Yesterday a friend found a female ginkgo tree that had just been cut down and asked if I wanted a few logs before the owner had them all transported to the local dump. I actually ran over there and set aside two good logs. I went back with my truck and picked them up shortly afterwards.
Now, my question is: Does anyone have any experience using this wood??
I did some web research and found a great deal of info on this ancient (150 million years old) species, but very little on its use, pro or con. I do know that it is usable, but I would like to know more about this wood from a woodworker’s perspective.
All day long, a little voice in my head has been saying, “Yo, dummy! You should have taken all of the ginkgo while you had the chance. That was a once-in-a-lifetime offer and you blew it.”
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Phillip Anthony
Replies
An interesting find indeed. One of the most primitive, or early forms of a tree. Really more of a monosperm, but it is hard to classify. An interesting tree and leave. I had to learn it in my forestry dendrolgy class and have seen specimens around the world, but never have I heard of using it for lumber. You may have the privilege of learning more for us. I did find some uses on the web...
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/wood.htm japanese seem to grow and use it more, also in china.
http://members.aol.com/msnbill/ and a photo of the wood, along with some tree sizes.
Let me know what happens with it.
AZMO
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
Thanks for the comments.In my research, I ran across the same links you provided. Most of what I came across was on the medicinal value of the tree. All I can say, is that I suppose we'll know more when my two logs dry out and I give them a go. About a year or so.I see that you're in Arizona. We have a house in NM and will be there in about a week or so. We miss the food, so that is high on our to-do list.I appreciate the post.
From my limited experience, and based on the suggestions on Knots, I would plank them now, sticker them to dry and wait a year. If you dry the wood in log form you will have lots of checks, cracks etc, that may spiral etc. Here in Phx it takes one summer..hehe. I do mesquite, some acacia and lysiloma that way. The mesquite worked perfect. The others I don't know quite yet, but it looks promising.
Nothing like New Mex for some great food, Chile Rellano, red sauce, tamales, pasole, fresh cheese, and sopapillas hot with honey.. Love the little cafes headed north of Santa Fe up the Rio Grande.. Or maybe you are headed to the Shed in Santa Fe? NM has the best in Mexican food, Phoenix is OK, but it just ain't the same.
Morgan <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
You're right about planking the logs. Will do that today if possible.Thanks for the NM food menu. I'm drooling all over the keyboard. I was born and raised in Santa Fe and my favorite restaurant is Tomasita's. It is right next to the old Santa Fe Railroad station on Guadalupe St. Check it out next time you're in SF. Be prepared to wait in line, though, which is what the bar is for or so I was told. Grin.In Taos, Michael's is the place to eat.Take care,
Phillip
Phillip,
Many years ago, back in the early '70's, on a visit to see my brother in Albuquerque, we ate at a place called "El Pinto". I still have (and use) the "Griggs family cookbook" I bought there.
Ray
Would you guys put a brake on?? My keyboard's a mess as it is. Grin.Yes, I do believe that I've eaten breakfast there many years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, El Pinto sits on a corner way out on Rio Grande Blvd (or whatever). Big brown adobe restaurant with a large parking area in the rear. We ate outdoors. Does this sound familiar to you?? The food was wonderful, as most New Mexico food usually is.Off topic a bit, but I have always thought that NASA is missing out on the immense possibilities that beans can provide during the launch and it is a sustainable energy as well. Plus, they provide nutrition. What a deal! Forget about the booster rockets, just feed the astronauts beans before the launch and you're good to go. And go, and go ... Cramped quarters could be a problem though, hmmm-mmm ... guess we'd better work on this aspect of it before we head into space. Phillip
http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/ginko.htmA few more pictures of Ginkgo Biloba.
