# Camphor Wood Score



## Edgar (Mar 26, 2015)

I spotted a Craigslist ad for free Camphor wood today, so I stopped by on my way home and picked up a truck load.

A fellow in town had a large Camphor Laurel tree that died, so he had it cut down last weekend. I expected most of it to be gone already, but it looks like I was the first one to pick up any. I loaded up everything decent up to 100 pounds or so. There's still a lot of really nice stuff left, but no way I could load it by myself. I will try to get back over there this weekend with some help for another load.

Camphor Laurel was apparently introduced to the USA about 1875 and has become naturalized in the Gulf Coast states and California. I didn't realize until now that we had some in our local area.


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## Akula (Mar 26, 2015)

Very cool!  Love the smell while turning


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## Tom T (Mar 26, 2015)

Never thought about turning that.  Great catch.  Have fun with it.


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## robutacion (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh...! I want that trunk, bad...!:frown:

The best of that tree is hidden in it, guaranteed...!

See, that "bulge" on the ground all around it...??? good stuff in it...!:frown::frown:

Cheers
George


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## wyone (Mar 26, 2015)

I bet you can get 3...maybe even 4 pens out of that


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## magpens (Mar 26, 2015)

What the blanketty, blank, blank, blank are you going to do with that, Edgar? :biggrin:

Be honest now !!  Isn't that what she asked ?


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## Edgar (Mar 26, 2015)

magpens said:


> What the blanketty, blank, blank, blank are you going to do with that, Edgar? :biggrin:
> 
> Be honest now !!  Isn't that what she asked ?



I've got about 10 pallets piled up with wood under my tractor shed. She used to ask something like that, but now she just shrugs and shakes her head.


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2015)

robutacion said:


> Oh...! I want that trunk, bad...!:frown:
> 
> The best of that tree is hidden in it, guaranteed...!
> 
> ...



He wasn't home when I picked this up today, but I'm going to try to get in touch with him to see what his plans are for the part that's still standing. Maybe I can help him take the rest of it down sometime.

He specifically mentioned in his ad that he hoped some woodworkers would come pick up the wood, so that sounds encouraging.


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## Lucky2 (Mar 27, 2015)

What are you going to make for him, in return for all of the wood? 
Len


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2015)

Lucky2 said:


> What are you going to make for him, in return for all of the wood?
> Len



At least a pen for sure. I'll cut a small limb into pen blanks soon & dry them in my toaster oven, but I'll let the rest air dry for a year or two before I do much with with it. Some spalting is already visible, so I hope that will continue to develop.

We got over 4" of rain after he cut that tree down, so this wood is really saturated right now.


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## The Penguin (Mar 27, 2015)

I'd sure like to have some of that wood...


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## alankulwicki7 (Mar 27, 2015)

I want to see more than just pens out of that Edgar. Maybe a natural edged bowl, a vessel, and while your at it a dining room table:biggrin:


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## JimB (Mar 27, 2015)

edohmann said:


> magpens said:
> 
> 
> > What the blanketty, blank, blank, blank are you going to do with that, Edgar? :biggrin:
> ...



10 pallets! Wow. I'm happy I still have a few logs for bowls under my workbench. Great find!


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2015)

The Penguin said:


> I'd sure like to have some of that wood...



I'm sure we can arrange something Shawn


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2015)

JimB said:


> edohmann said:
> 
> 
> > magpens said:
> ...



I'm going to have to start labeling them - my memory isn't what it used to be and I seem to keep running across more interesting wood faster than I can process what I've already accumulated.

I know what I'll be doing if I ever retire. :biggrin:


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## D.Oliver (Mar 27, 2015)

Great score!  Can't wait to see some of the projects from it.


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2015)

alankulwicki7 said:


> I want to see more than just pens out of that Edgar. Maybe a natural edged bowl, a vessel, and while your at it a dining room table:biggrin:



That's kinda what my wife said when she saw the wood - she said "you need to make something besides pens out of this!"

I haven't turned any bowls or vessels yet, but now that I've got this nice stuff, I'm going to give it a try.

