# Large Red Oak...Little age



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Got Blessed with this large oak......54" dia 90' high x 90' crown width ......but was only approx 70 yrs old....huge growth rings...would've guessed much older....8' long trunk:thumbsup:with fence in it:thumbdown::thumbdown:. Seen signs of barb wire but didn't hit any while cutting....IMMEDIATE BLUE streaking on base cut....NO surprise being that close to a road. Forked at 9' into 2 36" forks each. The left fork in pic shows a rotted strip but I was greatly surprised it was only surface...Got 2 - 8'x 36" logs. pithe stayed fairly centered on them:thumbsup::thumbsup:.....Got 1 - 8' from right side.

I got me a ripping chain today and will attempt slicing main trunk tomorrow (Sat.) into sawable qtrs..... ??? about the fence in it... I hate to have 48" crotch cut.....decide tomorrow.

I did get 1 - 9" burl.

Saw in pics is 40" tip to tip seating next to base cut on the stump.

Everyone have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

You lost me a bit Tim?........so where's the burl?


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Bad Pic... make another tomorrow.
Tim


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Tennessee Tim said:


> Bad Pic... make another tomorrow.
> Tim


Lol. Don't make one.....take one. Hahahaha.


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Way to go Tim! Proud for ya.


----------



## Ted Tolstad (Feb 20, 2011)

That's an awesome log. Can't wait to see what you get out of it....


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Sure doesn't look like the craggy twisty oaks we have up here.
Nice find either way, Tim.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

OK you win DOM...I could make....so I snapped .....once or twice LOL.

Rip sawed today....I wouldn't want to own a (me labor) manual CSM unit....sore unknown muscles. I got 2 qtrs sawed and a large chunk ready to finish (not enough bar or daylight). Got some beautiful wood....always heard qtr sawing red oak wasn't worth it...well I'll let you all be the JUDGE..The large growth rings left some awesome grain patterns to be obtained....one qtr was 18and 22" at one end and 24 and 22" at the other....the second qtr balanced approx 24" all over.

Two posts of pics....Dom's burl LOL...me standing on tree....yesterday's haul (small ends).
2nd post ...me standing beside trunk on the crotch end....some of the qtrs...and PACMAN.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous evening in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

more pics....hard face...hard day LOL


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

UGLY QTR SAWN:blink::blink:...NO WAY


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

It's a Burl Baby.
And a lotta good wood a comin.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

2 more pics....yeah I had to finish the cut by splitting with wedges. Hard to drive wedges with firewood:thumbdown::blink::huh:...LOL.....That's about 50" hieght of oak in bottom pic.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

50" is a good kitchen table width, for a 1 piece'er, eh?
Say, slabbed to 2"+?


----------



## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

What a piece of wood. I get sore just looking at the pics of all the work you did. Looking at your self portrait, I think you could go back 150 yrs. and fit right in with the timbermen of the day...and probably teach them a thing or two. Rough and ready.:icon_cool: Gary


----------



## Fishinbo (Jul 23, 2012)

How blessed you are.
Keep us posted with your projects.



_________________________________

www.sawblade.com


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Outstanding Tim! Beautiful wood. Love the quartersawn grain! I bet the burl will be sweet too.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks for the comments......I've been finishing up my part of the table build. I finished hauling the oak to the my mill. This pic is of the main trunk parts plus 2 - 8' walnut logs @18".....DON'T let this pic fool you:huh::huh:, those qtrs are approx 24" per side ....THEY'RE BIG:blink::blink:. If my calculations are correct.....what I can salvage of this oak should be approx. 2,500 bd ft. I've got to get to sawing...waiting on my sealer. Yep, I'll have to agree I GOT BLESSED!!!!

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Yep...that is the dreaded blue of metal...I found so far 2 confirmed strands of barbed wire...If it's laying where it appears to be I won't be losing much bd ftge.

Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Gonna slab out well.


----------



## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

nice logs. how much weight can that gooseneck handle?


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

midga ?????? alot more than on there:laughing::laughing::laughing: It's my nieghbors. He's been a Blessing letting me use his gooseneck.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous weekend in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

WAHOO !!!! SAW TIME:thumbsup::thumbsup::yes::yes::laughing::laughing:. Got some saw time in today. Someone's erecting a timberframe nearby and has distracted me.

