# Scored a bunch of red oak logs!!



## aquan8tor (Apr 12, 2007)

Got a bunch of red oak logs this morning. My cousin got a couple trees taken down, and I paid a guy to bring them out so I didn't have to haul them one at a time. I gave him $200. I figure it was well worth it, considering how much BF is there. The smallest log is 18" on the smaller end, and there are 7 logs altogether, 6 are 10'6", 1 is about 7'10", the largest of which is 32" on the small end, 50" at the butt. The larger butt section is a little over 12' long.

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48888&stc=1&d=1176408558

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48885&stc=1&d=1176408357

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48886&stc=1&d=1176408401

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48887&stc=1&d=1176408432


Unfortunately, I won't bet getting to these quite yet. Had a little mishap when limbing a cedar tree on tuesday afternoon. You can read about it and see the picturesin the arborcultural injuries forum. I was lucky. Really really really lucky.

In about a week or two, after I'm healed and buy a pair of good goggles to go under my helmet visor, I'm going to start tackling this mass of wood. 





Question; do you think I should seal all the ends now, even if it is a month or two before I get to the last log?? I just don't know if it'll encourage any rot; the logs are FULL of water right now, and the temperature is certainly getting warmer........ Any experience with this would really help.


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## aquan8tor (Apr 12, 2007)

Sorry. Don't know why the pictures don't show up. I think I did the same thing as last time. OOPS.


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## wdchuck (Apr 12, 2007)

Pictures are fine, most guys would say to end-treat the logs, just in case you don't get to them when you intend to, but a month or two isn't going to affect that fresh oak enough to cause a problem, but you know, better safe than sorry. 

Glad to hear you are on the mend.


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## Semi-Hex (Apr 12, 2007)

I envy you the oak. I picked up about 300 "stickers" from Home Depo and am going to try to do something with this west coast oak. (Live, Black, Valley and Blue). I think I'll get something, it's just that it may not dry flat. I tried with Madrone but it didn't work out very well either. I stickered and strapped the log back together, it still twisting and checking all up and down the boards.


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## Sawyer Rob (Apr 12, 2007)

All quality logs should be Anchorsealed ASAP after being cut down... If they won't be milled for a while, that's all the more reason to Anchorseal them ASAP...

Rob


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## Woodsurfer (Apr 12, 2007)

Those logs look great! maybe some crazy grain at the but end. Is that some spalting I see? Great score!


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## dustytools (Apr 12, 2007)

Nice bunch of logs there aquan8tor.


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## Husky137 (Apr 12, 2007)

Seal them to prevent end checking.


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## aquan8tor (Apr 12, 2007)

Woodsurfer said:


> Those logs look great! maybe some crazy grain at the but end. Is that some spalting I see? Great score!



Spalting was my first thought upon seeing the grain as well. I think its really just the huge buildup of sap in the springtime before leaves really come out. The ends were really almost weeping today. Both trees were still alive, but had a few dead branches for the last couple years. Goth were intact; the larger log had a small maybe 3" soft spot that doesn't go all the way through the log, but I think this is the only rot in the whole bunch. I'm guessing that there will be some really phenomenal ray figure in the quartersawn boards. Lets hope so, anyway.


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## B_Turner (Apr 12, 2007)

Yes, seal any you care about. 

If you ever get a log that is very valuable, an incredible although very expensive sealer is liquid nails in the bucket. The version for pressure treated sticks to wet wood better.

A trick I learned on logs short enough to stand up is to cut a little of the old end off and leave it on the log. It not only removes some checking to keep it from migrating into the log, it also acts like a "cap" that stops moisture from wicking out the log. Since I am a turner, my pieces are sometimes short enough I stack them together vertical for space. So I "cap" them or seal them and throw a tarp over them to keep the wind off of them. I have blue costco tarps like this all over my property, currently I think 12 piles of wood.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Apr 13, 2007)

What they said...

Seal them! I'm milling some water oaks logs now that were knocked down and bucked out almost a year ago. I sealed them with 3 coats of latex paint I had laying around and it has kept checking to a minimum. Anchorseal does work better but latex paint does almost as good.


Nice score BTW!

Heal up quick and get back to work!


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## aquan8tor (Apr 13, 2007)

All sealed. Took extra time & did a second coat. Next week I'll start cutting.


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## aquan8tor (Apr 23, 2007)

*Need Advice on maximizing quality of QS'ing spalted red oak*

So I started to squre the BIG log to try to help get drying started; its oozing sap freely through miniscule holes in the wax; I guess hydrostatic pressure inside the log is forcing it out....it was ready to burst out , buds swollen all over the tree when it was taken down. 


Anyhow, the larger set of logs is totally dark marble-spalted on the inside. You can see this in the pics of the ends. The spalting pretty much continues the entire way through the heartwood. I'm going to quartersaw it up as completely as I can, until I get to roughly 4-5" wide boards, and get a couple live-edged slabs from the second section of trunk; (I only have a 32" bar on the alaskan)...