No dining room tables, but perhaps a small display table for our entry.


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## southernclay (Mar 27, 2015)

edohmann said:


> I seem to keep running across more interesting wood faster than I can process what I've already accumulated. :



And further into the vortex he goes! Nice score Edgar!


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## wyone (Mar 27, 2015)

such a horrible problem to have.. an excess of great wood...  I need to have that problem!


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## The Penguin (Mar 27, 2015)

wyone said:


> such a horrible problem to have.. an excess of great wood...  I need to have that problem!


come by my house if you're ever in Houston - you can have some of my problem.

:biggrin:


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## alankulwicki7 (Mar 27, 2015)

edohmann said:


> alankulwicki7 said:
> 
> 
> > I want to see more than just pens out of that Edgar. Maybe a natural edged bowl, a vessel, and while your at it a dining room table:biggrin:
> ...



Too funny!

Bowls are fun! The nice thing is you don't have to be as exact like with pens. I enjoy making pens but I prefer making bowls and other utility items . If there's a knot, crack or other flaw you can either turn it away or make it a feature in the finished product!


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## wob50 (Mar 27, 2015)

Edgar nice score I look on my local craigslist only oak , none of  the good stuff  but I will keep looking . If was not so far away would come to help. Keep us updated on the bowls


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## Edgar (Mar 28, 2015)

wob50 said:


> Edgar nice score I look on my local craigslist only oak , none of  the good stuff  but I will keep looking . If was not so far away would come to help. Keep us updated on the bowls



That's usually all I see around here too. I hadn't even checked Craigslist for several weeks, but Dominic (target64) posted that thread yesterday about his great tool & supplies score, and that reminded me that I hadn't checked in a while.  I almost fell over when I saw that big pile of camphor wood.

I definitely need to send Dominic a box of this wood!


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## wyone (Mar 28, 2015)

I would LOVE to come by and help get rid of some of the problems you guys have..  hmmm road trip to Houston??  might be better to fly down, buy a new truck and bring it home full of wood..  lol


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## Edgar (Mar 28, 2015)

After the meeting at Mannie's today, I went by the place with the Camphor wood to pick up another load. I took my chain saw along to cut up some of the larger pieces, but didn't have to use it.

I got to chat with the owner today and he is a really nice guy. He and his wife are just tickled that this wood is not going to the landfill. This was a huge tree - probably close to 100 years old. He said that they bought the house 40 years ago and the tree was old & large when they bought it. It's canopy was at least 150' in diameter and the dominant tree in their back yard. The tree has been in slow decline since the great Texas freeze of 1989. Here in Alvin, the temperatures did not get above 32˚F for 5 straight days.

Anyway, when I told him that I had brought my chain saw to cut up some of the larger chunks so I could load them, he said that would not be necessary. All I had to do was show him where to make the cuts and he would cut them up for me tomorrow morning & will have it ready for me to pick up by noon. So I loaded all the remaining decent limbs that I could handle and will go back tomorrow for the rest.

He was thrilled when I told him that I would make them a few things from the wood. 

Here's a photo of today's load. This find just keeps getting better.


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## wyone (Mar 28, 2015)

good for you.. and you are doing a good deed as well..


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## 1080Wayne (Mar 29, 2015)

I think you are finally getting the hang of this wood collecting business Edgar . The next step is to start measuring it by the ton instead of by the pallet .


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## jfoh (Mar 29, 2015)

Not too long ago I went to buy several wooden planes from a craigslist seller. Just before I left I asked if they anything else that they needed to sell. I ended up buying a huge barn full of lumber which had been cut and drying for several decades. It filled several tractor trailers in total.  Enough lumber to last me a lifetime when I retire and it has all been delivered to my farm where I intend to retire.  I made several  small items for the sellers out of some of the wood and they were happier with that than they were with the money I paid them for the wood. Delighted and just so thrilled to see what it could become. Sounds like your fellow will get just as much of a kick out of that as they did.


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## stonepecker (Mar 29, 2015)

I wish I was there Edgar. I would be in line helping you take it down.
That is one lucky find. Congrats.