Thanks for the photos. Have you used this wood for any projects?Phillip Anthony
"Have you used this wood for any projects?"Me? No. I looked up the wood on that site and posted it so you can see it. Until you started this tread I always thought the Ginkgo leaf motif used during the Arts and Crafts period was from a plant, vine or shrub. It never dawned on me that it would be a tree. It may not be a "fancy" wood but it is unique and no matter what you make from those logs, you can be sure that no one else will have anything like it. ;)
Prior to moving to to Oak Park, IL, I had never seen an actual live tree. I was aware of it because of an article in FWW in which Gary Rogowski (sp?) inlaid some ginkgo leaves into cabinet doors. His wood of choice was yellow heart, which I do have a plank of. I've used it for carving pears. It is very yellow to begin with, but over time, it will turn brown as seen in the attached photos.Back to the ginkgo leaves, they are very, very unusual in shape and turn a beautiful golden color in the fall. This tree is commonly called a 'living fossil' which is remarkable considering that it is claimed to be over 150 million years old. I do hope to do it justice when it dries.Thanks for your comments.Phillip Anthony
Really nice work.. I assume the tray is also?
If so I may ask my neighbor to have it cut down and give me the wood! Not really.. Just a thought that popped into my mind.
Edited 11/2/2008 1:17 pm by WillGeorge
Thanks for the thumbs-up. I'm assuming you're referring to the pear on the tray.The tray is spalted elm. Off topic, but the one bowl that I wished I had not sold was also of spalted elm but it was about 16-18" in diameter, about 1/4-inch in thickness and very cylindrical. Funny story, but I dropped it when I was just about done with it and it cracked. My wife went nuts and thought it was ruined, but I just got the glue out and used about a million large rubber bands to hold it in place. Surprisingly, the next morning - just before the show I was going to put it in, it looked quite 'normal'. I scraped off the glue and it was good to go. I don't even think I took a photo of that one. Anyway, spalted anything-wood is always an eye catcher.The attached photo was just something that I have always wondered about and now have a photo-record of it. That curiosity was just how brown yellowheart actually turns over time. The unfinished pear has been tucked away in the dark for several years and it is somewhat lighter than the other which has been exposed to sunlight for a least 5 years that I know of. So, yellowheart does not stay yellow for very long.All of this goes back to your comment about inlaying gingko leaves. As I mentioned earlier, yellowheart would be my first choice, but keeping it yellow may be a problem.Take care.Phillip Anthony
A few months ago I made 4 bi-fold doors out of Ginko. I still have some scraps. It is pretty soft, creamy Ivory with darker streaks, diffuse porous ( I'd say) and smells horrid.
Sands well, hand tools faily well ( crumbles if tools are not keenly sharp) and finishes just fine.
Not real strong, but seems fairly limber.
Have fun.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
You know, I think I will get some Chile Rellenos for lunch! I have eaten at Tomasita's once before. Excellent for sure. I just love the NM Cafe's around the state. Down in Mesilla there is one that has been making sopapillas since 1930's. http://www.laposta-de-mesilla.com/ That was the start of the Griggs cooking fame I believe. Road Trip I hear a Road trip coming on! Sante Fe in Thanksgiving, lights in the square, musica and dancing. M <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
OK, Morgan! You can stop anytime now. Grin.La Posta. Our house is in Las Cruces, so I know, ... No! I can smell La Posta from Chicago. Actually, when we used to fly into El Paso, our first stop was La Posta. Yeah, it was that bad, our drooling that is. This time we're driving, so we'll get into LC way late but you can bet that the very next day we'll be banging on the doors for them to let us in before they open. La Posta is just awesome at Christmas. The food I'm sure is the same, it just the Yuletide festivities that make it so much more special. Anyway, I will say that you do seem to know your way around my home state eateries. Good for you. They can use the $$.Viva la appetite, my friend!Phillip Anthony
My first trip to La Posta was in 1964, and I was 10. The birds made a lasting impression, some seemed to be as big as I was! The hot oil for cooking the sopapillas was right there so you could see the action. Several years later I stopped and got some lessons on how to make pillows and not pancakes...grin. They do have to be puffed perfectly, bite the corner and fill them with honey to be right. Regretfully I still have not mastered the art, I think it is the size of the vat of oil and temp that is critical. Anyway enjoy them on your way through, and you can bite a corner for me as well. Morgan <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
Some folks refer to sopapillas as 'sofa pillows'. Probably just couldn't pronounce the word correctly.My Grandmother used to make what she referred to as 'bunuellos'. (bu-nuell-O's or since it's Halloween, 'Boo-nuell-O's') Both of my Grandparents were descendants of Spain, so I'm not too sure how these fried delights actually came about in our home. But just to clear the record here, they looked a whole lot like fried bread that the Navaho indians make. Connection? I haven't a clue and Grandmother is no longer with us, so ... Anyway, the point being that it's OK to make flat sopapillas so long as they're round. Then you just call them bunuellos or fried bread and folks will leave you alone thinking, 'Hey, that guy knows his stuff.'Back to La Posta ... what about the piranhas? Do you remember those? Last time I was there they only had one left.BTW, that buginga table was AWESOME. Excellent work.Phillip Anthony
Thanks for the thumbs up on the Bubinga table. Chris and I had a great week together! Nice to learn new things, he is a remarkable turner and gave me some great tips.