Are there any tricks to avoiding sticker staining on spalted wood that I should know about?? I was going to slice up some 8/4 poplar into 1x1's or 1x1.25" stickers, because its cheap and available. Thoughts?

There's going to be a lot more lumber here than I can use, so I'd like to be able to sell a little of it in the future. What can I do to increase the marketability of spalted red oak?? I'm tentatively planning on quartersawing it all at 4/4, and a couple bookmatched center sections of trunk from the second or third section up. Those will probably be for me! 


I've talked to a few cabinetry guys in my area, and a couple people that are familiar with millworks in the area, but I want some input from you guys. Thanks. I appreciate the advice and experience of those who have done it before, and given help in the past! 


Nate


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## B_Turner (Apr 23, 2007)

aquan8tor said:


> So I started to squre the BIG log to try to help get drying started; its oozing sap freely through miniscule holes in the wax; I guess hydrostatic pressure inside the log is forcing it out....it was ready to burst out , buds swollen all over the tree when it was taken down.
> 
> 
> Anyhow, the larger set of logs is totally dark marble-spalted on the inside. You can see this in the pics of the ends. The spalting pretty much continues the entire way through the heartwood. I'm going to quartersaw it up as completely as I can, until I get to roughly 4-5" wide boards, and get a couple live-edged slabs from the second section of trunk; (I only have a 32" bar on the alaskan)...
> ...



Firsts, when in doubt seal with anchor seal or sealtite. Latex paints works poorly and in some woods sucks way into the endgrain.

Secondly, what is your reason to try to quarter saw it all?

Third, I'd like to see pics of the "spalting." I see what looks to be a fungal line in the first pics, but would be interesting in seeing the spalting pattern. Maybe it would help me understand why you want to saw it in the quarter.

Around here, spalting occurs fastest after the moisture content falls a bit, esp with heat. So the fact that it is oozing wet is interesting.

I'm just in now taking a break from working some wood from a 40 inch american chestnut. Incredibly heavy, heaviest chestnut I've ever encountered. When dropped into water falls like a stone.


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## aquan8tor (Apr 23, 2007)

I'm mostly wanting to saw in quarter to keep it from moving on me, since it SO wet. I figured it'd dry better that way. I'm hoping for as little post-mill processing as possible. I'm catching a cat nap before work now, so I'll post some pictures tomorrow morning or afternoon sometime.

edit; by wax I did mean anchorseal, (baileys).


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## aquan8tor (Apr 24, 2007)

First couple pics are a slice of the butt swell that I sawed off to square the log. Sawed it open with my shop bandsaw. Sorry for the wavy cut. Crappy 6tpi blade. I have some woodslicers on the way. The red color is from further inside the log; you can see a little more on the slab I cut off, but I could only saw a small slice on the shop bandsaw. I'm hoping that as the color on the butt end of the log seems to get deeper in the middle, the marbling gets more red in the middle as well. If I'm lucky. 

I still haven't gotten to sawing anything. I've got to finish my shed first. Spent the afternoon getting a couple 11' cedar poles 36" deep in the ground. I hate rocks. 

The other pics I just put in for fun. I figured you'd appreciate the burls; came from a piece of log about 6"-8" around, but burled for about 24". Who knows what caused the burling. I just sawed off a high spot on the burl that had some insect life in it; 

Any advice on drying burls?? I think I'm going to slice it into 6/4 slabs, but I don't want to ruin it. I just figured I could make some veneer faces for a little jewelry box or drawer face inlays. 


http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49851&stc=1&d=1177460245

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49852&stc=1&d=1177460263

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49854&stc=1&d=1177460311

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49855&stc=1&d=1177460327


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## aquan8tor (Apr 24, 2007)

test post--can't remember how to make the pictures appear on screen when you post them......


http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49854&d=1177460311


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## aquan8tor (Apr 24, 2007)

DUH. Now I remember how.....


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## aquan8tor (Apr 24, 2007)

When I got the pictures to come up I put them in reverse order. The two pics of the oak are the same bookmatched pieces; just with & without flash. They don't look quite as yellow as the pic under the halogen lights, but they are more red than the washed out flash pic. Digital cameras......wish I had a good SLR digital.


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## dustytools (Apr 24, 2007)

WOW!!!!!!!! That will make one fine jewelry box.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Apr 25, 2007)

Nice!


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## woodshop (Apr 25, 2007)

Beautiful, those are keepers. I make a goose cutting board that would really shine made from that wood.


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## aquan8tor (Apr 26, 2007)

Do you have any pictures of the cutting boards?? I'm up in PA pretty often; not that close, but closer than VA! I'm sure we could work something out!! I'll have to see how everything looks once I open up that section of log. I've got finals next week, so I'm trying to avoid temptation to get to sawing. I did spend an hour setting some posts for the shed site that has been sitting untouched since the winter until now. Gotta get a roof on it like yesterday. I checked the wood under my tarps, and I've got mold growing.
Side question; should I powerwash the mold off and resticker or just leave it? I'm thinking I should powerwash the affected wood.


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