Old sycamore

[Dave Boyt]

I got a call from a fellow who had recovered some old logs from under a sand bar on a bend in the Missouri River. He had the sample carbon dated, and the report said it was between 400 and 650 years old. Some of them (sycamore) are 5' diameter, 60' to the first branch! I cut some small pieces (the Norwood HD36 only handle up to 36" diameter), and got some beautiful boards with dark mineral staining. No rot, but some of the worst ring shake I've ever seen (probably from when the trees were still alive). It was lucky that we had use of a loader that could load and turn the 3,000 pound logs. Once on the mill, the Norwood did a great job, and we slabbed and quarter-sawed as much as possible. Nomally, I don't cut on shares, but I made an exception for this one! Lesson #1: have a power washer on hand when milling logs from under a sand bar. Lesson #2: I need a 6' slabber!!

 

[john taliaferro]

You just need to use someones saw , it looks to have the bark on it still . I can't open the pictures of the wood opcorn:

 

[john taliaferro]

Morning Dave

 

[7oaks]

Nice Dave - I'm jealous. Need to see some pics of the slabs.