# Old guy found a litte cherry log: Pics tomorrow



## oldsaw (Nov 3, 2006)

Kind of excited.

Mark


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## oldsaw (Nov 4, 2006)

Okay, batteries were dead in camera, so no "progress" shots. But, as soon as I can figure out where my link cable is I'll get the "after" shots.

The log was 14', and 16" in diameter on the small end. got 11 really nice 5/4x 7ft boards, much of it was clear with nice figure. Lost a bit due to the guy getting excited with the grapple on a backhoe...but that's how I saw it was cherry in the pile. There is a bit of osage orange buried in there too, but too deep to get out at the moment. Aren't construction sites great?

First chance to run the 3120 on "normal" sized logs. Maaaaannnnn, what a powerhouse. Just flew through the logs until the chain started to get dull, but by that time there were just two more cuts to go and the clock was ticking to get home. My first cherry on the CSM, that is some nice milling stuff. 

Mark


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## dustytools (Nov 4, 2006)

I milled some cherry today also. I used the 041 on the small log mill. I got 6 nice boards 1 1/4 inches by various widths about 7 feet long. Beautiful stuff.


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## bookerdog (Nov 4, 2006)

*3120*



oldsaw said:


> Okay, batteries were dead in camera, so no "progress" shots. But, as soon as I can figure out where my link cable is I'll get the "after" shots.
> 
> The log was 14', and 16" in diameter on the small end. got 11 really nice 5/4x 7ft boards, much of it was clear with nice figure. Lost a bit due to the guy getting excited with the grapple on a backhoe...but that's how I saw it was cherry in the pile. There is a bit of osage orange buried in there too, but too deep to get out at the moment. Aren't construction sites great?
> 
> ...


Mannnn is right with those 3120 just great milling saw. When you start milling suff 20 and under you can't push them through fast enough.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Nov 5, 2006)

oldsaw said:


> Okay, batteries were dead in camera, so no "progress" shots. But, as soon as I can figure out where my link cable is I'll get the "after" shots.
> 
> The log was 14', and 16" in diameter on the small end. got 11 really nice 5/4x 7ft boards, much of it was clear with nice figure. Lost a bit due to the guy getting excited with the grapple on a backhoe...but that's how I saw it was cherry in the pile. There is a bit of osage orange buried in there too, but too deep to get out at the moment. Aren't construction sites great?
> 
> ...



Yup- most of the lumber I have in the barn is from construction sites.


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## oldsaw (Nov 5, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> Yup- most of the lumber I have in the barn is from construction sites.



Yeah, but we've got one of our contractors trained. He pulls the stuff he thinks we may want off to the side, spaced apart for access. This stuff is all stacked up. Okay, "stacked" is too nice. Piled.

There is a really nice straight black locust log that would be easy to get to I may do this week, and an osage orange buried a bit deeper, which would take some effort. Otherwise, a lot of hackberry, another cherry that is completely mangled, and some other non descript crap. One of the hackberry logs is pretty decent size. May have to do that too if someone doesn't beat me to it. An old guy was giving it the eyeball.

Funny how I sometimes get grief from people for using a CSM because it is so "wasteful", when the majority of the stuff I cut is destined for the tub grinder or the landfill. There was NO way a bandmill was getting to where this thing was. I'm not sure how he got the backhoe there.

Mark


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Nov 5, 2006)

oldsaw said:


> Yeah, but we've got one of our contractors trained. He pulls the stuff he thinks we may want off to the side, spaced apart for access. This stuff is all stacked up. Okay, "stacked" is too nice. Piled.



Yeah, but it's even better when you're the contractor!



oldsaw said:


> Funny how I sometimes get grief from people for using a CSM because it is so "wasteful", when the majority of the stuff I cut is destined for the tub grinder or the landfill. There was NO way a bandmill was getting to where this thing was. I'm not sure how he got the backhoe there.



Yep, I watched many 200+ year old live oaks get fed into a tub grinder before I had the ability to save them.


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## Chopwood (Nov 6, 2006)

Mark, you know I want to see some action shots!


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## oldsaw (Nov 7, 2006)

Okay, here are my "non-action" pictures.












Then, the picture I have to post...my wife's Windstar in "pick-up" mode.






Sorry for the delay, and lack of "action" shots...next time.

Mark


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## CaseyForrest (Nov 7, 2006)

Finally...do you know how long ive been waiting to post in this thread>???? 

haha...good work Mark!!


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## oldsaw (Nov 7, 2006)

Had to buy a card reader at Best Buy...but I got the pictures up. Fighting a bad internet connection at a Super 8 in Mason City, Iowa too. Hardwire connection, but it has shut down half dozen times in the past hour.

