The use of Applewood in modelling?

[NMBROOK]

Sitting in the pub tonight with my friend,he revealed he had been pruning his apple tree.He had taken 8 loads to the local tip!!

I was rather distressed and mentioned I may have taken it off his hands (some of the branches were over three inches in diameter and almost arrow straight.)

I know apple has been used in the construction of various contemporary models,my question is what is it like to work with?To my knowledge you cannot buy it in the UK.He does mention there may be some more branches to come.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Louie da fly]

I'd like to know about this as well. There are several apple trees I might be able to get timber from, but there's no point if it's not good to work with.

[nancysqueaks]

Hi Nigel, I collect as much apple as possible. A lot in the area I live in from

the old cider orchards - but one has to still be lucky.

 

It is harder than pear and takes a very sharp edge. Selection is the key here

even from the same log. Bends well if steamed. The finish is super to say the

least. Sometimes a bit of a wavy grain in small branches, more often a close

straight grain. Cutting tools need to be very sharp. My main use at the moment

is small deck structures and some framing. 

 

So I'd put the word out!  Regards, Nick.

[jud]

Suspect it is similar to all fruit trees, there will be different verities all with a little different characteristic. On the upper place there are domestic apple trees but in every canyon where there is water, even some spring fed trees grow, it is those trees that teach the Mule Deer to walk on their hind feet while picking apples, heck even horses learn that from those wild trees. Would expect the wild trees, especially the Crab Apple to have close dense grain. If you can't build with it, use it in your smoker or add some chips to your charcoal.

jud

Edited October 17, 2014 by jud

[Jaager]

I find Apple to be an excellent wood for just about any use for our purposes.   It feels a waste to see it burned.  It is probably a bit too dark to use as deck planking.  Although not nearly as vulnerable as Holly,  getting it into 1-2 inch billets as soon as possible for drying is probably wise. It is subject to invasion by fungus while wet.  I would debark as soon as possible.  It smells good to us and it probably smells good to beatles.

The color varies from tree to tree, but it makes for attractive keels, frames, hull planking, beams and other internal structures, rails, deck structures.  It should turn well.  You should get as much as you can, a go to wood for just about anything.

[tarbrush]

Apple is my favorite of all the woods to use for modeling, get as much of it as you can, it finishes beautifully, is easy to work with, and is the best wood I know of for steam bending. 

[jud]

Thanks Mark. Never looked at the woods on that site, lots of good info about wood that is readily available around here. Nothing about Locust though, think some have used it in models.

jud

[Nirvana]

From the site mentioned by Mark

 

SWISS PEAR

AFORMOSIA

AFRICAN BLACKWOOD
ALASKAN CEDAR
ALDER
APPLE
AVODIRE
BASSWOOD
BEECH
BIRCH
 

[Nirvana]

BLACK CHERRY
BLOODWOOD
BOCOTE
BOX ELDER
BOXWOOD
BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD
BRAZILIAN SATINWOOD
BUBINGA

[Nirvana]

CANARY WOOD

CHAKTE KOK

CHECHIN

CHERRY

COCOBOLO

CYPRESS

DOGWOOD

EBONY

GONCALO ALVES

GRANADILO

HOLLY

[Nirvana]

HORNBEAM

INDONESIAN ROSEWOOD

JATOBA

KINGWOOD

KOA

MACASSAR EBONY

MADRONE

MANSONIA

MAPLE

MOPANE

OSAGE ORANGE

[Nirvana]

PADAUK

PAU MARFIN

PERNAMBUCO PEROBA POPLAR PURPLEHEART REDGUM

SITKA SPRUCE SNAKEWOOD                    

[Nirvana]

and finally,

 

SWISS PEAR SYCAMORE

TAMBOUTI

TULIPWOOD WALNUT WILLOW    
YEW

[Nirvana]

Sorry for the non-editing, hope you can figure the relationship out.

