Shagbark Hickory!

[Joshlaugh]

I had a shagbark hickory sit for a year off the ground in rounds. I split them with my maul this past March and it wasn't that bad. Not nearly as bad as elm.

Josh

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Now you know why they make tool handles out of the stuff

 

[avalancher]

Hickory sure works good too for homemade wedges! I have several that have been in the toolbox for over a year now. A little beat up, but still work great!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Hickory sure works good too for homemade wedges! I have several that have been in the toolbox for over a year now. A little beat up, but still work great!

All of my homemade wedges are made of either hickory or quartersawn white oak. I'm really not sure which species works better, but both work better than plastic and are far easier for me to make in my own shop.

 

[handsplit!]

I agree! Solid, hard to split, and hard on chains. But... sure is a good burning and great smoking wood! Working on this guy and a few others... been sharpening like a fool!

 

[svk]

I've seen shags on my buddy's land but never cut one (they don't grow in my area). Is it the wood or all of the dirt caught in the bark that is tough on chains?

 

[handsplit!]

I've seen shags on my buddy's land but never cut one (they don't grow in my area). Is it the wood or all of the dirt caught in the bark that is tough on chains?

Well both in my opinion. Maybe more so with the bark! Still splits pretty hard though too. The ones im cutting have been down over a year.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I've built fine furniture with shagbark hickory. It wore out all of my sandpaper and forced me to sharpen by saw blades several times. However, it made my shop smell like a million bucks while I worked with it.

 

[handsplit!]

I've built fine furniture with shagbark hickory. It wore out all of my sandpaper and forced me to sharpen by saw blades several times. However, it made my shop smell like a million bucks while I worked with

Can't beat the smell of hickory! Love smoking meats with it.

 

[farmer steve]

the shaggier (OLDER/BIGGER) they are the tougher they are on chains. best burnin wood IMO.

 

[066blaster]

I've cut some huge shagbarks. They split easy with a log splitter. Similar to oak. Pieces of bark kept hitting me in the face while cutting. I have a big one to cut this fall, not looking forward to it. It's great firewood though.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Yup, it does make great lumber!

SR

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here's a tile coffee table I made with hickory:




I was able to make the joints so precisely that no grout was required to hold the 12" square tiles. The aprons actually interlock inside the top ends of the legs:

 

[Wood Doctor]

Here's the finished product with a cooked steak on board. I changed the tiles to more of a gray finish to contrast the rec room's lighter floor tiles.


Eventually I made a 4-square end table using the same shagbark hickory and design but with longer legs.

 

[cuinrearview]

Very nice work Doc. I brought home a few loads of shagbark last winter and am very much looking forward to enjoying the heat. When cutting I noticed even my chains that self feed would not bite into the bark without some pressure to get them started. I use a hydro splitter and to me it worked harder with the shag than most other woods.

 

[CTYank]

I've been fortunate to have many years' worth of fuelwood ready to go next to the house, so much that I now have to be picky. I only accept shagbark hickory. In the NE it is by far the best fuelwood, and I take truckloads of limbs to a neighbor for barbecuing. (I buzz it at his place with my little Barbie-saw.) I'm working on how to haul out maybe 4 cords of shagbark sitting out in the woods, bucked, on a variety of work-sites; some will take creativity. It will happen.

Not particularly difficult to split by hand with a proper maul. Just don't leave it sitting about unsplit for too long, or powder-post beetles will excavate tunnel networks all through the sapwood. That's what the little piles of dust come from. Kinda like with black cherry.

 

[svk]

Wow look who is back!

 

[stihly dan]

I've been fortunate to have many years' worth of fuelwood ready to go next to the house, so much that I now have to be picky. I only accept shagbark hickory. In the NE it is by far the best fuelwood, and I take truckloads of limbs to a neighbor for barbecuing. (I buzz it at his place with my little Barbie-saw.) I'm working on how to haul out maybe 4 cords of shagbark sitting out in the woods, bucked, on a variety of work-sites; some will take creativity. It will happen.

Not particularly difficult to split by hand with a proper maul. Just don't leave it sitting about unsplit for too long, or powder-post beetles will excavate tunnel networks all through the sapwood. That's what the little piles of dust come from. Kinda like with black cherry.

I don't care for it, burns long but not that hot, leaves a lot of ashes. I'll take oak or locust over it any day.

 

[CTYank]

I don't care for it, burns long but not that hot, leaves a lot of ashes. I'll take oak or locust over it any day.

No problem with that. I'll even tell others around here that it's lousy stuff, they should walk away from it. While I load it and split.

If we had Osage Orange or Live Oak around here, they'd be atop my list. Not that I'm throwing out my 3+ y.o. Red/White Oak or Black Locust, mind you. They're almost as good.

 

[olyman]

Well both in my opinion. Maybe more so with the bark! Still splits pretty hard though too. The ones im cutting have been down over a year.

worse than honey locust????