Mark


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## Adkpk (Nov 7, 2006)

Ok, thanks Casey, you and me both. Nice cherry, old saw. Good shot of the back of the get away vehicle.


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## Adkpk (Nov 7, 2006)

I see the old guy but not little cherry, looks like not so little cherry. Wish I had a little, 'cherry'.


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## woodshop (Nov 7, 2006)

Nice stack of cherry boards you got there... looks like lots of heartwood in those, very little sapwood. Thats what we woodworkers want. 

You might think about taking a circular saw (or good jigsaw) and trimming off that bark and some of the sapwood right underneath it. Bugs and their eggs often reside there, and then hatch and start makin' tunnels in your cherry.


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## oldsaw (Nov 7, 2006)

The bark will be trimmed off in the next week or so. Depends on time. More logs to get Saturday or Sunday, and a bit more to add to the pile. A few odd bits from where the cherry came from, and a whack of walnut from another place a few miles away. But, yes, this was some really nice stuff. I was a bit surprised that it worked out that way...not usually my luck. I didn't "pick" the board to show the grain, that was just the top board that was certainly pretty enough.

I use a circular saw with a guide to do one side, then run the other off on the table saw to get two parallel sides. I just did a batch of walnut from earlier this year that is waiting to get planed and stacked. Also some other cherry that was cut on my buddy's band mill.

Got to "make hay while the sun shines". The weather has been cooperative and there is a small window to get some more logs milled. Trim-ups will wait for now.

Mark


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## woodshop (Nov 8, 2006)

oldsaw said:


> The bark will be trimmed off in the next week or so. Depends on time. More logs to get Saturday or Sunday.....


I have to admit I'm a little lazy when it comes to trimming bark off boards. It's just one of those jobs I don't like to do... I like to get home, brush the sawdust off and sticker them. That's why I take the extra time in the field to square up a cant, so I'm milling boards without any bark to begin with. Also eliminates the need to dispose of the trimmings back home. Problem is of course then it takes longer to mill the log... more fussing with the log as you slab it, roll it 90, slab it etc. I still figure, at least for me, it saves time in the long run.


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## Adkpk (Nov 8, 2006)

Does anyone here use a bark spud? I've been trying to buy one on ebay but they go for like $60. Not what I want to pay one. Are they worth it? I use an ice scraper for now.


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## oldsaw (Nov 8, 2006)

woodshop said:


> I have to admit I'm a little lazy when it comes to trimming bark off boards. It's just one of those jobs I don't like to do... I like to get home, brush the sawdust off and sticker them. That's why I take the extra time in the field to square up a cant, so I'm milling boards without any bark to begin with. Also eliminates the need to dispose of the trimmings back home. Problem is of course then it takes longer to mill the log... more fussing with the log as you slab it, roll it 90, slab it etc. I still figure, at least for me, it saves time in the long run.



That's why I don't do it. Seems I'm always on a timetable, either due to my wife, or troubles in the field that set me back. This time it was getting the log off of the pile. Took me about an hour.

Mark


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## woodshop (Nov 8, 2006)

Adrpk said:


> Does anyone here use a bark spud? I've been trying to buy one on ebay but they go for like $60. Not what I want to pay one. Are they worth it? I use an ice scraper for now.


Problem with a bark spud, is unless you catch that bark just the right time of the year, the bark doesn't come off all that easily. I've never used one, but seen them used at logging shows, and it looks like a LOT of work.


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## woodshop (Nov 8, 2006)

oldsaw said:


> That's why I don't do it. Seems I'm always on a timetable, either due to my wife, or....
> Mark


Hey Mark... the way I got the wife on board with me spending so much time milling wood was eventually make her something from it in the shop, and tell her how much the wood would have cost if I had to go buy it. 

Of course you leave out the part about how much you paid for the chainsaw, the mill, the 100 ft of ripping chain, couple hundred bucks worth of hardhat, chaps, good ear and eye protection etc etc :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Adkpk (Nov 8, 2006)

I cut trees in the winter on my woodlot. After two years the bark comes off pretty easily (depending on the tree of course). I use an ice scrapper for now. It works really well, better than the axe I used to use. It is one of the jobs I really enjoy. But I was curious to see if anyone had any experience with a spud. I am going to start a new thread on this. So come on over and ckeck it out.