Bunuellos sound great to me! Navajo tacos, buenellos, sopapillas. Basic ingredients, flour, salt, water (tortillas almost) and a vat of hot oil. Pretty much they should come out the same. Navajo tacos are hand tossed like pizza dough, hmmm same ingredients. Sopapillas you gently roll out with a wooden roller, something about the thickness makes them work better. Getting them under the oil makes them pop quick. Cheaper by the dozen! EAT em while they are hot. Poor folks back east just don't know what they are missin, do they?
You know I don't remember the Pirahnas at La Posta? I don't even remember the tanks but I have heard tell of them. Funny how get focused on one thing and miss the rest.
Later Morgan <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
Sorry to jump in but this talk about NM food is near and dear to me as well. I have family in Las Cruces and our favorite place was El Patio down the street from La Posta I can still see the beads of sweat on my grandmothers forehead when the chili rellenos where hot. The rellenos and enchiladas are the best in NM. As for the Ginko's in Alameda where I live now they are a common street tree the city cuts the females down because the fruit makes a mess and smells really foul. I have not heard of anybody using the wood for wood working.Troy
Edited 11/7/2008 1:08 am ET by troys
Troy,I don't know how long its been since you ate at the El Patio, but - are you sitting? That place is No Mas! Barbara Fountain was the proprietress of that wonderful New Mexican eatery. I do have to agree with you in that the food was very good.So why is it now closed? Glad you asked.Back in the good ol' days of New Mexico, when a room was added on, the utilities were just 'extended' to make do. So when someone decides to make a business out of these old adobe buildings, they (1) have to content with the quagmire of lines, pipes and wires, or (2) re-do the whole mess at great expense. The former is (naturally) the least expensive way to go. Barbara's brother owned the El Patio Bar, and the two of them co-existed peacefully for several years, then they didn't and thus began the demise of the El Patio Restarante. I have personal knowledge of all this because I had my woodworking shop behind her closed eatery. It was truly a nightmare. I was just there last week and this part of the building is now a clothing store featuring New Mexican designs. Life goes on as they say.
Life goes on as they say.
I'd bet more good stuff than the bad. I have had both.
So sad to hear that, the place was a family favorite for a long time, I think Barbara Fountains Grandmother ran the place when I was a kid. I live out in California now and the rellenos and enchiladas are just not the same. I make my own but I do miss the NM restaurant's. I hope your wood working business is doing well.Take care Troy
Edited 11/24/2008 2:28 am ET by troys
I hear you on the NM Cuisine. I was talking to a jeweler who travels quite a bit and he was remarking how he found a restaurant in Chicago which touted 'genuine NM food' to which he went. You guessed it - he was totally disappointed. He said he actually did not know what he ate. Bottom line is that the only place to eat NM food is in NM. Period. And it's usually someone's grandmother who does that special thing to make it taste so good. It's all in the details.Take care.
