Big oak trunk what should i do ?

[foresterjack]

I recently cut this large dead oak down and have started cutting it up for firewood , I was wondering what i could do with the trunk as it seems a waste and a shame to cut it up for firewood. cheers jack

[Mike Hill]

Looks too Knotty to Mill mate.But thats my non millers opinion.You could make some fetching blocks for jacking up Machinery,"Victorian Axel Stands".

[agg221]

I wouldn't say it's too knotty - use a chainsaw mill as they are far less sensitive to knots.

 

A bit hard to judge dimensions, but I'm guessing about 3'6" diameter x 7' length?

 

If so, I would suggest that unless you have something specific in mind, slab it out at about 3" thickness with an Alaskan. When it gets down to about 1' width on each side, take a 4" slice off. This should give you enough to either use or re-saw for most things and although the slabs will be heavy they will be moveable by two people.

 

For future reference, if you think of milling before you start cutting up, I would suggest leaving your log as long as possible, so trim off the top branches only, making cuts in line with the milling direction. This will give you more choice of where to take dimensioned planks out later, cutting around any defects, and will give you much more interesting grain up around the crotch. You will lose some due to instability, but it's worth a go as some will come out really well.

 

Alec

[foresterjack]

length 3.1m

 

top circumference 4m

 

bottom circumference 4.6m

[agg221]

length 3.1m

 

top circumference 4m

 

bottom circumference 4.6m

 

OK, so more like 4' dia x 9' length (bottom diameter doesn't help you as most things need to be fairly parallel sided).

 

I'd still slab at 3", and make a bit of 4" slab from the edge bit. The 4" slab will turn into 4"x4" should 'chunky' legs be needed in proportion to a thick top on a slab table or similar.

 

Alec

[foresterjack]

oh right i have never milled anything before.

[yewhunter18]

Where abouts are you ?

[foresterjack]

Southampton

[yewhunter18]

Ok mate bit far for me to come

[agg221]

Your options are either to mill to a cutting list - i.e. work out in advance what you want to make and then mill accordingly, or to mill speculatively to make it into something useful once you know what you are going to make. Your original question suggested you're in the latter position?

 

I would anticipate that this particular log will be somewhat rustic in character, based on the number of branches visible at the surface. Rustic lends itself to big, chunky stuff with character - table tops made from 3" slabs, shelves from 2" etc. Legs need to be in proportion. This is also in keeping with it being very wide. Table tops out of the centre at full width would move around a bit during seasoning, but that would be in keeping.

 

If it turns out to be much cleaner inside than expected I might revise my plan of attack. I would then cut the centre boards half-width, so truly quartered, and make them much thinner - say milling at 1.25" as they would be very stable. Boards this wide and quarter-sawn can be very useful for e.g. 6-plank chests (when I find a suitably large tree I'll be making some for this myself).

 

Of course, you could use it for framing, cladding, any number of other construction rather than decorative uses, but usually it's not worth bothering with something this big for this purpose as it's proportionally much harder work than a thinner (say 2') butt.

 

Alec