OG Woods/Logging

[Old Growth]

I've got a tree that looks identical to that!

Are they worth anything?

They are kinda like a lottery ticket. Might be a winner or a loser. But ya gotta have one to maybe win!

Sometimes they look like a burl, and don't look very interesting once ya cut them and other times they look normal and end up being crazy inside.

Get it on the ground, look inside, see if its solid, and if its got any burl, figure, spalt.

If all else fails, its worth $200 a cord!!

[Chip]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

[RadioSquatch]

I've got a tree that looks identical to that!

Are they worth anything?

It could be it all depends on what the insides look like

[Selador]

I've got a tree that looks identical to that!

Are they worth anything?

It could be it all depends on what the insides look like

Well, I'm not going to cut it open to find out!

[Arisaka]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

Those are likely to crack radially as they dry, unless you hole out the pith

[Old Growth]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

Willow may or may not crack real bad. Painting the ends will help slow down the drying/cracking.

I may grow lots of surface mold tho.

[Chip]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

Willow may or may not crack real bad. Painting the ends will help slow down the drying/cracking.

I may grow lots of surface mold tho.

Well, you've nailed it so far. The thinnest piece was on top of the stack for a couple weeks getting direct sun, and has already cracked. The slab on the bottom was on dirt and has grown mold.
What would be best to paint on it? And thanks!

[MadPick]

I may grow lots of surface mold tho.

Occasional showering may help with that.

[delliottg]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

Willow may or may not crack real bad. Painting the ends will help slow down the drying/cracking.

I may grow lots of surface mold tho.

Well, you've nailed it so far. The thinnest piece was on top of the stack for a couple weeks getting direct sun, and has already cracked. The slab on the bottom was on dirt and has grown mold.
What would be best to paint on it? And thanks!

Shellac works well to seal the end grain of the wood to help prevent cracking (or more accurately slow down moisture going out the end grain faster than the long grain).

Bee's wax works well too if you have it available, otherwise it's too expensive.

[Old Growth]

I may grow lots of surface mold tho.

Occasional showering may help with that.

Well seasoned!

[Old Growth]

Hello All, I picked up several round slabs from a weeping willow that was recently cut down. Slabs are about 4' diam x 6" thick. What's the best way to preserve / prep them for table making? If it's not desirable for any kind of furniture, I'll just use them for throwing hatchet / knife targets, they were free. Thanks for any advice you can give a total novice!

Willow may or may not crack real bad. Painting the ends will help slow down the drying/cracking.

It may grow lots of surface mold tho.

Well, you've nailed it so far. The thinnest piece was on top of the stack for a couple weeks getting direct sun, and has already cracked. The slab on the bottom was on dirt and has grown mold.
What would be best to paint on it? And thanks!

There are specialty products available like "AnchorSeal" etc, but the cheapest that still works good is some good ole left over latex paint put on thick or twice. If you had some exotic or big money wood maybe spring for the fancy stuff, but I would just latex it.

[Chip]

Thanks for the info guys!

[Old Growth]

This is my Uncle Bill cutting cedar. He logged in Alaska for many years working with Columbia Helicopter.

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[MadPick]

Damn. That photo really puts things into perspective.

[RENCORP]

Me, knocking down a 170 footer.

Small stuff compared to west coast British Columbia stuff I worked on when I was younger.

Timber between River's Inlet and Knights Inlet was huge. Stuff on the Sechelt Peninsula was still big wood, a lot of tracts that were never logged, or had not been logged since the axe, springboard, and hand saw days.

Lots of trees were long butted - they cut off and left the bottom 10- 20 feet of the log from the stump because the grain might have some shake to it, which was considered to be undesirable, unsellable wood back then. I hand milled, and Alaska milled some awesome slabs from the remaining sound wood from some of those left overs. Most of the old growth cedar was dark colored - like coffee with a hint of milk tossed in, and ring count was up around 50 years per inch - you needed a magnifying glass to count growth rings.

One long butt, half rotted into the forest floor, we rolled up on rounds to cut edge grain slabs from freehand, because the remaining half was just under 5 feet thick from outside edge to the rot line, which was still way off the original center line of the log. I cut 8 slabs 4-6 inches thick and all 4-5 feet wide, 6 slabs 4-6 inches thick and all 3-4 feet wide, before I started cutting smaller slabs using the Alaska mill for the " little slabs ".

All I have left from those days is a small collection of choice burl slabs, and a big ass piece of redwood burl I cut from a stump in northern California at a buddies acreage one year way back when. Oh, and some clear yellow cedar dimensional lumber. And some other stuff. And some stuff I have forgotten about that is around here somewhere. Plus firewood.

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