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## oldsaw (Nov 8, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Hey Mark... the way I got the wife on board with me spending so much time milling wood was eventually make her something from it in the shop, and tell her how much the wood would have cost if I had to go buy it.
> 
> Of course you leave out the part about how much you paid for the chainsaw, the mill, the 100 ft of ripping chain, couple hundred bucks worth of hardhat, chaps, good ear and eye protection etc etc :hmm3grin2orange:



She has softened her position. My next project for her will be a computer desk. Long term, a new bedroom set. We are at an impasse on furniture, but I'm winning. I refuse to spend money on particle board, even if the veneer is pretty.

This is the first time I've gone out and haven't gotten a bunch of crap from her about how much time I took. Of course, I was out with my son's assistant principal, who is married to one of her friends. It was nice for my milling time to be relaxing all day long.

BTW, I did tell her that pile was worth $500 at retail.

Mark


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## woodshop (Nov 8, 2006)

oldsaw said:


> BTW, I did tell her that pile was worth $500 at retail.
> Mark


NOW we're talkin'... of course that one can backfire. After I came home with one days haul of quartersawn oak worth "a good thousand bucks retail" I told her, she came right back with a scheme to sell the wood I work so hard at milling. So... sometime ya can't win.


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## bookerdog (Nov 8, 2006)

*yes*



woodshop said:


> NOW we're talkin'... of course that one can backfire. After I came home with one days haul of quartersawn oak worth "a good thousand bucks retail" I told her, she came right back with a scheme to sell the wood I work so hard at milling. So... sometime ya can't win.


Isn't that the truth. You tell them how much its worth and then the thinking starts. If we sell that wood I can get a new?


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## MikeInParadise (Nov 9, 2006)

*I am jealous!*

Nice stack of cherry. I just love building cherry furniture! 

Unfortunately where I live now there is no local cherry and to buy it is is about $9 bd/ft for so-so stuff.

I doubt that I will ever get to build any cherry furniture again unless you would like to ship that up to me!  

I built these two cherry desks for my kids using Norm Abraham's design which is great and you may want to consider for your wife. I put some detailed pictures in and you can get the plans from the new yankee workshop website. I just built it by watching the TV program.


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## oldsaw (Nov 9, 2006)

Wow!! Nice work.

Norm does come up with them every now and then doesn't he.

Mark


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## woodshop (Nov 9, 2006)

BEAUTIFUL desks, great job, nice work. Those look like heirloom quality. I too love working with cherry. It has it's drawbacks, like how easily it burns on the tablesaw or router table. Very sharp blades/bits and no hesitation during the cut is a must. But beautiful wood. I like how it darkens a bit with age and develops that unique cherry patina over time. I found out the hard way never put strait boiled linseed oil on a cherry piece. Linseed oil darkens almost any wood over time itself. In less than 5 years of sitting in a sunny spot, that cherry turned VERY dark, to the point where some of the beautiful grain and color dissapeared.


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## hautions11 (Nov 9, 2006)

*Cherry*

I like Cherry in the shop as well. I have built several of Norm's shaker style library tables. 4' long 16" wide, tapered legs 2 drawers. I also built a dining room table to match. Oldsaw, I have the same argument. $2k for a table and when you opened the leaf area, particle board and a thin veneer. My table is now 12 years old. It has had school projects built on it, three kids worth of abuse and spilled milk, some scratches and dents, but since it is solid wood, a little sanding a couple of coats of polyurethane, good as new. It has darkened with age, but is now a beautiful rich cherry color. I'll post a picture tonight.

The same particle board argument ensued over an entertainment center. It was a nice design, 7' long 6' high, slightly curved across the entire front. Slightly bowed doors that slide in front of the TV area, or in front of the side shelves depending on watching TV or not. $1800, all particle board and the entire back was some sort of fiber board. That is going to be my winter project with the Ash I am milling right now. My wife knows I do not have half of that $1800 in all my saws and milling stuff. On top of that the tree service wanted $1500 to knock my ash down, but my son and I did it using the same saws. 2 cords of firewood $200ish. Somewhere in this mix we are going to be up about $2600....... I need to buy more SAW's


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## LostInTheWoods (Nov 9, 2006)

Looks really nice. Gives me hope. I'm the newbie with the thread "Newbie with two big cherry trees". My status right now is I am getting the five big logs moved to the side by the 'dozer operator today. From there the plan is to have the local milling guy to pick them up Saturday morning and to mill from there. I owe everyone some updated pics of the logs and will send them in the next few days on my thread. Cheers!


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## Adkpk (Nov 9, 2006)

Nice desks, Mike!


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## aquan8tor (Nov 9, 2006)

Very nice work! I like the design, as well. I like NORM! Hopefully I'll have something like this to show off next year sometime when I've got wood that's dry enough to use!


