Re: [IAWA Forum] Wood cores

From: "Henri D. Grissino-Mayer" <grissino@utk.edu>
Subject: Re: [IAWA Forum] Wood cores
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 16:10:02 -0400

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David,

Again, from my in-review article... sure, it may be rejected, so maybe I 
can get the information out anyway! Both electric and gas powered borers 
have been designed, and were the rage back in the 1950s-60s, but soon fell 
out of favor. One can still obtain parts to build these, and I'll have to 
defer to a colleague of mine, Jim Speer at Indiana State, to pass on 
information about building one of these beasts. Note: these are not easy to 
use and can cause severe injuries!

Henri

"Like many scientists, forest scientists and dendrochronologists are 
interested in ways field samples can be collected more efficiently. 
Although uncommon, power increment borers have been used as a means to 
collect numerous cores in a short amount of time. Stonecypher and Cech 
(1960) found that 120 cores could be extracted from 40 southern pine trees 
in one day using an electric drill with a low "no-load" speed (370 rpm) 
specially outfitted with a modified chuck to secure the square end of the 
auger. Bowers (1960) described a gasoline-powered borer with an auger 183cm 
(72in) in length with interchangeable bits, some specifically designed for 
hardwoods. A similar device was described by Yelf (1962), while Prestemon 
(1965) describes the use of a portable, battery-driven impact wrench used 
to drive an unthreaded drill bit. Speer (2001) used an increment borer with 
a modified drilling attachment powered by a gasoline-driven chain saw 
engine to core several hundred hardwoods in the southern Appalachian 
Mountains (Figure 12). All these devices are suited for coring numerous 
trees (mostly in easily accessible locations) but are rather large and 
cumbersome, and dendrochronologists often sample in areas difficult to 
access. These devices also require considerable physical effort and 
additional safety measures."

At 09:43 AM 10/24/2002, you wrote:
>All,
>
>I find this topic of particular interest, and greatly
>appreciate Henri's tips and look forward to his
>upcoming article.
>
>However, I have been wondering from my own research
>sampling Prosopis pallida on the Peruvian North Coast
>if there is recommended electric or gas powered
>alternative to hand coring in the field.  I have been
>extremely unsuccesful in coring these trees with
>standard increment borers.
>
>Any comments are appreciated.
>
>David Goldstein
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>=====
>David John Goldstein
>SIUC/Dept. of Anthropology
>Faner Hall
>Carbondale, IL  62901
>USA
>Tel: 917-930-4529
>E-mail:djgoldste@yahoo.com
>
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Dr. Henri D. Grissino-Mayer
Department of Geography
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996
865.974.6029
http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/

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