WHOPPER OAKS

Ironwood · December 06, 2005, 09:10:53 PM

Now that I have learned to post pictures I thought I would share some photos of huge oaks here on our property and my 40' by 60" chainsaw mill soon to be converted to electric. This all occured in the summer of 1998. I built the mill to make a 36' x 5" thick single slab bartop for a spa in Farmington Pa. The owner's of 84 lumber commissioned the work for Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa. My wife is sitting at the base of the windfall in the first picture with our shepard right in front of her.

Reid

Radar67 · December 06, 2005, 09:15:30 PM

Nice fabricating Reid!! That's a sho nuf nice tree. I need a few of those. ;D

Stew

ohsoloco · December 06, 2005, 09:24:39 PM

Reid, I didn't think that oak looked very big until you pointed out that someone was sitting on it

Is that the tree you made the bar top from? And how do you dry a hunk of wood that large ???

Nice pics

Part_Timer · December 06, 2005, 09:34:49 PM

What type of oak is it?

Ironwood · December 06, 2005, 09:46:31 PM

They are both Reds, and the bottom of the slab was hollowed out to accomadate a 1000# steel ladder frame work and expidite drying process. 4 months from the photos to delivery as a finished product (I love to prove people wrong who say something can't be done) ;D It took two crawlers and 1"cable to drag the logs out of the forest.

Reid

ohsoloco · December 06, 2005, 10:01:45 PM

All I can say is DanG ;D

Some day I'd like to make it over your way and see some of your "stuff", I'm hoping it will inspire me

pigman · December 06, 2005, 10:19:49 PM

A big snow storm must have hit Pa. :

All I see is white with the awful Red X

Edit: Must be a heat wave, the snow melted and the pictures are back. 8)

ohsoloco · December 06, 2005, 10:21:16 PM

wha-chew talkin' 'bout pigman ??? :-\

Radar67 · December 06, 2005, 10:30:40 PM

Hey Pigman, you think da boss is messin with him? :D :D

Dan_Shade · December 06, 2005, 10:32:42 PM

did you put finish on that bar, reid? what did you do about cracking? or did it not crack?

you have any pictures of the finished product?

Jeff · December 06, 2005, 10:34:00 PM

Woe! Where are the pictures?? Reid, once you upload photos and use them in a post you CANT delete them!

You can edit your own post. You need to re-upload the photos then fix the post.

Jeff · December 06, 2005, 10:35:04 PM

Quote from: Radar67 on December 06, 2005, 10:30:40 PM
Hey Pigman, you think da boss is messin with him? :D :D

THe "bossman" does not mess when it comes to photos. Some how Reid must have deleted his photos from the gallery.

Ironwood · December 06, 2005, 10:35:52 PM

Dan, Yes I did put a varnish finish on it and you always get some checking with monster slabs but it wasn't catastraphic. The project held up extremely well over the years.

Sorry about that my fault, Reid

Jeff · December 06, 2005, 10:53:08 PM

SIGH OF RELIEF ;)

Thanks Reid

woodbowl · December 06, 2005, 11:35:52 PM

Reid, are those trusses you've got there for the track? If so, does it give a straight cut?

VA-Sawyer · December 07, 2005, 12:18:36 AM

Quote from: Jeff B on December 06, 2005, 10:35:04 PM
The "bossman" does not mess when it comes to photos.

Yea, Right! Tell that to Noble, Ian, and a few others. Maybe you don't mess with the photos in the body of the posts, but you do tend to play with some photos.

Ironwood · December 07, 2005, 05:56:03 AM

Woodbowl,

Yes , they are flat roof trusses. All I can say is that the slab was flat as a pancake and I thought I would have to mount a planer head and trolly it down to clean up the milling marks.............all I had to do was belt sand and it was ready for finish. There must be something about the chain going 14,000 rpm ;D that helps (love my huskies)

Reid

TN_man · December 07, 2005, 06:54:22 AM

Reid,
Who do you market those slabs to? What would the end product be? Are you able to use every slab or just ones from particular parts of the log and if so which parts work best?
Sorry for all the questions, but we are considering getting a slabber and have alot of questions about the justification of such an expenditure.
Thanks for the pics 8)
Jeff

Ironwood · December 07, 2005, 07:11:31 AM

Well, I would give you my customer list.............but ;D. Like any market it takes years to establish. It is not a volume market so don't expect a quick turn around on your capital. I try to use every piece. You will need some large equipment to handle the bigons. I have an 8000lb rough terrain forklift, kiln, 52" planer, and loads of roller beds. My new shop will have several cranes on the columns or on the vertical I-beams.

Reid

Jeff · December 07, 2005, 07:59:00 AM

Quote from: VA-Sawyer on December 07, 2005, 12:18:36 AM
Yea, Right! Tell that to Noble, Ian, and a few others. Maybe you don't mess with the photos in the body of the posts, but you do tend to play with some photos.

You really need to know the whole story. You might ask them.

They will probably lie, but there is more to it then meets the eye.

Lud · December 07, 2005, 08:49:32 AM

We get some big stuff here at the plants and have the equipment to handle it. When it's "really" big , we refer to it as bein' "John Wayne sized".

Them's some "John Wayne sized" slabs! 8) 8) 8)

Ga_Boy · December 07, 2005, 10:59:37 AM

Ried,

Did you kiln dry the table top slab? Or did you loet it air dry for a while then apply the finish.

Mark

Ironwood · December 07, 2005, 02:45:16 PM

Ga. boy

If'in it was 4 months I would of had to dry in a kiln, at least up here (just kidding, anywhere) I spent a couple thousand dollars just pay the electric bill for that project

Reid