Several bookmatch pcs of red oak. This is a tight crotch which are usually too trashy to saw as a typical crotch pc. I chose to split parallel to the crotch knowing that i'd lose the majority of feather but I was attempting to gain the most use from the lumber via bookmatching. I cut majority at 8 qtr. and they went from 16-26" in 8 ft. with a qtr/rift sawn look. The pics will show more.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim

P.S. One of my blue stains was a nail (about a 12d size) that I removed with a chisel.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

more pics. The large roughage is the center of the crotch which was nasty, BUT has some beauty not shown here in the pics.:wallbash:


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Now were talking Gnarly.
Looks like some wide stuff.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks aard,

Here's a few pics from today....BUT you need to see the new thread A Spalted "Tennessee " Red Oak

Thanks and have a Blessed and prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

I'll take a look see.


----------



## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

am i the only one who doesnt know what blue streaking is ? i never heard of it. 


what is it ?


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

"blue streaking" is a common sign of METAL in the wood. This wood has spalt and the pics are hard to judge unless with the naked eye in certain places. So far it's only been on one end (base of tree) where I cut down between the strand of barbwire....making main trunk 9' long and I would only have to lose a small part IF I find metal. YES one section had a strand in it.....:blink::thumbdown::furious:...and I didn't know I'd done cut it 5 times until I went to offload the 5 slabs:huh::huh:...(the acid in the oak had deteriorated the strength) I only lost 7" and a slighty dulled the fresh blade:bangin:.

Some trees show it instantly when cut down.....some trees don't show at all.....I KNOW there should be a matching qtr that will have a strand. 

The reason WE call it the "dreaded blue" is we know the metal is there but we don't know where OR what OR how big or if it was just in the piece/log below this log. This tree was near a main road....almost a garauntee a fence or sign nailed to in time.

Sometimes minerals in the soil will streak but usually blacker in color.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Don't you use a metal detector?
I have a maple here that I pity the guy who cuts it in the future. It has a horseshoe over a branch and it's no longer visible.


----------



## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Da Aardvark said:


> Don't you use a metal detector?
> I have a maple here that I pity the guy who cuts it in the future. It has a horseshoe over a branch and it's no longer visible.


So would that be a lucky crotch. Laughing!!!!


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

For someone,
But not the cutter.
It took 15 years to grow in unseen.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Da Aardvark said:


> Don't you use a metal detector?
> I have a maple here that I pity the guy who cuts it in the future. It has a horseshoe over a branch and it's no longer visible.


 
DUHMMMMMMmmmmm.......:huh::huh::shifty::shifty:....:blink:yes:blink:. I own a regular ring/coin hunter type.....but I've never tried it on the logs, but I hear it's better than a wand????. SO FAR I've been Blessed and knew it was there and somewhat knew about where....this barbed wire I thought was on a different plane projectory. IF I cut many more metal objects I'll start detecting more ( 3 yrs and 3 lost blades...I can handle that)....Most of my logs are from my farm and I know most of its growth is hillsides and no fences and old habits (of not detecting prior)are hard to break.

This Oak has had some strong character/dark streaks (I like) which I contribute to a bad limb but have question if this is just common in the green state of the wood.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous weekend in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

City/Suburban logs are generally riddled with metals.
Many cutters won't even bother with the wood, due to it and the amount of blades they waste,

Yer right though. That coloring is pretty. I doubt it's metal. The color is too even.


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

City/Suburban logs are generally riddled with metals.
Many cutters won't even bother with the wood, due to it and the amount of blades they waste,

Yer right though. That coloring is pretty. I doubt it's metal. The color is too even.

OOPS Double Post! (Sorry)


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

NO that coloring is not metal but I don't think it's the standard fresh red oak...there was a spot or two on a couple of boards that was the dreaded blue and I found the source of it....metal and removed it.

Squaring up to slice my next logs to be milled from the red oak.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous Christmas in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

That wood shows a strange growth pattern, not unlike a tropical rosewood. I have seen it in mesquite, ironwood, even hickory, but never in red oak. Pretty cool stuff :thumbsup:


----------



## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Beautiful wood!


