Author Topic: A Big Ol’ Sycamore (Read 1878 times)

metalspinner · « **on:** July 18, 2021, 06:58:42 PM »

I picked this big boy up today. My electrician tipped me off to it as it was on the other side of town from my normal routes.
10' long, 40" small end, 50" big end.

Sycamore Parbuckling - YouTube

Magicman · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2021, 07:06:20 PM »

Good job loading and now the fun begins!!!

WDH · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2021, 07:41:36 AM »

Reverse Roll Quartersaw!!!!

metalspinner · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2021, 11:41:41 AM »

WDH,
I’m going to have this cut with a swing mill. Jacob has been cutting for me for years and makes beautiful lumber.
I don’t have a relationship (locally) with a hydraulic band mill operator right now.

I do have a fixture in mind, though, to hold 8x8 cants at 45 degrees so we can maximize as much QS figure as possible from “riftsawn” cants.

metalspinner · « **Reply #4 on:** September 09, 2021, 09:21:08 AM »

This sycamore turned into a disappointment. The center of the log had many branches that had been pruned and grown over. There was not much clear materiel and the branch whorl was right in the middle of the 10’ log.
But we did the best we could.

We did try a new idea to maximize QS boards. I built this holding fixture to hold Rift sawn cants. This produced the best boards from the log.

Crusarius · « **Reply #5 on:** September 09, 2021, 09:56:01 AM »

Good idea on the fixture. Pretty sweet.

Magicman · « **Reply #6 on:** September 09, 2021, 05:34:52 PM »

Quote from: metalspinner on September 09, 2021, 09:21:08 AM

This sycamore turned into a disappointment............But we did the best we could.

I would not consider it a failure because the "best that you can do is the best that you can do". You can only get out of any log what the log has to give and you got it.

metalspinner · « **Reply #7 on:** September 09, 2021, 06:14:30 PM »

I took a few pics of the sycamore lumber as I was stacking it today. There is no time for pics when the sawmill is cutting.

I cut some of the boards down to 4 footers and some 6 footers to get rid of the spike knots and junk that I know will torque and twist like crazy with sycamore.

And we did get some nice double cuts with a natural edge. These are 16” x 10’ you can see one of those pesky spike knots.

About 760 bf of lumber, plus the slab.
The FF BF calculator says 761 bf International, 810 Doyle.

This one slab is from the bottom of the log. It’s about 28” across. It is flat sawn, so we will see how it will dry.

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