Making money from stumps?

[Gilman]

I have a couple items for the group, I'll list them in a random meaningless order of importance.

Has anyone been successful at sawing stumps, aka rock tombs, at a profit?  If so, what did you make it into or what market did you fill?

I have access to as many free stumps as I want.  Most are just douglas fir, but there are some broad leaf maple, cedar, and white oak. I don't even have to clean up my mess!  I'd be sawing onsite at a recycling chipper.


Oh, also wanted to show you my first born... I think I'll name him Trampy. He's 1/2" square and has the prettiest little shine to him.


I've been learning alot.  Here's a trick to clean that stuborn pitch off your blades.  One pass and it smokes right off. "Hmm that kind of looks like steam, oh well I'll just finish this pass."


The good news is I've finally started to layout my process better.  I don't know what I'll do when I can't use my forklift though.  I'll have to start learning all over again.

[Jim_Rogers]

In timber framing we use a piece of a stump called a "knee". It a part where the root shoots out 90° to the trunk.

I've got a picture of one somewhere and could post it if you need to see one. Or you can do a goggle search for a company called Newman's Knees, and there should be some pictures there of what a knee looks like.

If you can find the right stump and get some knees cut then you'll have some thing you can sell from stumps.

I've heard of them being sawn on a band mill on top of a sort of turn table. You saw in as if you were going down the stump into the ground, and then turn the table and follow out the root.
This creates a corner piece of wood as least 4" thick

Oh, I remembered where that picture is. Here it is:




I probably have another one or two, showing the knees in the rough, but you should get the idea from the above photo.

Good luck with your new saw.

Jim Rogers

[etat]

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post the pictures, I LIKE pictures!!!!!

[Frank_Pender]

Gilman, good to see you on the Forum.  As to the stump selling, if any of the Maple stumps have any sort of burl they can be worth some dollars.  I have paid up to $500 for a single large stump delivered here to the Tree Farm in Dallas, Oregon.  Touch base, if you believe I can be of further assistance.

[Gilman]

Thanks Jim,
That's a good point for using the stumps, I'll have to scan through them again looking for good knees.  My longterm goal is to build a timberframe home with a victorian exterior.  I like the exterior of the victorian while also liking the openness of the timberframe.  I've been reading your posts in the Timber Framing section.  Thanks for all the great input.

Frank,
I do come across maple stumps with burls occasionally.  Lets keep in touch and I can keep an eye out for what you're looking for. Dallas, OR isn't that far from me, probably about 90 minutes.

Cktate,
You're a bad influence, my little (really little) angel over my shoulder says, "stay away from that bad seed."  Problem is that little angle gets whooped daily by the big guy with horns.  The big guy says things like, "Oh, why not go saw for just a little bit, everyone is doing it.  And why your at it, take some pictures so you can look back and see why you fired yourself from your own company."

I guess I was sawing in my dreams this morning, my girlfriend stopped by this morning while I was still sleeping.  Apparently I was hungry and wanting to saw.  When she woke me up, I told her to get the cheese in the loader so I can resaw some swiss cheese.  Apparently it made sense to me at the time.

[etat]

 :D :DGilman, that one little voice that's a speaking to ya about me, it's a lying  little devil, even if it ain't the one with horns!!!! :D  :D  :D :D

Now as far as resawing that cheese, that makes PERFECT sense to me!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8)

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I saw stumps and have some cull 0.055 blades that I saw most of them with.  I often hit rocks and dirt pockets.  Most are walnut and cherry but I have done others like maple and pine.  I would think the maple would be of some use to turners and gunstock  people.  It is more art form of sawing and you will have to mess up a few stumps to learn where the pretty grain is.

 This is what you are looking for and gunstocks are cut like knees and bring the best price if long enough.  
ARKANSAWYER

[Gilman]

Arkansawyer,
Do you do anything special to hold those short ackward pieces?  Or, just learn through trial and error what works and what doesn't?

Also, if you're going to cut one up, could you take some more photos of the process you go through, like where you try and take your first cut?

Thanks,  Gilman

[ARKANSAWYER]

   Well I have a walnut stump to saw up but I am on the road for the next two weeks.
   I split most stumps in half with a chainsaw and drop them on the mill.  Being hydralic Wanda will grab it and hold on.  It is best if you can keep it from being over 26 inches wide and at least 32 inches long so it will sit on the bed rails.  I try to saw so that I am cutting from the middle of the stump down one of the roots that shoot off to the side that keep the tree stable.  You will just have to split a couple and look at the grain to see what comes out best.  Not all stumps are of much use.  I have sawn some that were just plain or had so much dirt inside them that there was nothing to use.  Then I have cut some that looked like marble and the grain went every which way and was very pretty.
ARKANSAWYER