My first wood gloat

[Mike Zilis]

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

[Michael O'Sullivan]

It looks a lot like 2x4 material if you ask me

That's because it is. ;)

[Van Huskey]

Free is almost always a gloat! Spruce can be a cool wood. I personally like using softwoods on occasion!

[glenn bradley]

Congrats on the score. Lots of folks (like LOML) really like knotty woods with those big cathedrals. You should be able to get some good use out of that.