Woodlover

I made this table with some wood I found ,turns out to be sycamore according to some helpful people on these forums.Tree was felled may 2015,june planked by eye...dry outside storage till early dec 2015 and then bought into room where it is now finished, 18% moisture in jan.No bowing or splitting as of yet and thats with central heating on dailey. Built with a 16inch mac B&Q £160 chainsaw. 2 x 3m lengths of 4"2 for "poor boy saw mill" frame,didnt drill bar just sighted one end and balanced the saw on other. Planed using a never sharpened 6 year old b&q performance planer. Sanded with a cheap spinning disc sander,was a bugger to sand. I am happy with the results,cost me £30 ish quid what with osmo oil.

Thanks for your opinions Big Beech, but I have a dream lol I would love to sell the table I am making(dont tell the misses) in order to buy me a second hand decent chainsaw and an alaskan saw mill, and maybe a nice lump of tree to mill for more table making.from the little research I have done my dream looks possible-ish what with the high prices of rustic style tables I have seen online, just need someone to want my type of table,but Popular wood ? that dont seem a money maker...Sycamore seems a better wood to advertise,or does it matter as long as its wood?

MDF? ...I honestly thought they grew abroad somewhere and it was too cold in the UK for em,just like the Chipboard tree. I will go with Sycamore, thanks people

Thanks guys...Now I have looked at samples on line of sycamore,maple,horsechestnut and worked poplar once before (this wood is much harder)...I am thinking Sycamore. Here are the best shots of end grain my phone could take ,hope this helps.And this is with one coat of osmo.

I have built a table out of my own milled planks (poor boy saw mill) but do not even know what wood it is,it was the biggest trunks I had found and instead of using it for fire wood like usual I thought I would try and build my family a kitchen table. Would love to know what wood it is if someone here knows. Pics do it no justice,seems a lot more detail and quilt lines than pics suggest.

Thanks for the encouraging words tcfengineering...I always try,dont always sucseed...but on this one I have...today I finaly finished building my table with my own milled planks...been together being worked on slowly for 2 weeks in a central heated house and no warping yet,the tree was growing this time a year ago so against all I have heard about drying things seem good. I will post up some pics of the other planks as soon as I dig the planks out of my storage shelter. Will be posting pics of my table after the final sanding tomorrow,need urgent advise from the good people on here about the finish and even the ID of the wood,it was the hardest wood I have ever known,dying to know what the hard bugger is.

This Cod Wood reminds me of a tale I once heard of a guy who wanted a job at the local saw mill. This guy told the boss of the saw mill that he could identify wood by its smell alone...so the boss of the company thought he would test the guys claim before offering him a job. So they blind folded the guy ...and instead of putting wood in front of him the boss`s secretary laid down on the table instead.The boss thought he would fool him first before any wood test. The guy started to sniff ,went up and down the table....then asked if the wood could be turned over as he was not sure...the secretary queitly rolled over...The guy sniffed a bit more, then the guy stood up,still blind folded and said..."I got it"..."Its the old **** house door from a fishing boat" . Could that door be CodWood?

Thanks for the replys guys...please excuse my late reply...I have had a frustrating few hours here and there over the last few weeks trying to cut my boards "poor boy " style and what with forgetting my password for here and wanting to try properly before repling, I have not logged in. treequip...You were so right,but no money or metal work skills and a need to do ment I had to gave it a go , but I just could`nt drill my chain bar like in the vid. Realising it was going to be a struggle what with no money or will to drill I just stuck to my original plan of no knowledge working an trial an error type of thing,learn as you go. 54gka...I tried gluing the ply to the bar but it lasted 2 minutes before flying off, so I just rested my chainsaw on one edge of the wooden frame and eyed the tip of the bar above the opposite edge...The first board was spot on,hardly any saw marks and after a quick sand a straight edge sits perfect,the next 10 boards were not so perfect but will do after a little planing/sanding. Worse thing is my chainsaw seems to now struggle with this continuos side way cutting,did after cut 1, even after sharpening...I dont know if that first plank was from a different tree and got mixed up somehow but after that all others seemed to be tougher wood to cut, I think I have Oak and Ash....my bnq mac 838 16inch chainsaw(dont laugh) is not really up for the job,but in an emergency it does work for hill billy planking.I have boards 13 inch wide which is about as wide as can be done with my saw. All in all I am happy I did it, and it felt safe other than bits of wood flying in your face when skimming thin bits ,glasses are a must,was worried about what would happen if the chain broke when in that position, other wise it was ok to do.

Hi , I am trying to make a table out of some hard wood I found, with out a clue on what to do I stupidly thought I could cut straight enough with my chainsaw without a guide or any make shift mill,but its all over the place with a straight edge even after an hour of planing a plank.I want rustic old style not so perfect look but I also want plates to not rock,it has to be perfectly flat on one side. So...after looking on utube for ideas I found the poor boy sawmill being skint means this is the only option I have,or is it? Planks are 3-4inch thick so I hope to scim an inch max of one side to get it flat. The one thing that concerns me with the poor boy sawmill is drilling holes into my chainsaw bar, will this weaken it and make it dangerous for cutting logs into biscuits? or should I drill an old bar I have that looks too worn to use for biscuits and use that? or is that dangerous as it looks well used/old. Any advise appreciated,thanks.

I know you prob want rid of more but If you can deliver to Nelson and the price is right I will have about 5 tons worth please ...wish I had room for more but for now thats about all I can store.

I know nothing about the buisness of drying logs in such quantitys but surely you guys can create heat in a room/tent/barn to help dry your logs ,either with logs or with shavings ,and any heat is good,right?Like a woodchip/shavings workshop stove? I have seen something on-line somewhere and you just load it up with your waste woodchippings/dust,must be a back boiler version out there? or even industrial scale? The fire risks maybe too great but somehow heat from a burner could be used,piped in underfloor or even through the gaps in pallets,visquin water pipe is a cheap way?or even in radiators? obviously air flow from outside would need to be reduced, somehow it can be done to get the balance in ventilation and not loose all heat? maybe only use this system on the days there is no wind,and if waste is used as the fuel then its just a few grand to set up,going along the lines of what power a house hold log burner can produce and its costs... surely there is something out there thats basic and cheap that can help you guys?

Cheers Jon...only 1 offer so far which is not really what I am after. A neigbour has come up with a phone number of a guy who sells logs,so will try that later today for a price.I would like the logs for early next week so there is still time here.

I usually manage to source my own fire wood but health issues just lately are preventing me.So I would like to buy a few ton of logs,either split or not.I need them to be dry enough to burn now.

A big company near me that sells logs has put me off buying logs , after repeatedly selling me soft wood logs that are 28-32%, I cannot buy again...the logs took ages to get going and produced little heat.The ton load of wet logs I had lasted me longer than a ton of dry because of the crap fire it produced did not make me want to lite it so much, and the slow burn as it was so wet made it last...in other words if this company dryied there logs right then I would have ordered more ,burnt more,and they make more money. It took me a few years of having bad logs before I got myself a moisture meter,and since then I now find my own wood.If I go to a forest I know ,where there are some trees on the ground that were felled only 8 months ago,chop it up and measure,its 23-28%,mostly Ash...So why the hell this company has 30% really winds me up, but they are always busy.