Milling maple crotches

Got this chunk-o-maple today. My last big wood crotch experience was that ash I dropped and I got some great advice here so I figured I'd ask again. How would ya? I could only roll it a little either way (I don't have hydraulics to help). My mill is a 48" but I only have a 37" bar right now, which limits me to about 31".

Here she is:


Super excited about this logs potential.

 

I see at least 2 options from here. I know there are infinitely more. Option 1, cut vertically into two separate piece and then slab them with your current set up. Option 2, get a bigger milling set up. Just sayin'

 

Mike, a guy I know might have a 50" I can borrow.... I did post a similar thread on opie to get as much advice as possible. There are so many options here my eyes are rolling. If I get a 50... I was thinking the blue line but I'm concerned about the inclusions in yellow:

 

If you get real nice figure in the first slabs following the blue you could do something with the spot down there that looks likely to split. When Rodney and John comes down for Randy's gtg they can bring the bar and both chains back.

 

I wouldn't worry about the cracks. If you found the coolest slab in the world in there, a crack would only be a minor obstacle.

Of course there's a million ways to saw a log, and there's a lot of factors that will be different for everyone. Having a vision of what you want to do with it later on is probably the best guide. For me, I'm starting to feel more limited in terms of preferred storage space, so I'm mostly interested in the straightest, clearest stuff, or with a piece like yours, getting the best figure. Here's what I'd do.

I like this side best if you're interested in wide slabs. I find with maple, you can actually 'read' the log ahead of time to discover where the best figure will be. A nice bulge in the crotch is a good sign of something special hidden inside. And in this case, size does matter - the bigger the better.



I don't think you'll find much figure in this side, and in my experience these 4-5 way crotches tend to just be a mess of knots. I'd probably cut the main leader off as shown and try to get some straight lumber out of that. The 3 smaller branches would be firewood and I'd try for a few wide slabs out of the main 2-way crotch. Unless,,, after peeling some bark, you discover the log has curly figure, which I'm finding is fairly common in larger maples.



Here's one I did earlier this year. If you want a more detailed explanation of how I sawed it, check out this thread: Maple Crotch Burl | Firewood Hoarders Club

 

Million ways, you ain't kiddin'!
I agree with your assessment of the red circles. I'm sure it's stunning in there, what I'm concerned most about is this area:

Where those 2 grew together is a spot I think won't hold together well. There is no bulging, crotch figured, grown together evidence. When I did my ash, I had similar voids (for lack of the proper term) which felt like rotten bark:


I really value your input, keep it coming! I do not have anything in mind for this wood, I just want to yield the most beautiful figure possible. I'll take a peek under some bark later today, after I paint the ends.

Last evening and this morning, upon talking with some others, I was inclined to focus on this area, so I'll definitely haven't come to any conclusions yet.

 

As far as the crack, if it's aligned with the 4 way, you could be right. But, it's usually impossible to tell how bad it really is until you saw it open. Looks like you'd get a few slabs before running into it.

I was pretty disappointed with the figure I got out of the walnut trunk in my avatar. I expected to find some nice huge areas of crotch figure given the large branch intersections. But when I sawed it open, there just wasn't much in there. There were several large 4-6" knots running diagonally through the slabs, and the grain simply went around them without doing the crotch figure thing. YMMV, but it looks like a lot of work to get to that, and the way the branches twist really concerns me.

 

Yep, that twist has me thinking too. If I worked through to get to that spot and ended up with knots...

 

Food for thought. Crack/split is severe.

 

Yeah I see what you mean now about the crack at the base. There was definitely some re growth there. I don't think it was a lightning hit - probably a stress fracture. It looks like it might run 90 degrees to the slabs I suggested earlier; which is probably easier to deal with than a diagonal crack, unless it completely splits the slab of course. Even then, well hey you've got a new live edge. Or a two piece slab. The possibilities are endless. It all depends on the application.

The first thing I'd do is nip those nubs off of there and then look at it again. I'm not a fan of Y shaped slabs anyway and I think leaving extra branch wood on there will make it more likely to twist. I missed the line you drew earlier, I think you may be right about a bark void between those two branches.

But you can see the whole thing in 3D, its of course hard to judge from pics. You can read the log to some degree before you ever saw it. If you're looking for crotch figure, look for the bulge. Curl can be visible with a careful inspection under the bark - if the grain is all wavy, you'll know.

 

That will make some fine firewood.

 

I'm thinkin'/hopin'




mike bayerl not sure how big of a football fan you are, or if you'e ever saw this before... but replace the word playoffs with firewood...

 

Dang Mike, that's harsh man. I hope you're just kidding? It's certainly not an ideal log, but not all lumber can or should be sawn to 5/4 x 8' on a woodmizer. Part of the 'craft' comes from working with what you got IMO. As always, you might have to work a little harder for it, but the reward can be that much greater in the end.

You've probably seen them already, but I made these booths from some of the lumber I stored in my garage with unsealed ends. The main reason the seat backs are split is because most of those slabs had twisted badly, especially the one (in the back) with the oddball knot along the edge. I ripped them in half to try to flatten them but I never did manage to get all of the twist out. But I'm glad I didn't burn those slabs, because that knot is everyone's favorite feature of the benches.

 

Man... it never ceases to amaze me how impossible it is to project sarcasm over the internet Of course I was just joking around. I can't wait to see what Jason gets out of that log. I love free-edged and/or crotch slabs and have several piece of furntiture I have made with them and decent stockpile of them in the barn waiting.

 

I knew that, and the video was back at cha! LOL!

 

BTW, I have some off-cuts and a couple of small burls and crotches put away for you, to support your lathe turning endeavors.