Intro from new member.

[Tokinred]

Hi all, i'm a new member here, after lurking for months.  I'm in N. Cent. Fla., early 50's, retired in '22 due to severe TBI sustained 3 years earlier.  I purchased 10 acres, with a 9,000 sq/ft pole barn, from a log home outfit.  My intention was to build a "barndominium" in part of it, and use the rest as a shop.  I enclosed and insulated 500sq/ft, installed a mini-split, hung a TV, and now call it home. 

Last year, i bought myself a new crossbow.  While learning to shoot it, i set my target up in front of a giant pile of logs left on my property.  I believed them to be waste, so i planned to use 'em for firewood.  When i missed the target completely, the errant bolt hit a 8"x12"x16' log and shattered.  Upon inspection at the point of impact, i was shocked to see beautiful, deep purple color wood exposed by the impact.  I grabbed my trusty Husky 455 to investigate. 

Turns out, the folks who once owned the log home place had bought an entire boat load of exotic hardwood, piled it up near the barn, and left it...in the late 70s or early 80s!  I cut six 4x6x1 samples, mailed them to Dr. Harry Alden and prayed while awaiting the verdict.  Within two weeks, he told me i have the following; Bubinga, Cherry Mahogany, Dark Red Meranti, Greenheart, Purpleheart, and Wallaba!

Upon learning this incredible news, i stopped all other activities, ordered a sawmill, and began reading this forum and others, to educate myself.  Educating myself, post TBI, has proven difficult, having near zero short term memory.  Rather than lurk, waiting for someone else to ask the questions i have, i joined, in hopes of learning from you all.  Thank you for reading all of my first post.  I'm just a normal guy; in 24 months, i got hurt, got divorced, retired from practicing law, and moved from a crappy waterfront home into my pole barn...😂

I just have to figure out how to mill this lumber.  Blessed to be the "curator" of 450-500 8-12"x8-12"x10-24' logs, i'm focused on not wasting a bit of it.  It's too rare to waste.

Great thanks to all the knowledgeable folks who share priceless information with us newbies. 

Tokinred.

[Ljohnsaw]

I'm sure @tule peak timber will chime in soon 

[SawyerTed]

Welcome!  That sounds like a great challenge and lucky resource. 

@caveman might be a good resource close by.  

[WV Sawmiller]

@YellowHammer might be interested too. Good luck. He might make a side trip next moth after visiting with Jake, et. al.

[barbender]

That is a cool discovery! Welcome, and we look forward to seeing what comes out of that pile!

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Hello and welcome.  When you start sawing that out we sure would like some pics.

[Texas Ranger]

Welcome aboard from Texas.

[Nebraska]

Welcome that's a really awesome find. 

[jpassardi]

Welcome to the forum and good luck!
Walnut and cherry are as exotic as I have experience milling.

[Stephen1]

Welcome to the FF. The universe is pretty darn good at providing for those that need. You just have to recognize the gifts. 
We really like pictures!

[rusticretreater]

As a wood turner, I am so jealous.

[trimguy]

Welcome to the forum. I only know what the mahogany is, but Wow! See if you can round up some common logs to practice on before you start on the pile.

[Tokinred]

Wow!  Thank you for such a warm welcome.  As  soon i figure out how to post pictures, i will share what i have.

 

As a wood turner, I am so jealous.

Don't be jealous;  once i establish that i'm not BS-ing, not utterly insane, or higher than a giraffe's...tail...😂.i'll send you whatever you want.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Practicing on other logs might help but the ones you describe will have their additional challenges. Probably want to get a carbide blade or two to have for backup. Come to think of it practicing some will help you not ruin those-they cost $$$-by sawing your mill like most of us have. Good luck.

[rusticretreater]

Within two weeks, he told me i have the following; Bubinga, Cherry Mahogany, Dark Red Meranti, Greenheart, Purpleheart, and Wallaba!

Don't be jealous;  once i establish that i'm not BS-ing, not utterly insane, or higher than a giraffe's...tail...😂.i'll send you whatever you want.

Awesome. That is a really generous offer.  Are you nuts or something? 