It has been a long time since I did some turnings from some. The best I recall, it was more like yellow pine in looks and texture. it had a sticky resin that probably needs to go through a kiln to solidify.
While it is a gorgeous tree, I wasn't too excited about the wood.
I was afraid someone was going to say that it was a softwood. I took a look at Bruce Hoadley's 'Understanding Wood' and he briefly mentions it as "mainly an ornamental tree and its wood has had little use." (page 10) He refers to it as "the maidenhair tree." Personally, I've never met a maiden with hair like that. Maybe I just haven't ever met a maiden. Not sure. Back to Hoadley's comments, a person could read a lot in that or nothing at all. So, I guess the real answer is, 'it depends .... '.I'll know more in a year or so, but as you said, it does look a lot like white pine. I saw no sap whatsoever, but again, it depends. I will have to plank it ASAP and sticker it so I'll at least give it a chance to be used for something.I really think that because of this trees ancient heritage, if you will, I would like to dry it properly and see if it carves well. I have always wanted to inlay gingko leaves into a box top or jewelry box door. Yellow heart was going to be my wood or choice, but who knows?, gingko may work as well. Time will tell.I appreciate your comments and time.Phillip AnthonyP.S. As can be seen from the photos, this tree was well over 20 years of age.
My neighbor has a tree like that... I love the leaves... She was going to cut it down. I asked her why? She said it is messy? I asked compared to what? I told her it is a Male tree 'I think'.. A female tree can get really messy... Had one in our yard as a child. Kind of stinky' also...
Anyway, she said OK... If you don't mind the stuff all over you roof.. I'll not cut it down.. I have for many years, went into her yard and cleaned up after it.. A wonderful tree!
As to uses.. The leaves make nice patterns for inlays!
And a link I found..
Ginko Cutting Board
http://www.dick.biz/dick/product/706028/detail.jsf;jsessionid=112913A8EDC1CE57E62DB4DDEEECF713
Take a look...
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/wood.htm
I would say, wood is wood, many uses.. GO FOR IT!
OH! And by the way, do a post on your thought on your first project using that wood!
Edited 11/2/2008 12:25 pm by WillGeorge
Will,I don't know if you read the details on the gingko cutting board (the dick.biz link), but they claim that it is "... resistant to bacteria". I never knew that. That may be a bunch of ad hype. Who knows??Anyway thanks for the post and yes, when the wood dries out, I will post info on my first gingko project.Phillip Anthony
resistant to bacteria.. I thing I remember that the Ginko survived so long because it will tolerate almost anything once it has 'grown up?'...
There is a lot of information out on the net about the Ginko. Even bugs and animals do not like it. Very healthy looking tree that is well over 100 years old. I remember a picture showing it in the Village Hall. Picture of the oldest houses in the village. This was many years ago when the original owner of the house lived there. She died at about 98 years old and she told me she was born in the house. As I recall, the the tree looks about the same. In fact it looks like it never got any bigger?
In fact now that I thought about it I do not recall ever seeing a tree squirrel in my neighbors tree. We have ALOT of those tree rats! Grey, Brown, and Black. No Red ones that I know of. In fact I do not recall ever seeing birds in the tree either. This is not to say I am sure that the animals never go there. I just do not recall ever seeing any. Been here many years.
This week I had to reinstall the flashing (aluminum) at the back of the house. This spring a squirrel chewed through the flashing and made a nest in the rafters. Maybe the same squirrel that had a nest there last year. I put the flashing up last year after the mother left the nest. OK, old softy here but I let her be and waited until now to repair it. I now put heavy zinc plates in the corner where she wants to get in.
Sorry, I tend to 'rattle on'..
EDIT: I forgot to mention.. Thanks for the 'new' pictures.
