Front Yard Red Gum

[jrhannum]

For 30 years I've watched a Eucalyptus (we call 'em "red gums" as different from more-common "blue gums") grow too close to a neighbor's house (was raising the corner of his slab) so today it came down; the arborists rolled a 4-ft section of the bole onto my driveway (per my request), so it was on me to load it for haul to the ranch and CSMing; slabs to dry two years and then ?? garden benches or guitar bodies ??.View attachment 289888View attachment 289889

 

[rarefish383]

Looks like you've done that before!Welcome to the site. We don't have anything quite like that in the North East. Can't wait to see what's inside, Joe.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Wow. Looks like the grains gonna be beautiful. Good luck!

 

[jrhannum]

I took a look

Got a block from next to my bole-piece, belt-sanded the quarter-sawn face to 120 grit (wet wood doesn't sand well) and maybe see some figure there.View attachment 290090View attachment 290091

 

[Yellowbeard]

Got a block from next to my bole-piece, belt-sanded the quarter-sawn face to 120 grit (wet wood doesn't sand well) and maybe see some figure there.View attachment 290090View attachment 290091

I am always thinking that my old Utz Pub Mix containers seem like they would make useful containers. Glad to see I am not alone.

Wood looks great.

 

[jrhannum]

Not worth a fight

We (not-botanists, sorta redneck) call it "red gum", but ya can get in big fights over calling it one specie or another -- lots of them imported here and many have hybredized; this one does have stringy bark, yellowish-white blossoms, reddish tinge when ya look at the tops (thus "red gum", not the grey-blue of "blue gum"). I use the heck outta those UTZ snack-jars, those for jerky-sticks from the beer hall are good, too.

 

[tlbsg]

looks like bena to me:

 

[jrhannum]

Got back to it

Life sometimes gets in the way of milling -- too many weeks since the bole was cut and checks reach knife-deep. Pics show that plus my first-cut setup then second cut with my tugger in action, then my depth-of-cut setting cube. The slabs are beauties, just like the specimen block -- no knots nor inclusions, stickered, pressed and under tin.
View attachment 297160View attachment 297161View attachment 297162View attachment 297163

 

[jrhannum]

this is tough wood

Three cuts into this bole and boy, is it tough; makes my walnut seem soft, and now, finding some inclusions -- file job goes quickly and there's a gummy residue blackening the chain. I'll be happy when this is done.

 

[BobL]

-- file job goes quickly and there's a gummy residue blackening the chain.

The gummy residue blackening the chain suggests the chain is running too hot. An aux oiler will help, but the fact that you have to use such extreme help tells me your chain is not set up properly.

Also you are pulling that CSM with that winch from the wrong point on the mill which will cause the mill to rack in the direction along the log. This will force the mill rails into the top of the log and cause the bar to dip downwards placing stress on the B&C. The correct place to pull the mill from is along the line of the bar.
The fact that you using such high surface area mill rails (ie the checker plate) will not be helping much in this situation

If the log is sloped and the chain is setup right the mill should cut just fine with very little pushing.

 

[jrhannum]

Still learning

Thanks, BobL for yer obsevations; my tugger is via a pretty-soft bungee, so it's similar to the sloping log feed; nothing too extreme and it doesn't porpoise. My tooth-filing which worked well on walnut is not right for this eucalyptus -- I get about six inches into the 30-inch log and the edges are gone -- like the wood has mineralization?? When I pull out to file, nothing seems hot enuf to glaze the gum. Mystery meat, for sure.

 

[BobL]

Thanks, BobL for yer obsevations; my tugger is via a pretty-soft bungee, so it's similar to the sloping log feed; nothing too extreme and it doesn't porpoise.

Even if it doesn't porpoise those towing points will still be better off attached to the bar clamps. Have a look at Will Malloff's milling winch in his book on CS Lumber making to see where a CSM should be winched from. A CSM under gravity

My tooth-filing which worked well on walnut is not right for this eucalyptus -- I get about six inches into the 30-inch log and the edges are gone -- like the wood has mineralization??[/QUOTE]
The ends of the log look really dried out. As well as picking up grit this dry wood will be a lot harder so just dock the cracked wood off so you start in greener wood.

When I pull out to file, nothing seems hot enuf to glaze the gum. Mystery meat, for sure.

The 660 doesn't deliver enough oil for Aussie conditions so Aussie 660s are supplied with a greater output oiler but even this is not enough so an aux oiler is needed for milling gums. Even so it still gums up a bit so at the end of the cut I let the chains spin for a while and let it get a good coating of oil - thge oil softens the gum so when the chain starts in next cut the gum just get rubbed off.

 

[jrhannum]

More lessons

That very-wet bole and our very-dry weather conspired to cause major checking and splitting of the slabs and before-slabbing log. End-painting did nothing. No guitar bodies here unless I epoxy-fill the cracks; will be alright for rustic benches. I shouldda known from my firewood-cutting days on our Eucalyptus -- split it when wet or you'll have to deal with ropy splits