A day or two later I talked to the owner and got permission to saw up that log for things that I make. Yesterday I finished up a natural edge bowl made from that very chunk of wood.
I like the way that one turned out, but that's not what I am here to talk about -- today's subject is driving. I just changed the oil in the vehicle I drive most often - after just under a year I had put 2,983 miles on it. I haven't checked, but I think I only put a couple of hundred miles on my pickup, which means that even with a trip down to the coast last year I was hard pressed to drive even 3,000 miles in 2017. I have no idea what all that means, other than I tend to be a homebody.
Oh yeah, one more thing - we had snow on Sunday, it barely got above 40 degrees here today, but the forecast is for temperatures in the low 80s by Thursday - what's a body to do?
11 comments:
Lay back and enjoy it.
The bowl is beautiful. As for your car, not getting involved with a woman who lives 200 miles away is a good way to keep those miles down. Somewhere there must be an oilman who's grateful for all the 5w-30 I buy every year.
Is that golden color on the inside of the bowl natural to the wood.....or did you conjure it up?
There's a black Conjure Man in Tennessee Williams' The Fugitive Kind. Joanne Woodward who plays the hippie chick in that film goes to the Conjure Man for "wisdom." Gad, the dreck in my head.
I liked The Fugitive Kind, primarily for the XK-120 and the snake skin coat - oh yeah, chicks go crazy for a sharp dressed man. Something about a store and Mrs. Newman, and something something, upstairs, then I think I dozed off - but that Jaguar - oh yeah, nothing but style there.
And that is the natural color of red mulberry wood. The first time I encountered it I started sawing a fallen tree (they do tend to do that a lot) and yellow chips started flying out of the cut and piling up. I got a friend to identify it for me - I really had no idea at that time, but now I use it every time I find a log lying around.
I have question about white oak vs. red oak. Is one more aromatic than the other when you work wit( it?
I’m trying to get at the taste and flavors imparted to wines by oak barrels. Not charred oak barrels like are used for bourbon. I don’t believe those are used in aging wine. I’m looking to isolate the essence of raw oakiness in wine.
I went and got me some red oak at Home Depot and shaved off several slivers with a plane. I put them in some 120 proof plain hootch. It has a reddish tinge but no detectable oaky taste,
My question is should I get some white oak and repeat the experiment? Is white oak “juicier”?
I figured a seasoned wood guy like yourself migh5 know.
I know much of oak, white oak is my favorite tree and my favorite wood to work with. But let us start with basics - white oak has tyloses, which are plugs that naturally occur and effectively plug the pores of the wood. White oak is water (and other liquid) tight, so it is used for barrels and ships. Red oak is porous so it is used for things like nail kegs or sunken ships.
The chemicals in white oak are the key to imparting flavor in things like wine. When sawing it the aroma is marvelous, and it varies from tree to tree. Remember when we discussed tannin in white oak? Wiki sez: Tannin, from tanna, an Old High German word for oak or fir tree, as in Tannenbaum". Tannin is a big one in the aging of wine.
Red oak is prone to fungal infection that makes the wood stink. No way around it - even slightly rotten red oak is not pleasant to work with.
I have recommended the book "Oak: The Frame of Civilization" by William Bryant Logan here before - great book to read in one's spare time, just sayin'.
Stop by and I can saw some oak and you can figure out which one to age your products in. Piece of cake, right?
Imma gonna get me some white oak!
HD didn’t have any white oak-nada - but there is a lumber yard that probably does carry it. BTW, I did take wood shop in high school and learned to distinguish the two on sight. But I never worked with it.
I like Eich.
That bowl is gorgeous.
White oak around here is extremely hard. Most of it won't split smooth like red oak. White oak is tougher than woodpecker lips.
Beautiful bowl.
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