Dai Sensei
ArboristSite Member
I have just returned from 3.5 weeks holiday camping, fishing, scuba diving and my favourite, collecting timber. I managed to score 5 logs (4-6' long and 8-18" dia) of Osage Orange from a friend from an Ausi forum swapping for some of my Blackwood and Mango. It is probably more common over in the US, but here OO logs are few and far between. So even though I had to cart them back 1500kms, it was worth it. I also scored a heap of other timbers on my trip.
The OO logs had been cut down for around six years and the cracks unfortunately extended from one end to the other in at least quarters, but there is still a lot of good timber in them. I started by slicing the logs down the middle trying to follow the primary cracks where possible. I then sliced each half into 2" thick freehand by following a marked line as the drift on the bandsaw was greater than the fence's adjastment. Again I started at the major cracks and worked my way out. There were also a lot of hollows in the log, but hopefully there is enough for what I want.
I'm going to use the timber to make a rocking chair similar to the one pictured that I have the plans for. It is currently at 17% moisture, so I have stickered and stacked the planks in the dark corner of my garden shed for a month or two of settling and further drying, before final trimming to size on the tablesaw/thicknesser. Unfortunately I could not get the widths I need for the wider stock necessary for some parts, but I will use smaller laminated pieces.
Left-overs will end up as pepper grinder, trinket boxes and pen blanks, so nothing will go to waste. I even cleaned the dusty out before starting so I could save the sawdust for inlay work, just need to keep the daylight away to keep the colour.
Cheers
The OO logs had been cut down for around six years and the cracks unfortunately extended from one end to the other in at least quarters, but there is still a lot of good timber in them. I started by slicing the logs down the middle trying to follow the primary cracks where possible. I then sliced each half into 2" thick freehand by following a marked line as the drift on the bandsaw was greater than the fence's adjastment. Again I started at the major cracks and worked my way out. There were also a lot of hollows in the log, but hopefully there is enough for what I want.
I'm going to use the timber to make a rocking chair similar to the one pictured that I have the plans for. It is currently at 17% moisture, so I have stickered and stacked the planks in the dark corner of my garden shed for a month or two of settling and further drying, before final trimming to size on the tablesaw/thicknesser. Unfortunately I could not get the widths I need for the wider stock necessary for some parts, but I will use smaller laminated pieces.
Left-overs will end up as pepper grinder, trinket boxes and pen blanks, so nothing will go to waste. I even cleaned the dusty out before starting so I could save the sawdust for inlay work, just need to keep the daylight away to keep the colour.
Cheers
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