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## hautions11 (Nov 10, 2006)

*Cherry*

OK Oldsaw, here is some more future motivation. Dining room set. The Norm table is against the wall with the decanters on it. I built the small table first to prove to myself I could actually do it. I'm with you Mike. I built the library table from a taped episode of Norm's show. The dining room table was really only the second thing I ever built in the shop.






My normal philosophy, just like milling, jump in and try it, you will learn a lot!


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## Adkpk (Nov 10, 2006)

Wow! Very impressive, Hautions! Good show.


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

BEAUTIFUL solid cherry table hautions... again I say, there is an awful lot of talent on this forum. I'm curious where you got the cherry wood for that dining table when you did it, and what you payed for it. I agree with that philosophy of kinda diving in big time as with that dining table once you have gotten your feet wet. Woodworking is not rocket science, no magic as some of the folks at my shows seem to think. Sure you have to have some mechanical skills, but those often come from practice and playing in the shop, making mistakes. OK, it doesn't hurt to have the right tools for the job either, but you can do a lot with a little. Just often takes more time. Most of my woodworking in the last 4 years has been semi-mass producing items for shows. Thus I spend a lot of time figuring out ways to improve jigs and ways to make x number of widgets faster yet still keep or even improve the quality of the finished item as I am doing that. I actually love THAT challenge more than making the product once I have a process dialed in.


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## MikeInParadise (Nov 10, 2006)

I love the cherry table Hautions, Nice work!... 



> I agree with that philosophy of kinda diving in big time as with that dining table once you have gotten your feet wet. Woodworking is not rocket science, no magic as some of the folks at my shows seem to think. Sure you have to have some mechanical skills, but those often come from practice and playing in the shop, making mistakes. OK, it doesn't hurt to have the right tools for the job either, but you can do a lot with a little. Just often takes more time.



I agree that far too many people figure that wood working is way more difficult than it really is. While having all the equipment makes it easier there are just so many different ways to do the same thing with different tools. 

I learn far more from my mistakes of which I make on every single project that I do. 

Such has fixing this table after the bearing came off the router bit cause I never checked it for tightness. 






So good bye ogee profile and hello cove profile.







If you are not making mistakes than you just aren't learning!


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

MikeInParadise said:


> Such has fixing this table after the bearing came off the router bit cause I never checked it for tightness.


Well for what it's worth, I think I like the cove profile better than roman ogee. Nice job turning a mistake into an improvement... I love when I blunder into a situation like that, and come out smelling like roses. Doesn't ALWAYS turn out that way.opcorn:


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## Adkpk (Nov 10, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Thus I spend a lot of time figuring out ways to improve jigs and ways to make x number of widgets faster yet still keep or even improve the quality of the finished item as I am doing that.



Ok woodshop we've seen your jigs and we were impressed so now we all have to see a widget.


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

Adrpk said:


> Ok woodshop we've seen your jigs and we were impressed so now we all have to see a widget.


Walnut




Nutcracker




Walnut meets nutcracker




soft maple, hard maple, walnut, oak and cherry


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## oldsaw (Nov 10, 2006)

Okay, I've got a bunch to answer here.

Knockout table, Hautions, I like that.

Mistakes? An old time carpenter explained mistakes to me once. He said that old carpenters make almost as many mistakes as young ones, they just know how to hide them, or work around them better. Over the years, I've come to see how true that is.

Mike, I had a router that the motor had come loose on the inside of the case and wandered up and down about an 1/8 of an inch. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Had to make a bit of a profile "change" as well. Worked out okay, my Mother-in-law never spotted it.

Cool nutcracker, woodshop. I see you have developed a system to go along with the multitude of jigs.

Mark


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## Adkpk (Nov 10, 2006)

Not sure what I am more impressed with your presentation of the widget or the widget. So, anyway that's a widget, neat. What's one of them widget's goes for? Maybe take a few of them theres widgets off of you. PM me. I'll get back to you next weekend about it for I am about to disembark for the hills. Give me a price for the cheese cutting board and any othe items that you are widgeting over there, please. Christmas is coming up and I love to give crafts as gifts. Yours truly, Bob


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

Adrpk said:


> What's one of them widget's goes for?


I sell those nutcrackers for $6, but sold a ton of them last show, so think I only have like 20+ left. Between now and this coming Thanksgiving weekend show (my biggest show) I plan on making another run of 75 or 100. Using jigs designed just for that item, if I make a run of at least 30 at a time, I can get it down to about 15-20 minutes per. That's from rough lumber in back shed to finished nutcracker packed and ready for next show. Just to show how efficient jigs make things, if I was to make just a single one of those from scratch it would probably take me couple hours.


