big red oak

[Nato]

hi never posted anything here before,but spent some time today to figure how to do it....i think? anyways this is a red oak that i started earlier 2011. i counted 263 growth rings give or take 10 or so. (lack of concentration,i count twice before i spin my rivet!) i still have more to mill on this tree yet. i'm very new to milling but learning. this web site has been very informative, from the pictures to the threads. thanks,enjoy!

 

[betterbuilt]

Nice work.

Do you have a better picture of the grain? Kinda hard to tell from the pictures.

 

[Nato]

no i don't have a better picture of the grain. i took these pics with my phone. i brought the cam. that day but the batteries were dead. the grain looked great to me. it was a thrill to take that first slab off. it was an even bigger thrill because this was only my third tree i've tried my hand at. when i get over to my buddies place where the wood is being dried i'll snap a couple of pics of the grain.

 

[MHouse1028]

very nice i have done some big oaks like that and there stunning..nice setup..i like it

 

[Nato]

thanks m house thats a 880,36 inch alaskan mill and a 50 inch bar. i made the rails out of 1 1/2 angle. the rail is 12 feet long. i mounted a heavy spring 3 feet back from each end of the rails. i run the threaded rod almost out,then attach the spring to the tree with a 16 penny double head (form nail),and bend it over then run the threaded rod back in with a dewalt drill ( this stretches the spring out and gives it tension) and then level the rails up. it works great,rock solid. i welded 3/4 inch nuts on the all-thread to match the bar nuts so i don't have to bring a bunch of tools into the woods.

 

[BobL]

Nice tree you have there - thanks for posting the pics.

One that would concern me a little is the amount of bar nose protruding from the outboard end of the mill.

 

[Nato]

i cut the guard off the mill so i can use a bigger bar to max out the mill. i know it isn't really that safe, but that is all i had to work with. i screwed up when i milled this tree. all i had was 36 inch rails. i recently got the 56 inch rails for the mill, and they will mill the full width of the next part of this tree. i was going to go mill yesterday but it was a little to cold.

 

[MHouse1028]

how do you like that Woodland Pro bar..i've heard good things..they seem like you pay for them but if it will hold up to csm then it's worth it.I've been looking into replacing my big bar and was considering one.Are you running .404...and yes that stihl 880 is a beauty..i'm running a lightly modded 084 gotta love the big stihls...

 

[820wards]

how do you like that Woodland Pro bar..i've heard good things..they seem like you pay for them but if it will hold up to csm then it's worth it.I've been looking into replacing my big bar and was considering one.Are you running .404...and yes that stihl 880 is a beauty..i'm running a lightly modded 084 gotta love the big stihls...

MHouse,

I just got a 50" Woodland Pro bar for my 820 Westbend mill, it's 134cc so I'll be putting it to test soon. The bar seems to be pretty stiff, so I don't foresee any sagging issues. The bar is a .404 and I will be using .63" milling chain.

jerry-

 

[redoakneck]

Nice redoak, that is a big one!!!! Also nice bar, your stuff looks tiny compared to that tree!!!

Keep that chain sharp !!!

 

[Nato]

that woodland bar is a 404, .63 gauge. i really like the bar. the kerf is big and produces lots of saw dust which obviously = longer mill time. i would like to try a 3/8 settup to see how much mill time would improve. i've had no issues with that bar so far. i didn't know this when i bought the bar but, there is a stamp on it that says cannon. so i guess cannon makes the bar then paints woodland on them instead of cannon? boy they aren't cheep are they!

 

[betterbuilt]

 

[Preston]

That sure is a purdy fire wood left over. Just my kinda stuff. We don't have hardly any red oaks around here last long enough to get that big, and that clean. Most of ours get eaten up by wood ants. They are the first trees to die.

What's your plans for the boards?:smile2:

 

[Nato]

hi preston. this tree fell over in a wind storm. wood critters got to the roots and most of the rest of the tree. i just got time to go try and mill the rest of this tree last weekend and after taking two 3 inch slabs off the top the tree got rotten and infested with ants, so the rest of this tree is firewood. it's a shame that i couldn't have got to this tree before it started to get infested. this oak would have had many amazing boards come out of it. at least the ants have had a feast! i plan on making a dinning room table out of two of the slabs and who knows with the rest. i have a moisture meter and it says the wood that i have is at 22% moisture. there isn't to many red oaks (that i have seen) around me in ohio that get this big either,so i feel your pain. i'm just glad i got a chance to mill on it. i'm shure there isn't going to be to many times that i get to do this again!

 

[Talltom]

Don't give up on those logs just because of the ants, Nato. They don't stay in the wood and you can cut around the damage, especially with logs that big. You may not be able to get a full slab with 2 live edges and a solid middle, but you can get slabs from each side with a live edge and a straight edge. You would need that for a table top anyway. I like the look of book matched live edges on either side of the top. If their common face is from the log's radius, the edges will match well and you'll get nice ray fleck across the face. You can fill in the middle with boards from the other side of the log that will also have quartersawn faces with similar ray fleck. Most of the red oaks I have sawn here have come down in the wind due to heart rot, but I still get a substantial yield of quartersawn boards out of them. The clearest lumber comes from near the outside of the log while ant damage tends to stay near the middle. I cut the middle out even if it's solid, since the pith looks and behaves differently while drying.

I would question your moisture reading of 22%. That's almost air dried EMC and you wouldn't get near that on freshly cut slabs.