We got our hands on some freshly felled Cook Pine (Araucaria columnaris) branches and logs from one tree recently and thought they would make great material for projects. As with all things handcrafted, getting these logs ready took some effort. Debarking trees is easiest when the logs are still green, so with chisels, hammers and axes, we started the process of prying and hacking.
“ These trees have a puzzling habit of leaning towards the equator no matter where they are found..”
The knots where branches formed were valuable, as our Romanian craftsman pointed out. Called "cep" in Romanian (see picture below), they are basically heartwood, incredibly dense and hard, and traditionally used in Romanian woodworking to make wooden nails and dowels.
Cook Pine is actually endemic to New Caledonia in the Pacific, but has become widely popular as an ornamental tree around the world. These trees have a puzzling habit of leaning towards the equator no matter where they are found and scientists are still trying to get to the bottom of it.
In Singapore, we find pockets of these trees mainly for landscaping use. As timber, it is a type of softwood with distinctive grain and knots, which makes for great character in making items like bowls and table tops.
Read this NParks entry if you are interested to learn more about the tree.
Cleaning the branches took a while by hand. We cut off a section to count the rings. Looks like this is a 13 year old tree. Now it's a matter of waiting for them to dry and be suitable for crafting.
