Can someone explain this Cedar log?

[BlueRider]

I think not. I belive the OP is from the UP of Michigan, not the East coast.
Rick

Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers or imply that what is called white cedar is any less of a wood because it is not a true cedar. The truth is that there are not any cedars that are native to the US. most of what is called cedar is actually cypress or juniper. For instance alaskan yellow cedar is actually cypress and eastern red cedar is actually juniper.We do have several types of cedar that have been widely planted in the US such as deodar cedar.

If you look at the 'family tree' so to speak of the diferent types of trees you will see that the cedars, cypress and junipers are related as are the firs and sequioa, but they are not the sam

 

[BlueRider]

Cypress? I'm from Louisiana and it does not look at all like the cypress I'm familiar with. Is it a sub-species?

I'm out on the west coast and our monterey cypress dosn't look anything like your bald cypress but in both areas they are refered to simply as cypress trees. This is a perfect example of why it is more accurate to refer to trees by their latin names.

Both types of cypress have atractive wood and they have their similarities but there are also a lot of differences, monterey is more britle and prone to spliting and it is a bit denser than bald cypress. I have not milled any bald cypress but Monterey is a dificult wood to mill due to its hardness, its sap and the way it quickly dulls a chain due to the encapsulated silica. It is notorious for gumming up chains. How does bald cypress mill?

 

[BlueRider]

As soon as you think you got something special it turns out to be crap, Welcome to milling:msp_sneaky:

Sorry I didn't mean to rain on anyones parade, just hoped to save someone a leason learned by hard knocks. Iv'e been doing this for a long time and I wish this forum had existed back when I first started, instead I had to learn everything the hard way. I always hated spending an after noon milling and then carfully processing the wood only to have it turn into kindling. But if you want to practice milling or see just how bad a spiral grain lumber is this log would offer a great learning experiance and a chance to post pictures for others to see how a spiral grain slab deforms during drying.

 

[Old Blue]

At least it's a righty...

I feel somehow oddly strange saying that about a log.

Old Blue
Where the beaurocrats make the stamp act look like amateur hour, in...
Kali-bone-ya

 

[Yooperforeman]

UPDATE: with pictures

here's two pictures of slabs sawed with a chainsaw and then planed.

 

[Old Blue]

Thats some serious dramatic color and grain

Hope it doesn't break your heart! Keep us posted.

Old Blue
Oppresive regulation in....
Kali-bone-ya