This followed me home from the woods this weekend

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

This followed me home from the woods this weekend.  

No, not a fancy new (digital?) spring pole lathe, but a 6” hop-hornbeam log, seasoned on the ground for a couple years and still sound.  And in some kind soul’s way.  Just needed some wheels and a handle to get it home.

Here’s the handle for the log made of finest scrap WRC, an 8” lagscrew and some washers.

I skinned it with the brush hook, and diced it into lengths to make some more gluts and mauls. 


This may be more of a challenge to scrub-plane than green red-oak was.  There may be some other options.  We’ll see what works.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Clever transport!

[Martin S.]

Doesn't LN use hop-hornbeam for chisel handles? or am I thinking something else.

I know it is a small tree, so it looks like you got a nice piece.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

LN’s catalog just says “hornbeam.”  I’ve assumed this means American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana, (a.k.a. “ironwood,” “bluebeech," “musclewood").   What I have is a different species, hop-hornbeam, Ostrya virginiana, also called “ironwood.” 

The two woods are supposed to have similar mechanical characteristics.  I don’t know which LN uses, or if they use both, depending on availability.  I’m inclined to think it's Carpinus.  

In my neighborhood, Ostrya/hop-hornbeam ironwood is a very common small understory tree, and Carpinus/hornbeam ironwood is not common at all.   The situation might be different where LN sources their wood.

One of my friends cautioned me yesterday that he had once completely ruined a chainsaw cutting up ironwood.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

As an aside, our local woods is full of small hop-hornbeam ironwoods under the canopy of larger oaks, maples, cottonwoods, etc.  They tend to retain their dead leaves all winter, moreso than other trees, and give interesting color and texture to the winter landscape near the ground.  All of the leafy trees seen in this photo are hop-hornbeams.