Spalted Red Oak

[RockChucker30]

This goes to prove you can't judge a book by its cover. I got started milling an old storm born red oak that had been on the ground for years. The outside looks terrible, but the inside is amazing.

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[MontanaTed]

Wow, that is some awesome stuff.

 

[Ancient One]

Oh Yea! Will make a nice bar top.

 

[MontanaTed]

Oh Yea! Will make a nice bar top.

It would make some wicked veneer too. That grain will be like fire once it gets hit with a finish.

 

[RockChucker30]

I'm excited. I got the first two slabs stickered and stacked in one of the old barns on the farm, hope to get more milled out of this log this weekend.

I haven't done a ton of real woodworking, just rough carpentry and building on the farm type stuff, so I've got a lot of research to do so I don't screw it up. I showed pics of these slabs to the wife and she is already hinting at a dining table plus bar tops or side tables, lol.

An interesting twist in this is that the tree split down the middle when it fell, with no heart rot at all. Both halves of the rootball are sticking up out of the ground. I think it's possible to grub them out with the tractor and winch onto a flatbed and then get back to the shop where I can pressure wash the dirt and rocks off them and actually slab out the rootballs and stumps. Wondering if there'd be enough rocks inside the wood to make that a dumb idea. Risk/reward there I guess, may screw up a chain but the grain and color is probably fantastic.

I got interested in chainsaw milling because the family farm has some huge trees that have blown over in storms and they're just too big to do much with. I hate to see a rare old tree rot away, so I started looking for ways to use them. After this one is done I've got a crotch section of another red oak that's 56" at the wide end, with a trunk over 36", then another red oak that's 40" diameter, plus a walnut, a big cherry, and a few other oaks I may haul to a bandmill.

 

[Marine5068]

This goes to prove you can't judge a book by its cover. I got started milling an old storm born red oak that had been on the ground for years. The outside looks terrible, but the inside is amazing.

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Good plans for the wood.
I have some large ones down too, not that big.
I plan to use some for new stair tread caps for my basement stairs.
Maybe a new work bench top.
I guess I could sell some too.

 

[Marine5068]

I'm excited. I got the first two slabs stickered and stacked in one of the old barns on the farm, hope to get more milled out of this log this weekend.

I haven't done a ton of real woodworking, just rough carpentry and building on the farm type stuff, so I've got a lot of research to do so I don't screw it up. I showed pics of these slabs to the wife and she is already hinting at a dining table plus bar tops or side tables, lol.

An interesting twist in this is that the tree split down the middle when it fell, with no heart rot at all. Both halves of the rootball are sticking up out of the ground. I think it's possible to grub them out with the tractor and winch onto a flatbed and then get back to the shop where I can pressure wash the dirt and rocks off them and actually slab out the rootballs and stumps. Wondering if there'd be enough rocks inside the wood to make that a dumb idea. Risk/reward there I guess, may screw up a chain but the grain and color is probably fantastic.

I got interested in chainsaw milling because the family farm has some huge trees that have blown over in storms and they're just too big to do much with. I hate to see a rare old tree rot away, so I started looking for ways to use them. After this one is done I've got a crotch section of another red oak that's 56" at the wide end, with a trunk over 36", then another red oak that's 40" diameter, plus a walnut, a big cherry, and a few other oaks I may haul to a bandmill.

Sounds like you've got lots of of work ready for you with all those big trees down.

 

[RockChucker30]

I've got more projects than I do time. Full time job plus a side business plus trying to farm plus a 3 year old and a 6 week old newborn. Time is short these days for "fun" work like running the mill.

 

[RockChucker30]

I did get a couple more slabs off that log in between soccer games, turkey hunting, and thunderstorms this weekend.

Those slabs are close to 12' long, will average 30" wide, and 2.25" thick. I don't know what they weigh but they're HEAVY.

I've got to do some rearranging to be able to get them stacked in the barn where I want. Can't go in sideways, they have to longways.


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[RockChucker30]

Figured out the lazy mans way to stack 12' slabs in a barn where you have to in longways.

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[Ancient One]

Wow, how old is the barn? I would love to see photos of the outside. Nice heavy timber construction.

 

[RockChucker30]

The barn was there when my 97 year old grandmother moved in when she was 6 or 8. We've got two log core barns, the bigger one needs some work.

I got the last two slabs off this half of the spalted tree. I don't know if the other half will be solid or not, but plan to see.

The first slab is right pretty with some termite damage. The second one is going to take a lot of epoxy to fix the termite mess. There was an active infestation so everything got soaked in Timbor.

There are some chunks left but not enough to slab. Ill see if there's enough to make a cant or two and take it to a bandmill when I take some other logs and see if I can get some dimensional stuff for small projects.


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