Edited 11/3/2008 10:26 am by WillGeorge (WillGeorg1)
Phillip - I've used some of this wood before. It worked very well with power tools - I would equate its working characteristics with Poplar. It's a fairly soft wood, and the piece I had had interlocked grain, so it wouldn't carve easily. I suspect the reason the wood's not used all that much has to do with the average size of the tree rather than the wood's working characteristics. To my knowledge, Gingko doesn't grow into really huge specimens in its native China - the tree typically gets blown down or attacked by disease before that happens.
Thanks for your comments. My apologies for my slow response as I've been packing for a trip to NM.I'm discouraged by your comments about the grain because carving came immediately to my mind. IMHO, carving a gingko leave out of gingko would be symbolic of this trees ancient heritage. As can be seen from the attached photo, the wood is quite clear and the grain appears to be very tight, but this may change when it has had a chance to dry out. I have never seen green poplar, but do like when it is dry.As to the trees ability to fend off bacterial disease, take a look at this:'Ginko Cutting Board
Ginko* is an ideal material for making cutting boards. It is tough but not too hard, gentle on the cutting edges of your knives, stable and resistant to bacteria. These boards are made of solid Ginko wood at a family-run shop in Fukui, Japan.' The Ginko tress plays a central role in Asian mythology. The divided shape of its leaves are associated with the ying-yang symbol and represent harmony. Its slender and resilient trucks symbolize motion and energy, its fan-like leaves symbolize delicateness and softness, its knobby, breast-like root burls symbolize fertility. Because of their high resistance to disease, Ginko trees grow very old (reportedly up to 4000 years) and are therefore known in Japan as the "temple" tree. Ginko wood rarely makes it to the market.'This came from here: http://tinyurl.com/5wgssmAgain thanks for your great comments. If you respond, please understand that I will not be able to respond for two weeks.Phillip Anthony
I wouldn't be discouraged. Dick Onians says in "Essential Woodcarving Techniques" "A dense even-textured, pale yellow wood. Lightweight but hard. Will take detail."
Jim
Thanks for the comments.Getting discouraged is not the problem: waiting for it to dry is. I know: Patience, patience and so it goes.We'll see how it carves in a year or so.
' The Ginko tress plays a central role in Asian mythology. ..You bet.. I'd say inborn in the child.I have never talked about a Ginko tree to my grandbabies. Not sure why.. I baby sit them ALOT! Almost every day, All day....Every year, at fall time, they run around picking up Ginko leaves and paste them to drawings they make for MOM!
Hmm - guess I'm incorrect about these trees growing to larger sizes. I based that thought on what I've seen in the US, but that might simply be that Gingkos are realtively new to the ladscape trade and haven't had time to get very large. I wouldn't be discouraged from trying to carve it - growing conditions often have a huge influence on the type of grain the tree makes, and my sampling was admittedly extremely limited. It might well be that the tree you have logs from grew relatively straight - and I know that in some areas, poplar is a "carving wood", though I see far more basswood used for the purpose.
ALL Gimkos... 'I have seen' grow straight up to the Sun.. I have never seen one bent.
Yes, but a completely straight trunk may still have twisted grain - it happens often in oak around here.
I agree. My neighbor once had a what I call a corkscrew tree. I have no idea what it is really called. Small decorative tree that EVERY part is a corkscrew! Totally unable to use it for anything...
As I recall the leaves were also corkscrewd!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scalespeeder/2438272807/
Evil tree maybe... but very pretty if you like that sort of thing.. I loved it and then some. Looking at it is sort of like watching a Tim Burton's movie!
EDIT: A willow tree?
Edited 11/13/2008 9:01 pm by WillGeorge
I've seen Ginko trees all over here in southern Japan where I am. Japanese use the wood for sushi cutting boards. The wood is also used in some furniture, such as chests, etc., but apparently there is an insect that does eat it...
A few years ago I was building a house on a piece of land with a huge, very old ginko tree. They cut it down with chainsaws and trucked off the wood to the dump. What a waste!
Some people here in Japan believe the really huge ginko trees are haunted, so nobody will cut them down...
