Sweet Gum

D

Dillion G

Joined
Oct 15, 2017
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Ok so my aunt has a really old Sweet Gum tree and she wants us to cut it down and i was wondering what would the wood be useful for or is it even,worth saving any
 
I was mostly meaning hows does it compare to other natural handle materials fpr knives and swords and spears
 
The reason its hard to split is because the grain is interlocked. Stabilizing would make the softness a non issue. For the most part the grain is very plain. I havnt tried it myself but remember reading that it can be an ebony substitute when dyed black (looking at the wood I believe it). I have sawed a couple of logs before, it is one of the most problematic woods to dry without the wood twisting. If you do saw it up put weight in top of the stack to help keep things straight.
 
Well i saw a post that somebody had of a skinner they made and the handle was unstabalized gum and it looked good to me at least
 
Gum tree wood that's dried out is about the hardest wood going...... Well, it seems that way if you try to drive a nail in it, or pull a nail out that was drove in when green. As other's have said, it's a pretty plain wood.

Now, the sap in spring of year is what you chew. When I was a kid that was about only chewing gum we had. There was a certain briar berry that chewed with the sap would make it bubble gum. That was the rumor anyway - us kids looked and tried many different briar berries but none worked as bubble gum. I've not chewed any sweet gum in more years than I like to remember.
 
If u click the link I posted u will see it really isnt that plain and why are people saying it is soft?
 
As I have said before to you - "Do what you want."
After you make the knife, let us see a photo of it and let us know how it holds up .
 
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Dillion G said:
If u click the link I posted u will see it really isnt that plain and why are people saying it is soft?
Click to expand...
Wood hardness is measured using the Janka scale. You can read more about it at www.wood-database.com. Sweetgum is rated at Janka hardness of 850 which is lower than a lot of the wood used for knife handles. As has been mentioned in other posts, stabilization can help make certain woods more suitable for knife handles.
 
Grain is interlocked, with a very fine, uniform texture
Click to expand...
Maybe it's that interlocked grain that makes it so hard to drive a nail in when it gets dry? With only a 850 rating that doesn't sound very hard at all. Growing up when sweetgum was used for rough lumber in barns you almost had to drill a hole to drive a nail in old dried sweetgum lumber.
 
Dillion,
I'll try and explain why I ( and maybe some of the others) are trying to steer you away from using the wood from that tree.

First -
I have been in communication with you off and on for a couple years. You are a good kid as far as I can tell, but all teenagers are in a hurry. This will not be on any knife until you are at least 20. The wood will need to be cut into flitches ( thick boards) and stacked with stickers (slats between the boards) for a year or two before it is dry enough to cut into pieces suitable for stabilizing. It will have to be dried further below 10% moisture content before it can be stabilized. After stabilizing, it can be cut into blocks and scales for knives. All this means having a sheltered place to dry the wood for two years (barn or large open air shed), and the finances to get part of it stabilized. The tree will probably have to be slabbed by a sawyer with a trailer mill. They are reasonable in cost, and an 8 foot section of tree 24" around, sliced into 8/4 or 10/4 slabs will cost about $100. You will get five or six usable 8' long slabs from that piece.

Second -
"Hardness" is always an issue when talking wood for knives.

Woods with twisted grain tend to twist and warp a lot in drying, stabilizing, and exposure to humidity. Stabilizing will help with movement after the knife is made, but the first two are always going to be a problem. Splitting and cracking can be a problem with gum when drying.

Woods with twisted grain tend to be tough, but may not be all that hard. Stabilizing usually takes care of any hardnes issues.

Last -
The term hardwood refers to tree type, not actual hardness. It merely means the tree is a dicot (this refers to the seed type).
Some hardwoods are harder than others. There are even softwoods that are harder than some hardwoods. You can see how this gets confused easily.

The Gum is a tree that means different things in different places. Some has medium brown to reddish brown wood. Others are white to tan and not very attractive. I cut down a big gum tree in the back to build the deck and it was about as attractive as pine. The australian gum trees are a different species completely and many are great for knives.
Unfortunately, many of these trees are called sweet gum/sweetgum.


If you want to go ahead with this tree cutting project, just be aware it will be a long project and cost a bit of money.
 
Ok sir i understand I think ill probablt just keep a stump sized chunk of it for my edge testing on my blades and hatchet
 
My figuring is since its so hard to split then if I can do much to the stump with a camp knife or hatchet and the edge doesnt chip out or roll I will know the heat treat is good
 
Good plan. I

If you want, cut off a 2 foot section of the trunk ad use the chain saw to slice a 3" slab down the cener. Paint the ends with old house paint, going about 3" up the sides. Set in a place to dry for about a year. The storae place should have good air flow and not be too hot. On a shelf in the garage is good.
After a year, cut the ends off and see how it has dried. If you take it by a lumber place they can check the moisture content for you. If it is down below 15% , cut slab into 3×2×6" blocks. Dry them for another three or so months and trim into 2×1.5×5.5" blocks. When the moisture content is down to 10% or less, send some of the best looking ones of to K&G for stabilization.
 
THere are a bunch of ways to dry, Stacy lists my favorite (but slowest method). You can also kiln dry with a simple solar kiln, or even a small electric kiln quite easily. Doing so will make the wood more stable. Hardness isn't the end-all be-all of what woods serve well as a handle. There are plenty of woods that despite not being stabilized will make great handles for knives that are not intended for major abuse. Maple, walnut, oak, ask, hickory, and many others have served very well for these sorts of knives for many years.

In a humid environment, you can expect about a year per inch of thickness to get to equilibrium moisture content. If you are out in a dry area, I find the time is cut to a couple of months during the summer (per inch). No matter how you chose to dry, you will need to quarter saw (and remove the pith - the dark center of the heartwood, the origin of the rings) or slab prior to drying. If you dont, you will get spidered cracks throughout the piece.

If you do dry it, make a hidden tang from it prior to stabilization, abuse the knife and see how the handle fares. If poorly, stabilize it first.

Finally, make sure to save any burls, crotches, or areas around large knots.
 
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