Cucumber

[Howie]

Jason
I have to tell you about my cucumber to make ox yokes. Good cucumber is hard to find around here so I have had a couple of people watching for it for me. One of my Amish friends told me about a tree that they butted off 14 feet because it was hollow but at 14 feet it was solid and was 33 inches in diameter. I had them cut it 6 foot 6 inches back from the top for me and it was sound as a dollar there. We cut it into blanks for ox yokes. The only blemishes we found were in a 3×4 piece we had left in the center.:D:D

[Gabe Ayers]

Howie,

Wow that is good information to know.

So you cut them into 6’6″ long blanks leaving out the heartwood. I bet that is some nice stuff. What are the other dimensions of the pieces?

I would like to supply those to anyone that wants them, but it is a big chunk to ship anywhere. I also suspect it is very cheap, since it is sold here along with poplar in the conventional mills, so it isn’t worth much, especially if you had to ship it far. If it suits your use that makes it worth something.

I think you will find it light, tough – not brittle and strong. Let me know what you think of it when you get them finished. It does have a little fuzzy curly grain hairs that stick up with a conventional planer. They will sand right away.

I don’t think good straight sound cucumber magnolia is plentiful anywhere. They do rot out from the centers or even the top down if they break or are rubbed of lightning hits them. That is a perfect salvage save harvest though. When you cut the worst first it is hard to get a lot of really good wood out of one tree. That sounds like a big old tree that has been left for a long time.

Thanks for telling me about it. I appreciate the sizes information too.

What part of Penn. are you in?

[Howie]

Jason
I have always been told that cucumber was the lumber of choice to build wagon rakes and such because it is so light, tough, and durable.
You should try to finish it. After the first coat of finish it is like coarse sandpaper, after the second coat it is like medium sandpaper and after the third you can think about getting a finish on it.
That piece is the best cucumber I have ever seen. I have it all standing on end in my fruit cellar, I have good luck drying lumber in there, it does not get really dry but gets nice to work. It would cost more to ship than a piece would be worth, I am sure.
With no heart wood and no blemishes, out of that piece of tree I got.:):)
3 7″X” x 6′-6″
2 6″x8″ x 6′-6″
1 6″x6″ x 6′-6″
1 5″x7″ x 6′-6″

[Howie]

That should be a 7″x10″ 6′-6″

[Author]

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