it. But all that convolution in structure must make for amazing grain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 A Japanese maple big enough to mill is going to be a VERY old tree, and you'd be lucky to get any lumber worth using due to the irregular branching structure, as noted above. I don't think I've ever seen one with a trunk bigger than a foot in diameter, and we have some very old trees in downtown St. Louis. They just don't get big enough to mill, and IMO are much more valuable as living specimens than as lumber. I get more satisfaction out of pruning my living Japanese maples than I would making furniture out of them. It would be cool to build something out of a dead one, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvatore Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 If there is still interest I'll be able to take a picture once my a800 gets here, and when I've used the wood for something pretty. I realize that they are ornamental trees, but even so large specimens exist so I figured that SOMEONE had used the wood for some decorative purpose or another I haven't even found examples. It is a pretty and rock-damn solid wood. Once I've made something with it I'll post again, either way thanks for the insight, I'll attempt finding a source. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 i would think that they would be great for handles, latches, wood hinges, maybe trim mostly small stuff that way you can imbelish the nice wood grain of the tree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 Salvatore...were you ever able to finish a project with the Japanese maple? Love to see how it turned out, and would also appreciate some info on the steps you took to harvest, cut and dry the wood if it worked well for you. I just came into a small supply of it in a similar scenario that you got yours so I'm excited to get the chance to work with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 Salvatore hasn't been on this site since 2011 so you probably won't hear back from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 24, 2019 Report Share Posted September 24, 2019 Names from the past! Wonder what happened to Duck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.