Thread: "Axe" Cuts in slab

I have seen deliberate axe marks in NZ kauri, they were made to harvest gum back when it was a very valuable commodity. The trees would happily bleed a litre or so of gum then heal up, resulting in dark patches appearing in the timber slabs. A year or so later the gum collectors would prize off the hardened mass.

I don’t believe Australian cedar was ever tapped for sap so if these are truly axe marks I wouldn’t have a clue why they were made. I’d like to see some pictures though, preferably with something to show scale against the marks.

Hi
Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated
I guess there could be a variety of reasons for these marks.
I will attach a photo tomorrow
Thanks in advance for anyone’s thoughts,

I recall reading somewhere that cedar cutters would search the bush for trees and put their mark on them so they could come back and cut them later. Like staking a claim.
Regards,
John

Thanks John. I had heard something similar. Will post photos tomorrow

735DDAD1-B8DA-4359-9A6D-E84E3AC86684.jpg0636A02E-2D76-4087-AA27-B4029CC8E8C6.jpg68C7F85B-C8A3-4EF8-9E8C-83AF249E40EB.jpg6F779920-D5A5-45B2-AB1E-DBD8CDE71E37.jpg

Photos now attached.
Thanks for anyone's input.

Dominic

take one of the back as well?

589A7399-ECA5-463B-90A8-2AE1034A145B.jpghere you go

Probably old springboard notches. Double spring boards were often used at height as a safety precaution, particularly in soft timber species.

Thanks rustynail. Presumably the tree re grew into these cuts. Does this sort of feature make this slab more collectable/sought after?

Dominic

There is a possibility that it is an old survey blaze. Back in the day significant trees were often used as reference marks to cadastral boundary corners. The most common ones the general public will see are the old Main Roads shield blazes which denote the tree as a reference tree to a road reserve corner.

One of the main components of the blaze was the "shelf" that was cut well below the blaze shield. Into that shelf there was usually a drill hole or other such thing that would mark the actual point on the tree that was the reference point. These points were observed by the surveyor and used in the reinstatement of boundaries.

Blazes were also placed on the sides of trees if the tree was very close, but not on, a boundary line.

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about;

BlazeAx1.jpg

Blazes are many and varied and I suspect you have an old one.

Thanks feckit that’s really interesting. I appreciate the information

Originally Posted by Dominic74

Thanks rustynail. Presumably the tree re grew into these cuts. Does this sort of feature make this slab more collectable/sought after?

I guess that is up to the purchaser.
I made a dinning room suit for a family whose place I was milling on. One log yielded a lead ball in one of the slabs. The owner told me of a story going round that a person went missing, believed shot, back in the early 1800's. The originalowner of the place had confided in a a friend that he had tied the bloke to a tree and shot him between the eyes for "messin wif me Mrs." Upon checking with a mate in the local police we found the report of a missing person, the subsequent inquiries and written statements dating back to the time in question. Apparently there was no conviction due to lack of evidence and the unreliability of the confidant. I left the lead ball in the table surface and it makes for an interesting talking point over dinner.
I am somewhat intrigued with your notches. If they are in fact cut for springboards, how come the tree continued to grow after felling? Or was it that the tree was not felled due to a rotten heart or crotch? In other words, axeman goes up, notches for springers, stands on the springers and then "sounds" the trunk up high for internal damage, gets a bad report and moves on to the next tree. The tree eventually snaps at the rot point, probably in the first fork, leaving a long stump still standing. Many years later, along comes the next wave of cedar cutters, they cut the still standing now dead broken off tree and mill the timber. Hence your slab.
Just a guess.

Rustynail...

Once a tree shot for fu*kin around, now a table for tuckin around