Oak slab...worth saving?
#11
My neighbor had an Oak and Maple removed yesterday and I'm having an Oak removed today.  I'm having a portable saw mill come in and saw up my tree for future wood working projects but I got to thinking last night after my neighbor asked me to put my foot on this slab of Oak from his tree for size comparison.  Is something like this Oak slab worth saving?  It's about 4"-5" thick and weighs a ton.

What would you do...chuck it or use it for something?


   
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#12
Might be worth saving.  It would make an interesting looking table top, for example.  The problem is trying to preserve it.  That slab will shrink dramatically as it dries and will crack.  I know there are products available to preserve the wood and mitigate this drying/shrinking.  Pentacryl is often mentioned in cases like this.  I have no experience with it, but my understanding is that whatever you do, it needs done very soon after cutting the slab, because the drying and shrinking will start almost immediately.
If you are going down a river at 2 mph and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to shingle your roof?

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#13
I would definitely save it.  Anchorseal is a product turners often use to deduce checking.  Likely there will be some checking and that is a great opportunity to inlay some "butterflies".
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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#14
Oak splits easily and this will be in three pieces in 6 months or so. Heroic efforts might work but my record especially with oak cookies is poor. Pretty nice one there.
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#15
(10-11-2017, 02:26 PM)TomFromStLouis Wrote: Oak splits easily and this will be in three pieces in 6 months or so. Heroic efforts might work but my record especially with oak cookies is poor. Pretty nice one there.

My experience too..

You may be able to have the sawyer cut a bit thicker, and use smaller pieces of it to do some wet wood turning.

A discussion about big cookies
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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#16
(10-11-2017, 05:03 PM)Steve N Wrote: My experience too..

You may be able to have the sawyer cut a bit thicker, and use smaller pieces of it to do some wet wood turning.

A discussion about big cookies

Thanks for the link.  I didn't take the slab because of it's weight, size and I really don't have a good area to let it dry.  My biggest issue would have been moving it.
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#17
Roll it in the garage and lean it against the wall and leave it. See what it does.
If it goes to heck, break it up and toss it in the fireplace.
Steve

Missouri






 
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#18
(10-12-2017, 06:56 PM)Stwood_ Wrote: Roll it in the garage and lean it against the wall and leave it. See what it does.
If it goes to heck, break it up and toss it in the fireplace.

The tree company said it weighed about 500+ lbs after they had loaded it in their truck.  Unfortunately, I don't have a garage yet (my next big project at my home) to store it...only a shed that's packed with the stuff from the old detached garage I tore down some time ago.  I'm not too worried about it because the tree I have removed is going to give me wood I can do something with.  I have a portable saw mill coming in early next week to saw these Oak logs up for me.

   
   
   
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#19
(10-13-2017, 03:39 AM)Duane N Wrote: The tree company said it weighed about 500+ lbs after they had loaded it in their truck.  Unfortunately, I don't have a garage yet (my next big project at my home) to store it...only a shed that's packed with the stuff from the old detached garage I tore down some time ago.  I'm not too worried about it because the tree I have removed is going to give me wood I can do something with.  I have a portable saw mill coming in early next week to saw these Oak logs up for me.


Cool

Paint the ends of those logs with something to seal them, as soon as practical.  That will help slow down the drying process after they are cut into boards.
If you are going down a river at 2 mph and your canoe loses a wheel, how much pancake mix would you need to shingle your roof?

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#20
(10-13-2017, 09:19 AM)Bill Wilson Wrote:
Cool

Paint the ends of those logs with something to seal them, as soon as practical.  That will help slow down the drying process after they are cut into boards.

Good info and I plan on doing that as soon as it stops raining.  We've had drizzle and light rain since my tree was cut down.  I did cut some "cookies" off of one of the logs this afternoon and sealed those but I have a place to store them for a short while.

   
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