Fun Craigslist scrounge today

[prajna101]

OK, So I the post was "free Log" Saying something like "its in the house and should be great firewood as its been there for more than 35 year. Bring an electric chainsaw and camera. Its that weird"

So I go. Usually my little electric saw is very outmatched by guys with real saws, but not this time.

When I got there I found this log suspended above a stairway. It was nearly 10 feet long and about 3 feet in diameter! It was like a bad hang up. I look at the guy and make sure he is cool with me breaking some stuff and doing some damage when I drop it and then figured out the best way. I made some BIG mistakes droping her. But finally got it down. I did not really want to work that hard for a cedar log, but the challenge was fun and I was really interested in how dry the wood was.

So. I figure it was put there with no bark. So probably pretty dry to begin with. Then sat there for 35 years. To say that wood does not season in log form is proved wrong. It just takes a long time. My moisture meter generally was not even registering a reading. every once and a while is would say 4% which is its lowest possible reading. I could pick up a 3 ft diameter round 16 inches long and carry it myself. CRAZY light. I was splitting these rounds with one hand and an axe. It was silly easy. they just popped apart with a strong look. The splits are like toys.

Anyway. I am not quite sure what to do with it. I made splits REALLY big. The largest I could fit in my firebox. I figure that will slow them down a bit. My yard smells like a hamster cage now.

I just put a split in. I was fully engulfed in flames before I could shut the door. Its burning like satin on an alter.

Fun day.

Todd

 

[LLigetfa]

Should make good kin'lin.

 

[prajna101]

I dont think I would even have to split it down for kindling. I bet I could light a 4 in split with one match and no paper.

t

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just make big sized kindling and be happy for years. Great find!

 

[Battenkiller]

A-aaaack! :ahhh:


10' long, 3' in diameter and 35 years old (at least)? You probably just cut up a log of some of the choicest guitar grade cedar I've ever seen... all too short. Worth maybe several grand if it was cut, split and resawed properly.


Are the annular rings really close together? Please say, "No, they are like 1/4" wide" so I can sleep. :-S

 

[Bigg_Redd]

OK, So I the post was "free Log" Saying something like "its in the house and should be great firewood as its been there for more than 35 year. Bring an electric chainsaw and camera. Its that weird"

So I go. Usually my little electric saw is very outmatched by guys with real saws, but not this time.

When I got there I found this log suspended above a stairway. It was nearly 10 feet long and about 3 feet in diameter! It was like a bad hang up. I look at the guy and make sure he is cool with me breaking some stuff and doing some damage when I drop it and then figured out the best way. I made some BIG mistakes droping her. But finally got it down. I did not really want to work that hard for a cedar log, but the challenge was fun and I was really interested in how dry the wood was.

So. I figure it was put there with no bark. So probably pretty dry to begin with. Then sat there for 35 years. To say that wood does not season in log form is proved wrong. It just takes a long time. My moisture meter generally was not even registering a reading. every once and a while is would say 4% which is its lowest possible reading. I could pick up a 3 ft diameter round 16 inches long and carry it myself. CRAZY light. I was splitting these rounds with one hand and an axe. It was silly easy. they just popped apart with a strong look. The splits are like toys.

Anyway. I am not quite sure what to do with it. I made splits REALLY big. The largest I could fit in my firebox. I figure that will slow them down a bit. My yard smells like a hamster cage now.

I just put a split in. I was fully engulfed in flames before I could shut the door. Its burning like satin on an alter.

Fun day.

Todd

Lifetime kindling

 

[ChrisNJ]

A-aaaack! :ahhh:


10' long, 3' in diameter and 35 years old (at least)? You probably just cut up a log of some of the choicest guitar grade cedar I've ever seen... all too short. Worth maybe several grand if it was cut, split and resawed properly.


Are the annular rings really close together? Please say, "No, they are like 1/4" wide" so I can sleep. :-S

LOL I was also thinking something like that would be good for something other than a fire, carvings or for any woodworkers shop.

