# Milled Some Blue Oak 1st Post



## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

My neighbor and I milled some CA Blue Oak yesterday. Some of the pieces we were able to roll down the hill to a much more level area. Unfortunately the biggest piece we were not so lucky. I couldn't even setup to mill heading down hill, it worked out OK. 

These trees are protected in some areas of CA. On my friends ranch the trees were growing under some high voltage PG&E power lines and had to be removed. The trees were cut down about 1-1/2 years ago. Here are some of the pictures from milling and what I took of the wood at home after cleaning.

We milled the wood with the mill I built a couple of years ago powered by an 134cc PowerBee motor. The bar is a 38" and after milling these pieces I can see a 52" bar in the stars... The second mill is the mini-mill I built for my neighbor. It was great for milling the sides of the logs into a square cant. His saw is a Husky 365 Special with a 24" bar using 3/8" chain.

Logs to be milled. biggest piece was 56" long and 45" wide. Had to do a bit of trimming so I could swing my 38" bar to make the cuts.







Here is a picture of the big piece to be milled.






Here is a view from the 6K acre ranch. The weather was beautiful both days we were up there.






Took this picture the day we went out to scope out the tree. That's my truck way in the background.






Another shot of the ranch and my neighbor/milling partner.


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

*Milled Some Blue Oak 2st Post*

More pictures of the Blue Oak milled.

One of the cants Simon milled square with his Mini-mill. We setup in the shade of other blue oak trees. The weather was maybe 71* with just a slight breeze. Great milling weather.






This piece ended up having a crack in it, but I can use it for some smaller projects.






Here we have set up to mill a log that we cut at just under 8'. Our mini-mill guide rails are 10' so it worked out good.






Here Simon and my other friend Gary are making the first cut on the log.






With this piece Simon milled it at 6-1/2" thick and will be using it to make a bench. I will use one of the side caps to make a back. We did square cut three sides so when I mount the back I have a square line to work with.


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

*Milled Some Blue Oak Post 3rd Post*

Here we are preparing to mill the largest piece of Blue Oak wood. We had to trim some of the edges so I could still mill with my 38" bar.






Additional trimming of the log.






On this log I found it easier to use a 2x12 redwood plank as my guide board. The stump was on a real steep hillside and my 10' uni-strut guide rails I use just wasn't going to work. Our footing was an issue to doing this safe so a plank was our best choice. In this picture we have made our cap cut and are ready to see what we have.






2rd slab cut.






Making our 3nd slab cut.


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

*Milled Some Blue Oak Post 4th Post*

Here is what we brought home.





















http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181839&d=1303965678


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

*Milled Some Blue Oak Post 5th Post*

More of what we brought home.
















These pieces will be used for the bench I will be making.






So this is what I did on Tuesday. Today we went back and cut a little over a cord of wood from the remaining limbs. As I type this I'm a bit sore all over. I think it was harder doing all the fire wood cutting and hauling to the trucks. Overall it was a fun two days. I still have a maple tree I haven't milled yet. Tomorrow I will be spending my time cleaning all my saws and gear I used and then my truck, it's really muddy-dirty. My milled ran great every time so I was very happy with it's performance.

jerry-


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## BlueRider (Apr 28, 2011)

Nice color and figure. You ended up with some boards with some nice character, this is a bleassing and a curse. the blessing part is obvious, the curse part is that the boards are so spectacular that they can over power a design so the challange is to come up with a design that lets the wood be what it is. I would recomend reading George Nakashima's 'The soul of a tree' while you wait for those boards to dry.

Amazon.com: The Soul of a Tree: A Master Woodworkers Reflections (9780870119033): George Nakashima: Books


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## SDB777 (Apr 28, 2011)

> These trees are protected in some areas of CA.




Great place, nice slabs, and good friends you have there!!!

Question....if the trees are protected in 'some' areas of CA. What happens when someone notices these trees are protected? I mean, how do the 'powers that be' know that the wood you have there isn't from one of the protected trees?


BTW, how much would you like to get for a chunk(about the size of the slender medium flat rate box) with some nice swirly grain? Bet it would make a few nice pens and small bowls on my lathe!!





Scott


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## Timberframed (Apr 28, 2011)

Good work on that Blue. Are those auxiliary tanks film developing canisters? I was thinking of doing that being stainless and all.


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## john taliaferro (Apr 28, 2011)

Yes but it wouldn't be as much fun milling on flat ground with out mud . Thats a awesome score Jerry , Scott is right bout the bold coloring in those boards they are special stuff . It don't get much better than good friends ,sweet mill , good wood ,and a perty day .


