Some more nice grain!

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Guys,

Heres some photos of one of my favourite slabs.  About 5-6 ft long, it will make a great small table.
Its still rough sawn, but fairly smooth.  Wont take too much to finish off nicely.
The wood is native Totara, the colour has quite a reddish hue.  A light stain or oil would bring it out wonderfully.


A close up of some of the grain - majic!


Overall view of the slab


A close up of the knarly area about halfway along the slab, what character!


Cheers
Charlie

[smwwoody]

That would look great as a coffee table in the new cabin we are going to start in the spring

[Jeff]

WOW

[Frank_Pender]

Now! that is my kind of log sawing.  Thanks for sharing. 8)

[RavioliKid]

Gorgeous!

I feel like I could reach through the screen and touch the wood!

[Noble_Ma]

Nice slab Charlie.  What type of woo would you characterize Totara in? Hard or soft?  Easy to work with?

[Brian_Bailey]

I'm envious!  Ya gotta love those big ugly logs. Look at the figure in that wood. Those pictures kinda make you wonder why veneer logs are so valuable.

[Tom]

We've turned ourselves into an artistically-questionable-society when "good" is interpreted as flawless.   Perhaps we can create a grade for "ugly" logs. Nah,  I sure wouldn't want to do that. We've got enough regimentation now that people don't think anymore. :D

[Paschale]

That's terrific wood!  You say it's about 5 or 6 ft long--that looks then to be about 3 ft wide at it's widest point.  Just out of curiosity, what kind of mill did you use to cut it?  

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Noble_Ma,

Totara is a softer wood and very easy to work with.  A thick clear laquer would protect the surface, but I really dont like that type of finish.  I would rather just have a light oil finish and work any dints out with a wet tea-towel and a hot iron!  
Or I could just sand it down each year to remove dents, as at around 2" thick, it would take a few sandings over the years!! ;)
Cheers
Charlie.

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Paschale,

This was one of around 10 slabs cut from a large Totara trunk.  It was closer to the edge, so had a lot of the knot patterns in it.  They were cut with an Alaskan chainsaw mill.
Labour intensive, but just look at the results you can get.
I dont mind hard work when this is the reward! :D
Cheers
Charlie.

[Tillaway]

[size=9]WOW![/size]

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Hay Kiwi,

Great looking wood. I ran a chansaw mill for a time. Labor intensive is exactly the word! I'm proud of the red oak I milled with it but I am also real glad to now run a bandsaw mill.

[SawBilly]

Cool! 8)