Thread: What to do with these redgum logs

G'day.

If it was me, I'd slice it into slabs roughly 1.5 times longer that they
are wide & seal the end grain. Slabs can be anything from 2" to 4".
The 2" ones become platters.

Then, time permitting, I'd rough turn as many as I could &
seal the exposed end grain again.

During the process of slabbing it, you usually end up with some smaller
pieces so you can have a chop at them on your current lathe.

Make them into toothpicks. If they split its a bonus, two for one

Thanks Cliff. I'd better get the chainsaw out then, or is there a better way. I suppose the two outside slabs need to be thicker?

Joe, umm, thanks. Can I send you some because I don't think I'd use that many toothpicks in a hundred years?

All ideas that don't require the use of matches appreciated

In that case what Cliff said,

If you decide down the track not to turn them but use them as planks/boards it gives you the option.

Is there any sign of end checking yet? This may have bearing on your decision. I would have thought that after three weeks in the car they would have some splitting.

Himzo.

Is there any sign of end checking yet?

I only saw them briefly at lunchtime, so I'm not sure. They looked OK. I'll have to move quickish though I suppose if I want them to be any good for anything. They're not really long enough for boards, although I suppose they could be used for boxes or something. He brought home some blackwood too but it's been split into billets for firewood.

Cheers.

All ideas that don't require the use of matches appreciated.

Ok ya make it hard, but if you insist what you do is, get two sticks and rub them together really fast......................

Originally Posted by silentC

.... He brought home some blackwood too but it's been split into billets for firewood.
....

Cool, what size billets? They could be suitable for spindel turning.
Watch out for the dust off them though, it can make you crook.

SilentC - I'd just add to Cliff's good advice that you should exclude the pith when you slab the stuff - that's the part most prone to cracking. Redgum often cracks or checks anyway, no matter how careful your grain sealing efforts.

Check out http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/logcutting.html for one way of doing the slabbing.

Slab it up my man. I'll be down to pambula one day to pick them up from you. just leave them under the house for now. I reckon 2 inch thick slices should be ok.

I got my wires crossed a bit. I only saw it all in a hurry yesterday as I was heading back to work after lunch and half remembered what he told me about it on the phone.

It turns out that what I have is a bunch of River Red Gum from a deadfall tree that someone had cut up for firewood. It's well and truly air dried and there's some star cracking up the middle. I milled up a bit last night and it is beautiful stuff - nice light orange-brown colour and a tight, curly grain. It's a shame none of it is more than 400mm long. There may be some of it that is OK for bowls but most of it is too far gone. Might be better for spindle turning and for box making.

The green stuff is the blackwood. I've got two slabs about 500 long and 4" down to about 3" thick. This was from the tree that had just been cut up by the rangers. It's still pretty wet and no sign of end checking yet. I think the pith has been left behind. I asked the old man to whack a bit of paint on the ends.

Thanks for the advice one and all. Thanks for the offer Zed, I'll think about it

Silent

I have picked some beautiful lengths of Red Gum out of Bunnies packs of firewood before. Turned some boxes etc, which sold well. One bit is destined to become a carver style mallet, similar to one posted this week in the photo section, to go with my newly acquired wooden planes. I'll post it when done.

Regarding the blackwood, why don't you send the useless, nasty wet stuff up to me, and I'll split it, dry it, and send the small bits back to you for firewood!

Alastair

Just a quick query, how long does it take to dry red wood if it was just cut down?

How long is a piece of string...?

Not a question which can be answered. The usual guesstimate for timber which has been milled into boards, and stacked for air drying is that it will take 1 year for each 1 inch of board thickness.


Alastair

Silent C
The heartwood of redgum is very unstable so try to discard the centre 4-5" of the logs as it will cause a lot of twisting and warping.
The old rule of thumb of 1 year per inch of thickness seems to work well on redgum.