Thread: She Oak Logs

Bandsaw best option for that small. Timber will be Ok but will depend on what type of Sheoak as to quality and grain etc. Cut up ASAP into sizes/blanks you need and seal with wax if possible on ends + 1" along sides. Store in shade under house or something to dry slowly, this stuff cracks just by looking at it normally.

Good advice above.

Bandsaw it and strip it out under cover...

Sawing it traditionally - with a circular saw - my recovery rates after re-sawing can be as low as 15% - 17%. It would be far better recovery with a band saw. Here at least the sheoak is a understory species that occurs on sandy soils beneath the Jarrah Marri canopy - as a result its always chasing the light and twists and turns to follow the light resulting in trunks that mostly have a pretty tortured shape to them, making them tough to saw with any decent sort of recovery rate. Also because they are resinous in nature, whenever any aerial hazard reduction burning is carried out, the flames seem to catch on one side of the base of the sheoak trunk and slowly burn in to near the heart wood, then die out - and you end up with subsequent growth away from the fire damaged heart wood. This odd growth pattern then seems to follow the light with the tree and twists often like a proverbial barbers pole... so that when you start milling you always run into charcoal / damaged, burnt wood a few feet or more up from where you started the cut.... which is one reason why recovery rates are so low. That said tho - some of the best deep reds colors in the timber are seen right up against the area where the burning occurred.... so that's one of the nice rewards for the effort to mill it and re-saw it for all that effort.
I reckon have a go - what have you to lose?

Thanks guys, I haven't seen the logs yet, but sounds like it might be worthwhile picking them up and having a go, I will have to make up some sort of sled for the bandsaw to deal with logs that long.

Missed out on these logs, someone else already got them for firewood.

Originally Posted by BRADFORD

Missed out on these logs, someone else already got them for firewood.

Bradford

Unfortunately they are pretty good for firewood, but criminal not to take out the best bits first.

Regards
Paul

In some areas of Australia timber as firewood is far more valuable than sawn timber for building/furniture