Using different color woods for making things like lids to bowls really creates interest in the piece.  I also am dabbling in making segmented pieces so contrasting colors are also desirable. 

[maple flats]

Welcome aboard!

[Sixacresand]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.   From your first post, looks like you got lots of work to do.   

[Tokinred]

Awesome. That is a really generous offer.  Are you nuts or something? 


Signs indicate yes...🤭

[Tokinred]

Pics;

[TimW]

Barn find of the decade!  What sawmill did you get?
We all are chomping at the bit to see more photos.

[barbender]

Hoowhee! That's cool stuff!

[jpassardi]

Yeah, the colors are impressive.

[rusticretreater]

Holy Cow!  I don't know what barn find I would like more, finding that wood or finding a bone stock classic car.  Dang man. Lucky you.  I would be sitting around for months just trying to decide how to process that wood.

[Tokinred]

Thanks guys, i appreciate the kind words. 

It seems that the FF, like many, had to dramatically reduce data storage associated with photo sharing, to reduce consumption.  It's a necessary process, but usually makes it more difficult to share pics.  It took me  two days, but i did figure it out.

I will add more as i can. 

On to milling;  i did order a carbide tipped blade, which just happened to be on sale.  Thank you for the excellent suggestion, terrifictimbersllc. 

Yall have a great day, i'm off to the planer...

[WV Sawmiller]

   Awful pretty wood.

   Where in N. Central Fla are you located? I grew up in the norther panhandle near the Ala line north of Pensacola but dad was down in Dixie County so we'd go down there and fish on the Suwannee River and such.

[Tokinred]

I'm in Levy County, just over the river.  My daddy was a Land Surveyor and i was homeschooled by my mom.  In essence, i was child labor😅.   

I would bet good money that we surveyed at least 50 % of Dixie County.  Most of the "5 acre subdivisions" in Dixie County were created by Thompson Real Estate, in the 80s.  We were his only surveyors, so we worked six 10s a week for a decade, it seemed. 

One hasn't truly lived until one has spent 10 consecutive hours running a 20", 1970s Homelite chainsaw in a Dixie County swamp, in mid-August!   I have truly lived, many many times, starting at 14yo. 

I went to law school to escape the heat, humidity, and deer flies of Dixie County.  I once saw a skeeter so big, it was standing flat footed, "assaulting" a buzzard!🤭

[Tokinred]

Pic

[Tokinred]

Another.

[Tokinred]

The hardest part of milling this stuff is seeing how much was there, and how much value is lost.  Here's a 16'2" piece of cherry Mahogany, sawed at 2.25" thick.  There's some good in there, but a lot of rot...😐

[SawyerTed]

@WV Sawmiller 

Howard, it must be something in the water down there.  The truth elongating minerals must be in Dixie and Levy county water!  

On second thought, I might have seen decendants of that "skeeter" on Portsmouth Island...

[Larry]

Suggestion.....

I bought several thousand foot of walnut logs a few years ago. Got it really cheap because the logs were old and lots of different lengths. Separated the logs into two groups, the junk and the good stuff. I knew if I sawed the junk into grade lumber I wouldn't be able to give it away. Sawed the junk pile all into live edge slabs. It brought more money than the good logs that I sawed into grade lumber. Live edge tables and shelves with character (cracks, rot, and knotholes) are in vogue right now.

Your mahogany board jogged my memory. With a natural edge it would sell but as a board maybe not so much........

[Tokinred]

@WV Sawmiller

Howard, it must be something in the water down there.  The truth elongating minerals must be in Dixie and Levy county water! 

On second thought, I might have seen decendants of that "skeeter" on Portsmouth Island...

I can assure you, i have been extremely conservative in my estimates.  When this is all done, it's likely to be double, triple what i can see now.  I am regularly overwhelmed to the point of tears. 

Setting a 250BF log on the mill, the value dependent on species, rot, and how i saw it is seriously stressful.  This is probably the last opportunity i'll have to earn enough for the retirement i'd dreamed of, prior to my ex deciding she needed it all🤦.