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks Rayking,

Got one of the limbs (right crotch)(36.235789" always wanted to do them decimal point figures) on the saw today...took a few hrs setting this one up.....as the pics show, after rotating, blocking, resetting, spinning around and LEVELING...I still had a saw FULL of LOG :blink::huh::yes::icon_smile::icon_cool::shifty::laughing::laughing: after trimming. Logs this big aren't made for easy blocking/dogging.....but starting out correctly saves a lot of headache and makes BEAUTIFAMOUS :blink::laughing: wood.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous Merry Christmas in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim
P.S. This is a view from my farm this a.m. ..... now you know why I hang out there so much!!!!


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Nice farm shot.
I am awaiting those views.

MERRY CHRIST(mas)


----------



## darty (Feb 1, 2009)

WOW! That does fill the mill! I bet that was one fun log to get ready to saw.


----------



## Ted Tolstad (Feb 20, 2011)

That is one big log.....beautiful wood


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks,

Nothing like trimming bark to make fit.

the bad thing is the other crotch 1st pc had to be split to fit on mill....and the 2nd cut on it will be like this one....shift until it fits.

Planning on sawing again tomorrow weather provided.....storm coming through tonight with snow on backside of it.

Thanks for looking....have a Blessed day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

You already noted that this tree has unusually wide growth rings. Now the unusual color/grain. It's common for oaks to hybridize between species. Maybe this is a hybrid? Gary


----------



## scsmith42 (Jan 24, 2011)

HomeBody said:


> You already noted that this tree has unusually wide growth rings. Now the unusual color/grain. It's common for oaks to hybridize between species. Maybe this is a hybrid? Gary


 
I've run into similar widths / colors when working with Willow Oak (member of the red oak family), especially when the tree was coming to the end of it's useful life and starting to die.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

scsmith42 said:


> I've run into similar widths / colors when working with Willow Oak (member of the red oak family), especially when the tree was coming to the end of it's useful life and starting to die.


The large growth rings I've figured came from the open area around tree ALL of it's growing life PLUS the 2- 3' limbs out of the crotch...with approx. 90' h x 90' crown feeding lots of nutrition..........YES ...UNFORTUNATELY :thumbdown::thumbdown:...it was coming to it's useful life end due to a lightning strike years ago and the left side was dying (actually noticed last year from an nieghbor arbor???(tree expert)) and confirmed this year with lack of life in that area.

The MAIN thing is .......BEAUTIFUL WOOD:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

*2nd log left crotch*

Got some saw time again.....still fine tuning my saw....had NO IDEA how a little tweaking improves the cut....gonna try some 1 1/2" blades next....

Cut the second cut of the left crotch,,,had major visual lightning damage to one side but suprising I didn't lose what I thought I was going to...praises to His Name. Again it was a saw full and then some trimming.....then after setting all aligned and level,,,,HAD to be FLIPPED to not lose a third crotch on this log.

Some beautiful bookmatches in this log. Bad lighting only showing one side but some close-ups.

Enjoy and have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Very interesting coloring, and nice graining.


----------



## Allen Tomaszek (Dec 11, 2010)

+1 on the coloring. That's very nice. Glad to see this big one panning out so well for you Tim.


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks Allen,

Enjoyed the chat the other evening. I haven't got to the special cut yet. Ran out of stickers on this one, stacking tomorrow and start on the paired crotches. Resetting saw to try 1 1/2" wide blades....see how that works on the wide stuff:thumbsup::thumbsup:.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous evening in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Stacked these today....totaled around 18- 8 ftrs and several shorts.

Set-up the next oak slice to mill.....little ain't it:blink:

Have a Blessed day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

That half made 15 pcs 8/4 and the other made 14.

Here's a few pics of the 2nd half. Pretty coloring.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## scsmith42 (Jan 24, 2011)

Beautiful wood Tim. Have you thought about what to build with it?


----------



## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Thanks scsmith42,

No, but looks like some nice tables and benches are in the future....I got 2yrs to think about these....I like AGING my wood before kilning IF at all possible...just behaves better. Slow DH kilning is good if necessary...kinda like wine (they say??) better with age.

Thanks and have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


----------



## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Yeah, I agree. I do my own kiln stuff, but if the wood ages some and the m.c, comes down before the kiln, it reacts better.
Milwaukee Wood Works does it the same way and I buy before he puts his stuff in the kilns and save about 50% per bd ft. Usually they are sitting at 20-25% m.c. .


----------



## jlperrigan (Dec 7, 2012)

Beautiful lumber,if you get tired of any of it, send it my way.


----------