 

[Wood Duck]

From the photo I can't tell what the log was doing in the house. Was it deliberately put there as a decoration? Did it fall there from some other position, perhaps it was a beam in an open beam style ceiling? What is up?

 

[Danno77]

it's a main structural support and now you'll be sued for cutting it out after the whole house falls down on the occupants in the night.

 

[prajna101]

It was decoration of some sorts. No structural use. But the owner and I couldnt figure out how it would have been put there except for during construction. The ends were nailed in place and mortared so I guess that it was built around.

As for other uses of the wood. I almost dont want to think about it. But there would have been no way to get it out without bucking it up. Maybe I could have hacked it into larger pieces and still made the corners.

I am going to look at the rings when I get home. If they are fast growth I will let you know. If they are tight and strong, I will lie to you just so you can sleep.

todd

 

[Danno77]

It was decoration of some sorts. No structural use. But the owner and I couldnt figure out how it would have been put there except for during construction. The ends were nailed in place and mortared so I guess that it was built around.

As for other uses of the wood. I almost dont want to think about it. But there would have been no way to get it out without bucking it up. Maybe I could have hacked it into larger pieces and still made the corners.

I am going to look at the rings when I get home. If they are fast growth I will let you know. If they are tight and strong, I will lie to you just so you can sleep.

todd

it's so crazy and unique you almost wonder why they'd take it out. I mean, i wouldn't want it in my house, but geesh.

 

[Battenkiller]

It was decoration of some sorts. No structural use. But the owner and I couldnt figure out how it would have been put there except for during construction. The ends were nailed in place and mortared so I guess that it was built around.

As for other uses of the wood. I almost dont want to think about it. But there would have been no way to get it out without bucking it up. Maybe I could have hacked it into larger pieces and still made the corners.

I am going to look at the rings when I get home. If they are fast growth I will let you know. If they are tight and strong, I will lie to you just so you can sleep.

todd

Ha, Ha! Yes, lie away. :lol:


Don't worry, I was just teasing you. There's so much old growth western red around that that piece will hardly be missed. The real worth of it would have been its age. Most instrument grade wood only gets about 10-15 years before the maker loses his patience and cuts it up. 35 year old wood would be a great find, but there are so many other criteria it would have to meet that I think you may be safe.


For western red:


Perfectly straight grain, clear, very even in color across the grain, 20-40 lines per inch, no runout anywhere (must split perfectly straight), 24" long (you could have gotten five beautiful rounds) and splits must be at least 10" across at the narrowest point. To get the big bucks, you have to be able to saw them into book-matched sets 1/4" thick (takes a real big band saw and a lot of experience) and then find a maker who doesn't already have all he wants. With a log that big, you would have had lots to sell. But at about $50/set for the best cedar, you would have had it for a while before you sold it all. Makers can be pretty fussy about what they want to use.


I have a friend out in Queen Charlotte's Island who goes into the areas where loggers have left and finds trunks that were left behind... too big to move. Most of them have been there for years, but since cedar really doesn't rot too much, they're still in good shape. He goes in and cuts, splits, and binds them in place, then calls a chopper when he has enough that it's worth it. It costs thousands to get them out, and they make as many trips back in as he can afford, as fast as they can get them out. Then off to his mill for further processing.

Maurice is about 6' 5" and has shoulders like an ox. I've seen photos of him straddling some off those huge trunks and he looks like a baby. 6'+ in diameter some of them.

Check out this slide show of him in action:

(broken link removed)

 

[prajna101]

Thanks for the pics. that dude has a long bar on that saw! One of those logs would heat my house for a decade.

Todd

 

[Battenkiller]

Thanks for the pics. that dude has a long bar on that saw! One of those logs would heat my house for a decade.

Todd

Surely you could. But if you were to turn it all into guitars and sell them, you could buy a nice condo in the Bahamas and never need to heat with wood again. ;-)