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## betterbuilt (Apr 28, 2011)

Nice score.


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## mtngun (Apr 28, 2011)

Nice country. Why aren't there any cows grazing on that green grass ?





I wish I could get my logs to levitate off the ground like this. It would sure be a more comfortable way to mill.





Thanks for the excellent pics. :msp_thumbsup:


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## smokinj (Apr 28, 2011)

Awesome, Love the milling saw as well! Very nicely done...........


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## tomsteve (Apr 28, 2011)

i dont know whats more beautiful. the wood or the scenery. you are a very fortunate man.


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## BlueRider (Apr 28, 2011)

mtngun said:


> I wish I could get my logs to levitate off the ground like this. It would sure be a more comfortable way to mill.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## stipes (Apr 28, 2011)

*Thanks for the pics.*

Thats some nice wood you milled up. Thank you for the pics. and enjoyed lookin at em...


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## HPLP (Apr 28, 2011)

Very nice,

thanks for sharing.

H


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

Scott,



> Question....if the trees are protected in 'some' areas of CA. What happens when someone notices these trees are protected? I mean, how do the 'powers that be' know that the wood you have there isn't from one of the protected trees?



** The trees were documented by PG&E through their contractor that cut them down. What the contractor didn't know is that they were Blue Oak trees. The contractor only know that they were to clear under and 100ft. right & left of the power lines. My friend was not very happy they were cut. From where the stumps were those trees were easily 100ft clear of the power lines.




> BTW, how much would you like to get for a chunk(about the size of the slender medium flat rate box) with some nice swirly grain? Bet it would make a few nice pens and small bowls on my lathe!!



** Send me a PM and we'll talk. I have one large cant I will be cutting some wood off and if it's ok I can send you some wood to try.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

Timberframed said:


> Good work on that Blue. Are those auxiliary tanks film developing canisters? I was thinking of doing that being stainless and all.



Thanks

The large tank I made from a piece of aluminum I rolled into a cylinder and capped with some plate aluminum. I turned the pipe fitting bungs on my lathe. The only piece I had to buy was the filler neck. That came from Speedway Engineering.

The smaller oil tanks are made from the solvent used for flushing AC units on cars. Once empty I cut the top and weld on a bung tapped for 1/4" pipe. The top bung is tapped for 3/4" pipe. They have worked out very well with no problems with vibration since they are insulated with rubber. The back tank is secured to the frame rigid and the front tank is made to be removed. I use foam soda holders for insulating. The bracket is a bicycle water bottle holder bolted to the frame of the mill.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Apr 28, 2011)

mtngun said:


> Nice country. Why aren't there any cows grazing on that green grass ?



** My friend has his land sectioned off. That area has more water on it during the summer months and so he has his cattle on an area of the ranch the has less water during the summer. So they graze that area first then move the cattle once the grass has been gazed and the pond water has dried.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Apr 29, 2011)

tomsteve said:


> i dont know whats more beautiful. the wood or the scenery. you are a very fortunate man.


 
Thanks everyone. This ranch is so cool and my friend and his wife are the greatest. I'm always out there helping them fix fences, tending to the cattle or just helping wherever I can,

I spent today figuring out how I'm going to put the bench together with the wood we milled for it. I'm going to start Friday and I will post pictures.

For all you newer people, stick around this site, lots of good people here.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Apr 29, 2011)

BlueRider said:


> mtngun said:
> 
> 
> > I wish I could get my logs to levitate off the ground like this. It would sure be a more comfortable way to mill.
> ...


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## peterrum (Apr 29, 2011)

Nice thread, nice wood, nice saws, nice scenery......well done


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## BobL (Apr 30, 2011)

stipes said:


> Thats some nice wood you milled up. Thank you for the pics. and enjoyed lookin at em...


 
+1


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## mikeb1079 (May 1, 2011)

great posts jerry. i could look at those landscape pics all day. that blue oak aint to shabby looking either!
thanks for taking the time to post all those pics, i appreciated it.


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## SDB777 (May 1, 2011)

820wards said:


> I spent today figuring out how I'm going to put the bench together with the wood we milled for it. I'm going to start Friday and I will post pictures.
> 
> 
> 
> jerry-




Go with tenons and shims....no nails/bolts or wierd stuff! Gives a very rustic look that will compliment thos slabs!!





Scott B


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## 820wards (May 2, 2011)

SDB777 said:


> Go with tenons and shims....no nails/bolts or wierd stuff! Gives a very rustic look that will compliment thos slabs!!
> Scott B


 
I was thinking of using dowel pegs and wedges, I've never tenons. Have you got any pictures I use that may help me?

