This is the last piece of the red maple that "definitely made a sound" last fall. Two way crotch, about 3' long and 30" wide at the branch end. I couldn't align all 4 heart centers as the smaller branch seemed to be curving. The 'meat' of the burl was between the two branches, so I leveled that end and then aligned the first cut with those and the larger butt end. Once I had it in half, I made two 2.5" slabs. I plan to saw away the branch wood at least to the heart centers, because I think it would cause the slabs to twist and crack. Especially considering how the grain is diving in the smaller branch. I ended up with a pretty good snipe on the 'underside'. I always set wedges before I complete the cut to reduce this, but the slabs didn't weigh enough to stay put once freed, and they slid back into the spinning chain. I think next time for a shorter piece like this I'll try milling on a slight uphill incline.
So what is your plan with these? Did you cut more slabs out of them or just in half? How was the density between the trunks? I'd be struggling to decide how to use these between table tops, carving or turning that center crotch on a lathe. I bet the grain would be pretty nice turned out. I have a very dense cherry crotch waiting for a project. I just haven't settled on what to do with it.
I'm planning to resaw them into some shop sawn veneers after they're dry, but putting them on the lathe had also crossed my mind. As far as using it for a table top, I'm afraid that if I leave too much branch wood on there, it will cause the pieces to twist and crack. Which wouldn't be a deal breaker, but it would certainly be more difficult to flatten and use. The pieces shown are 2.5" thick, and that's all I've made so far. That was the bulk of it, but there is enough of the burl left in one of the remnants for another 1 to 1.5" board. But that's thinner than I normally like to go with the chainsaw mill, so I'll probably work that piece on my bandsaw. Not sure what you're asking regarding density, but the whiter areas do not seem to be spalted - I think it's just fading into the sapwood it in those areas.
Exactly on the density. I wasn't sure if it was a soft spot. Checking crossed my mind. I'll be looking forward to what you decide to make with them.
I've had good luck with red maple not splitting, in my experience it cups more than anything Leading to a boatload of planing hard wood. But like you said dry it and see what ya get. With some good weight on it and a slow dry you might be surprised.
There is a big honkin maple burl on my neighbors tree that is about to come down. I thought about keeping it but don't know what to do with it. How long can the chunk sit around before sawing it?
If you can, saw off a bit of the log with it. You don't want it drying too much before milling. Then if you leave it log side down, touching the ground, in the shade, it could probably sit several months to a year before it starts checking. Ill be in your area weekend of August 19... Think shed fit in the Saturn?
I think it would, but it sounds like their not taking the tree down till September. If timing works out, I will bring it up that way oct/nov if you want it. I hate to see it go to waste but I know I really don't have the tooling to do anything with her. But more importantly, did you want to go ahead and build my deck real quick when you're down? At least stopping by I hope?
That's about 3 1/2 hours north east of here, FWIW...... BCPLLC, you should just go ahead and come here