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  1. #1
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    Default Cheapest way to turn an offcut into a slab

    $_86.JPGHi, I have a piece of ironbark about 3m similar to the piece on the top of the image. I was wondering what the cheapest way was to get rid of the rounded bit and turn it into a thin slab around 1m long suitable for a desk.
    Regards,

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  3. #2
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    Giving Australia asyoura location is not very helpful. If you can specify a town or area of a large city you are much more likely to get responses that are local o you.

    By cheapest method do you mean cheapest for you to do it yourself.

    A slice from that section of a log is not the best place on a log to recover material to make a desk top from as it is almost likely to cup quite significantly.

  4. #3
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    Cheapest to do myself. Sorry I am new to woodworking, what does cupping mean?

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yeet View Post
    Cheapest to do myself. Sorry I am new to woodworking,
    The cheapest way starting with nothing will be to use a chainsaw mill - that's a chainsaw, with an ~$200 Alaskan milling attachment.
    The cost of the chainsaw will be determined by its motor size and that will be determined by how wide your offcuts is.

    Below a 1.5m log x 800 mm wide log having a 50 mm slice taken off it with an alaskan mill.
    It will almost certainly be cheaper to just go buy a slab than to buy a chainsaw and a milling attachment
    P1020920.JPG

    what does cupping mean?
    Do a search for "board cupping" images in google.

    The cheapest way by far will be to find someone to do it for you and if you can bring the offcuts to them
    Commercial Millers are unlikely to touch wood brought into them by a private person.
    You will need to find a private operator but once again we need to know your location.

  6. #5
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    Cheapest method meaning your wanting some one else to cut it up ? If you have some machinery then let us know what you have .

    Taking a thin board out of that will move and cup probably, Like Bob said, unless you cut it at 1.5 inch and let it air dry a year and a half then re machine that flat then build the piece right and seal it up . That's if the moisture content is up.

    If its bone dry . Say its been in a shed ten years . Then you cut the board out,or hack off the bark and have someone thickness it down . It may not move much, unless it gets left on a wet surface for half an hour , or gets rained on. Then it will cup before your eyes.

    Thicknessing it down is one way.
    Or cutting it down the length into 38 mm strips , flip them sideways and take off the bark . let them sit around to dry a year unless they are dry . Then re machine and glue them all back together in their lying sideways position . That will give you quite a bit of the best grain direction . 1/4 sawn.

    That would be interesting to see how a waste bit of wood turns out! Probably good depending on the amount of sapwood and its reputation in Ironbark.

    Some woods can keep their sapwood because its a similar quality to the heart wood. And some have sapwood that is rubbish. I'm not sure how Ironbark sapwood rates.

    That's a fair bit over the top for the new to woodworking maybe. You may get something from it though , maybe with the help of the guy who cuts it ?

    Wood just like that was used left like that , less the bark . In the old days . Four legs cut with a axe and drawknife would be rounded and fitted through holes bored through the top. You see stools, Milking stools , bench stools , work tables, slaughter tables in the bush carpentry style that have survived hundreds of years in this style. They are rare and look great!

    Rob

  7. #6
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    Cheapest do it yourself method, Adze then Draw Knife then Plane then Glass Paper or Cabinet Scraper or both

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yeet View Post
    Cheapest way to turn an offcut into a slab-_86-jpg
    Hi, I have a piece of ironbark about 3m similar to the piece on the top of the image. I was wondering what the cheapest way was to get rid of the rounded bit and turn it into a thin slab around 1m long suitable for a desk.
    some questions:
    how big a piece of tree do you have ? - width by average thickness, you have already told us that it is about 3 m long
    how long have you had it ?
    how long since the tree it is from was cut down ?
    how was the segment cut from the whole log ?
    how straight is the segment ?
    how many segments do you have or can get a hold of ?
    what is your budget for piece work or tools ?

    BTW
    It is unlikely that you can recover 3, "around 1 m long" pieces from a segment "about 3 m long". I'd anticipate losing at least half a metre during milling and subsequent drying.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  9. #8
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    What you are showing in the pic is a wing split. This is the waste cut from a milled log. There are a couple of a reasons why it is waste... too much sap wood and no usable width. Add to this the fact that it is backsawn it becomes a very unstable piece of wood. A thin slab taken from this would would curl into a drinking straw in no time. If you cant use it in the round, leave it for another project.

  10. #9
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    My major skill seems to be turning slabs into offcuts.
    Visit my website
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  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by rustynail View Post
    What you are showing in the pic is a wing split. This is the waste cut from a milled log. There are a couple of a reasons why it is waste... too much sap wood and no usable width. Add to this the fact that it is backsawn it becomes a very unstable piece of wood. A thin slab taken from this would would curl into a drinking straw in no time. If you cant use it in the round, leave it for another project.
    hi Rusty
    I think you are being a bit too much of a pessimist
    depending on the size of the wing split, the OP might be able to recover 1 or 2, 25 x 40s from his bit of tree.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  12. #11
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    Well that's been a pleasant welcome to the forum.
    Franklin

  13. #12
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    Cheapest? Buy an Ozito electric planer from Bunnings.

    You'll kill it, but just return it for another

    You'll need muffs for your ears, plus a means of collecting the snowdrift of chips.

    It might take a bit of work, but it will go quickly. Buy some spare blades, they are cheap

    Edit: https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-75...laner_p6290519 .... It's very cheap and very NASTY but it will get you there, cheaply. WHEN it brakes, take it back to swap for another... "Maaaattteee, dunno why it stopped!"

    From there is a bit of sanding

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    Cheapest? Buy an Ozito electric planer from Bunnings.

    You'll kill it, but just return it for another

    You'll need muffs for your ears, plus a means of collecting the snowdrift of chips.

    It might take a bit of work, but it will go quickly.
    It's Iron Bark so I really doubt it go quickly and it will kill those cheap blades in no time at all so'll you be going through dozens of sets of blades.
    I'm guessing you will spend more time changing blades than planing wood.

    My first experience with milling green IB was after about 100 logs of other stuff, if it would have been amongst the first logs I would have given up milling completely.

    The bark is especially abrasive so make some this is removed before applying any sort of a blade to it.

  15. #14
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    Ah, Ironbark. My bad!

    A cheap chainsaw and home made Alaskan looks like the thing.

    We could suggest an adze and plane

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    A cheap chainsaw and home made Alaskan looks like the thing.

    We could suggest an adze and plane
    you need to balance cost with the required skill level and the inherent risk.

    Adze is probably the cheapest, but it might take more than 10 logs to develop the required level of skill.

    chainsaw and mill requires several hundred dollars of PPE.

    an Ozito planner and 10 "it's busted" trips to Bunnings might be the least expensive option.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

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