Oak Butt

[ucoulddoit]

3 hours ago, Jaarkeal said:

Will this still be OK to mill even though there is a great big crack through the centre? I have the split horizontal with the ground but I didn't want to ruin this as its 150cm diameter.

Not sure what others think about about turning the log so that the crack is vertical and at 90 degrees to the horizontal saw cuts? It wouldn't be possible to have full width slabs, but it should minimise waste and slabs half the width of that log will still be very heavy and difficult to move about. I'd be worried about the crack following the grain which might undulate or spiral along the log length so although a saw cut might start at one end in line with the crack, further along the crack may be inclined and move into adjacent boards causing a fair bit of waste as they will be varying thickness at the crack.

 

Andrew

[Big J]

It's certainly worth milling. Assuming the crack is orientated in the same plane on both ends, mill it so that the crack is 90 degrees to the cut. The boards might split along the centre, but full width boards are overrated anyway. 2-2.5ft wide is plenty.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Big J

[youcallthatbig]

5 hours ago, Big J said:

It's certainly worth milling. Assuming the crack is orientated in the lane plan on both ends, mill it so that the crack is 90 degrees to the cut. The boards might split along the centre, but full width boards are overrated anyway. 2-2.5ft wide is plenty.

as john said....

[struie]

18 hours ago, ucoulddoit said:

Not sure what others think about about turning the log so that the crack is vertical and at 90 degrees to the horizontal saw cuts? It wouldn't be possible to have full width slabs, but it should minimise waste and slabs half the width of that log will still be very heavy and difficult to move about. I'd be worried about the crack following the grain which might undulate or spiral along the log length so although a saw cut might start at one end in line with the crack, further along the crack may be inclined and move into adjacent boards causing a fair bit of waste as they will be varying thickness at the crack.

 

Andrew

would that be construed as   crack creep?

[youcallthatbig]

if I were asked to mill this log I would recommend splitting in half down heart crack, then split again into quarters, thereby keeping all the possible issues with iron in one quarter, to later mill into larger sections( thereby reducing the chances of hitting metal), the remaining 3/4 to be mill into nice stable clean QS boards, with any heart faults to one side of the board which will be of managable sizes to move by hand. 

For example , photo below is ms880 c/w 48" bar

[Rough Hewn]

It's certainly worth milling. Assuming the crack is orientated in the same plane on both ends, mill it so that the crack is 90 degrees to the cut. The boards might split along the centre, but full width boards are overrated anyway. 2-2.5ft wide is plenty.

Depends on what you sell.
I have a hard time trying to explain qs to woodworkers.
They mostly want 3' wide with two live edges.
If the crack is horizontal at both ends I'd mill it full size.
If it's got a twisted crack, I'd not bother milling it, as even with qs you end up with a lot of firewood.
Or mill it and fill it with resin.
[emoji106]

[Billhook]

4 hours ago, youcallthatbig said:

if I were asked to mill this log I would recommend splitting in half down heart crack, then split again into quarters, thereby keeping all the possible issues with iron in one quarter, to later mill into larger sections( thereby reducing the chances of hitting metal), the remaining 3/4 to be mill into nice stable clean QS boards, with any heart faults to one side of the board which will be of managable sizes to move by hand. 

For example , photo below is ms880 c/w 48" bar

That is on helluva saw but still not big enough to cut through the five foot butt in question in one go

The Lucas slabber is five foot.

If it was mine I would  circular swing saw boards out of the top quarter until I could see what it was like and slab it if appropriate and maybe have the flexibility of going back to swing sawing as necessary on the next level as I worked my way down avoiding the crack.

But  I agree with Big J in that a five foot wide three inch thick slab is a hefty thing to deal with or make anything of without cutting it down a bit.