jack-daniels
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You mean like thisI am wondering if there some way I might be able to hold this monster log up high enough to roll my bandsaw alongside it. I mean, it is on wheels.
Somebody stop me.
- Thread starter Screwdriver
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Screwdriver
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You mean like this
Haha, yeah only going the hard way. I'll have a watch of that, I'm a subscriber of his too!
Let's hope not then eh...
Found my stash of <unknown> smelly wax stuff (from a dead mans shed clearance).
Seals the ends with a nice soft cap that doesn't come off and is bandsaw friendly.
I peeled one of the walnut logs just to see what's inside....
It is kinda spooky.
julianf
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I went and took this photo to explain:
This is a length of english walnut that i have out the back -
Scale, i guess, from the paint tins and the stack of three, standard size, plastic cement sacks in the bottom left. I guess the length is 7 and a bit feet long.
The white bit is the sap wood, and the heart develops as it gets older.
Its not like the sapwood is useless, but, without a significant amount of heart, you have lost the majority of the interest.
Subtext -
Dont spend too much time / effort on what youve currently laid your hands on. If you can get holed of the 4 foot wide section you initially mentioned, great, but a few younger timbers are not really much of a prize.
As an indication, i think the 2" thick length in the photo cost me £45. Ebay rate would, im sure, be higher, but, again, i dont know who actually buys this stuff at ebay pricing.
This is a length of english walnut that i have out the back -
Scale, i guess, from the paint tins and the stack of three, standard size, plastic cement sacks in the bottom left. I guess the length is 7 and a bit feet long.
The white bit is the sap wood, and the heart develops as it gets older.
Its not like the sapwood is useless, but, without a significant amount of heart, you have lost the majority of the interest.
Subtext -
Dont spend too much time / effort on what youve currently laid your hands on. If you can get holed of the 4 foot wide section you initially mentioned, great, but a few younger timbers are not really much of a prize.
As an indication, i think the 2" thick length in the photo cost me £45. Ebay rate would, im sure, be higher, but, again, i dont know who actually buys this stuff at ebay pricing.
slim_boy_fat
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@Screwdriver I hope that isn't 'er indoors's best pan....
.
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Screwdriver
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I think the best bit is behind a bricked off part that he couldn't get to. Some other company is bringing a digger to drag out the stump and my chap is going to see if he can grab it for me.
I can't complain about the quality of the piece, it was free after all and it didn't cost too much time/effort either. Plus I have the warm fuzzy feeling that I have "saved" a decent bit of wood from an ignominious end.
I can't complain about the quality of the piece, it was free after all and it didn't cost too much time/effort either. Plus I have the warm fuzzy feeling that I have "saved" a decent bit of wood from an ignominious end.
Screwdriver
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Yeah, you already said that.
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
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Have you seen the clamp tothe chainsaw clamp that is run alond a squared up plank screwed to the log as a plank cutter . drilling the bar in one or two places & bolting right through would make it safer and more stable .
There is an interesting tube video showing it's use safely .
Screwdriver
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Yes of course. I hesitate to go chainsaw route because kerf waste would be a substantial proportion of whatever decent heartwood might be available (possibly up to 250% 
). Alaskan mill is too much of a faff unless as I say, the same chap is happy to lend me his.
So I am looking at ways to maximise whatever there might be here and a quick freehand hack with a chainsaw followed by a more controlled cut with a bandsaw might be the way to go.
). Alaskan mill is too much of a faff unless as I say, the same chap is happy to lend me his.So I am looking at ways to maximise whatever there might be here and a quick freehand hack with a chainsaw followed by a more controlled cut with a bandsaw might be the way to go.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Carmargue walnut I seem to recall, was a sought after gunstock material?
Screwdriver
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Waste of time for a piece of wood about the diameter of a curtain rail when processed …
Ok. Let's examine the logic behind that helpful comment.
Current status is that before I could establish whether or not this was a 200 year old black burr walnut, I had committed to acquiring it. Yes the heartwood is disappointing. It is what it is.
It is now sitting in my garage area and I have three options.
1. Leave it where it is
2. Chop it up for firewood
3. Slice it up for any useable stock
1. is tempting but I have already done that with some plum cherry. Clearly 2 and 3 are so similar in both process and potential outcome, I might just as well aim at 3. I have to chop it up anyway so when I inevitably chop it up, I might just as well see if I can develop a diy process for milling lumber. If it doesn't work, I will have some nicely sawn firewood. Currently I do not see any possibility of getting through next winter without greedy utilities companies bankrupting me into destitution. I might need a decent stack of firewood anyway.
