# Ash? unsure but it was only 10 bucks!!



## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

I got a call from one of my Craig's list ads late last week. this gentlemen said he had a log that was all burly about 4-5 feet long and 20" in diameter. said he only wanted 5 or 10 bucks for it. he proceeded to tell me he got the log on a firewood run a few years back and thought it was to cool to burn. so he kept it to have it milled. he had been storing it off the ground for the past two years on a pallet. i decided to go take a look. it was a bit bigger than the 20" dia the burl, as you can see, seems almost as big as the logs main heart. it will be near 40 on Thursday so i am gonna scratch my winter itch for the saw with this log. any suggestions on cutting it to get the best figure from the burl? BTW the guy i got it from said the woods behind his house is mainly ash and thought this log was ash also. (same woods he got the burl from) i am unsure how to identify a log by bark alone i would need to cut it first. do you think it is ash? or something else? 

:wallbash:errrg!!! i am having trouble uploading pictures again!! i have some pics to share with every one but when i try it fails and says that i am lacking a security tolken.:thumbdown: i will try to post to photo bucket and link the pics that way. i"ll be back in a bit with the links:shifty:


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

*links to photobucket*

i finally got the photos uploaded thank you for the help kevin and daren


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Your picture posting problems are your files are to large. Use "paint" or some other program to shrink them.

Hey that thing out to mill out pretty neat with the crotches and burl. I would just flat saw it into table top slices 6/4 and 8/4 once you get slices of burl cut off on the way down.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

And I have milled tons (literally) of burl, but never ran across an ash one so I would be interested in what that dude looks like inside.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

i haven't milled any as of yet. should i try to cut the burl off by itself. then do table slabs with what is left. Or should I try to get the burl as part of the table slabs? I wanted to use the lumber from the log to make a larger shelf for my electronics to sit on directly under my flat screen TV. is there any part of the log in which i could mill some 4/4 from?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

With a burl perched on top like that I would personally just mill it off 4/4. It could be sold like that or further processed (pen blanks, reel seat blanks) I just don't have much luck selling whole whole burls for any kinda money. Yea you could mill 4/4 until you get to the crotch figure, then I would switch to thicker stock.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

that helps. i will get you some pics for sure. any tips on drying lumber from burls? lots of weight i would imagine?


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

I have my photo problem solved!! thanks kevin and daren for the help.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

*new photos*

I got the ash burl milled down today. i got a good mixture of 4/4 5/4 and 6/4 here are the photos. the burl itself was pretty simple got a little curl from it. there were some circular grain patterns which were cool. most of the figure came from where the burl met the 2 crotches. there was thick consistant curl the whole way thru the log in those crotch areas. i took the time to keep the matching slabs together. todays pics were taken as i was cutting on the mill i will get pic of the matching sets as i am stacking them to dry.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I expected more figure in the burl than that...but that just goes to show working with burls, some you just don't know what you have until you slice them (or logs in general really). That is an "onion" burl. Or just contorted/deformed annual rings bulging out to form the burl. I see many cherry burls like that. The more valuable kind of burl is the "eye" burl, they have little pips or buds (dots) when flat sawn or show rays when 90 degrees from flat.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

That quilted figure you are seeing is compression curl from the weight of the burl acting on the normal growth of the tree grain. It is common say under a heavy branch, or in this case a heavy abnormality.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

i did take some 1/2" stock for some boxes. only a couple of pieces about 6-7" wide. what is the best way to dry the thinner ones to avoid warping?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Stickers very close together and extra weight.


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

All the lumber has been hauled home to be air dried in my basement. While putting it up to dry i was able to get a few pics to share. Lengths of the boards range from 48-54" The first pic is 6/4 with lots of curl I have 2 book matching sets like this. The 2nd & 3rd are from the same area of the log the thickness is 5/4 & 7/4. The mushroom shaped ones are neat with not so much figure, however, the overall shape is cool. I have a larger set of similar shape. When I got it all stacked up I put 245lbs of steel plates from my weight bench on top. I hope that is enough to keep it all straight.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I'd say you got your money worth. Hope it dries out good for you!


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Greg, that is some neat wood.
Nice cutting!
Gene


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## Chad (May 10, 2009)

That's some nice looking wood. I also think you got your moneys worth!


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## greg4269ub (Sep 1, 2009)

Thank you very much guys!! now i have about a month to deceide what to build with it. I got more than anticipated i may end up selling some also we'll see. 

Some times it is better not to scratch an itch it may get worse!!:laughing:

IF the weatherman is correct it will be around the 40 mark for a few days i may have to do some more scratchin'


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Man that stuff looks great to my eye. Very beautiful wood.


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## interceptor (Feb 6, 2010)

Nice Black Ash! Don't let it dry too quickly, B Ash is prone to ring shake. Don't see many burls like that, lucky find. :thumbsup:


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