Fire wood they say!

Just fire wood they say. Oh these pieces are a pain to split they say. Why would I want these chunks of wood, they are junk.  

Well folks I think other wise. These pieces have a name and its the fork of the tree or the "crotch" of the tree. The fork of the tree is where two branches form/split. This is also the location where the two trunks of the tree fight to gather minerals, water, and form a compressed figure. This figure is known as "crotch" please photos below. Isn't mother nature amazing!!! As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I like to say these pieces will add thousand(s) to my work. 

I was able to split two small pieces of crotch birch and maple on the bandsaw, joint them with the helical head and then resaw them to veneer on the bandsaw. The bandsaw blade of choice is the wood slicer from Highland Hardware in Atlanta, Georgia. I only jointed the boards once and than sliced 1/16" thick pieces. It was amazing to see every slice cut so beautifully. I can't wait to add these pieces to my work/line of furniture. 

So I leave you with this. Think before you split or burn. Think about the future. Quality wood or even  certain species of wood are getting more difficult to find. Every piece is worth saving and using. Mother nature is amazing but she can only produce so much.

Cheers

FRoman