Australia Day Holiday long weekend milling

[BobL]

Went back to the south coast again for the Australia Day long weekend.

Spent half a day making an Aux Oiler so we could tackle some dry hardwood.

First cab off the rank was this small Sheoak with 3 burls about 90 degrees apart all around the base. The rest was pretty scrappy but we kept in on so we had something to handle.

So, with the log laying down and looking at it from the bottom, a 15" diam burl poking upwards at 12 o'clock was cut off in one pieced for a wood turner friend of ours. The next burl was sticking out at 9 o'clock and the plan was to slab this burl as part of the log for use as small feature panels in a grandfather clock. The remaining smaller (10" diam) burl pointing down at 6 o'clock was mine which I have kept whole do use in wood work tool making

Here the top burl has been cut off and we are part way through the 9 o'clock burl.

Here are a couple of other shots.

 

[BobL]

Sheoak burls - grain shots

Here's a section through the middle of one of the burls. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of termite damage on one side but there should be more than enough to get a number of small panels with some nice figure in them.

It's very hard to capture the grain colours.
It's somewhere between the excessive purple on this shot.

And the excess orange on this one

Here is a short of the sort of environment we were working in. It's only about 10 miles in a straight line from the ocean but it takes 25 minutes by road to get there.

 

[BobL]

Small Jarrah1

next we decided to have a go at this small jarrah. Sandi is a good supervisor but has no problem pitching in with wedging, and carrying slabs!

This stuff is great fun to cut since small logs are like butter compared to other Aussie hardwoods. We made five cuts and didn't need to sharpen the chain once.

Hud has a go!

Nice bit-o-grain

Unfortunately, due to termite damage we only got 3 good, 2" slabs, before consigning the rest to the firewood pile.

 

[BobL]

Small Jarrah 2

This small jarrah had a 90º branch union and we were hoping for some figure resulting from the stresses involved.

the first couple of slabs gave us a hint of what might have been like this.

But the termites had beat us to it!

Hud is thinking lama's I was thinking kangaroos.

 

[BobL]

At the end of the day the rescue party turned up with beer, wine and snacks!

Here's a few of the keepers.

As we set off back to the house this one struck me as worth taking.

Cleaning up

More photos tomorrow.

 

[stipes]

Great pics!!!!

Thanks Bob!!! Really enjoy seein what the other side of the world does...Wood is so diffrent.....Oh,,,,Gotta try that set up with the ladder extentions...Cool idea!!!!!

 

[LANNY]

Wow, I think I would love autralia, need any help?
First time I've seen a mill like that. IMpressive, I think I see a guitar in
there. Lanny

 

[LANNY]

OMG I promise I did not spell AUSTRALIA wrong, sorry> lanny

 

[BobL]

OMG I promise I did not spell AUSTRALIA wrong, sorry> lanny

Thanks Lanny, Hey did you know that you can go back and edit a post for a few hours after it's posted. Then you can fix spelling mistakes and no one will know!

Yeah I saw a couple of guitars amongst that lot - pity the wood was not for me.

Anyway if you think that is a nice mill, go look at my BIL mill - see link in my signature below. Now that is a noice mill to use. Although I only have an old 076 CS on my mill it is much more comfortable to use than that one.

 

[huskymac]

Thanks Bob!

Once again some great pics.

Sure wish I could get out and try the new mill out. Just to cold!

 

[big daddio]

Hey BobL, like i said before, you never cease to amaze me. ya got to explore to find the good stuff, and every cut opens a new surprise. you aussies got some great species down there. thanks for the great pics!!!!

 

[tomtrees58]

cricky:jawdrop: tom trees

 

[woodshop]

My favorite pic of the whole lot... says it all.

 

[BobL]

A big branch

Some of you may remember this bigun.

Well for a bit-o-fun we decided to start slabbing part of a 3 m branch cut from the end of the bigun.

This tree has been on the ground for around 100 years so we are not expecting much from it.

The big husky is really earning it's keep on this sucker. It's not that hard but the sapwood is riddled with insect nests and dirt and it is impossible to clean so the chain goes blunt pretty quickly.

Parts of the log are still surprisingly clean and solid! If enough red and black ants move into the log they keep the termites out but not usually for that long. Were dead lucky in this case.

DANG! - Had to stop and drive home (260 miles) after only 3 slabs.

The branch was over 40" in diameter but with only a 36" cut in the mill we could only cut the top 3 slabs and even then I had to trim bits of the sides. We have 60 and 72" blades to play with but Hud needs an anti-bar sag device for his big bar so next time I go back we'll finish this sucker.

The Big trunk will be slabbed in our winter - maybe july this year when it is a bit cooler and more conducive to heavy lifting.

 

[Burnsy]

Bob that snake looks very different to the Black Tigers that inhabit my brothers place down there

If that big jarrah is no good for slabbing because you find termites in it the Lucas will still find plenty of good wood in it, some nice heavy feature posts for verandahs (porches) and internal features

 

[dustytools]

Great pictures Bob!

 

[BobL]

Cheers Guys - cutting that big Jarrah was hard work but sooooooooo much fun.

Bob that snake looks very different to the Black Tigers that inhabit my brothers place down there

I was told it was a water python but check page 8 of this thread.

If that big jarrah is no good for slabbing because you find termites in it the Lucas will still find plenty of good wood in it, some nice heavy feature posts for verandahs (porches) and internal features

We'll probably slab it at 5" thick and look for good slabs, The ones that are no good we'll cut up for lumber.

 

[Burnsy]

We'll probably slab it at 5" thick and look for good slabs, The ones that are no good we'll cut up for lumber.

5 inch, at least the will be light and easy to move:jawdrop:

 

[BobL]

5 inch, at least the will be light and easy to move:jawdrop:

That's what the tractor with the forks is for.

We'll slab at 5 or 4.5" to quickly find the good surfaces, then these will be put aside for resawing in half to about 2". Then we'll go back later and make lumber from the rest.

Hud also has a DINGO with forks that can lift 250 kg. That's perfect for jockeying small to medium sized slabs around.

 

[Burnsy]

Looks and sounds like Hud has all the toys