The Redwood Project

[kelLOGg]

I have a friend who purchased a redwood slab (36" x 3" x 8') and wants to make a table from it. He found it on Craigslist posted by a sawyer/woodworker in South Carolina. As it turns out, the sawywer's father brought it from California 40 years ago and never did anything with it and it has been indoors and at ambient humidity all this time. My friend will have it sanded with a wide belt sander and is planning on having stainless steel legs made for it. I immediately thought the FF people would be interested in this so I am posting pics and seeking advice for him in regard to the need for drying, finishing, etc. He may consider redwood legs if such could be available and found to match. He'll be taking it home to Australia eventually as a memento of his and his wife's visit to the States, so he wants to put a lot of thought in it and "get it right" the first time.

It was cut close to the center of the tree with a double-bladed circle mill; you can see where the blades wern't quite aligned up. It has about a 1/4" of cupping - remarkably little for a 3 foot wide piece.



  

  

[thecfarm]

That is a wonderful piece of wood.Where the saws was not lined up right,could that be saved and put on the bottom? Just the history of it.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Here is a little info about the ridge or step in this piece.

When a circle mill needs to saw larger diameter logs, the mill can use a larger diameter saw (expensive for sure) or put a second saw on top of the main saw.  This second saw is called a "top saw."  (Finally a term that makes sense!)

It is almost always true (but would not have to be) that the top saw is not perfectly aligned with the main saw.  The reason is usually that the main saw is slightly dished when stationary, but when spinning, straightens up.  That movement means that the top saw (which is small diameter so it does not have dish) if aligned when the saw is not spinning must be slightly misaligned to account for the expected movement of the main saw when it is spinning.  It is a bit of a guess as to how much the main saw will move, although it can be figured out, if desired.  If not perfectly aligned, then we will see this step on the lumber. 

Rarely, we can see this same issue with a double arbor edger (used in very large mills that saw large cants (over 10" thick) into lumber) where one arbor is under the cant and one arbor is over the cant, each arbor with a set of saws.  Perfect alignment of the two sets of saws (one set on each arbor) is tedious and often is not done.  Rather, the ridge or step is removed in the planer after drying.

[WDH]

Now that is a fine slab.