I just pressure washed a small log, and am going to saw it up. I took pics of both ends, and am planning to saw 2" off the top, then rotate 90° CC, and do the same. Advice welcome. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Tokin

    Trust me - that remark from Ted was directed at me and in no way questions your integrity or truthfulness. You will find that part of the joys of membership on the FF is picking on other poor and often maligned members.

    He also implied he is somewhat familiar with the area in recognizing that Levy County is adjacent to Dixie County. Before long he will be talking about swimming in Hart Spring and such.

    You still did not provide more detail on your exact location which would be most welcome.

    Ooops. Disregard. I missed that post. (Now wait and see the flack I get.)

[oldgraysawyer]

I don't think you should listen to these guys on here. It sounds like they are trying to talk you into a life of hardships dealing with those. Just send me your address and I'd be happy to come down and clean up all those old rotten logs, for a very reasonable fee, that have been there all those years and get them out of your way. I'm sure you'd be much happier to get them out of there so you can have room for a fun project of some kind.  


Just kidding...... maybe !

Anyway congrats on the win fall and we all look forward to watching your progress with that beautiful wood. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Tokin,

    I am well familiar with the child labor issues. My 2 brothers and I were Dad's labor pool in his monument and chain link fence business. I told him many times I would never have had to leave home if he'd have just bought an automatic cement mixer, power hole diggers and a chainsaw. Imagine your experience with a chainsaw in Dixie County swamps using an old fashion brush hook. (There is a special place in Hell for the man who invented that tool). Of course he bought power tools after all of us had left but that did not do me any good.

  When I was a kid there were few fences and no range laws there in that part of Florida and cows and hogs ranged freely. The places in those hammocks were I used to hunt are no doubt the ones you surveyed and are now subdivisions.

  The guy across the road from my grandfather caught the river up and sold the land as "Suwannee River front property" to a rich yankee. That was true but when the water went back down it was 2 miles to the river. To say the least the land there was flat!

  I think that is the same skeeter I heard talking to his buddy on my porch one evening. He said "Should we eat him here or take him back to the swamp and eat him there?" The second skeeter said "We better eat him here because if we take him back to the swamp the big boys will take him away from us."

[Tokinred]

Lol, y'all are fun ti hang out with.

I have exceptionally thick skin, and "dish it" plenty; so i can take it.  I'm just glad i can share this process, and learn from folks with different OJT.

That log is Bubinga.  It is amazing how well it held up to 50+ years in the yard! 

[Tokinred]

@WVS, that gave me goosebumps, then made me bust out laughing!   Thank you.

Pic of what that log became.  One of the best i've sawed.  More than half of it is good.  As usual, the prettiest parts are also the first to rot.

[SawyerTed]

@Tokinred

For some reason my quote of your comment about the giant "skeeter" has gone missing in action. 

WV Sawmiller is known for his yarns, tales of adventure and woe.  Howard has at times entertained us with a few stories that border on incredible.  In short, he has moments when he's just plain a character!  He's a known tall tale expert and embellisher — it's all in good fun and we get great laughs from his humor. 

My comment was regarding the skeeter comment.  It was meant as kindly ribbing and in no way questions your character or the fascinating log find and lumber.  If my comment came through in an offensive manner, I am truly sorry. Sometimes things don't come through as intended. 

[Tokinred]

🤭Guys, i'm tough as woodpecker lips!  I don't take stuff personally, ever.  Please don't be gentle...😂

Added a good pic of a grain variation in the mahogany, and a pic of 4-5 species together.

[Tokinred]

Pics of a 24"x5.5" square-ish piece, and my first attempt at a cutting board.  The growth rings seem to indicate a fairly large tree fell. 

[rusticretreater]

I suggest visiting a bunch of the woodworkers websites and anyone who sells exotic woods to see what they are offering.  These are the things that sell and are high margin.  Certainly, a lot of pen blanks and blocks of wood for wood turners.  The mahogany will be prime furniture, guitar and special wood box material.

That cutting board looks sweet.  Those would certainly sell at trade shows and online.  

[Nebraska]

Dang that looks nice.