[NMBROOK]

Thank you,I did have a suspicion that apple was a premium timber for modelling purposes,best see if I can get the next lot of 'trimmings'.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[yamsterman]

Hi Nigel

Try the stiles and bates website. They sell apple timber as blanks for turning spindles bowls and pens, along with a few other interesting timbers.

Cheers....mick

[BikerPete]

I just picked up a 6 foot log , about 10 inches in diameter, from a local tree salvager. Now I have to figure out how to cut it down into useful lumber. There is some splitting at the ends and it is not the straightest log but there should be some good stuff inside. A lot of the crabapple trees up here in Alberta get a lot of rot and broken limbs but this chunk looks pretty good. I also picked up some elm, ash and poplar rough planks. A test cut of the poplar shows that it has a very nice structure but fairly pronounced grey and white shading. The white portions will be very o.k. if I can cut the wood right. Not bad for 40 dollars. The lumber guy missed out on an old pear orchard....that would have been nice to pick through. He is going to call me if he gets anymore decent apple...most goes for smokers and firewood!

 

P. Berghs

[Jaager]

Unless you intend to use it for 1:1 scale furniture, 16 -18 inches should be long enough.  That is about 70 feet at 1:48.  Section out the straight areas.    That is a heavy log to handle even at 18 x 10 inches.  That thick can be difficult to manage on a non-industrial band saw - keeping it from rolling during a pass.  Even using a chainsaw to cut it down the middle might be worth the loss to kerf if the sawyer can get you a flat plane down the middle.  This way you should lose the pith, which you don't want anyway.  Splitting is likely going to produce a torqued plane and leave the pith, which you would then want to box out.  With a half log, you may be able to get a billet that is 7-8 x 1-2 x 18  from each side,  but 7-8 inches is a lot of work on a saw motor.  A Wood Slicer Resaw band saw blade will make it easier on the saw,  produce a nice surface, have about as narrow a kerf as you can get, and be very resistant to breaking.  But as you diagram out your billets, consider just how wide you really need the billets to be.

[Jaager]

Brian,  Willow would not be my choice, unless you intend to fill, seal and paint it.  Like Ash, Hickory, Oak, Walnut, Elm, Sassafras the grain does not scale well.  Most of these species have open pores, which in scale, may resemble soup bowls in the timber.

[NMBROOK]

Hi Nigel

Try the stiles and bates website. They sell apple timber as blanks for turning spindles bowls and pens, along with a few other interesting timbers.

Cheers....mick

Thanks Mick,I have bookmarked their website A nice variety of timbers available,the applewood is inexpensive compared to box and pear I normally buy.Their prices for Ebony are also cheaper than workshop heaven Definitely be using them in the future.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[SaturnV]

Brian, willow is good for. Hidden structural parts like bulkheads, filler blocks, and first layer hull planking. It bends easily and holds up when cut small. Depending on the log it can be substututed for basswood. If you got a nice log it would work well for deck planking. Some logs will fuzz up when cut but just as many will not. Try to cut some thin pieces and see how yours behaves. I would certainly not discount willow as a source for timber.

 

Richard

[BikerPete]

Jaager --- Thanks for the instructions. That helps a lot. The tree salvager uses an industrial band-saw type sawmill to do his work but never got to the piece I have due to an upcoming relocation. Even just one flat/plane surface would make my job easier. I'm probably going to chainsaw off both ends fairly shallow to get a look at the internal structure then trim off some of the branch ends that are protruding. A woodworker guy left a bunch of tools with me about 6 years ago then never came back for them. He has not been in contact so I'll use his big chainsaw that comes with a fence to make a cut down the centre. If I get a wobbly cut I might be able to hand plane flat surfaces for re-sawing. After that I should be able to map out the rest of the cuts. It is a fun mental exercise working this out. The hard part right now is holding the log steady while cutting.

