Thread: What causes this?

Hi guys,

I've recently started ripping down some 120 square roughsawn posts that I bought 5-odd years ago. I've got no idea what the species is, I'm guessing some kind of mountain-ashy thing judging by the pinkish colour. This stuff is dense though, and quite heavy compared to the generic "tas oak" that I've got in various bits and pieces in my rack.

I knew at the time that I'd get limited recovery from the material because splits and gum vein were easily visible from the outside. The price made it too good to refuse however so into the woodpile it went.

What I'm curious about is the splitting that's through the middle of some of the posts. Also the shrinkage is interesting - some of the faces have gone concave. The first photo is of the ends of some posts after they've been crosscut through the middle (3700 cut to 1850). The upper center & upper right are the worst post, then the left hand upper and lower are another post with a smaller split. The lower center and lower right are from a post that seems OK, but it's yet to be ripped down of course.
P1000544.jpg

Just for interest, I am getting some reasonable stock out of this. Following is a wider shot of some of the bits and pieces that I've stacked up so far, and another shot showing the contrasting kinds of boards I can get - one really usable and one not so usable.
P1000545.jpg P1000546.jpg

I had read somewhere that it's really difficult to get native hardwoods in large section sizes like this, perhaps this is why? I'm interested to hear what probably went on here from the learned guys involved in milling & drying.

Cheers,


Justin.