If there is more then you can handle........ship me a large flat rate box and I will pay the postage.
(And YES, I promise to share with Doug.)


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## Edgar (Mar 30, 2015)

Here is our 3rd & final load of Camphor wood from that big tree. The owner was nice enough to slice up a few of the big logs into more manageable sizes for me & I took my son along to help me load them. Even after being cut into smaller chunks, the two of us were just barely able to load some of them onto my truck.

There were still 4 huge logs left - I think that a friend of The Penguin is going to get those today. If so, then none of this beautiful wood will go to waste.

That red thing in the front of my truck bed is a new roto-tiller that I picked up at Tractor Supply before we went to get the wood. I managed to make just one pass at tilling our garden before my old tiller gave up the ghost.

One thing about working with Camphor wood. You want to be sure to wash your hands really well afterward & don't rub your eyes. DAMHIKT 

Edgar


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## gimpy (Mar 30, 2015)

Hey Edgar, I send my truck down, filler her up and send it back, No really, great find, can't wait to see what you make...........


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## D.Oliver (Mar 30, 2015)

You must be living life right, my friend!


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## Edgar (Mar 30, 2015)

D.Oliver said:


> You must be living life right, my friend!



Thanks Derek - I don't know that living right has anything to do with it, but I have been richly blessed in so many ways & material possessions are the least of them.


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## Edgar (Mar 30, 2015)

gimpy said:


> Hey Edgar, I send my truck down, filler her up and send it back, No really, great find, can't wait to see what you make...........



Thanks Terry - with 3 truck loads, I have way more than I could possibly ever use. I plan to offer some of it up on WoodBarter.com, but I will also make some available to my IAP family from time to time for trades or very low prices. This stuff is just too nice not to get used.


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## The Penguin (Mar 30, 2015)

talked to Greg at lunch - he pulled up and loaded 2 of the last 4 cut pieces just as the city's heavy trash truck pulled up. 

The trash truck picked up the other 2 pieces and loaded them on the trailer for him.

So the last of this tree has been rescued from the dump!

Edgar - when are you going to join us for a GCWA meeting? :biggrin:


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## Edgar (Mar 30, 2015)

The Penguin said:


> talked to Greg at lunch - he pulled up and loaded 2 of the last 4 cut pieces just as the city's heavy trash truck pulled up.
> 
> The trash truck picked up the other 2 pieces and loaded them on the trailer for him.
> 
> ...



That's great news, Shawn! Thanks for the update. It would have been a darn shame for any of it to wind up in the landfill.

I'd love to make a GCWA meeting sometime, but it's awfully hard to squeeze anything else into my weekends. It was all I could do to pop over to Mannie's for the gathering last Sat and that was just 7 miles away. I'll keep it in mind though.


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## alankulwicki7 (Mar 30, 2015)

Glad to see the wood was picked up. I always cringe when wood like this goes to the burn pile.
When I see free (or cheap wood) on craigslist, I always make the offer of a few items made from some the wood. I only ask for a few pieces (never all of it) and very seldom do I hear back from these people. 
I just know that the wood is being used to heat someones shop....


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## Edgar (Mar 30, 2015)

alankulwicki7 said:


> Glad to see the wood was picked up. I always cringe when wood like this goes to the burn pile.
> When I see free (or cheap wood) on craigslist, I always make the offer of a few items made from some the wood. I only ask for a few pieces (never all of it) and very seldom do I hear back from these people.
> I just know that the wood is being used to heat someones shop....



Around here, very little winds up getting used for heating. Some gets chopped up into mulch, but most of what is cut down in the city ends up in the landfill. Once a tree is cut down inside city limits, you have 10 days to get rid of it or contact the city for a pickup. We have a lot more flexibility out in the county.

Interesting story about this Camphor wood. When the owner finally decided it was time for the tree to come down he was weighing cut down vs cut down & haul off bids. He talked to a police officer he knew about his options & the officer suggested that he offer it to woodworkers and let the city haul off whatever was left (which they will do once per year at no charge). Apparently the officer must be a woodworker too, because he took one chunk for himself. 

