Had 1 big one left from that large load my tree service contact dumped off almost 4 months back.About 29" diameter,34" long.In December through late January I freehanded several already that were at least 17" diameter & at least 24" long.Roughed out some of the pieces 2.5 to 5"+ thick on the bandsaw afterwards. Still ended up with just over 2.5 large p/u loads of firewood & about 8-9 bushels of shavings/chips - most of that I spread around the processing area,gave remainder to sister for mulch. But this one was more critical,with those blue stains on the ends at differing spots I knew it very likely had some old buried ferrous metal in there someplace - hence I couldn't just saw it through & through or just turn it once then start sawing again.... You can see in the pic where the blue stains are.So far 4 cuts & havent hit anything yet.Maybe the heavy tannic acid just dissolved the iron/steel over the past 100+ years? Looks like it anyway.... So found a well worn but VERY sharp 36" skip chain hanging on shed wall.Wanted to see how the 2100CD performed on this wider stuff (When I bought the saw last April,seller in Oregon included the razor sharp chain,but took $30 off the saw price since I told him I already had a 36" bar from another saw.) Hadnt used the mill since last July,when I turned a 15" diameter x 7 foot dead White Oak snag into a wide beam/2 legs for a heavy duty outdoor planning bench/sawhorse. Really worked great,normally I prefer to use ripping chain cause it cuts faster & smoother with less effort,but didn't want to risk ruining a new one out of the box in case the expected metal was present. Left - 2.25 x 24 x 34 inches Middle - 2.25 x 26 x 34 inches Right - 3.25 x 17 x 34 inches Listed them on local CL this morning,hopefully they sell quick.Dont really need them at the moment,its always nice to have some extra cash for a rainy day,so to speak..... I have the remaining cant covered with the slabwood & a scrap of plywood,away from the wind/sunlight to keep it from cracking until I get back to it in a few days.I figure 1 more 2.25 thick plank from each face,then I'll be into the heart,which will be just firewood once its done.
Since they're green & rough sawn,but in hard to get extra wide size I'm asking $50 each. If they were well air-dried,planed/sanded & ready to use I'd ask $150-175 each.Not a lot of storage space here + turning large bowls/platters etc with green wood is pretty popular.Hopefully a local hobbyist/artist snaps them up.Would be awesome for a coffee table too,but I have enough of those for now.I'll keep some later for future use.
That's what I generally aim for.I've always put back smaller to medium sized pieces when I saw something that looked interesting.Almost never had a specific project in mind at first,but would save things for later use. Have some random blocks/squares 3 to 5 inches thick that are easily 25 yrs in the shop.Apple,Mulberry,Honey Locust,Osage,Hophornbeam,all kinds of stuff.Every 2-3 years try to sort through most of it,anything that is cracked real bad/warped/mould/any pin holes etc either has the bad parts cut out or the whole thing is added to the firewood stacks.When I get spare time like to spend a day or two every few weeks milling more pieces,writing the date on each one,then laying it aside after sealing the end grain & any knots.Otherwise no way could I remember how old it was & if it was dried long enough.After a while I forget what's buried/stacked in all that bunch.Only to rediscover something when doing some reorganizing.
Nice to get stock that large pretty much for free. Good job. Have you every quartersawn oak in that size?
Not quite that big.But have seen some 14" to 18" in a few catalogues some years back.Very pricey stuff.
Finished it Tuesday afternoon.Cut 3 more slabs with the mill & 2 thick beams freehand from the scrap that remained.Inspite of those bluish stains,there was no ferrous metal in that massive chunk, still not sorry I used an old chain instead of new one outta the box. Mill still set at a hair over 2 inches.Once its dried in 2-3 years final thickness will be approximately 1 7/8 inches after planing/sanding. If they don't sell within a few weeks or so. Hard Maple spacers painted fluorescent orange wont get lost in the sawdust/shavings,grass/leaves or deep snow. Heart center (about 7 x 7") in upper left corner of pic is scrap,all the cracks always start from there.I use that + slabs,old 4 x 4 lumber to roll logs on to keep from cutting into the dirt or concrete driveway Smaller pieces (up to 75 lbs or so are placed on my 32" White Oak splitting/sawing block for final shaping. Left - 2" x 20 x 34 Right - 2" x 19 x 34 Left - 2" x 16 x 34 Right - 6 x 7 x 34 (another one similar sized is out of view from camera cause I forgot.....)
