A Use for Slabs

campy · November 28, 2009, 09:58:42 PM

Magicman · November 28, 2009, 10:38:44 PM

Lately I've been too busy making slabs, to find time to make anything out of them..... :D

paul case · November 28, 2009, 11:03:30 PM

mine all turn into firewood rite after the log is sawn and i have a waiting list for the wood.$100 per grain truck load del less than 10 miles. sold 14 loads that way this fall already andNOT MUCH of mne had as much wood as the one in the picture. i am studying :P up on how to be more efficient with my wood waste. pc

ohsoloco · November 28, 2009, 11:10:47 PM

Campy, do you have a market for those benches? Looks like you could get another board out of those slabs...

Chico · November 29, 2009, 12:04:37 AM

I was fixin to say the same thing if your slabs are thick enough to use for anything other than scrap or burning your wasting lumber

Tom · November 29, 2009, 12:20:18 AM

not necessarily so!!
Your slabs may be thick and thin, with enough on one end to make a stool.

I sawed for a doctor who turned the oak slabs (if they were thick enough) into benches; which he sold for $150 to $300 dollars a piece. Not a bad price for a board.

shinnlinger · November 29, 2009, 07:18:01 AM

Hi,

If a log is crooked, bowed, or tapered, or just to darn big to easily adjust on my deck, sometimes I make a slab a little heavier than ideal, but I deliberately made some heavy slabs for a picnic table idea I have. THese slabs are currently rotting in the field, but I now have a plan....

Campy,
I like your benches, I might add feet on mine when I copy them....

THanks,

Dave

zopi · November 29, 2009, 08:22:13 AM

little flitches ripped up the middle make nice trim...or live edged picture frames, or live edged cabinet doors.

ohsoloco · November 29, 2009, 03:09:04 PM

Yeah, often when I'm sawing crooked or tapered logs, I'll end up with a slab that's next to nothing on one end, but really thick on the other. The slab for the seat looked pretty consistent, that's why I mentioned it. That's also why I asked if he had a market (or a use) for them. If that's what you're looking for then 8) I think that's why a lot of us bought sawmills...to cut what WE want

Tom · November 29, 2009, 03:52:27 PM

Yep! I just had to find a segue for mentioning the $300 benches. ;D

campy · November 29, 2009, 09:41:08 PM

I would like to see a photo of the $300 bench.

This project gave me an idea for a picnic table.

Now rip this down the middle so as to form one right angle on each half.
As you look at the bench seat it would be a vertical cut.
These could be four vertical legs for my new picnic table.

The table top and seats could be 1.5" planks.

I think that would keep the weight and waste to a minimum.

The log I made the bench on had a drastic taper 3/4 of the way up.
That is why the slab is so thick.

However, I do not edge my lumber. I give the pieces that need edging away as perks to workers/customers and only dry the best boards. That is because I am running out of places to dry wood that are out of the rain.

So, my slabs are quite thick.

Dan_Shade · November 29, 2009, 10:53:00 PM

you're throwing away the best boards if you don't edge flitches.

the clearest lumber is typically the wood under the bark.

Puffergas · November 29, 2009, 11:00:45 PM

Can not beat slab wood for a base over wet land then gravel over top when making a drive way. But don't use those $300 slabs for that. I also make charcoal from them besides firewood etc. This fall I saw slabs used as battens, looked really good. I bet they put a good sized space between the boards.

Jeff

ohsoloco · November 29, 2009, 11:03:19 PM

Quote from: Dan_Shade on November 29, 2009, 10:53:00 PM
you're throwing away the best boards if you don't edge flitches.

the clearest lumber is typically the wood under the bark.

Ditto!

DanG · November 30, 2009, 01:52:04 AM

Ahhh the freedom you get when you own your own sawmill! 8) 8) 8) You can cut your logs any way you want to! I like that little bench, and it is serving a higher purpose than the 1x8 board he might have gotten out of it. Not only does it provide a convenient place to take his boots off, it gives him satisfaction every time he looks at it.

bandmiller2 · November 30, 2009, 07:45:14 AM

Dan,what are you doing up at 2 AM don't you know you need your beauty rest.Since I retired I've been sleeping in til 5 AM still poop out at 9PM old habits are hard to break.Frank C.

fodenwagon · November 30, 2009, 09:45:04 AM

This reminds me of a guy who makes things like that over here, some of the stuff he makes is beautiful! all made using a chainsaw mill attachment.

http://www.treet.org/

Cheers Duncan

James P. · November 30, 2009, 10:46:44 AM

campy, thats a nice looking bench, your a good designer looking at your link. I like the gate. I am wasting wood too. :D Could someone come show me how its done. well when I get some logs worth worrying about.I personally wouldn't cut such a heavy slab but if you use them like for the bench I think you are probably saving wood. If not you better make some more drying space. ;)keep up the good work

What Tom said about those thick and thin slabs is mostly what I have. Cutting crooked logs and not using a taper . next board after that slab is what I am cutting stickers out of.

backwoods sawyer · December 01, 2009, 02:06:27 AM

I have a couple customers that get more exited about the tailing pile then they do the lumber pile, so for them I add an inch to some of the pieces that they think they can use. What is a shame is when there is a real nice tailing pile that gets cut up for firewood. I have had customer's trade tailing piles so that one could have the firewood and the other could have the art wood.
When milling for myself I sort my tailings and my firewood pile is small.

bandmiller2 · December 01, 2009, 05:12:26 AM

Whatever salable product we can slice from a log is fair game.Mine keep me warm through our long winters.A friend is getting an old chipper and is going to try to adjust the knives to make bedding with the pine slab.Frank C.

Engineer · December 02, 2009, 08:25:00 AM

If I know I'm getting into a clear log (especially pine) I'll take a heavy slab, flip it 90 degrees and cut 4/4 QS trim boards out of it. I can get 15-20 really nice, straight grain boards out of a big log, and they look fantastic when clear finished.

Slabs · December 02, 2009, 07:42:27 PM

Awwwww! Slabs ain't good fer hardly nuthin. ;D

woodbowl · December 02, 2009, 09:31:16 PM

Quote from: Slabs on December 02, 2009, 07:42:27 PM
Awwwww! Slabs ain't good fer hardly nuthin. ;D

Ha! Don't listen to him. He knows just what to do with em'. You aught to see his wood working shop and his house and his wood bin and his planer, his shaper and ....

Slabs · December 03, 2009, 07:55:29 PM

Ha! Don't listen to him. He knows just what to do with em'. You aught to see his wood working shop and his house and his wood bin and his planer, his shaper and ....
[/quote]

I meant ME Olen.