The wood probably would not have even made it to Craigslist if not for that officer's suggestion.


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## stonepecker (Mar 30, 2015)

It is amazing what can happen by word of mouth.  The other thing is to always keep others in mind.  I have a ton of black walnut.......and when I hear of more trees being taken down, I always pass the word onto the people I know that can use it.

Thanks again Edgar for everything you do for the members here of the IAP.  We may not say it enough, but your help is deeply felt here in Minnesota.


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## D.Oliver (Mar 30, 2015)

stonepecker said:


> It is amazing what can happen by word of mouth.  The other thing is to always keep others in mind.  I have a ton of black walnut.......and when I hear of more trees being taken down, I always pass the word onto the people I know that can use it.



Oh yeah, well I have a miles and miles of sagebrush. :tongue:  Unfortunately none of it has enough diameter to turn (Yes I've tried).


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## alankulwicki7 (Mar 30, 2015)

stonepecker said:


> It is amazing what can happen by word of mouth.  The other thing is to always keep others in mind.  I have a ton of black walnut.......and when I hear of more trees being taken down, I always pass the word onto the people I know that can use it.
> 
> Thanks again Edgar for everything you do for the members here of the IAP.  We may not say it enough, but your help is deeply felt here in Minnesota.



Wayne, Wayne, Wayne...
You have a ton of black walnut? Why have you kept this secret from me?
I love black walnut. I'll trade you some of my stash for some (or I could make you a couple of bowls, pens, etc in trade for some of the walnut :biggrin:


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## TellicoTurning (Mar 31, 2015)

edohmann said:


> I got to chat with the owner today and he is a really nice guy. He and his wife are just tickled that this wood is not going to the landfill. This was a huge tree - probably close to 100 years old. He said that they bought the house 40 years ago and the tree was old & large when they bought it. It's canopy was at least 150' in diameter and the dominant tree in their back yard. The tree has been in slow decline since the great Texas freeze of 1989. Here in Alvin, the temperatures did not get above 32˚F for 5 straight days.



I remember that freeze... I was living in Humble at the time, worked at a company on the west side of IAH... My old beater Chevy in those days didn't have a working heater and half way through the airport, it started to rain.. my windshield was covered with ice until I reached the Mobil station at the south entrance...I scraped and bought de-icer and went on to work... 2 1/2 hours after I got there, I was still the only one in the office, until the sales manager got there from Magnolia and the owner arrived from Kingwood... all those that lived close "couldn't get out of their driveway".. even the Gen Mgr who lived only 5 blocks away didn't make it in.   We were all sent home and half way through the airport on my way home, I blew the radiator... nursed it through the airport and then stopped to call my son to come get me. 

BTW, I had your problem for a while... if someone offered me wood, I would take it.... behind my shop I had four or five piles of wood stacked on pallets... just couldn't get to all of it and since it was not under cover, just tarped, a great deal of it rotted and I started burning it... I now have half a walnut treed stacked out front that I don't plan to let rot, another half of a Hackberry tree and a couple of logs I got from down the road of Royal Paulownia stacked at the end of the shop.

I'm having to be more selective on what wood I accept now...


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## Edgar (Mar 31, 2015)

I didn't go to work that week at all and as best I remember, I believe that we shut our office down for the whole week. 

I left our lawn sprinkler on one night and made a gorgeous ice sculpture on the kid's swing set & back yard fence - they loved it. Once the temperature got into the 40's, we walked out to our pond to see if it had frozen. Sure enough, the entire 1/4 acre pond was covered with ice. Our kids had fun throwing rocks & dirt clods & watching them slide across the ice. No, we didn't try walking or skating on it. 

My wood collecting is not as bad as it might seem. Most of what I have stacked up is pecan. We have lost several very large trees (and some huge limbs off other trees) in the last couple of years due to the prolonged drought in Texas. I didn't want all that great wood to rot, so I harvested & stacked as much under cover as I could.


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