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What I'm sawing tonight

Started by Brad_bb, February 15, 2017, 11:05:39 PM

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Brad_bb

Had an ugly Walnut log that I finally started to tackle.  Had to cut off a couple big branch stubs to start with.  This log had 3 visible knot hollows and some heart rot at one end.  Not too bad, but we'll see how deep it goes.  I made my opening cut decisions and got 3 sides cut.  Then I had to spend more time than normal tonight trying to figure out how I was going cut it up.  What I need is 6 foot 4"X8" 's.  As you can see in first pic, the first half of the log is pretty good and I think I will cut it with the chainsaw at 6"3".  Then I can mill 4  4x8's.  The 5th one may not be doable due to the hollow knot as you can see in picture 2.  I may or may not be enough below it.



 



 

In the other end of the log there is some bark inclusion and hollow that was filled by a squirrel with the broken walnut shells.  The grain/figure looks pretty cool for a table or something.  Here is a closer view.


 

Actually most of the hollow was removed on the first couple opening cuts.  I took about 4 4/4 or 5/4 cuts after the opening.  Here is the second cut that had most of the hollow.  Actually, when it dries out, I can see using epoxy and making a cool looking piece.


 

That end of the log where the bark inclusion is, is probably not solid enough to make 4x8's as is.  So i'll probably take another slab cut and if it gets solid, then try to make 4x8's from what's left.  I'll use the slab cuts to make some kind of neat shelving unit or table.  I have a number of successive cuts that go from small to big.

Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Kbeitz

I'm going to take a log like that and fill the void with some nice dried
chewed walnuts and some nesting grass and then fill it with epoxy.
I think it would make a great coffee table. I just got to find a way to
stop everything from floating to the top. Maybe I could hot glue it down.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Cedarman

Never tried to do what you want to do with the walnuts and grass.
What if you put a board on top and clamped it to the slab , then turned it upside down so that your material would float to the bottom.  After hardening, saw the board off and sand the walnut and epoxy smooth.
Don't be afraid to tell me that is the dumbest idea of the lot.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

terrifictimbersllc

Where do you get so much epoxy without breaking the bank?
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Kbeitz

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on February 16, 2017, 07:26:59 AM
Where do you get so much epoxy without breaking the bank?

E-bay ... It's only $35.00 per gallon...
Search for "Crystal Clear Bar Table Top Epoxy Resin Coating For Wood Tabletop - 1 Gallon Kit"
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Brad_bb

Actually that nasty board, I'll remove all those broken walnut shells etc.  There isn't any grass.  I've taken walnut halves (from the Walnut tree in my yard) that were dry and nut meat gone, filled the nuts with epoxy, then put the nut halves in the void to take up a lot of the volume, then filled the void with a slow curing epoxy to prevent cloudiness.  In the past I have also taken acorns, cut them in half, removed the meat, super glued them back together with a little hole, pre-filled them with epoxy and mixed them with the walnut shells to fill volume in the void.  Looks like the squirrel was cashing nuts.

I've also collected the shells of the June bugs.  You know, the shell it molts out of when it comes out of the ground, climbs the tree trunk and leaves the shell there?  I've filled those with epoxy from a needle dispenser.  I also took a whole june bug from last summer that was dead, let him dry out completely and posed him and two shells in a void and filled it.  Looks really cool.

I have not used any of the epoxy colorants or glow in the dark colorants, but will eventually try it.  West Systems epoxy is about $85/gallon.  Even if I used 1/3 of a gallon on one table top, that's $28.  That's not that bad.

Here's a pic I pulled off pinterest to show what I mean by colored or glow epoxies.


 

Sometimes the nastiest looking wood can be made to look like the coolest!
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

paul case

Brad,
What is a 5/5 board? I think it may be a typo but if not enquireing minds want to know.

PC
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Brad_bb

Quote from: paul case on February 16, 2017, 08:39:03 AM
Brad,
What is a 5/5 board? I think it may be a typo but if not enquireing minds want to know.

PC

It's uh metric, yeah, that's the ticket....
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Brad_bb

Ended up getting the 4 4x8's from the front end, a 4x6 and a 2x15 slab from the front end.  On the back end I took one 2" table slab off the sketchy face and I was down to solid wood again.  I then got 6 4x8's from the rest of that back half.  There was a small hidden hollow knot shared by two of those 4x8's but is only 1/3rd the timber width, so I may be able to epoxy fill it and use them.  Gotta wait til they dry and stabilize enough before I plane them and do any epoxy work.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Darrel

I've tried the filling voids with epoxy thing, several times in fact. I've watched the YouTube videos, I've put masking tape on the bottom of the table to keep the epoxy from leaking out and all I ever got was a table that needed to be house broke.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Brad_bb

Darrel,
I've just posted a new topic in General Woodworking with tips for epoxy.  Are you using West systems or something else?
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Darrel

Brad,
Not sure what I'm using except for the fact that it's not west systems. I haven't used it since I moved from the wet side of the Cascades to the dry side. It's in a box somewhere. Maybe when I find it I should just trash it and give West Systems a try.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

timcosby

wonder if a real light pour and let dry then fill the rest would hold it in place especially with the grass.

Brad_bb

What's this talk about grass?  There's not grass just a kind of a walnut shell rotted meal.  I knocked it all out.  When dry it can then be filled with epoxy and hidden treasures or whatever.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Weekend_Sawyer

You always have interesting threads Brad.

I like working with epoxy and embedding things in the wood. In my gun room shelving units I built, I put shell casings in knots that got knocked out.
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

opticsguy

You say:  "Had an ugly Walnut log that I finally started to tackle."   There is no such thing as an ugly log, only beautiful wood..............   cut_tree
TK 1220 band mill,  1952 Ford F-2, 1925 Dodge touring, too many telescopes.

Brad_bb

By ugly, I mean gnarly!  Meaning that you're not going to be able to just saw straight solid pieces out of it.  It's gonna take a lotta figurin' and an artists eye to see what's in the log and what it should be.  I saw some table tops, an stacking organic shelving unit, and some timber frame brace stock. 

I don't know if any of you do this, but I often save Walnut slabs that have cool knobs or branch knot holes that look cool.  I'm thinking that I'll use them when i build my house.  I will do some plaster walls and mount them to the walls in places like in a closet or the wall of a room, or one corner of the bathroom... and then plaster up to it so that it looks like the house was build around the tree or the tree was growing in the house.  I'll have to take some pics of my cool slab stack and start a new thread about this.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

longtime lurker

If you want the " like it was embedded in glass" look with no cloudiness try West 207 ultra clear hardener. The stuff is in a class of its own.
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

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