Thread: What have I bought?

For the size is each piece heavy or light in weight? It could be Cape Lilac. if you don't want them I could be interested.

Originally Posted by rod1949

For the size is each piece heavy or light in weight? It could be Cape Lilac. if you don't want them I could be interested.

They are very very heavy. I was hoping to make a bar top out of them. Are they a type of Jarrah? Can you tell from pictures if they are dry enough to work on? (read a thread about that here)

Cheers

How heavy are they? just read your post again sorry - indicates a lot of moisture.
have the ends been sealed?

From what i can see there doesnt appear to be any checking (cracking) at the ends.

With the bark attached i would think they are probably still green - having no knowledge of WA timber i am very interested to see what others think.

I think i would paint/seal the ends and store for a year - or you could paint the ends and weigh them every week/month and when the weight stops going down you can then assume they are dry.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Caallmm

From what i can see there doesnt appear to be any checking (cracking) at the ends.

I think you need your eye's checked - they are splitting quite badly.


Who ever cut those looks like they did it freehand and fair butchered the surfaces. It will take a lot of work to get those flat unless you have access to some big machinery.

Firstly they are not Jarrah and it looks a bit like WA swamp oak to me - you need sweep off the sawdust and pour some water on them and then take up some close ups of the grain and post these for me to tell.

If they are Swamp oak that is not good news since they are split so far it is now too late to bother with sealing the ends because they will continue to split along the cracks. Even if you painted the cracks they will still split and your cracks will be full of paint or whatever you paint into the cracks that you will never be able to get rid of. I would not work these slabs until the splitting stops so that you know if they are even worth working with. I'm sorry to say I think you are wasting your time with those slabs, they should have been sealed on the day that tree was cut down.

youre right Bob

I couldn't get the picture to open up but now i saved it an then opened it - shouldn't have been lazy to start with.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Fantaysia

Are they a type of Jarrah? Cheers

There is only one type of Jarrah and that is Jarrah. To me it seems to be a bit too pink in colour to be Jarrah.

Where did you buy them from (not that its any of my business) and what were you told the timber is/

Originally Posted by rod1949

There is only one type of Jarrah and that is Jarrah. To me it seems to be a bit too pink in colour to be Jarrah.

Where did you buy them from (not that its any of my business) and what were you told the timber is/

I bought these from a guy privately in Kinross who just wanted to get rid of them to clear his garage. He advertised them as Jarrah slabs. He told me he bought them from a place in Serpentine.

It's looking like I bought 20 bucks worth of firewood ...
EDIT: I'll grab a better pic tonight. They didn't look red at all this morning.

The bark on the bottom one does look like it could be jarrah, post some more close up pictures. They do look pretty green though by how that bark is hanging on. For $20 you can't really complain even if you just cut some hall table legs and boards out of it.

If the checking does not worry you to much it might be worth bringing them up here and have me use the lucas to cut a level surface on it before flipping it and doing the other side. Otherwise I can do that and then run vertical cuts along it and turn it into boards.

For a rustic style slab bar I think you will get away with it but there looks to be a fair bit of drying time still required.

Originally Posted by Burnsy

The bark on the bottom one does look like it could be jarrah, post some more close up pictures. They do look pretty green though by how that bark is hanging on. For $20 you can't really complain even if you just cut some hall table legs and boards out of it.

If the checking does not worry you to much it might be worth bringing them up here and have me use the lucas to cut a level surface on it before flipping it and doing the other side. Otherwise I can do that and then run vertical cuts along it and turn it into boards.

For a rustic style slab bar I think you will get away with it but there looks to be a fair bit of drying time still required.

I've added some more pics .. let me know what you think? I would definately be open to suggestions towards making these 2 into bar slabs. I am not fussy as to how they look really, or how long they last for that matter. If I could get them cut straight on one side and cut level i'd be happy

Thanks to all the replies regarding these. It's good to have educated feedback as I know nothing about wood!

Originally Posted by Fantaysia

I've added some more pics .. let me know what you think? I would definately be open to suggestions towards making these 2 into bar slabs. I am not fussy as to how they look really, or how long they last for that matter. If I could get them cut straight on one side and cut level i'd be happy

Thanks to all the replies regarding these. It's good to have educated feedback as I know nothing about wood!

I'm 95% sure that is Obesa (swamp oak) .
Look here especially at the bark. This is freshly milled, it becomes browner as it drys out.

Those slabs appear to have the pith running down the center (the checking ).
If so , they are quarter sawn , and should be reasonably stable.
(unless that particular timber , whatever it is , acts differently )

Take up the offer to put a chainsaw mill across both sides to even them up , and consider slicing them along the pith/split /center.
(it may season , better, faster )
You miller will have a better idea when looking at it .

Later when they are seasoned , you have the option of joining them back up again , with a hardly noticeable join , and then cutting it to the width that you want for the bar top.


But first , Seal the Ends.
Do it now

Originally Posted by Fantaysia

They are very very heavy. I was hoping to make a bar top out of them. Are they a type of Jarrah? Can you tell from pictures if they are dry enough to work on? (read a thread about that here)

Cheers

Its a shame you don't live near Melbourne as i have a wood wizz that would dress them perfect.
Regards
Jamie

Agreeing with Bob now. Was a decent size tree by the looks of it. If you want to cut some 35mm boards off each side so you get left with a flat 70mm slab send me a message.

You are looking at a pretty long drying time for that piece at 150mm thick so cutting it close to final size sooner rather than later would be a good idea.

I agree with Munka. That slab with the heart in it is gonna turn into what I call a bird or W unless that heart is taken out. It will be even worse if it is thinned down. If the heart is taken out you could get some quarter saw of those sides.