Milling burr oak

[teepeeat]

ditto on the apple

[ucoulddoit]

Re the curved apple wood pieces, I'd uploaded the picture below once before but couldn't find the thread so here it is again. It's burr elm and was cut after the lump of wood had dried for a few years. Apple tends to split so I cut the curved sections while it was green and most pieces have dried without too much distortion and no splits.

 

Andrew

[teepeeat]

bloody hell Andrew, never seen that before - very interesting

[ucoulddoit]

When I first started milling timber for my own use, I wasn’t sure if I’d have the patience to wait for it to dry properly. But it was surprising how quickly the volume of milled timber overtook the rate I was using it. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that despite this thread starting over 8 years ago, I’m just starting to use the timber! Anyway, I thought I’d bring the thread ‘back to life’, briefly, as others might be interested to see how the milled burr oak turned out.

 

It was milled almost exactly 8 years ago, then air dried for between two to three years outside, undercover and away from sunlight. Followed by between 5 to 6 years in my timber store which has a dehumidifier running. Having now cut into a few pieces, the moisture content is about 10%, which will be fine for furniture making.

 

The first two photos below are a smallish piece, 40” x 24” and 50mm thick. The straightedge confirmed there is virtually no drying distortion which I’m amazed at and also very pleased. There are the usual small surface checks which are inevitable with burrs, but otherwise this and the other planks are more or less flawless. This piece will be a coffee table for my wife, to be finished by Christmas. As it is so flat, I’ll just sand it smooth and the slight surface undulations should complement the natural edge for an overall natural appearance.

 

The other photos are two larger slabs, 6’ by 28” at the widest point which are destined to be the top of a desk for my son. They too have minimal distortion and I should be able to get a 30mm thick, 60” by 30”, perfectly flat top out of the 40mm thick slabs. A bit nerve racking building up to ripping these slabs into three smaller pieces. It’s taken a couple of days with paper patterns, chalk, and some re-design to get to the stage of cutting them into smaller pieces earlier today, which will be flattened with a router in a few weeks. Final photo shows how the three pieces will go together but obviously needing a lot of work on them first. My sons response to sending this picture to him was ‘looks awesome dad!’ which made me smile.

 

Been a worthwhile investment financially, for enjoyment and learning a bit more about drying timber. And the best pairs of slabs are still stacked up waiting for future projects.

 

Andrew