SS
Tatekata,Thank you very much for your comments. I can't believe all the very interesting comments that have been posted on this wonderful - and ancient- tree.I noticed that you called the tree a 'Ginko'. I have seen several variations on this name. My bottle of 'Ginkgo Biloba' extract tablets is spelled differently. I'm not picking on you, only wondering about the various names.Probably a dumb question, but you didn't happen to take a picture of that very old tree before they cut it down did you? Take care,
Phillip Anthony
At the Frank Lloyd Wright museum here in Oak Park, there is a hugh Gingko Biloba tree. I will find out how old that tree is, but it is very large and I recall the lady telling me that they have to have it professionally taken care of. If my memory serves me correctly, that tree is not straight at all. I'll take a photo and post it here
Oak Park (Chicago area?) and a very old old Ginko tree?
Post the address to look for that tree. I for one would drive to see it.
As to Green... I live by the big airport and bet it is a longer walk than I can do in winter at my age!
Edited 11/23/2008 10:18 pm by WillGeorge
It in the grounds of the Frank Lloyd Wright museum home. It's on Chicago Avenue here in Oak Park.
Thanks.. I get lost when driving anyplace!
Do I trun right or left off on Mannheim road (45)?
Edited 11/23/2008 10:23 pm by WillGeorge
Where are you coming from?
Hey Phillip
I am back from the DC area, and found this spectacular Ginko right in front of ye ole Captiol! I have a 6' wingspan and it took 2.5 arm lengths to get around this one. Great Fall color and the Elm behind it is 4.5 arm lengths! I love DC, you can wander the whole area and there are labels on lots of trees, so you can observe some pretty old specimens.
View Image
Morgan
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
Double WOW! May George Washington planted that one to make up for the cherry tree?? Just wondering ...
Believe it or not, that is not a terribly old tree (I'd guess less than 50 years). Ginkgos are extremely fast growers. Even in pots, my trees will grow several feet a year, given proper water and fertilizer. The one in the ground in the front yard planted as a thumb-sized diameter sapling 12 years ago is about 1.5 feet in diameter now.
It would be interesting to know how old it is. The trees along the Avenues between the Washington Monument and the Capitol are fairly old, but you never know when one was replaced. This one had started the fattening in the trunk that forms ribs where the roots start. OK next time I am taking my core sample tool from dendrology class! <!----><!----><!---->
-----------_o
---------_'-,>
-------(*)/ (*) http://www.EarthArtLandscape.com
I'm shocked at how much time has passed since ...
I'm shocked at how much time has passed since i began this thread. Good thing I don't age. :-)
Well, the jinkgo has dried nicely and this is the plan, according to my financial advisor, anyway. She wants a cutting board and as usual, it ain't gonna be easy. None of her projects ever are. But, I will say, they never lack for drama or interest.
Background
We added a new bazillion dollar sink to our NM home and it came with an 18*x12" bamboo cutting board. While it is nice, it is also 'made' very strangely. The bamboo was glued together in perpendicular laminated sheets. So, when it expands, one sheet expands north-south, the next sheet expands east-west. So, what do you think is happening to this board? We all know the answer to this, so no point even going there.
My plan is to make a fresh cutting board out of the ginkgo biioba, but ... I want to use the end grain for the face. I did some testing and the grain does close back up after it has been sliced upon as you would normally do with a cutting board. I read about this technique and it does make sense. More so, after I tested it out personally.
I was going to add a nice contrasting boarder, but I got this warning: "I do not want it to look like a checker board!" Ok, fair enough, I will not add the boarder. This will just make my work easier and I'm into easy.
I have been reading on the subject and it seems that wood is better suited for eliminating the bacteria that we are all hearing about these days. There are warings all over the net on this subject.
I wonder how we managed to keep grandma's cutting board from killing us all for generation after generation? The one thing I am certain of is that grandma's cutting board was definitely made out of wood cuz that's all our forefather's had.
See these:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/1107.html
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/17/Cutting-Boards
So, as usual all comments are welcome especially if they are focused on the wisdom of end-grain cutting boards.
