Big oak gloat

[David Scarborough]

Hey all, and Merry Christmas!
I got an early Christmas present when my father asked me to take down the big oak in his back yard. It was struck by lightning this past summer and he was concerned about it going over. I had a pro take down the top and then dropped the trunk.
Of course, the limbs etc will be used to heat my home for the next 2 or 3 years, but I have plans for the big stuff.
The trunk is over 4 feet wide across the middle. I cut several potential round table tops / coffee table tops out of it. The tree cutting pro is coming back after Christmas with his monster Husky chainsaw (48" bar) and we are going to cut some big slabs for rectangular table tops and end table tops. The tree cutter has asked me to make him a clock out of a figured round from the tree.
There are 2 sections that are between 6 and 8 feet long, to give you an idea of the size of this tree. My shop and storage area will be filled to the brim for at least a year while this oak dries out. If anyone has any ideas for some additional projects, let me know

Best,

Dave S

[Adrian Rogers]

I'm not an expert here, but I'm guessing there is some work/technique involved in getting an end cut slab to dry without cracking. Agian, no experience here, other than I do know how oak firewood will crack/split in the middle. I'd just hate for you to cut a few big honking slabs just to have them crack.

-Adrian

PS - Watch out out for nails, I'd bet a new 48" chain is expensive... A HUGE oak tree from the back yard of the house my father was raised in has blown down and I won't go near it with a 10 foot pole because my dad says there must have been 20 tree houses in the tree while he and his brothers and sisters were growing up.

[David Scarborough]

Hey Adrian,
oh yeah, I'm expecting some major cracking. A lot of this will be experimentation etc. I'm wanting to wax as much as I can to see how it will season out. I would appreciate any tips or techniques as far as preserving the slabs.
Regarding nails and this particular tree, I may luck out. There was another tree of similar size that was the old treehouse / clubhouse tree that Pop had cut down eons ago. As I recall, there was much ruin of blades and Pop had to pay $$$ to have the local tree guys haul off the remnants. Maybe they turned that into fire wood. Don't know, it was a long long time ago.

Either way, wish me luck.


The Mad Carpenter


"It is not I who am crazy...It is I who am mad"

[Mark Singer]

i have been called an "Oak Gloat"...it sounded like that anyway:confused: