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Sugar Maple table tops???

Started by twostroke_blood, June 08, 2005, 06:01:10 PM

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twostroke_blood

I cut this big Sugar Maple last night, and im thinking of making some table tops with it. I guess if I had more ambition I'd quarter it and saw it on my mill. Its 4' Dia.




Ironwood

Quartering would bring out whatever figure it may have and would make a more stable product for dining tables. Cut it thick in any case as it may move on you as it dries and when flattening later you will want the thickness. Reid
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Dan_Shade

what's your method for quartering a monster like that?
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

mike_van

Someone in Vermont cut a sugar maple DOWN ?????  AAAARRGGGGGHHHHHH
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

Ironwood

I just put a 2x4 on top as a guide and a rip chain on my big saw and go to it. Last 36" curly soft maple was darn  near perfectly straight from that method. Reid
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Dan_Shade

you have a big alaskan, or you free hand?

i free handed a big chunk of cherry the other week, it sorta worked, i'm getting better.  it's certainly a lot more work than bucking!
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

twostroke_blood

Quote from: mike_van on June 08, 2005, 09:09:50 PM
Someone in Vermont cut a sugar maple DOWN ????? AAAARRGGGGGHHHHHH
The customer figured he'd rather I take it down before a big wind landed it on his barn. Trust me, I take no pleasure in dropping 200 year old sugar maples. Most of the top of the tree was destroyed by an ice storm. Just for the record, I recomended that he call a tree doctor to try and save the tree. He said "are you gonna cut this thing down or not" I obliged, and i got my fix on a fresh batch of TWOSTROKE fumes








mike_van

I know just how you feel, there's 2 left at our place, 5' dia.,  you know someday they're going to go, I just hope it's not on my watch.  Kind of grew up under their shade, still have old B&W photos of sandbox, rope swing & my grandparents 50th aniversary under those trees.
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

twostroke_blood

Mike, I feel what your saying. I think the best thing for us to do is plant some trees to come behind these old Maples for the next generations

iain

What kind of table and how big?

also what facilities and skills you got?

  iain

twostroke_blood

I thought I'd just make 4" cross cuts off of the log. Try to dry them, and then belt sand them down. The chainsaw in those pics has a 3' bar on it, to give you an idea of the size of that log. With the exception of the very end of the butt that thing is clean and solid. Just seems a shame to waste it.

D Martin

 Question? When you freehand dou you use ripchain? When you buy ripchain they warn of considerablely more kickback hazzard due to the design. I recently freehanded a Quarter out of a 4'd 6'L pine for a log rocking-chair loveseat. I have ripchain for my chain mill but I opted to use  regular chain for safty sake, lotsa work even with brand new chain. If You used rip,how did it react/respond/feel ,experience anything out of the norm comared to regular chain?

twostroke_blood

I dont have any rip chain  :D Wich is why I'm thinking of making cross cuts instead of quartering the thing. I use .404 skip tooth chain. As far as kick back goes, I dont put the nose of the bar where it doesnt belong  :D . A friend of mine took an XL-12 to the face, its not pretty. I have an 5' bar for my Alpina I have never used it, but its so heavy i cant imagine it kicking back                             

mike_van

The toughest thing here might be drying those big "rounds" without splitting or cracking right in half.  Years back I read about a guy that turned huge bowls, he would soak all the "chunks" in Polyetheline Glycol.  It replaces the water in the wood if I remember right, and they wouldn't check.
I was the smartest 16 year old I ever knew.

twostroke_blood

Boy it seems like I'd need alot of the stuff for those big rounds.

Fla._Deadheader


Bowl turners also use dish detergent, to help keep wood from checking. Might ask some of the bowl turners to weigh in here ???
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

beenthere

Regards the PEG (polyethylene glycol), the sugar maple will not take any of that treatment in, due to the make-up of the wood cell structure. Had some 'close' experience with such an attempt back in the 60's and I'd suggest not looking too long at PEG to stop the checking that will happen when the hard maple cross-sections dry. And yes, you would need a lot of solution (mixed pound for pound with water) to cover just one cross-section top and PEG used to sell for about $7 a pound. Only PEG-1000 will stay somewhat stable in wood (and it is miserable to finish the wood with the PEG in it).
There has been limited success treating black walnut, cottonwood, and some pines with PEG, but only with long soaking times and when the wood was very fresh-cut. 
I personally knew an individual (Patrick Spielman) who wrote a book on "Treating Green Wood with PEG". It was the best information available on how to do it (maybe some libraries have that booklet), that I am aware of. Spielman wrote many books on woodworking such as routers, etc. He passed away last year at his place in Fish Creek, WI.
Releiving the drying stresses in the maple tops with a sawcut radially from the pith center to the bark will help at least controlling where the tops will crack.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

southview

I am trying the same thing with some cherry I took out of my wood this past winter.  I quartered it with a my chain saw into about 4" thick 60" long and 48" wide.  I am hoping to air dry it and hoping for little to no checks.  I put away for I am guessing about two years and then will bring it into the shop for about another year.  I guess I won't know the results for awhile but my dad said good things come to those with patience.  When dry I plan on hand planing it smooth.  Good luck.

Ianab

Twostroke

I dont like your chances of getting round slices to dry without checking  :(

What I'd do if you want table tops is to cut a 5ft section of log and then rip it from the end with your long bar, from top to bottom of the log. Because you are ripping with the grain, not across it, a normal chain cuts well. Turn your oiler right up and keep an eye on the chip chute as it will clog up quick with the long shredded chips coming out.  That way you should be able to cut a heap of 4" thick rectangular slabs that have a good chance of not splitting.

Cheers

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

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