Headed out milling till Friday again so I won't be check site until late Friday or the weekend.

jerry-


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## SDB777 (May 2, 2011)

820wards said:


> I was thinking of using dowel pegs and wedges, I've never tenons. Have you got any pictures I use that may help me?
> 
> Headed out milling till Friday again so I won't be check site until late Friday or the weekend.
> 
> jerry-



Actually don't have any of the benches I've made left....they've all been sold. And the with constant rain for the last week(maybe longer, I forget when the last time I saw the sun was), I haven't started another yet.

I use a router to make the tenons, and the slot it goes into on the sides. Nothing special, just a rounded 'tenon' that gets hammered(gently) into a rounded slot.... Sometimes a shim is needed, but most times....nah, solid!



Scott B


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## 820wards (May 24, 2011)

*Now It's a Bench*

Here are some pictures of the Blue Oak log we milled that I turned into a bench for my friends who own the ranch. They really liked the bench.

Here is what the log looked like when we found it.






Then I turned it into this bench.
















Here are my friends who own the ranch. Really nice people and they loved the bench. He wanted to know when I was going to start on some chairs. Right.... And she wanted to know if I could make a swing out of it. Right...

She didn't want her boots to show in the picture because she had been out earlier feeding her pigs and they were dirty. They are pretty down tom earth people, she has two masters degrees and he has a PhD. jerry-


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## rarefish383 (May 24, 2011)

Jerry, this is a real easy way to do mortice and tennons on a bench. First I set the seat slab on some old pavers to get it 18" high. Then I set the side pieces up against it. Traced lines along the seat onto the sides. I used the natural check in the seat to make my tennons, so they are not dead even side to side, one is a little farther forward than the other side. I cut my planks 3" thick. To make the mortice I just did a plunge cut with my circular saw. You do have to hold on tight, the saw will try to run on you. The circular saw didn't go quite all the way through so I finished the cut with a sawzall. Then I trimmed 3" off the seat to make the tennon. It took very little work with a big wood rasp to square up the mortices. Did the back the same way. From the time I set the seat on the pavers till I plopped my behind on the bench was almost 3 hrs to the minute. This was on a broiling hot day in July, Joe.





On the left, top side, of the back you can see a piece of a long furniture clamp sticking out, that's all that was holding every thing together while I traced my lines on the 2 side pieces.





In the next 2 pictures you can see how the mortices are not symetrical, but are cut to take advantage of the natural check in the planks.









I used the natural check in case it ever got loose I could just add a wooden wedge. It's been sitting on the pattio sice last July and it's so thight I'm going to have to use some force to knock it apart. I sanded most of it last year and it was realy pretty, now it's all greyed out. I'm gonna knock it apart and lightly sand it and try some Cabot's Australian Timber Oil on it, Joe.


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## 820wards (May 24, 2011)

Joe,

Nice bench!

Thanks for the detailed info and pictures. If I get pieces as wide as your bench I'll try making one. The bench I built was made from a log that wasn't as wide as you have.

jerry-


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## rarefish383 (May 24, 2011)

Jerry, I just knocked it apart and started to resand it. I'll take some more pics of it apart. It was much easier to make than I thought it would be. My planks were from a Tulip Poplar that had been standing dead in my inlaws back yard for about 5 years. It finally fell down and I was cutting it in pieces just big enough to throw back in the woods. As I started getting into the bigger wood in the bottom 15 feet red sawdust started coming out. That's when I decided to mill the rest of the log. When I first cut it there was quite a bit of blues, reds, and the natural yellow of Poplar. Now it's all grey and faded. After sanding on one piece for about 2 hrs the wood is very blond with some yellow, and a couple smaller patches of blue. I might start a new thread as I put it back together, Joe.


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## TraditionalTool (May 24, 2011)

820wards said:


> These trees are protected in some areas of CA.


That is true in some areas, but I don't believe in your area. I have checked about that in Lake County, not far from you, and they told me there wasn't any restrictions.

I have a large blue oak I'm trying to save, it's probably about 150 years old.

The key thing about blue oak is that they are deciduous, so they shed their leaves in the winter, opposed to say, live oak which doesn't shed and is a part of the evergreen family. The blue oak leaves are more rounded at the tips, if you would call them tips.


820wards said:


> On my friends ranch the trees were growing under some high Here is a view from the 6K acre ranch. The weather was beautiful both days we were up there.


Holy crap, 6k acres? I can't feel any pity for folks with 6k acres of land in Cali...lucky folks!


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## rarefish383 (May 25, 2011)

Here's a couple pics of the bench coming apart.




