Thread: How should i cut/store silky oak '760mm'

Hi Joshua and welcome to the forum. First thing you need to do is get those cut ends sealed. It has blown like mad here all day and that sort of weather plays havock with wet timber. Silky oak produces the best grain when cut on the quarter. This is due to the destinct medullary rays which lend to it being refered to as an oak. When back or flat sawn the grain is no where near as attractive. This of course is applicable to the main trunk. Your photos also show a crotch which should yield some nice figure and other options other than quartersawing can be considered to get the best result. As for price, wait and see what you end up with first. For drying, sticker out at about 450mm centres, start and finish stickers as close as possible to board ends, Keep stickers in line verticaly through the pack, store in a dry, cool, shaded place.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Hi Joshua and welcome to the forum. First thing you need to do is get those cut ends sealed. It has blown like mad here all day and that sort of weather plays havock with wet timber. Silky oak produces the best grain when cut on the quarter. This is due to the destinct medullary rays which lend to it being refered to as an oak. When back or flat sawn the grain is no where near as attractive. This of course is applicable to the main trunk. Your photos also show a crotch which should yield some nice figure and other options other than quartersawing can be considered to get the best result. As for price, wait and see what you end up with first. For drying, sticker out at about 450mm centres, start and finish stickers as close as possible to board ends, Keep stickers in line verticaly through the pack, store in a dry, cool, shaded place.

thanks rusty, with quartersawn, am i right in guessing that, 1 you would get more slabs, but 2 they would be much thinner (down to maybe only 320 w sapwood) and not as unique for size? thanks for the tip on sealing, does this include down the cut length (if quartersawn) and would i need a special sealant or would a thick water based or acrylic paint be sufficient? im getting a lucas mill from katoomba on saturday so hopefully the wind has died a little by than, but once cut, how long do i have to place it in its final position? ill be visiting colo mill on friday and hopefully will come home with a bundle of slats.

You will get one maybe two edge to edge slabs qtr sawn, right thru the center and depends how thick you cut it, normal is 50mm thick, the rest will be boards cut from the top and btm peices if you want it all qtr sawn, and stack as soon as possible to get it out of the sun and paint ends as soon as, even before the lucas gets there paint the ends and paint the end with all that rough spike if you cant cut the end off back to square with the trunk, best if you can cut the spike off and cut to length and paint, short answer is paint the ends
A thick paint will do



Pete

Pete has answered most of your questions. With regards to how long for drying, work on one year per inch of thickness. So for say 50mm slabs allow two years. It makes no difference what width they are.
No need to seal along the edges, only the ends, NOW! When it comes to silky oak, dont worry about how much timber you will get, just go for figure, thats where the money is.Is your Lucas millers name Tristan? If so I know him.

thanks pete, im onto it, ill do the spike, im still unsure of the other end because of the crotch, am hoping the miller will share some of his wisdom there. just thought id upload a shot once id cleaned it up but before i sealed it, it really is quite beautiful, i can see why people make this their lifes profession. ive been told to cut it at 65mm if i want a 50mm slab (for a bench top). sorry rusty the blokes name is Michael Trinket (unsure of surname spelling), he mentioned silky is ok at 40mm. he said it will be a very big day so maybe he has QS in mind??
thanks alot for all the information guys, im really looking forward to doing this project

Usually I will cut the crotch from the trunk as a separate piece like this https://www.woodworkforums.com/f132/crows-ash-143949/
To get the most of the flame figure from the crotch cut it paralell to the small branch ends and as symetrical as can be setup e.g dont have one branch up higher than the other when looking at the pith in each small branch end, the best figure is in the center, it diminishes as it get close to the bark, just becomes wavy sortof


Pete

thanks for the advice pete, unfortuately there was a decent crack in the crotch that ran to a knot about 2ft along the trunk so it was left as part of the main slab (can be cleaned and joined later im told). and tho i didnt get any QS in particular i think there was enough personality in the trunk to still provide some decent slabs ie. dead knots,sawn branches 20yrs prior and buried in the wood, even a birds nest in a hollow below the crotch. the miller also recommended that i mill some of the branch mass into 4" for legs. anyway heres what i got

also the tree worked out at 1.71m3

Can't argue with that, and looks like you have it stickered well, if you can put some wieght on the top slab and a sheet of tin (I set mine up on a slope to drain water) and a few bricks/rock blocks on top and wait
Also for this time of year (if it's not in shade) is put two sheets of tin on the stack, separate the top sheet with an air gap 3 or 4" wide, this slows down heat being transferred to the top slab


Pete

If you can, bang another sticker in at the ends of the packs. You've got a bit too much at the end unsupported and that will cause the boards to cup as they are backsawn. A sticker right at the end also helps slow down end drying, which is a real problem at this time of year. Mills often double stick the ends in summer.

thanks for the advice guys. im working up at newcastle this week but wwill be back down on the weekend to do some more, ive placed shade cloth on the sides to reduce the sunlight in early mornings and evenings,and ive placed a 6m tin sheet on top as well to cover it all. i was also told i should place a sheet inbetween the fence and the stack because the fence gets sunlight from 12 till night and puts out a hell of a lot of radiant heat. ill have to look into both the extra stickers and the 2nd sheet, once again thanks alot guys
josh