"Huge 'slabs' (flitches) are VERY valuable" True or False?

[Don_Papenburg]

Norm, What kind of widths do you have ? And lengths ?A  swag will on sizes ,I don't know what I need yet .         I would think that you had them all cataloged     

[Norm]

I do Don...as one big pile.

Most are 8' with the wide ones being walnut with some other varieties mixed in. When I moved my shop I just made a mess by putting the wood on pallets and stacking them. I keep saying I'm going to sort them but that darn ambition keeps getting in my way.

[Part_Timer]

I think it is funny that this thread showed up again.  I have been trying to work out in my head how to store and show slabs.  We might be purchasing 3 acers behind the house this summer, if this works out I will be building a sawmill shed as well as a kiln and lumber storage.

I was thinking of a way to stack and sticker the slabs under a pair of I beams with a chainfall on each end of the slab pile.  This way I could sling part of the stack raise it up and slide the slab I want out of the stack with a mold cart.  I still have a few details to work out.  Ya know like getting the land purchased but hay a guy can dream can't he.

[DR_Buck]

I have been trying to work out in my head how to store and show slabs.

Here is what I came up with for "showing slabs".  I built these stands using 8x8 Poplar drilled to hold 1/2" rebar 4" apart.  The slabs stand up between the vertical rebar for easy viewing with falling over.   For the large (5 ft wide) slab iin the middle I used 3/4" rebar.    When I store then at home, they stand (lean) vertical against the wall of my insulated storage container.

[Part_Timer]

That's a good idea.  I bet that works great for the shows.

[Don_Papenburg]

I know about ambition getting in the way .  I think he is related to murphy

[urbanlumberinc]

There's a market out there for slabs, you've just got to go looking for it. 

[Smokey]

WOW

I just had to bump this topic up, I plan on building a sawmill just to build a house with slab(flitch) furniture like some that are in these posts.

A guy can dream can't he

Smokey

[Ianab]

A guy can dream can't he ?

Dont dream it, do it.

Big slabs like that can be cut with an "Alaskan" type chainsaw mill. Sure it will take you all day to slice up a big butt log or crotch, but you end up with something that you just cant go and buy from a normal timber supplier.

The slabs (or flitches) you saw from one big log could pay for the big chainsaw you need to cut them, + plus a days sweat and a can of gas, it's still a good deal.

I have some nice live edge slab in the shed, well air dried now, and overdue to be made into furniture. I could buy ones like them locally, for several hundred $$, but the Big Kahuna is a 16ft x 36" x 3" piece of cypress, that will make 2 tables. Try and buy one of those at any retail place?  They will never have seen a piece of wood like that, especially not walnut or cypress.

 Want to put a value on this slab?


It's in sections, but it's 4" slice from a small Kauri Pine.

Ian

[sigidi]

Interesting read regarding slab sales over there. For clarification purposes we call 'em slabs down here when they have two flat faces and both edges are natural or live and when they have one flat face and the round of the log as the other face, then we call 'em flitches.

I regularly sell slabs for $2,000 - $3,000 per cubic metre or per 424 bft I sell 'em so often that I don't have any I've done slabbing jobs on a busy road and used a lumber crayon to write a sign on the first two slabs off the log, chucked 'em up along the road and sold slabs straight off the log

After cutting this one;



it was around 800lb per stick, took 45 min to cut and 15 min to stack on the 'cut pile', pushed out around 80lb of sawdust to cut it. She's almost 4' wide the full length, around 15' long and cut at 2.5" thick. I did some ringing around to guys who sold this kind of thing in the city out of 'timber supply places' and came to a figure of around $1,000AU per stick pretty cool for one hours work if you can get enough of it hey?