Diy drift wood

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jennandjuicetm

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May 29, 2014
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I picked up this piece of drift wood from a l extremely clean lake. I am currently letting it dry and sanding all the bark off then I plan on boiling it and letting it soak. I'm still researching various methods of preparation. In the mean time I'm trying to figure out what kind of wood it is. Its pretty hard, doesn't dent with my fingernail. Any ideas?
 
Attaching the pictures would help, I'm sure...
 

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Soak before boil. If you soak second pollutants can reenter the wood. I did a similar thing with some crabapple. Skinned with a knife then used a hatchet to make intesting shapes. If you dry it you can use a cordless drill to make caves of various sizes, just athought.
 
It's White Birch. If you score the edge with a sharp knife, the bark will peel off. If you dry the bark and burn it, it has that "Christmas" like smell.

Got wood ?

ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1404521286.670021.jpg


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Thanks guys! I have it drying out right now than I will soak it for two weeks then boil it. I got three other pieces that look like they are lumber or something because they are neater than I would expect a natural piece of wood to me. Are those okay do you think?

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Sounds like someone just chopped a tree and dumped it, probably ok. If they were made into planks or 2 by 4's on the other hand, you wouldnt want becausethey would be chemically processed.
 
Ahh didn't think about that. I'll examine them a little better tomorrow

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Are the ends jagged cuts or do they look like a saw passed thru it ? Also do you recall any wood chips on the ground ? If they are nice cuts then it may have been a chainsaw. At that point I wouldn't use it as the chain is lubricated with oil to reduce friction of the bar and chain contact.


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I have used chain cut wood. What i did was hack off the tps that were where the chain had been with a hatchet, then peeled off the bark. At this point i had no wwod that had been exposed to the chain.
 
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