 

Pb

[captainbob]

When I lived in Indiana the local apple orchard sold split apple logs from there old trees as fire wood.  You might try your local orchard.

 

Bob

[yamsterman]

Hi Nigel

Glad to be of some help. Great work on the royal William. Reminds me of Bernard frolichs approach.

Cheers...mick

[Jaager]

6 foot is a bit much to stand on end and make a vertical slice.  Ideally, you want the bisecting cut to follow the plane of the pith.  Securing a log to do a free hand longitudinal chainsaw cut is still difficult for me to see how to do.  You want to see where it is going and not move and not bite into the dirt.  2 x 4 's and large nails ?   You probably should use a chalk line as a guide.   Ripping with a chainsaw is probably a bit more dangerous than crosscutting.  If you don't use one for a living, you may wish to get help from someone who does. An accident with one of those things.....  I know it looks simple enough to do, but free hand is much more dangerous than using a mill rig.  It is probably going to want to kickback the whole time.  It scared me enough that I used coorse toothed hand saws

 

If you can get the cuts done - here is a repeat of my advice on how to handle the wood.  (With the simple kiln, you should get something usable in a month or two.  But a 300 W light bulb on 24 hrs/day for a month - it will increase your electric bill a bit.)

 

 

If you can billet (1-2 inch slab)  your wood,  I would debark it.  In any case, make sure, - this is important - make sure there is no beetle infestation.  If there are beetles, burn it.  If you billet, box out the pith and discard it.  The effects of drying will be more to your liking with it gone.   Coat the cut ends and branch cuts with wax, latex paint, varnish -  something to stop the rapid water loss from the cut ends.

 

You can speed up the drying process by making your own kiln.   Use the foam sheething that comes in 4' x 8' sheets.  The foil surfaced type is probably better, with the foil surface on the inside of the box you make.  The heat source only needs to be  a 200W to 300W incandescent light bulb, or heat lamp if incandescent bulbs are no longer available.    The water vapor needs to be exausted, but a $10 computer cooling fan mounted in a hole on one end is sufficient.   Air leaking in the seams where the six sides come together  will replace what the fan pulls out.  The size only needs to be what encloses your stock.

 

When you stack it, sticker it for proper air flow around the billets. 1/2" x 1/2"  sticks will do.

You can get a moisture meter for $10-20 from Amazon if you want to follow the process. 

 

For billeting, you cannot beat a band saw.  Try to find one with at least a 2HP motor.   

Getting a round log into rectangular  slabs - 

First, you need to get 2 perpendular flat surfaces on the log.

Use a sliding carrier board to ride on the saw table and against the fence.

Fix the log to the carrier board.   The carrier board should be longer than your log, so that you can attach at both ends of the log.

For attachment, I use the right angle support braces used in house timber framing and wood screws.

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

Te fist time I used applewood was about 20 years ago for this frigate especially for the planking

[NMBROOK]

Wonderful model Gaetan,did you produce the carvings in apple as well?

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

Hi Nigel, carvings were made from boxwood.

 

For the look, apple is better than pearwood in the way it has more grain. Interesting wood to work.

I did some carving in pear, it was well acceptable. I think that apple is heavier than pear, pear being exceptionnally light for his density.

I guess apple would  produce very nice carving details and comparatively to the color of boxwood it would be in many cases more acceptable.

The first year I used apple, many cuts were made about 1 cm thick and the wood was left to dry all winter long in a room inside.

The smell was not very pleasing.

[NMBROOK]

Thanks Gaetan

I have heard of at least one model that used apple for the carvings.I will have to get hold of some apple and experiment a little.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[BikerPete]

 

If you can get the cuts done - here is a repeat of my advice on how to handle the wood.  (With the simple kiln, you should get something usable in a month or two.  But a 300 W light bulb on 24 hrs/day for a month - it will increase your electric bill a bit.)

Thanks for the info , I'll rig up a drying box and give it a try!

 

Pb