Milled Some Blue Oak 1st Post

[820wards]

My neighbor and I milled some CA Blue Oak yesterday. Some of the pieces we were able to roll down the hill to a much more level area. Unfortunately the biggest piece we were not so lucky. I couldn't even setup to mill heading down hill, it worked out OK.

These trees are protected in some areas of CA. On my friends ranch the trees were growing under some high voltage PG&E power lines and had to be removed. The trees were cut down about 1-1/2 years ago. Here are some of the pictures from milling and what I took of the wood at home after cleaning.

We milled the wood with the mill I built a couple of years ago powered by an 134cc PowerBee motor. The bar is a 38" and after milling these pieces I can see a 52" bar in the stars... The second mill is the mini-mill I built for my neighbor. It was great for milling the sides of the logs into a square cant. His saw is a Husky 365 Special with a 24" bar using 3/8" chain.

Logs to be milled. biggest piece was 56" long and 45" wide. Had to do a bit of trimming so I could swing my 38" bar to make the cuts.

Here is a picture of the big piece to be milled.

Here is a view from the 6K acre ranch. The weather was beautiful both days we were up there.

Took this picture the day we went out to scope out the tree. That's my truck way in the background.

Another shot of the ranch and my neighbor/milling partner.

 

[820wards]

Milled Some Blue Oak 2st Post

More pictures of the Blue Oak milled.

One of the cants Simon milled square with his Mini-mill. We setup in the shade of other blue oak trees. The weather was maybe 71* with just a slight breeze. Great milling weather.

This piece ended up having a crack in it, but I can use it for some smaller projects.

Here we have set up to mill a log that we cut at just under 8'. Our mini-mill guide rails are 10' so it worked out good.

Here Simon and my other friend Gary are making the first cut on the log.

With this piece Simon milled it at 6-1/2" thick and will be using it to make a bench. I will use one of the side caps to make a back. We did square cut three sides so when I mount the back I have a square line to work with.

 

[820wards]

Milled Some Blue Oak Post 3rd Post

Here we are preparing to mill the largest piece of Blue Oak wood. We had to trim some of the edges so I could still mill with my 38" bar.

Additional trimming of the log.

On this log I found it easier to use a 2x12 redwood plank as my guide board. The stump was on a real steep hillside and my 10' uni-strut guide rails I use just wasn't going to work. Our footing was an issue to doing this safe so a plank was our best choice. In this picture we have made our cap cut and are ready to see what we have.

2rd slab cut.

Making our 3nd slab cut.

 

[820wards]

Milled Some Blue Oak Post 4th Post

Here is what we brought home.

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181839&d=1303965678

 

[820wards]

Milled Some Blue Oak Post 5th Post

More of what we brought home.

These pieces will be used for the bench I will be making.

So this is what I did on Tuesday. Today we went back and cut a little over a cord of wood from the remaining limbs. As I type this I'm a bit sore all over. I think it was harder doing all the fire wood cutting and hauling to the trucks. Overall it was a fun two days. I still have a maple tree I haven't milled yet. Tomorrow I will be spending my time cleaning all my saws and gear I used and then my truck, it's really muddy-dirty. My milled ran great every time so I was very happy with it's performance.

jerry-

 

[BlueRider]

Nice color and figure. You ended up with some boards with some nice character, this is a bleassing and a curse. the blessing part is obvious, the curse part is that the boards are so spectacular that they can over power a design so the challange is to come up with a design that lets the wood be what it is. I would recomend reading George Nakashima's 'The soul of a tree' while you wait for those boards to dry.

Amazon.com: The Soul of a Tree: A Master Woodworkers Reflections (9780870119033): George Nakashima: Books

 

[SDB777]

These trees are protected in some areas of CA.

Great place, nice slabs, and good friends you have there!!!

Question....if the trees are protected in 'some' areas of CA. What happens when someone notices these trees are protected? I mean, how do the 'powers that be' know that the wood you have there isn't from one of the protected trees?


BTW, how much would you like to get for a chunk(about the size of the slender medium flat rate box) with some nice swirly grain? Bet it would make a few nice pens and small bowls on my lathe!!





Scott

 

[Timberframed]

Good work on that Blue. Are those auxiliary tanks film developing canisters? I was thinking of doing that being stainless and all.

 

[john taliaferro]

Yes but it wouldn't be as much fun milling on flat ground with out mud . Thats a awesome score Jerry , Scott is right bout the bold coloring in those boards they are special stuff . It don't get much better than good friends ,sweet mill , good wood ,and a perty day .

 

[betterbuilt]

Nice score.

 

[mtngun]

Nice country. Why aren't there any cows grazing on that green grass ?

I wish I could get my logs to levitate off the ground like this. It would sure be a more comfortable way to mill.

Thanks for the excellent pics. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[smokinj]

Awesome, Love the milling saw as well! Very nicely done...........

 

[tomsteve]

i dont know whats more beautiful. the wood or the scenery. you are a very fortunate man.

 

[BlueRider]

I wish I could get my logs to levitate off the ground like this. It would sure be a more comfortable way to mill.

QUOTE]

It's all in where you place the magnets:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[stipes]

Thanks for the pics.

Thats some nice wood you milled up. Thank you for the pics. and enjoyed lookin at em...

 

[HPLP]

Very nice,

thanks for sharing.

H

 

[820wards]

Scott,

Question....if the trees are protected in 'some' areas of CA. What happens when someone notices these trees are protected? I mean, how do the 'powers that be' know that the wood you have there isn't from one of the protected trees?

** The trees were documented by PG&E through their contractor that cut them down. What the contractor didn't know is that they were Blue Oak trees. The contractor only know that they were to clear under and 100ft. right & left of the power lines. My friend was not very happy they were cut. From where the stumps were those trees were easily 100ft clear of the power lines.

BTW, how much would you like to get for a chunk(about the size of the slender medium flat rate box) with some nice swirly grain? Bet it would make a few nice pens and small bowls on my lathe!!

** Send me a PM and we'll talk. I have one large cant I will be cutting some wood off and if it's ok I can send you some wood to try.

jerry-

 

[820wards]

Good work on that Blue. Are those auxiliary tanks film developing canisters? I was thinking of doing that being stainless and all.

Thanks

The large tank I made from a piece of aluminum I rolled into a cylinder and capped with some plate aluminum. I turned the pipe fitting bungs on my lathe. The only piece I had to buy was the filler neck. That came from Speedway Engineering.

The smaller oil tanks are made from the solvent used for flushing AC units on cars. Once empty I cut the top and weld on a bung tapped for 1/4" pipe. The top bung is tapped for 3/4" pipe. They have worked out very well with no problems with vibration since they are insulated with rubber. The back tank is secured to the frame rigid and the front tank is made to be removed. I use foam soda holders for insulating. The bracket is a bicycle water bottle holder bolted to the frame of the mill.

jerry-

 

[820wards]

Nice country. Why aren't there any cows grazing on that green grass ?

** My friend has his land sectioned off. That area has more water on it during the summer months and so he has his cattle on an area of the ranch the has less water during the summer. So they graze that area first then move the cattle once the grass has been gazed and the pond water has dried.

jerry-

 

[820wards]

i dont know whats more beautiful. the wood or the scenery. you are a very fortunate man.

Thanks everyone. This ranch is so cool and my friend and his wife are the greatest. I'm always out there helping them fix fences, tending to the cattle or just helping wherever I can,

I spent today figuring out how I'm going to put the bench together with the wood we milled for it. I'm going to start Friday and I will post pictures.

For all you newer people, stick around this site, lots of good people here.

jerry-