Had to mill some corbel stock

[Cannon51]

I got a call from a contractor I work for yesterday about making 6 corbels for a house he was doing an insurance job on. A tree had blown down on the house. The corbels are 3 1/2 x 9 x 22 and need to match others still on the house. I called the local band sawmill guy and ask if he had any 4 x 10 stock in anything that was dry. He didn't but offered to mill me some but it would be green. A large pine (for around here) had blown down on the farm about 4 years ago so I cut a 6 ft section out of it to make the stock. Bugs and decay had worked on the sapwood but the heart seems sound, I'm hoping it's dry enough not to check or cup. I sawed out two 4x10x6ft pieces using the pith as the center. I will true up the non pith side and plane the remaining stock from the pith. Any reason this stock should not be stable enough? I try to take some more pictures of the process.
Cannon

 

[smokinj]

I am not an engineer but it looks beefy enough. Are you able to check moisture content?

 

[betterbuilt]

I'm always afraid of cracks in something that big. I've used white pine for things like that and have had really good luck. The way I find most of my patterns is they have a piece of two inch in the middle sandwiched between two 1 inch pieces. I've made them that way also and I've had pretty good luck. Any gluing I would recommend Titebond 3.

 

[Cannon51]

No I don't have a moisture meter, I'm hoping it has dried enough in the time it has been down. I have used Titebond 3 for outside projects with good results also. I worked on jointing and planing this morning and have the stock to finished thickness with jointed edges. Ill start on cutting curves on the bandsaw this afternoon.
Cannon

 

[Cannon51]

I've got them sawed out, just need to do some sanding. I need to cruse the net to see if I can find something similar so I will have some idea what to charge.
Cannon

 

[betterbuilt]

I'd say somewhere from $60-100 each.

Make sure you seal the knots so they don't bleed through.

 

[deeker]

I cut a lot of corbels for timber framers and for timber porches.

Lucky enough to have a Norwood LM2000 to make the big boards...and a Jet 16" vertical bandsaw to make the finish cuts.

Even if the log has been cut for a year or several....the moisture content will be a lot higher than you might expect.

Here in Utah, we cut the green log.....big beams...then to corbels. And do it so they are screwed into place within two or three days of cutting.

Then they get sealed, asap. Seems to help prevent most of the checking/cracking and any warping.

Good luck

Kevin