Wood Gloat (Multiple Pictures)

[JDPens]

Several weeks ago, one of our neighbor's trees fell down in a windstorm. Last week, someone came to cut it up. My brother and I took school off that afternoon and worked for three and half hours hauling the raw lumber across the street one load at a time with our neighbor's 17 cu.ft. lawn mower trailer. MAN, that was HARD work!

Here are the results of all that labor:

Also in the above picture is my brother and baby brother for size comparison.

In these pictures, there is a scrap 2"x4"x12" for size comparison:

Several close-ups:

Last but not least, we even got some firewood out of the deal.

Like I said before, it was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it. Dad said that he had ordered some Anchorseal and it should be here soon. We'll have to figure that out, and after that, we should be good to go with plenty of good wood.

OBTW, I think that the tree is some type of Oak.

EDIT: Fixed.

 

[ahoiberg]

well, congratulations boys! now get to turnin'! [] looks like about a million pen blanks to me. bet you could make some nice bowls and such out of them as well... enjoy.

 

[fiferb]

I would get the pith cut out of them as soon as you can. Especially if you are planning bowls. I had some nice wood I was going to use for bowls and delayed cutting the pith out and they cracked and split in many directions making them useless for bowls. Nice haul.

 

[alamocdc]

Sweet! Oh BTW, I didn't see any firewood... just turning stock. And I agree with Bruce on the pith issue. Remove it as quickly as possible.

 

[JDPens]

A couple of quick questions before I start on my schoolwork:

How do you remove pith?

What would be some ideal or recommended ways to cut the lumber?

Does anyone have any pictures for examples?

Is there anything to keep in mind while working with the wood? (steel toe, face protection, tendency to split a certain direction, etc)

Tips, or anything of the sort?


TIA,

 

[Draken]

Originally posted by JDPens
<br />A couple of quick questions before I start on my schoolwork:

How do you remove pith?
Chainsaw

What would be some ideal or recommended ways to cut the lumber?
Plan your cut to remove a slab from the middle which contains the pith. Also, if doing bowls, choose a cut line so that the blank is balanced on either side of a line in the center of the blank and perpendicular to the cut line.

Does anyone have any pictures for examples?
The first Bill Grumbine DVD is a great resource. Also try doing a search on youtube.com, some good videos there as well.

Is there anything to keep in mind while working with the wood? (steel toe, face protection, tendency to split a certain direction, etc)
Need ear, eye, face and leg protection (long pants at a minium) when using a chainsaw. Make sure the log is well supported, but won't force the cut closed so it won't bind the bar. Check the logs for embedded rocks, dirt, nails, etc before taking the saw to it.

Tips, or anything of the sort?
Read the chainsaw manual, and don't do anything that feels unsafe. If unsure about anything, try to find someone local to you that has experience who can help you get started. This is what I did (Thanks Frank!).

TIA,