Update on new to site & want to mill

[Trigger-Time]

No set up yet

Woodshop, You ask about pics of my set up, well I don't
have a set up yet, but here is 2 pics of my saws and my
first real try at milling, This old oak has been dead for about
10 years, So I cut it down, Thought it (wood) be a good one to
practice on. The log is from just above the crotch, about
20 feet up, the bark and most of the sap wood is gone.
It is 16" dia. 56" long and still very solid. I cut some 2 1/4"
thick slabs. Is this what you (wood) call 9/4 or 9 quarter.

I'm glad you guys talked me into the 36" mill. I will need it
for the trunk of this tree, its about 29" dia., with out the
bark & sap wood. The used 066, done pretty well if I let
it do its thing and not push it to hard. It is neat to cut a slab
then turn it over to see what it looks like, and a bonus my
wife thinks so to

Thanks, Gary

 

[dustytools]

Congrats.. Trigger, Yes it is an awesome feeling when you open that baby up and see the wood that you have cut. Nice looking job. Nice looking collection of saws too. Good luck.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Bench

Thank you, dustytools
OK, Milled my first wood today. And decided to make a heavy
rustic bench, with my chain saw, skill saw, drill and a miter saw.
Cut it out, screwed it together, sanded the ruff off,
slapped a coat of boiled linseed oil on it,
Yes it's very rustic, I even like the bug holes in the wood,
for my first project I wanted to be able to
tell it was done with a chain saw. The plan was for it to set on the
porch, but the wife said she liked and had a place for it. As fast and
easy as this was to make, I think I will make a few more.

Here are a few pics. the top is 2 1/4"X12"X48"

Gary

 

[flht01]

Thank you, dustytools
OK, Milled my first wood today. And decided to make a heavy
rustic bench, with my chain saw, skill saw, drill and a miter saw.
Cut it out, screwed it together, sanded the ruff off,
slapped a coat of boiled linseed oil on it,
Yes it's very rustic, I even like the bug holes in the wood,
for my first project I wanted to be able to
tell it was done with a chain saw. The plan was for it to set on the
porch, but the wife said she liked and had a place for it. As fast and
easy as this was to make, I think I will make a few more.

Here are a few pics. the top is 2 1/4"X12"X48"

Gary

Gary, that really turned out nice. Keep the pictures coming, sure enjoy seeing them.

Kevin

 

[woodshop]

I like your rustic bench trigger... how did you attach that top, screw from bottom through the outer parts of the legs?

 

[Trigger-Time]

Woodshop, yes
I just used what I had on hand. I run a 7/8 wood bit to counter
sink my 3" deck screws I had on hand, the legs are good and solid
but next time I will get lag bolts. The picture makes it look worse
than it is, but it dose have a wicker at the end of the bench.
when I took the pics I had the bad side out.

With wood that has been dead this long will it still check and crack?

And the only reason I used a 7/8 bit it's the only wood bit I have.
Going to need to buy more tools (HEY HONEY!)

Thanks Guys, Gary

 

[woodshop]

With wood that has been dead this long will it still check and crack?
Thanks Guys, Gary

Depends... I have milled logs that have been dead for couple years, but the wood was still very wet, and didn't dry till I stickered it like any other log. With planks that thick, you might get away without major warping and splitting as it shrinks and dries. It will move as it dries, but you might be fine. Only one way to find out... no?

 

[Trigger-Time]

Woodshop, This wood is wet, it was the reason I went
ahead and put the boiled linseed oil on it. Do you think
it will help?

Thanks, Gary

 

[woodshop]

Woodshop, This wood is wet, it was the reason I went
ahead and put the boiled linseed oil on it. Do you think
it will help?

Thanks, Gary

Not to put a damper on things (pun intended) but linseed oil will do very little to keep moisture IN the wood. It will still dry and shrink a bit. Multiple coats once the wood is dry will give you some protection against moisture, but not a lot. You can start with a good oil finish like Danish oil, Tung oil etc... but then follow up with a good poly, water or oil base to protect that wood once it is dry.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Tung vs. Danish

Hi, Gents!