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## dustytools (Nov 10, 2006)

Woodshop, I would like to see the tools used to make the threads (male and female). Thanks.


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## CaseyForrest (Nov 10, 2006)

Hautions....NICE table!!!

Hey WS...where did you get the idea to make a nutcracker like that??? Thats sweet.


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

CaseyForrest said:


> Hautions....NICE table!!!
> 
> Hey WS...where did you get the idea to make a nutcracker like that??? Thats sweet.


...somebody showed me a wooden nutcracker they bought in France, but it had a round body turned on a lathe I would guess, and also had a rather small round knob on the end of the screw which was difficult to grasp and crank. I just kinda improved on that theme, but mine is much easier to use. At shows, I have a sign that says "CRACK A NUT WITH A BOLT... TRY ME NOW" with a bowl of nuts there. Even little kids can work the thing because the six sided hex both body and knob are easy to grasp and crank in your hand. Many ask if it ever breaks, being wooden. I actually wanted to find out myself how much it would take to kill one, so I put several in the vice and tried to bust them by trying to "crack" a solid chunk of metal. I couldn't do it by hand, had to put a wrench on it to make it fail, so the rock maple threaded dowel in the hardwood body are plenty sturdy. I don't use softer wood like pine or poplar though for the body, I don't think they would hold up. 

dusty, I use a Beall threader (www.bealltool.com), which is basically a threadbox you attach a router with a carbide bit to, and run dowel through it. For the tap, its just a metal tap like any other.


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## dustytools (Nov 10, 2006)

Thanks for the link Woodshop,I have an item that I make from time to time that I think you would be interested in. It is an oven rack puller/pusher.Its very popular with the ladies and though Ive never sold any I have had to make several for friends and family. I think it would be a hit at your shows. Just as soon as the wife gets her new cam in I will send you some pics and try to dimension them for you if youre interested. Thanks again.


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## woodshop (Nov 10, 2006)

dustytools said:


> Thanks for the link Woodshop,I have an item that I make from time to time that I think you would be interested in. It is an oven rack puller/pusher.Its very popular with the ladies and though Ive never sold any I have had to make several for friends and family. I think it would be a hit at your shows. Just as soon as the wife gets her new cam in I will send you some pics and try to dimension them for you if youre interested. Thanks again.


Thanks dusty, always interested in new product to make. Ya never know whats going to take off and sell, and what just sits on the table. That cracker holder I posted a pic of recently was an example of something I made on a whim, that turned out to be my best selling item at shows. The ladies can't walk past without picking it up. Who woulda thunk.


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## hautions11 (Nov 11, 2006)

*Cherry*

WS the Cherry I used for the table was a real find at the time. My normal wood source had a lot of 4/4 cherry, but I wanted the table to finish at 1 or 1 1/4. I saw an add in our local paper for cherry lumber. A tree service guy had taken a number of logs and had them band sawn. He also set-up a nice 20" planer and planed a lot of boards to a cleaned up stage. He had several hundred feet of planed 1 1/2" boards 8' long. I don't remember the exact number, but I think I paid $2.50 to $3.00 a bd foot. I could never find that again.


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## woodshop (Nov 11, 2006)

hautions11 said:


> ...but I think I paid $2.50 to $3.00 a bd foot. I could never find that again.


That's for sure... cherry around here, especially if it's more than 4/4, is pricy last few years, and getting more so. This in the state that mills more black cherry than ANY other state. In fact I read somewhere that PA is the source for about 70% of the WORLDS black cherry. 

Well... speaking of which, I just got back from milling a good 150 bd ft of cherry, milled most of it 6/4 and 8/4. Another deal where a cherry blew down in somebody's back yard, and they wanted it out of the way right away. Didn't have time to mill today, but went for it anyway. Now I'm dead tired already and it's only 2:30 in the afternoon. When it comes to cherry, ya gotta get it anytime you can.


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## curdy (Nov 14, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Well... speaking of which, I just got back from milling a good 150 bd ft of cherry, milled most of it 6/4 and 8/4. Another deal where a cherry blew down in somebody's back yard, and they wanted it out of the way right away. Didn't have time to mill today, but went for it anyway. Now I'm dead tired already and it's only 2:30 in the afternoon. When it comes to cherry, ya gotta get it anytime you can.



Hey Dave, ya know in the headhunting industry I typically charge at least 20% for a referral... 

What's that = 30 bd ft?

Just kidding, glad you were able to get it!

PS, floor is in and everything should be done by Christmas.


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