Thread: Tuart in the burbs

Hi Mike - it will be interesting to see what you can get from that sucker especially around the root ball.

good job Mike (just quietly are you on a witness protection program? if ya are mate - I won't tell anyone - shuuuuuu)

Yo Burnsey,
That tree looks like a bit of a mongrel, lots of forking and it looks hollow at the end.
I guess what you do get out of it will be interesting - crotch and root figure , but are you sure it`s worth it ?
I can buy Tuart slabs for $2500- $3000 a cube cut ten years ago!
Don`t mean to be a party pooper just that I milled a lot of B-grade stuff in my time just for the fun of it but the return on your sweat is better on a sound log.
But don`t let me disuade you as I am sure you won`t.(p.s. some people say Tuart takes 8 years to dry a 2 inch slab )
Good Luck.
Cheers

Sounds like I got that all wrong!
You are being employed to do it - and you have already done it.
Look forward to the photo`s.

Not my car Sidgi, owners so I thought I would do the righty As I said mongrel log but when you look at the pile of timber there was more than enough 200 x 50 boards there for a dining table, complete kitchen bench top and plenty of other stuff that the owner wanted. Considering the cost of having it disposed of, I reckon the bloke made the right choice (and he was stoked), the timber was beautiful with plenty of first grade stuff in it despite the ugliness of what we started with.

I did collect the old washing ling wire (old mild steel twisted strand stuff) with the blade despite trying to miss it as it actually went through the timber further than I expected. The wire was no real worries but the hardened nail that was holding it in place that the blade dug out took the face off three tips of the brand new blade.

I would have been more than happy to cut this for myself as the quality and colour of the timber was exceptional, but ##### it is hard and heavy. Grabbed a nice lump to make a new mallet with.

Pictures tell the story, needed a crate to flip the bade, start the engine and turn on the water as I could not reach, the first picture shows before I realised I had to remove the swing leaver. We cut everything we could out of it as even the 600mm shorts were well worth it for cutting boards and the like. Didn't leave much left from a millers point of view but the remains would still be a turners paradise.

Looks like a fair sized pipe in the log, any reason for having the frames facing that way, would be a real pain to get around the log all the time to adjust height
regards inter

Originally Posted by InterTD6

Looks like a fair sized pipe in the log, any reason for having the frames facing that way, would be a real pain to get around the log all the time to adjust height
regards inter

Pipe was not very deep luckily, more of a rotted bowl that only went a little further than you can see, it was just rot from the top from the tree standing as a dead stump for so many years - they reckon at least 40 but I think more, it was very dry. Frames, I have no reason, I usually set them on the left but for some reason yesterday I was thinking about everything else regarding milling this thing and just happened to put them on the right. There was a lot of walking/climbing involved in the job so overall I did not even notice it till you pointed it out.

Since no-one was telling me what Tuard was I googled. (I know! I didn't even ask. ) Here is the ref, for other "just curious" forumites.

Nice work Mike.

As it so happens I turned some small tuart handles last week. Picture here.

Originally Posted by BobL

Nice work Mike.

As it so happens I turned some small tuart handles last week. Picture here.

They're nice handles, would make nice chainsaw file handles I really enjoyed doing this job (except for when I realised I left my Peltors on the carriage handle while the trailer was being towed back to the front of the property and never picked them up when I got in the car - they are probably squashed somewhere on the freeway by now) as to me it is what small scale milling is all about. Taking a trunk that had a negative value as it was going to cost heaps to remove and making use of it for a lot less than that negative value. Even if they timber is turned into nothing but breadboards it is a win in my books. If some kitchen benches and a dining table can come from it then it is fantastic. To me it is recycling and ecological sustainability at it's best.

Originally Posted by Burnsy

I really enjoyed doing this job (except for when I realised I left my Peltors on the carriage handle while the trailer was being towed back to the front of the property and never picked them up when I got in the car - they are probably squashed somewhere on the freeway by now)

Bummer!

. . . . .Even if they timber is turned into nothing but breadboards it is a win in my books. . . . .

Yep - I agree - and don't forget the mallet!

Nice work ,nice recovery/salvage from that old beast.
It is a sheer joy to recover something/anything useable from something that would otherwise be wasted.
Cheers

Exactly why I love milling Mike. Lucas also have made it so much easier.

Maybe silly question - what is Peltors?

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Exactly why I love milling Mike. Lucas also have made it so much easier.

Maybe silly question - what is Peltors?

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