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Thread: Big Log - Advice please
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24th July 2017, 10:40 AM #1Senior Member
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Big Log - Advice please
Hi Folks
Well it finally happened, the big old flooded gum in the back padock fell down in a recent storm.
See here couple of sticks
The tree fell accross an access road to the adjoining property so I have to deal with it one way or another.
In the interests of trying to salvage what I can from such an historic tree, out came the chainsaw's.
You know a tree is big when you have to cut from both sides with a 50" bar( only on the bottom )
It must have hit the ground with a thud because it buried itself 15" into the dirt.
It also split in a few spots along it's length.
So I managed to salvage
A 4 meter length which had a split so I quartered it in line with the split
2 x 6 meter lengths whole ( one of which has a split )
The sections I saved are approx 1600mm dia but they have a 750mm hollow in the center
OK The question? I thought originally that a couple of slabs would be fairly impressive.
Cutting close to the hole in the middle would give a slab of 1350 x 6 meters.
As it is a fair way out from the center of the tree do you think it will cup badly???
The other alternative would be to quarter it and cut true quarter sawn boards, (I should be able to jig it up and cut it radially )
Sawing it radially would yield boards from 250 to 350 wide after I remove the sap and the crap from the middle, but would waste quite a bit.
At the end of the day the timber might not even be any good but hey it's been a good learning curve for handling big logs.
I put a few chunks through the wood splitter and they let go with a fair crack so I think the grain is fairly tight.
Anyway here are a couple of pics for ya
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30th July 2017, 10:59 PM #2New Member
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Yep, Big stick that one.
Just finished slicing up a sizeable red gum limb for fire wood.
20170723_101852.jpg
Bottom end of 4 pieces 2.4 long, very gnarly in the grain.
24" bar on the Makita, the limb was on the ground for a couple of years much easier to cut than split.
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31st July 2017, 10:45 AM #3GOLD MEMBER
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31st July 2017, 11:25 AM #4GOLD MEMBER
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I guess a lot depends on what you want to do with it, but I, personally would try to get a couple of flat sawn (slabbed) boards out of it for table tops. Cut them as thick as you can, and then you may have the option to bookmatch them.
Otherwise I would quartersaw the lot of it in 40-50mm boards, or cut it into square, post stock. I can't tell exactly how large you'd be able to get square pieces out of it, but it looks like you may be able to get some 200mm or greater square sections. That's pretty unheard of, and a traditional furniture maker would drool over a pack of wood that included 8" x 8" post stock for turning table spindles.
That's a really nice tree. I would, above all, do it justice and make sure that you (or someone) can get some good furniture material out of it. If I was still in AU I'd be calling...
Good luck,
Luke
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1st August 2017, 09:46 AM #5Senior Member
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I'm guessing that most think it's just firewood ??
The pics don't really do it justice. that wall section is 350-450 thick and the sap wood is only about 30mm.
As far as a slab or two goes ? it's a fair way out from the center, so not sure if ongoing cupping will be a problem.
It would be nice to get a slab out of it as it would be 1350 x 6000. That's a big slab.
Alternatively I could get several 250-300 square quarter sawn beams or many 250-300 x 50 planks. All 6 meters long !
I don't have any foreseable uses for the timber other than planks for the jetty or a chook shed, but I think that would just be a waste. I've got plenty of logs for chook sheds.
At the end of the day it's a good practice piece and I'll have played a part in salvaging a very historic tree ( at least to the locals )
The conservationist from council whilst here to look at my DA a few years ago estimated the tree to be in excess of 500 years old.
So a tree that was already 250 years old when Captain Cook arrived deserves some effort from me to do what I can.
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1st August 2017, 07:22 PM #6
Crikey, that is a big sucker Andrew! I can't offer any milling advice, but Flooded gum can be very attractive timber, and as you say it would be good to salvage some of the history.
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1st August 2017, 08:53 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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I guess you thought I meant blow it to smithereens. No, not at all. Just the right amount of gelly and plugged ends will split the log clean in half at the most vulnerable line. Hard to detect the line visually on some logs but the gelly finds it. Sometimes it fractures in multiple places, creating a radial sawn effect. If so, so be it. Better now than slabs falling apart after drying. The radial pieces can still be run through a saw to cut good quarter sawn timber.
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30th June 2018, 08:04 PM #8New Member
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Hi Luke and others. My first post here... looking to have a few gum trees on my suburban block (Mornington Peninsula way) taken down. There’s a guy with a Lucas mill will come and slab them for me, but what will I be looking at to dry them to make use of them as countertops or tabletops? I’m confident I know how to paint the ends, put sticks and blocks under each slab, cover the top with corrugated and weights... I’m an amateur woodworker and want to use them for my own projects. If cut to 50mm how long will they need in open air drying? Will I need to kiln dry them to get them to 12% or so? Any recommendations on a moisture measuring device? The gums aren’t super large - maybe 500mm diameter... thanks for any thoughts here...
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1st July 2018, 12:54 PM #9GOLD MEMBER
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You will need to strap the stacks down with ratchet straps to stop them moving about, the stickers need to go directly under one another every 400mm or so and the ones on the ends as close to the edge as possible. Air dried it will take a couple of years at 50mm thick and you should get down to 12% within that time too. The problem is that 12% is not low enough for use indoors, more like 6%-8%. Outdoors will be ok. Drying time is approximately 25mm or 1” of thickness per year. You may find that depending on the type of eucalypt you have that the boards will need to be reconditioned in a kiln (steamed) once air drying is finished if you want to use the timber indoor. Just be sure that there is airflow around the stacks too. Cheers Cal
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1st July 2018, 01:50 PM #10GOLD MEMBER
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The general rule of thumb is one (1) year of drying for every 1" (25mm) of thickness. However, some people prefer to allow an extra year for good measure. Being on the Peninsula I would suggest that the extra year is advisable.
Aldi recently were selling moisture meters for $25, and whilst not as accurate as you would want, is an indicator. The one that I bought was 2% out on the reading, but for the price was good value.
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2nd July 2018, 09:17 PM #11New Member
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Thanks Cal. Appreciate it. Straps go around the stack and the stickers or in between stickers? Put a strap every few feet or so? How tight do I ratchet them? Cheers mate for advice here.
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2nd July 2018, 09:18 PM #12New Member
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Thanks Cava!
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2nd July 2018, 09:26 PM #13
Around the stack and stickers, and tight and the new retension once a month or so as the timber loses moisture.
3103F959-C33D-4B7E-8C98-A5E4D2F8793B.jpgCheers
DJ
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