Lemon Scented Gum

[rude]

Hi all, i would like to know if anybody has any tips for slabbing and cutting large lemon scented gum also any info on drying would be greatly appreciated.Thank you.

[weisyboy]

it is hard to cut.

it will dry well the center slabs will be prone to spliting depending on age. it could have large inclusion of black sludge inside depending on teh age of the tree.

[BobL]

If you haven't done so already the first thing to do ASAP is seal the ends of the logs - even old plastic house paint will be better than nothing

I haven't got direct experience over the long term but somewhere I read that LSG behaves better during drying if it is left to dry as a long until the bark turns red like this.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=91076&d=1228905103

This was about 5 months after being cut down. At this stage the starting end of the log will be hard as (insert suitable expletive here). If you start the cut on the bone dry hard end it will take enough sharpness of the chain to noticeably slow down your milling speed. To get around this I cut 6" off the end of the log so I'm milling into a less hard end.

To maintain cutting speed expect to sharpen after every slab that is wider than about 30". If you do a search using "BobL Lemon Scented Gum" you will see a lot of different slabs of it all from about 3 different trees.

It is lovely looking wood and the smell reminds me of fresh Corona beer.

Cheers

[charlsie]

what the others said.hard, heavy and hard to cut like bob says keep your chain sharp and get someone to help lift the other end ,you'll do a sphinkter valve:oo: trying to lift a decent slab on your own. good luck:2tsup:

[rude]

Thanks gents,well Bobl the splitting sounds right, after viewing the logs for the first time today i was surprised at the amount of splitting there was after only being felled two weeks ago.The weather over the last week may have a bit to do with it aswell.It looks like this job may require a machine for assistance to move the logs from a twisted pile.I can get a section out of this log that is quite large and would like any ideas of a thickness to cut into slabs,i was thinking maybe 3" thick?

[weisyboy]

how big is it and do ya wanna be able to move them by hand? normaly 50mm is thick enough.

you should be able to get them out with a 4wd and chains. unless tehy are huge.

[BobL]

Thanks gents,well Bobl the splitting sounds right, after viewing the logs for the first time today i was surprised at the amount of splitting there was after only being felled two weeks ago.The weather over the last week may have a bit to do with it aswell.It looks like this job may require a machine for assistance to move the logs from a twisted pile.I can get a section out of this log that is quite large and would like any ideas of a thickness to cut into slabs,i was thinking maybe 3" thick?

If you mill at 3" thick you will really need a fork lift to move the slabs.

A 75 mm thick slab that is 900 mm wide by 2.4 m long using a density of 1150 kg/m^3 will weigh 186 kg! On top of that the slabs are a PITA to pick up (no built in handles). 2" thick is 124 kg which is bad enough but you can at least move these around on a sack trolley if you really have to. I have moved 175 kg slabs by myself using cant hooks and a big (fridge size) sack trolley but after moving 3 of these I was stuffed. On reflection it was a stupid thing to do and I now do everything above about ~80 kg with a forklift.

I usually slab at 50 or 62 mm. Every now and then I will mill some narrower or shorter pieces at 75 or 100 mm for table legs etc. If you want long 4x4" or bigger it pays to rip them on the spot (or get a lucas :2tsup:)

[rude]

There are quite a few logs at 6m long x 600mm but the main log is 6m long and 1.4m in diamiter so i will have to bring in a bobcat or crane truck so i can make the most out of this log.I was actually thinking of slabbing the whole 6m length because it tapers down to 1m wide.I know this will be a big job but a slab of that size would be pretty impressive:o.Your thoughts?

[Chooks74]

Hi Rude

I recently slabbed a 6m length of blue gum that was about the same proportions. I have a trolley that I roll the big 50mm slabs onto off the log. This takes some doing when you get low in the barrell but it make it much easier to move them. To get them over rought terrain I got three mates to help me out and we put them on some SHS steel with tie down straps to cart them to a trailer down a steepish hill. Make sure you mates are strong though this is hard work. Fell free to give me a call if you want to discuss any other questions you may have.

[BobL]

There are quite a few logs at 6m long x 600mm but the main log is 6m long and 1.4m in diamiter so i will have to bring in a bobcat or crane truck so i can make the most out of this log.I was actually thinking of slabbing the whole 6m length because it tapers down to 1m wide.I know this will be a big job but a slab of that size would be pretty impressive:o.Your thoughts?

Hummm . . . . it will have to be an impressive bobcat, that log will weigh 7.8 tonnes!

As far as the biggest slab from that log goes impressive, definitely yes - mobile no.

A slab 6 x 1.2 x 0.075 x 1.15 = 621 kg!
at 50 mm = 414 kg, and 350 kg when it is dry

It's not just milling it that will take some effort its moving the thing thereafter, especially when it needs to be moved around inside a building. As long as you are aware of this and customers or you are prepared to pay it shouldn't be too hard.

At 6m long you should even consider pulling the bar out of the log half way along to resharpen. Sounds like a hoot!!

[rude]

Thanks to all for your response, now looks like i may have to cart logs in smaller sizes off the property to do the milling as i can only get access after 3pm.I will be starting this on tuesday so i will post a few pics ( when i work out how) and will no doubt be asking for more advise.Thanks

[weisyboy]

ya gunna need sompthing bigger than a bobcat to lift them even in short lengths.

[Sigidi]

Mate it sounds all a bit too hard, you should send 'em my way:2tsup:

Rude what gear are you using to cut 'em up with?