Phillip Anthony
PS. I just edited my own thread and I now have to 'verify' that I am human by typing in some character's to 'prove' that I am indeed human to Edit but not to create the thread in the first place?? I am amazed at how clever that is. If your IT folks want to do something really useful, how about making subscription to one's own thread automatic rather than find out after the fact that it is not? That would really be something that real humans would appreciate.
Ginkgo other uses
My tree guy saved me some Ginkgo logs and since I had never heard of it as a woodworking lumber, I turned to the internet and found your interesting thread. As a turner I had rough turned the logs into bowls about a year ago and recently finished one.
I was amazed at how beautifully it turned and finished very easily. It is also super light. The color is a butter yellow and I finished it on the lathe with mineral oil and shellac, which produced a nice finish.
Paul
Sorry for this very late reply
@macmenamin
I apologize for not respond to your great post (and wonderful photos), but I never received notice. Today I received one from another poster to this thread, which is how I discovered your post.
Your bowls look magnificent. I am not a turner, but those bowls are making me change my mind. I work exclusively with tree logs harvested in my area (Chicago) and I have a lot of bowl 'blanks' that are needing work. However, I work on several projects at once and just keep putting thos blanks off and now they are beginning to check.
My plan is to boil them to help stabilize them. I just got a half-barrel two weekends back. Most of the stock is oak.
Again, please accept my sincerest appologies for not replying to your very informative post. Not replying is - IMHO - just plain rude.
Take care and keep turning.
Bamboo is a grass
Technically bamboo is a grass so I'm not sure if it expands and contracts or not. Someone who knows more than me may shed light on the subject.
Great Just Great
Beautiful wood.
Beautiful bowl and finish.
Nicely photographed and presented.
Thanks
Gingko lumber
Several years ago (6 or 7) my dad had a couple of Georgia grown BIG Gingko trees he wanted removed.
I had several 14 ft logs saved and had them rough cut into 2X6s (8 or 10) 2X8s (8 or 10) and 2X10s (15 or 20).
Very similiar to white pine in consistency and workability.
I stickered them and garage kept them til a couple of months ago and moved them to storage facility due to a move.
I've been looking for structural stability and uses for these guys but thus far have seen a lot about NM and AZ food and peppers. Don't get me wrong, I love good spicy food, but a bit more details about who has made what with what size Gingko would be wonderful...
Read about some weird smells but have had no smells from what I have... had NO bug attacks at all and I am covered up with boring bumble bees here...
Direct to me @ [email protected] works but I only check it every few days.
So you don't like spicy food huh?
@1rhuff
Great post and sense of humor as well.
My research in the past has not revealed any uses other than for small boxes or cutting boards. I found nothing on structural uses whatsoever.
The smell you read about is true. When the female tree drops her fruit (nuts), the smell is rotten, putrid - just the worst thing you have ever smelled in your life. We have several in our area and when this happens they make a whitish mess on the sidewalks and you have to pass quickly because of the smell.
I have several pieces on my basement and have never gotten a whiff of that smell. This is probably just a seaonal thing and does not impart itself into the wood. That is just a guess.
I have read that Asians eat the nuts. I brought a few home and cleaned them up, but was not brave enough to each them. They may need to be roasted or something, but I am not sure.
I am planning to use my Ginkgo Biloba for a cutting board, but have not had time to begin that project just yet.
Take care and thanks for your comments. I hope you find some use for your Ginkgo.
Dude that wood must be dry as by now!
I have just felled a tree that the owner said was oak.... meanwhile some of the branches under the trunk a month later have sprouted leaves, ginko leaves!...
its spring time here in Auckland NZ... we have no good Mexican places here that I have found.....
I was cutting it up to make him some pizza boards! Good choice as far as your string dictates. but what else can i make with it
now i see this wood is like the (oak?) trolleys that they have/had at Smithfield meat markets in Britian - resistant to bacteria. they banned their use for years had stainless steel and plastic... couldnt keep them sterile and later discovered the properties of wood... I wonder if all wood has this property.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled