John TenEyck
05-14-2022, 10:37 AM
A month or so ago my arborist friend asked if I wanted a 20" white oak tree. "Of course, thanks very much." When I got to the jobsite and he started cutting it, it was clear the white oak was something else. But with no leaves out yet it's often a guessing game so I can't blame him for getting it wrong; the bark looked a lot like white oak. But it clearly was not white oak. The wood looked similar to soft maple but not the bark.
Fast forward to yesterday when I cut the logs. We put the first log on the mill and the blade got fouled with wood fibers in the gullets so quickly that it wouldn't cut. It was a resharpened blade that I had just finished cutting a black walnut log with w/o problems. I tried another resharpened blade. No-go. I tried adding water with dish soap in it. No go. Finally, I decided to put a brand new blade on. The difference was astounding. It cut straight and true and the gullets didn't load up at all. I guess I have a thing or three more to learn about resharpening blades. Never had any trouble before in the hardwoods I normal cut.
But the effort to figure it out paid off. We got two logs of nearly clear wood that I'm pretty sure is basswood/linden. It looked like this fresh off the mill.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWkRW65caTKAnb-VhLGXTja7nKkpacqE-zVlJwVIIvW_sw2Q4tbgGGh9Pp-LTZ662R_pWGNZbcFtgRJgfvSyJyMdnCVE-1dYGtZoZubvRmqHTGnrRbY3gn-XSFVuqyyM5X7ayNDy5A72EJeHklOPXEujw=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWpZRK5SdbIz5Q6lrz2LzWQc6dDYobFZbqmcMha8rVlPHP0G 9ZGQR9jsS-0BnWwcCqqUOldWx6N7BhRpYS4mL5OryYI6cmHRCqSazaRHuryR lMiQfuHu5teczb01Yn00d2LhDp-HqbmibLkT1XXCSKgFg=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1
It's not as white today, more of an orange/tan color. In any case, it's going to make some nice carving stock.
John
Fast forward to yesterday when I cut the logs. We put the first log on the mill and the blade got fouled with wood fibers in the gullets so quickly that it wouldn't cut. It was a resharpened blade that I had just finished cutting a black walnut log with w/o problems. I tried another resharpened blade. No-go. I tried adding water with dish soap in it. No go. Finally, I decided to put a brand new blade on. The difference was astounding. It cut straight and true and the gullets didn't load up at all. I guess I have a thing or three more to learn about resharpening blades. Never had any trouble before in the hardwoods I normal cut.
But the effort to figure it out paid off. We got two logs of nearly clear wood that I'm pretty sure is basswood/linden. It looked like this fresh off the mill.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWkRW65caTKAnb-VhLGXTja7nKkpacqE-zVlJwVIIvW_sw2Q4tbgGGh9Pp-LTZ662R_pWGNZbcFtgRJgfvSyJyMdnCVE-1dYGtZoZubvRmqHTGnrRbY3gn-XSFVuqyyM5X7ayNDy5A72EJeHklOPXEujw=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWpZRK5SdbIz5Q6lrz2LzWQc6dDYobFZbqmcMha8rVlPHP0G 9ZGQR9jsS-0BnWwcCqqUOldWx6N7BhRpYS4mL5OryYI6cmHRCqSazaRHuryR lMiQfuHu5teczb01Yn00d2LhDp-HqbmibLkT1XXCSKgFg=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1
It's not as white today, more of an orange/tan color. In any case, it's going to make some nice carving stock.
John