# Some times you get a surprise.



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I was planing some "boring old hard maple" this afternoon and got a surprise. It was a yard tree that I milled/dried/ stacked and forgot about. It was a little stained (standing dead) and it was in the city park right by the pavilion, I figured it was full of nails so I milled the whole thing on an old dull sawmill blade. For those of you who have a mill you know that guarantees a nail strike, changing the blade. My cuts where not great with the bad blade, but I milled it for myself. I planed some of it out...and it is curly :thumbsup:. I have a good eye for this stuff, I rarely (was gonna say never, but evidentially that would be false) miss it on the mill and set it aside. Missed this one, kinda made my Sunday to see what came out the other end of the planer. The picture has no finish on it, just right out of the planer. It should really look good finished.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That looks like a great find. And, you got a coin out of the deal, WTG.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

cabinetman said:


> And, you got a coin out of the deal, WTG.
> 
> ​


:laughing:, yea I made a whole $.25 today, I'm loaded. No my cheapo camera was not wanting to "auto focus" so the curl was not showing (still did not real well) the coin trick is something I learned to help my cameras shortcomings.


----------



## Knot Home (Feb 14, 2008)

I stripped a dull looking brown stained rifle stock once only to find a nice birdseye maple underneath. The factory stain completely hid the figure. Finished it blonde with a walnut forend tip and it's beauty.

Roy


----------



## JON BELL (Nov 2, 2007)

Ooh I'll play.Once I found a big piece of curly red oak at homedepo.Highly figured with pink streaks and priced as reg. red oak.:shifty:


----------



## Marko (Feb 11, 2008)

alright! I'll play too!:yes: Look what showed up on my mill deck after 2 hrs of cleaning,1hr chainsaw work and some diligent dragging outta the lot next to my yard......BTW,this was originally in my yard buried in a brush pile that was lit of fire but did not burn completely.....i do not know how much of this is still good but every step of the way added much promise.....and it simply wouldn't have made it this far if the Blk.Walnut wasn't any good!:no:I have diliberate NOT shown the pic's of the figure and spalting that I have found in the cuts.....thats for tomorrow:yes: .Daren,this is probably of the caliber of the Blk.Walnut Stump you harvested not long ago.....didn't mean to hijack the thread either man...thats a real nice find of curled maple.happens to be one of my fav's.I'm kinda getin' used to you pullin' a showntell on sunday afternoons too!:thumbsup: ..


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Cool. That pig looks like a wrestling match (last one I did cracked a rib...be very careful brother). Sawed out 2 1/2" thick it sold for a decent chunk -o- change though .


----------



## Marko (Feb 11, 2008)

Daren said:


> Cool. That pig looks like a wrestling match (last one I did cracked a rib...be very careful brother). Sawed out 2 1/2" thick it sold for a decent chunk -o- change though .


 you don't even know!!actually, you probably do.....I chained it to the back of my F250 and 4L'ed over to the mill.then slid it up the ramps with the winchloader.yeah! it was kinda like 2 monkeys  'in a football! forawhile......you think my wife woulda chipped in or sometin'....I saw her and her sister gigglin' away over my shoulder.But thats :thumbsup: ,I take it like a real man....a real man without a Bobcat!


----------



## stuart (Jan 20, 2008)

those peices are like gold: heavy and worth more than meets the eye.


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Man y'all are makin me jealous. I haven't gotten to mill more than a dozen logs since the first of the year and I'm on about a 10 day stretch as it is. 

That maple is beautimous. I am thankful for the multitude of species we have here but I sure do wish we had maple. Yessir. Sure do. We need to do a log swap sometime.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> I sure do wish we had maple. Yessir. Sure do. We need to do a log swap sometime.


I did some quick calculating one day (cause I am weird :laughing and I figure the maples outnumber the people in this town alone 3/1. I was kinda down on maple (preferred less common species) when I first started milling. But I gotta tell you what, hard (sugar/rock) maple is really growing on me. Killer crotches, spalts great, 1/4 sawn has ray flecks...and some of the curl/quilting is out of this world. I also like contrast. I saw alot of walnut, walnut and maple go together like peanut butter and jelly.


----------



## Marko (Feb 11, 2008)

Daren said:


> Killer crotches, spalts great, 1/4 sawn has ray flecks...and some of the curl/quilting is out of this world. I also like contrast. I saw alot of walnut, walnut and maple go together like peanut butter and jelly.


I heard that!!!! Maple is one of the first woods I ever worked with and sold.....Here we have Soft Maples.They produce great figure,the Am-Beetles get 'em quickly,and you never know what your gonna end up with when you start sawing.It's one species that can really cost ya if you "fall asleep at the wheel" so to speak.In fact,theres a 30" at the base Maple "down" in the creek but on somebody elses property.I too can see curly figure through the bark and this thing is loaded with it and Ambrosia.I've been dreaming about this tree since I found it(it's been down bout a month)growing outta the creek bed.I really don't think the neighbor would balk at a young feller helping out,But around here people get shot for tramplin' across others land.So,I patiently wait.....and dream!


----------



## stuart (Jan 20, 2008)

Marko just send him a nice letter and maybe he will charge you little for the trade off...Respect can get you help.


----------



## dpmcreations (Feb 3, 2008)

*Hey Marko*

If I were you I would wander over and ask him if he wouldn't mind you pulling her out... You may be surprised.. Hell even if you have to offer him a little of the tops, etc for firewood... He might even say sure go ahead and take it.. It is worth a try... Good Luck


----------



## Marko (Feb 11, 2008)

dpmcreations said:


> If I were you I would wander over and ask him if he wouldn't mind you pulling her out... You may be surprised.. Hell even if you have to offer him a little of the tops, etc for firewood... He might even say sure go ahead and take it.. It is worth a try... Good Luck


I should have added this yesterday but the neighbor I speak of I have never seen.No house on the 10acres and no signs posted as to who owns it.I'll find out in public records soon.And yes you guys are right about being cordial.However,:gunsmilie: Al Capone said "you get further with a kind word and a gun,than just a kind word alone" :gunsmilie: . 
BTW,This is a big tree. I'm not in the business of tree cleanup:no: and there is a burn ban in affect. Taking the logs off the property would not be a problem after I afford the 2-3 hrs.chainsaw work on this mothaofall tree's.I am low on Am.Maple right now. bout 200bft in inventory:yes: so I'm trying....and thinking....and still waiting patiently.
Thanks guys for the great words of wisdom! i'll always appreciate it!!
Mark


----------