Trying to find some shade in the garage, this dry Poplar is making a ton of real fine dust.




This is about 2hrs of sanding. The abstract center piece is from a block of Cherry firewood I noodled at my BIL's.




Last one for today, one good coat of Cabots Australian Timber Oil, Joe.


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## 820wards (May 25, 2011)

TraditionalTool said:


> That is true in some areas, but I don't believe in your area. I have checked about that in Lake County, not far from you, and they told me there wasn't any restrictions.
> 
> I have a large blue oak I'm trying to save, it's probably about 150 years old.



I have some friends who live on Clear Lake so I know your area. This ranch is down in the SF Bay area and permits to cut any trees down around here are required. This ranch backs up to a state park so they really watch what is going on on surrounding ranches. They got after my friend for just enlarging an existing stock pond on his ranch that he ended up in court to justify. There is a park helicopter that flies over his ranch and surrounding ranch's to see what is going. I always salute them when I'm out varmint hunting. 




> The key thing about blue oak is that they are deciduous, so they shed their leaves in the winter, opposed to say, live oak which doesn't shed and is a part of the evergreen family. The blue oak leaves are more rounded at the tips, if you would call them tips.



Yep the leaves are a dead giveaway. Gone in the fall and back in the spring. 



> Holy crap, 6k acres? I can't feel any pity for folks with 6k acres of land in Cali...lucky folks!



It's pretty cool place to go have fun. I'm taking my son and 4yr. old grandson out this Saturday to go fishing at his biggest pond. He loves fishing and it's perfect place to take him. I have done a lot of varmint hunting and pig hunting on this ranch so I figured making this bench from wood on his ranch was one way of saying thank you.

jerry-


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## 820wards (May 25, 2011)

Rarefish383,

That's going to be a cool bench when you finish it. Post pictures when you are done. 

So what is that in primer in the background. 
rarefish383.... 
Barracuda with a 383ci motor?

jerry-


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## TraditionalTool (May 26, 2011)

820wards said:


> I have some friends who live on Clear Lake so I know your area.


Jerry,

I am not up there yet, still building the log shell down in Morgan Hill. My plan is to move it up to my property where I will put it on a foundation. If you know Clear Lake, my property is inside Buckingham Park, the peninsula that separates upper/lower lake, so you have to go in from the west side over by Kelseyville. BTW, the lake is pretty depressed since the resort closed down, IMO.


820wards said:


> This ranch is down in the SF Bay area and permits to cut any trees down around here are required.


Holy Batman, not only do they have 6k acres, it's close to SF...OMG...it doesn't get much cooler than that...

Sounds like a heck of a ranch...:msp_smile:


820wards said:


> Yep the leaves are a dead giveaway. Gone in the fall and back in the spring.


Yes, because of the big blue oak, I have leaves about 6" thick around the property...there's a lot of leaves... 


820wards said:


> It's pretty cool place to go have fun. I'm taking my son and 4yr. old grandson out this Saturday to go fishing at his biggest pond. He loves fishing and it's perfect place to take him. I have done a lot of varmint hunting and pig hunting on this ranch so I figured making this bench from wood on his ranch was one way of saying thank you.


Sounds like a great place, and I envy them to have so much acreage so close to the city...a real treasure, IMO.

Even up by you would still be cool, but near SF is priceless...


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## rarefish383 (May 26, 2011)

820wards said:


> Rarefish383,
> 
> That's going to be a cool bench when you finish it. Post pictures when you are done.
> 
> ...



Yep, it's a 68 Formula S, 383 4spd. Chrysler only built 64 of them, 40 4spd's and 24 auto's. The last I checked there were 12 known to exist. Most were hot rodded so the super rair exhaust manifolds and a few other model only parts are usually missing. I'm lucky, every single part that came on the car is still there. Might not be in real good shape, but it's there, Joe.


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## 820wards (May 26, 2011)

rarefish383 said:


> Yep, it's a 68 Formula S, 383 4spd. Chrysler only built 64 of them, 40 4spd's and 24 auto's. The last I checked there were 12 known to exist. Most were hot rodded so the super rair exhaust manifolds and a few other model only parts are usually missing. I'm lucky, every single part that came on the car is still there. Might not be in real good shape, but it's there, Joe.



Joe,

Cool car, I think I remember seeing one race at the Fremont Drag strip back in the early 70's. It was sponsored by a local Dodge dealer. I hope some day you will get it going, it's a neet car. I have a 1966 GT-350H Shelby that I bought in 1971 for $700. Spent two years putting it back together and I still drive it today.

Thanks
jerry-


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