Pics of Next Project

[rarefish383]

I posted a pic of this tree I took down a couple years ago in another forum. The left side over the house and wires was splitting off. I used a 50 ton Crane and we had the tree on the ground in 3 1/2 hours. The home owner is an old family friend and he only wanted to get the dangerous stuff down at the time, so we left a 10' stub. He just called and said he's ready to take the stub down as soon as things dry out. I've got an Alaskan with a 36 bar on my old Homelite 1050. This will be the first "Big Chunck" I get to try the mll out on. I'm gonna have to cut a slab off the top and then try to square it up with my other 1050 and the mini mill, it's well over 4' across. In a month or so I'll be posting pics, maybe I'll try a video, Joe.

 

[Daninvan]

What kind of tree is it?

 

[rarefish383]

Silver maple.

 

[Brmorgan]

Well, beware metal, but other than that you're a lucky bugger to get to slab that up.

 

[BobL]

Now that's what I call a PROJECT!

 

[rarefish383]

Thanks Bob, from some of the stuff in your wood yard, my little chunk looks rather ordinary, Joe.

 

[Daninvan]

Maple may have some spalting in it which would be quite spectacular in a log that size. Actually, a log that size would be spectacular anyhow! Looking forward to some pictures of it being slabbed up.

 

[rarefish383]

Weather is getting better, comparatively speaking. It's only high winds and driving rain, at about 40 degrees.

I'm having second thoughts on slabbing my big Maple chunk. I was planning on squaring it and cutting slabs as big as I could get with my 36" bar. Only thing is, once slabbed, I had no plan for the lumber. Now I'm getting some ideas for a plan. I want to get a slab with live edges on both sides to make a giant table top for the great room in our hunting cabin. I'm thinking at least 6' maybe 8" long by about 3 inches thick. It's gonna be a tad heavy. I'm not worried about checking and splitting. I'll put supports across the bottom to hold it together. If it splits later I'll just fill it with clear apoxy ,or what ever finish I use. As long as I can get a smooth finish I think big cracks will look neat in the surface. Speaking of surface, I guess I'm gonna need a decent belt sander.

Now I'm gonna have to find a bar big enough for the task. I'm gonna check with some of the guys over on the "chainsaw" forum. A bar big enough for the old Homelite might be hard to find. On top of that it will probably be a one time use thing. I don't expect to find logs that big very often, nor have a need for a slab that big ever again. Wish me luck, Joe.

 

[julian 1973]

I fit starts to split use a dutchmen or two using a contrasting wood.

 

[BobL]

I fit starts to split use a dutchmen or two using a contrasting wood.

That's one slick table!

 

[rarefish383]

I fit starts to split use a dutchmen or two using a contrasting wood.

Thanks, that's right along the lines of what I want. I already have the legs. About 20 years ago I was cleaning out a hedge row for my inlaws. I cut several Sasafrass trees that vine had grown around, leaving a nice twisted trunk. I originally planned on making walking sticks out of them. When I started to sand them and realized how big they were I knew they would never be walking sticks. That's when I decided to someday use them for table legs, Joe.