Big Old Oak and Roller-Matic CSM

[Railomatic]

Just made this 60" CSM to do some big oaks a friend had trouble spanning with his swing mill, he could only take small slices out of this 48 inch wide 45 foot 400 year old monster.

The tree will need some extra trimming for the CSM to span it giving 45" wide boards.

This is where the CSM comes into its own, sitting right on top of the log, with this CSM it is possible to obtain a 50 X 50" beam.

Raily.

 

[dustytools]

Nice pictures Rail! What do you guys plan on doing with those big ole slabs?

 

[Railomatic]

big board carving

I'm going to use one for a giant carving, using a series of Celtic knot patterns from the book of kells, with a scene of the hounds at the centre.

 

[dustytools]

Sounds interesting. I would sure love to see some pics. of that. Good luck with the project.

 

[dustytools]

One question, How did you achieve this rip where the slab is wider than the mill? Kinda got me stumped.

 

[woodshop]

intersting pics rail... thanks. I too would like to see that carving... are YOU going to do it? Also curious why that huge tree had to be cut down, was it in the way of construction, or was it old and dying?

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

YEA! That's my kind of lumber! I haven't thought about carving a slab like that. My brother is the artistic one in the family and he actually attended sculpting classes in Italy. Thanks for the idea!

 

[computeruser]

Looks great!

Got any more pics of the tree, the takdown, and/or the milling activities? I'd love to see some more pics!

 

[Railomatic]

The tree is at a friends mill, as I mentioned before in my original first page, the tree needs a couple of inches trimming before the mil can span the log.

There are no pictures of the take down as the tree had been delivered to the mill already, and partly cut up with his Lucas, before I got there.

If you look closely you can see the beginnings of some spaltering in the center of the tree, before it was cut down it had lost quite a few of its bows.

This is a sure sign that the tree is starting to loose its battle with life, so its best to take her down and put the timber to good use before it rots away.

I will get around to the carving that board one fine day, I'm practicing on some smaller boards for now, my son is an acomplished carver as a stone mason and I'm going to try and copy some of his work.

Raily.

 

[woodshop]

If you look closely you can see the beginnings of some spaltering in the center of the tree, before it was cut down it had lost quite a few of its bows.
This is a sure sign that the tree is starting to loose its battle with life, so its best to take her down and put the timber to good use before it rots away.
Raily.

This is especially true of black cherry trees here in this part of the eastern US. I've run into several nice old cherry trees on my Dad's property that were still living/standing, but had signs of rot here and there. After dropping them much of the good lumber inside was toast. Had they been harvested when they were still in good shape they would have been worth a LOT more. I am going through his woods and taking down any large cherry tree that looks like it might be getting to that point. Goal is to get the tree while it still has viable lumber. We don't seem to have that problem as much with oak and ash or even walnut.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

This is especially true of black cherry trees here in this part of the eastern US. I've run into several nice old cherry trees on my Dad's property that were still living/standing, but had signs of rot here and there. After dropping them much of the good lumber inside was toast. Had they been harvested when they were still in good shape they would have been worth a LOT more. I am going through his woods and taking down any large cherry tree that looks like it might be getting to that point. Goal is to get the tree while it still has viable lumber. We don't seem to have that problem as much with oak and ash or even walnut.

On this subject, I was at the old family farm this weekend and located a Water Oak that's every bit of 5' across and half-a-dozen 48"+ bull pine trees. One pine is dead but still harvestable so we'll be cutting that one soon. About 1/2 of the main branches of the water oak are dead. What are some signs I should be looking for to help determine if this tree should be cut or not? Maybe this is a better question for another forum...

 

[Railomatic]

Oak

On this subject, I was at the old family farm this weekend and located a Water Oak that's every bit of 5' across and half-a-dozen 48"+ bull pine trees. One pine is dead but still harvestable so we'll be cutting that one soon. About 1/2 of the main branches of the water oak are dead. What are some signs I should be looking for to help determine if this tree should be cut or not? Maybe this is a better question for another forum...

Oak trees are famous for growing on for many years after the center has completely gone, when I see a loss of major bows regulary each year, it is time to harvest it.

Once you see a hole at or near the trunk, you may as well let it live on, to produce acorns, because the viable best timber will be gone, there will be some on the larger bows, if it has many left.

The saying is an oak tree grows for 400 years and searves man for another 400, but this is not always true.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Oak trees are famous for growing on for many years after the center has completely gone, when I see a loss of major bows regulary each year, it is time to harvest it.

Once you see a hole at or near the trunk, you may as well let it live on, to produce acorns, because the viable best timber will be gone, there will be some on the larger bows, if it has many left.

The saying is an oak tree grows for 400 years and searves man for another 400, but this is not always true.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I didn't climb it but I couldn't see any holes in the trunk from the ground. However, even if the bottom 10' of this trunk is hollow up to the first branches used to be, I can still get 4'+ wide slabs from crotches above it. I wish I had a camera with me so you could see for yourself. I'm in no hurry to cut it down but I don't want to let it go to waste either.

 

[Railomatic]

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I didn't climb it but I couldn't see any holes in the trunk from the ground. However, even if the bottom 10' of this trunk is hollow up to the first branches used to be, I can still get 4'+ wide slabs from crotches above it. I wish I had a camera with me so you could see for yourself. I'm in no hurry to cut it down but I don't want to let it go to waste either.

There are a few tests to see if the lower end is hollow, you can use a hand wood auger and a long bit, drill into the tree at 2 foot from the ground upwards, if there is any hollowness you will soon find it, sometimes water will appear from the hole/s.
You can also use a small chainsaw bar, like a carving bar and plunge into the trunk, again you will soon see if there is any cavity there, by the texture and colour of the dust that emerges.

If the trunk is hollow from ten feet up the tree, you can bet your bottom dolar that the timber above this level will be of no use, because an oak more than not goes from the top downwards, in through the major arteries/crotches.

I have seen one that someone had cut a full size door opening into her and fitted a door into the opening, the tree still grows to this day, as a living potting shed at the bottom of his garden.