Aussie Grey Gum Slabbing

[Iron.and.bark]

Mill with fork flat as is in the picture.

If it is to wide for your setup, trim edges to reduce width.

Or rip down the middle, keep log at same orientation as picture, then peel off boards. You can bookleaf the end product, should have some nice flame in that crotch wood.

 

[Brewz]

Mill with fork flat as is in the picture.

If it is to wide for your setup, trim edges to reduce width.

Or rip down the middle, keep log at same orientation as picture, then peel off boards. You can bookleaf the end product, should have some nice flame in that crotch wood.

Do you recon that rot in the middle will ruin the inner slabs?

 

[Iron.and.bark]

Well the rot will not be nice, but that timber looks like it doesn't stain to easily. So where it isn't rotten, should have good colour.

Don't be fixated on slabs, lots to be made on smaller pieces. I wish you luck.

 

[Brewz]

Well the rot will not be nice, but that timber looks like it doesn't stain to easily. So where it isn't rotten, should have good colour.

Don't be fixated on slabs, lots to be made on smaller pieces. I wish you luck.

I am learning here mate and I REALLY appreciate all help and advice.

What do you mean by smaller pieces?

Also, considering the smaller size of the timber, what thickness should I mill to?

 

[Iron.and.bark]

I mean don't just look at a log and think slabs. Can cut cubes of sections and break down into smaller pieces on bandsaw etc.

Thickness maybe 1 1/4 inch. Should plain down to 3/4 inch nicely to make nice boards.

If you are set on making slabs, and slab furniture or similar. 2"- 2/14

 

[Shawn Curry]

That "forked" piece looks like it may be a 3-4 way crotch. You may get some cool looking slabs out of that, but I seriously doubt they will dry straight. Or it might end up being a mess of knots and not good for much besides firewood, IMO.

I have a nice maple crotch burl (2-way) that I just hauled out of the woods on Saturday. I'll probably work on it tonight and take a few pics of my setup if you're interested. I plan to level the heart centers as best as I can horizontally, then rip right through them. I also plan to saw away the "outer" branch wood (outside the heart centers) as I believe that leaving it on has caused many of my other pieces like that to twist and crack.

In regards to what thickness to saw it to, for me it all depends what I think I might do with it someday. But there's a couple of things to consider here. You can easily make a board that's too big, a little smaller. Going the other direction is a lot more work. Also, chainsaws take a pretty big kerf compared to other types of woodworking saws. I rarely make a board less than 2.25 inch thick with the chainsaw.

 

[Brewz]

I would love some setup photos!

 

[Shawn Curry]

I would love some setup photos!

I wasn't able to square up all 4 heart centers, as the smaller branch seemed to 'dive'. (And there is the reason for sawing off the branch wood - with the grain running 2 different directions in the slab, it will surely twist. Worse, the weak point will likely be somewhere in the middle of all that figure so that's where the crack will be. )

So I leveled the branch ends, because the 'meat' of the burl was basically centered between the branches. Looking at the butt end, the smaller branch seemed to "ride up", so I figured that one was curving. So I lined up my guide rails with the larger butt end and the two branches.

 

[Shawn Curry]

After I had it in half, I made two 2.5 inch slabs, and I might go for another thinner slice on my bandsaw with the remnant.



I ended up with a pretty good snipe on the ends there. I always set wedges before I complete the cut to try to reduce that, but in this case I was milling on a slight downhill slope, and the slab didnt weigh enough to stay put once it was freed, and it slid into the spinning chain. I learn something almost every time - cause I make lots of mistakes.

 

[Brewz]

Thanks so much Shawn.

They look great too!

 

[VinceGU05]

the slabs i have been making have been 60 to 65 mm thick... like shawn said.. can always make them thinner.

 

[Iron.and.bark]

Nice stuff Shawn.

I mill anything (when using Alaskan) up to 3'x10' mostly at 2 1/4" thick. Anything larger is usually 3" thick.

On the logosol tend to mill thinner, but timber that I mill on this is usually very dry.

Will try and find some crotch and demo for you in the next week brewz.

 

[czar800]

Nice!

 

[Brewz]

With the thin waste of the log in the middle that has the nice crotch, I am going to take some advice and remove the crotch section and mill that to get some nice shorter pieces.
The other 2 logs I will run full length cuts

 

[Brewz]

Well its no big dollar unit but will do me to start out.

 

[Iron.and.bark]

Well its no big dollar unit but will do me to start out.

View attachment 29971

At least you can read the depth guage numbers easy, mine are getting worn off

Fit it up, mark up where the chain tensioner screw is and drill a hole big enough to get a screw driver through. You'll thank me later

 

[Brewz]

At least you can read the depth guage numbers easy, mine are getting worn off

Fit it up, mark up where the chain tensioner screw is and drill a hole big enough to get a screw driver through. You'll thank me later

Top tip.
Cheers mate

 

[Brewz]

Well, I am getting closer.
have Husky 2100 and Stihl 090 so thats power taken care of.
30" and 42" bars for the 2100 and getting a 50" bar for the 090.

I have a length of small timber I plan to use for practice to sort out bugs on the setup before I attempt to mill nice timber.

I am sure I will mess some stuff up but that all part of learning.

Cant wait!

 

[Brewz]

Got a call from a bloke locally with lots of large timber down on his property and a couple big standing dead trees that are 4 to 5' thick.
He said I am welcome to them.

Picked up this for the 090 today as well as a 25' roll of Oregon 404 skip ripping chain

 

[CR888]

That 090 has turned out well considering the condition it arrived in. Well done!...& I don't wanna know what the 50" titanium cost here