On the other hand, if it does work, I will end up with a lovely curtain rail.
I am more interested in learning how to do it, doing it and learning from doing it. Next time a tree pops up I will know what to look for and even if I ruin this piece but still have all of my appendages, I might expect to do better next time. For those of you who enjoy rude health and easy money, I can see why you might want to poo poo this project. Currently, time is all I have so I choose to do with it as I please until either the NHS sorts me out or I turn into a mindless zombie.
Meanwhile I do have to explore any potential opportunity to conjure up money, turns out it doesn't grow on trees after all.
8ob
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There can be good money in timber if you have the space to store, process and retail it, good sticks will eventually find a buyer. Typically an oak butt with no shake that's suitable for milling at around 4` diameter /10` long will make around £3-400, anything else can go in a log pile, average price of logs around here is nudging £100 a cubic mete delivered, bagged hardwood chip sells if there is no leaf in it, wood for turning sells in small quantities, bagged hardwood sawdust sells for meat smoking.
Bob
slim_boy_fat
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Can we at least keep it civil, lads? 
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
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I sympathise with you Screwdriver being disabled or with a chronic illness means you usually have plenty of time to try and work out what is best for you , not only money wise but also how to do it . What may suit a fit energetic person with a pocket full of readies is far removed what you & I have to end up doing to get a reasonable safe result if we do it ourselves within a pocket money budget . Still it keeps us out of trouble & the brain engaged .
For a four foot length of 100 mm seasoned apple log I screwed a 2x3" planed baton of pine along it's length whilst it was clamped to my welding table so as to have a sound reference edge to put up to the fence on the band saw .
Put on a ripping blade and slipped it through , had Alison on the rear side to be catcher & used some precut thin wedges to keep the cut open . .did the baton exercise with the first flat on the bench and put it through again . then ran the remaining cuts through free hand , it came out pretty clean straight & square .
I can get a 6 inch log through the throat of the bandsaw but have to put roller top stands securely in place front and aft to support the weight of the log.
For a four foot length of 100 mm seasoned apple log I screwed a 2x3" planed baton of pine along it's length whilst it was clamped to my welding table so as to have a sound reference edge to put up to the fence on the band saw .
Put on a ripping blade and slipped it through , had Alison on the rear side to be catcher & used some precut thin wedges to keep the cut open . .did the baton exercise with the first flat on the bench and put it through again . then ran the remaining cuts through free hand , it came out pretty clean straight & square .
I can get a 6 inch log through the throat of the bandsaw but have to put roller top stands securely in place front and aft to support the weight of the log.
Screwdriver
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I am not looking for agreement or disagreement, I am doing the best with what I have. I am merely explaining why the incessant, not worth the bother, firewood does not contribute in any way to the information in this thread where I am about to chop it up anyway.
I would love to be able to find gainful employment so that I didn't have to run around and try to magic up money from thin air. I refer to the state of my health since that is why I do what I do. As stated, I am chopping this one way or another, either for firewood or for usable timber.
If people can't understand the simple logic in that simple premise after I have patiently explained it, then I respectfully suggest this thread will be of no interest to them and their comments of no interest to me.
Screwdriver
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This is beginning to look like a much more attractive option. I need to get out there and measure up to see if the horizontal bandsaw (which has a suitable resaw blade) will work or if I have to mess about with the vertical bandsaw (which doesn't).
julianf
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What's the diameter of the parts you have? You have probably said but lots to read on a small phone screen.
From what I saw it does not look that large, so why not just do it on a bandsaw? I don't mean a huge one, a smaller one will probably do the job, especially if you skim (plane or however) one side flat initially.
I realise you may not have a bandsaw but someone probably will. More likely than someone having an Alaska mill.
Or, if you can find someone with a planer then get it square and you could plank it most of the way on a table saw, finishing off the web in the middle with a hand saw if required.
From what I saw it does not look that large, so why not just do it on a bandsaw? I don't mean a huge one, a smaller one will probably do the job, especially if you skim (plane or however) one side flat initially.
I realise you may not have a bandsaw but someone probably will. More likely than someone having an Alaska mill.
Or, if you can find someone with a planer then get it square and you could plank it most of the way on a table saw, finishing off the web in the middle with a hand saw if required.
If you end up with any big sections it might be worth seeing whether these guys have any customers nearby ..
woodmizer.co.uk
Contact (UK)
woodmizer.co.uk
