Gathering Sticks

Most of my furniture is made with mortise-and-tenon joinery using seasoned maple sticks. I get a permit from the National Forest to harvest maple in an area they're managing for oak. I got sticks harvested before the snow came, and thought I would show you the process.


This is what I'm looking for: maple. The sticks I use are seldom more than 4 inches in diameter and usually less. Because this is hardwood and because of the joinery techniques I use, I don't need as much diameter as with some other rustic styles.

When the weather cooperates, I'll choose to cut when there isn't much snow but it is cold -- preferably in the mid-20 degree range. That's comfortable for cutting and hauling wood, and the sticks have less moisture in them than at warmer temps. Since the wood needs to season (dry) for mortise and tenon joinery, less moisture at the start is a good thing.



I'm looking for clumps of maple to thin. This is called release cutting. It opens up the canopy and gives neighboring plants a chance to thrive.


All I use for cutting is a folding pruning saw. With the small diameter of the sticks I'm choosing, that's all it takes to get the job done. A pruning saw is also less likely to scar neighboring trees than a chain saw, and it fits in my pocket, leaving my hands free for carrying out sticks.

Before carrying anything out, though, I trim off the branchy parts that are too small in diameter for me to use (although I try to use as much as I can) and scatter that stuff in the woods.

Then I rough-cut sticks into lengths that will fit in the back of my truck.

Anything I want to keep longer than will fit in the bed I tie on the racks. But most sticks are rough cut.

Back at home, the rough-cut sticks are hoisted up into the unheated loft above my shop. This is where they will season until I'm ready to build with them.

I stack the sticks in layers at right angles to each other to promote good air flow during the seasoning process. It takes about a year per inch of diameter for a stick to season, and the longer a stick is the longer it takes. My rough cuts are longer than the length I think I'll need to allow for checking, the cracks in the cut ends that are a normal part of the seasoning process. Those checks will be trimmed away in the construction process.

I'll tell you more about that process another day. In the meantime, Happy Holidays from Wisconsin's Northwoods.