Regarding the finish, Woodshop brings up a good point. I did a few projects this year and used both danish oil AND tung oil. In retrospect, it was a pretty good lesson. The danish oil sinks into the wood nicely and gives a beautiful color, but it had a pretty long dry time and did not provide ANY form of glossy finish. I also feel that it would be a bit harder to keep clean. The tung oil gave me a nice, glossy finish that reputedly provides good protection. It was a bit stinky to use, but unlike polyurethane, the odor dissipates pretty quickly (to my wife's great joy). I have not used it, but there is also an improved version of tung oil known as polymerized tung oil. It is quite a bit more expensive, but it has an excellent dry time and provides an even tougher finish.

Having said all that, boiled linseed oil still has a HUGE following and it does add a VERY pleasing tone to the wood. Reapplication every now and again is recommended and serves to reinvigorate the finish nicely.

REALLY nice looking bench. I'm hereby inspired.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Thanks for the reply's.

Used the boiled linseed oil, so maybe it would not dry as fast,
check and split. After it drys for some time, I will put Minwax
Wipe-on Poly clear satin on it, It has worked very well on
gun stocks for me.

Crap! Woke up at 3:30am thinking about milling.
Beaning I have no wood working tools, more rustic furniture

Gary

 

[woodshop]

Having said all that, boiled linseed oil still has a HUGE following and it does add a VERY pleasing tone to the wood. Reapplication every now and again is recommended and serves to reinvigorate the finish nicely.

REALLY nice looking bench. I'm hereby inspired.

One more thing while we are on this subject... boiled linseed oil will darken over time, especially in direct sunlight. I knew of somebody that had beautiful white pine kitchen walls. They decided to put a coat of boiled linseed oil on every year to bring out the character of the wood... it did... but in less than 5 years their kitchen walls were more like a dark tan and they regretted doing it.

Again... I like that bench and think I will try and replicate it in my shop. It's simple and sturdy. Only thing I think I will change is to use maybe an inch dado where the legs meet the top. Either that or mortise and tenon the legs to the top. If the top is 2 inch, that is possible and would make it almost indestructible.

 

[Trigger-Time]

For grins, I weighed the bench, 58 lbs.

Gary

 

[woodshop]

For grins, I weighed the bench, 58 lbs.

Gary

Quick and dirty... each board foot of oak weighs about 5 lbs right off the log, and about 3 lbs dried to about 15% moisture content. So figure out how many bd ft in that thing, and you can figure roughly what it should weigh when its done drying. Using your 58 lbs, you have about 11 bd ft in that bench. It should lose about 23 lbs of water (about 3 gallons) in the next few months depending on the temp and humidity of where it is. These are all rough estimates of course, but should give you ballpark figures. I know that sounds like a lot of water, but that's how wet wood is before it's allowed to dry. It will be interesting to watch your "green" bench as it loses all that water. Keep us informed.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Woodshop, Read your post, thought I would figure the board feet.
Wife ask what I was doing, she informed me the scales are five
pounds LIGHT. So 58 lbs plus the 5 light lbs = 63lbs.
Board feet minus bevels & chamfers =12.599 board feet X 5 lbs = 62.995lbs
I know it won't always be that close, but man thats right on the money!

It weighs a little less now. I knew I had a old hand plane, so I planed
the saw marks off the top It came out good if I do say so myself,
took about a hour and a half of hard work. Not knowing what I was
doing, set the plan very shallow and shaved it off.

Gary

 

[gumneck]

Nice work TT,

For rustic furniture, my dad will gouge out places, use cut nails, plug knot holes, and use checked end pieces. Presumably your bench is going to dry some and the splits/cracks will only add to your rustic appeal.

What JD are you running there?

 

[Trigger-Time]

gumneck, Thanks

It's a 4030


Gary