Lumber Making #10: Milling the Maple Finale - and - Lookie What We Found

Great Job. Congratulation on your find. I’m glad that you accepted the log and didn’t let it go to a landfill

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Very nice score. That wood is a treasure.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Man, that is truly beautiful. And to think the spalting is just the result of fungi living and dying, doing what they do in a seemingly random way. By uncovering these planks another wonder that would have wound up in the ground or ground into mulch gets to be viewed and marveled at. And then your artistry and efforts will give that old maple new life again as a treasured box or table or…
Now that’s Zen.
Thanks for sharing this huge undertaking with your fellow LJs. Great blog, Dorje.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Wow, that is some beautiful stuff you got there. Nature at it’s best.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

On closer examination is that a dog’s head in the second picture?

Can you put a slab or two inside to dry so we don’t have to wait so long to see what you do with this treasure?

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Wow! That is spectacular wood. Can I have some? :)

-- Roger - Havertown, Pennsylvania

My, my, you did find a treasure, didn’t you? Carleen spotted a slab of 6/4 spalted and thought it would make a neat table It was about 36 by 18. the wanted $300 for it. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see it when it is dry. Better store it inside, it’ll never dry in Seattle. On second thought maybe you’d better bring it down here to the desert. It would dry a lot quicker. LOL

-- Thos. Angle

Great blog and great find. Amazing what is out there that would have become firewood.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Wow, awesome. You lucky, lucky dog :)

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

buteefull

-- /\/\/\ BarryW /\/\/\ Stay so busy you don't have time to die.

You know, I live just north of Seattle and have LOTS of room to store and season wood at my work place. If you run out of space, please feel free to give me a call – there might be a slight wood storage surcharge, payable in spalted lumber only ;-)

-- CutNRun - So much wood, so many trails, so little time

Great job you two.. Nice save and best of luck with the woods future.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

Great lumber Dorje, You truely are blessed to find this motherload. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Beautiful wood!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Great looking wood Dorje! Thank you for taking the time to share this with everyone. I’ve found it very interesting.

-- Greg Mitchell--Lowell, AR--gdamitchell@sbcglobal.net

Thank you sooo much for sharing this experience with us. I have mentioned it to some friends at work and they are interested in going through the process. One of them has a couple of oak logs on the ground. Well see if we find any time to actually get them cut up.

Awesome find . . . That’s what good neighbors are all about.

-- Making sawdust is what I do best

What a treasure!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Wow! There’s something special in that wood!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Thanks all, for taking the time to check this out!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Hello Dorje,

All I can say is WOW, you rock man… :-) What a beautiful spalted log! Figure like that is hard to come by and it looks like you’ve got lots of it. Since I’m a woodturner, I can see lots of beautiful bowls, platters and hollow forms in that log. Hopefully, you saved a few pieces to feed your lathe! :-) Let us know what becomes of this magnificent tree. Take care and best wishes to you and yours!

Steve Russell
EWW, WVP, EWWFS
The Woodlands, Texas

-- Better Woodturning and Finishing Through Chemistry... http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com

Nice blog. Thanks for sharing the process and the great spalted wood.

-- Jesus is Lord!

After all the work, doesnt your back hurt?....after looking at all the beautiful slab blanks and the memories of the of all the hard work, was it worth it?

HeeeeoYaaaa!

I cant get enough of milling. I found a huge lying pine today: ) BSB

You look like a happy man in that last picture Dorje. It’s not surprising having seen what Mother Nature presented you with. Real treasure!

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Steve – I did save quite a bit of stock for bowls…nothing to worry about there!

Stingray – Absolutely worth it. Back hurt more after moving and stacking it than the sawing day – but Mike and I alternated sawing so we saved ourselves a bit of pain there…

Stewart – me, Happy? mm-hmmm…

F.Luna – I can’t imagine that either – just not right! The maple is western big leaf, which is “soft” maple, similar in hardness to cherry – and that’s when it’s not spalted. So, not workbench material – of the hard as rock variety – like yours!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA