Mike Zilis
07-13-2010, 6:26 PM
I feel very lucky to have scored some free lumber last weekend. My brother's father-in-law told me that about 4 years ago he had a relatively large Spruce tree go down in his yard. He hired a sawyer to bring the log to a mill. Once the rough sawn boards were delivered back, he brought them out to his airplane hanger and stickered them up in a couple of piles. He did a nice job keeping all but one board off the bare floor using 1 inch square red oak stickers that his sawyer had provided to him. He recently offered the lumber to me for free in return for making him a headboard for his master bedroom. The pictures below show the wood stacked upright against the wall in my garage. Some of the boards are over 3 inches thick and more than a few are 9 feet long. I think the widest of the boards is close to 14". The lumber has lots of knots in it and quite a few checks - but some of it is beautifully clear and straight grained.
I brought one piece into my basement shop just so I could hand plane one surface down and get a look at a clean surface. I put a coat of Danish Oil on it and let it dry before taking the photo. It looks a lot like 2x4 material if you ask me - but I'm definitely going to be able to put it to use in various projects.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3662
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3663
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3660
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3661
I brought one piece into my basement shop just so I could hand plane one surface down and get a look at a clean surface. I put a coat of Danish Oil on it and let it dry before taking the photo. It looks a lot like 2x4 material if you ask me - but I'm definitely going to be able to put it to use in various projects.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3662
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3663
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3660
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=264&pictureid=3661