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My encyclopedia of wood states Acacia Melanoxylon weighs 41lb/cubic foot (Seasoned). Ebony is 61lb/cubic foot; cherry is 36lb/cubic foot; White oak is 47lb/cubic foot. All weights are seasoned. The slab included in this photo weighed about 400lbs. This only matters because the tree is at the back of the property DOWN HILL from the house and about 80 yards from the street…enough whining…after all…I did only pay $300.

Anyways back to the story. We only got the log cut so we could mount the Alaskan Mill. It took nearly an hour to cut the next slab and we were halted by a nail wich apparently got driven into the tree 30 or 40 years ago. It was 7:00 so we decided to give the neighbors a break and go home.

Below are the photos of todays progress. Buddy the tennis ball freak is included to give an idea of how big the slab is. It measures about 22 inches wide about 8 feet long and 5 inches thick…did I already say it weighs about 400lbs?...NO? Well…it weighs about 400lbs…

I hope you enjoy this blog. I can’t seem to get the photos to show up the way I want…just click on them to see the entire photo I guess.

Have a great day.

There are two logs apprximately 40’ in length and @20” in diameter (bigger in some smaller in others). There was a nice crotch but it looks to be mostly rotten.

Is there anyone out there interested in sharing the cost of having him cut it into boards? Anyone want some nice Black Acacia bowl blanks?

The wood is in Oakland. Thanks Guys.

As I said in my other posts, I had planned to purchase a better digital camera to take better photos of my projects. Well, I decided to do so now so I could take better photos of the fire damage. I will post some photos in a week or so after I have been in the disaster area.

Pray for the families and the people required to work in these situations. Any fire you deal with is a roller coaster of emotions. The building can be replaced but the memories inside are a total loss.

The roads are still closed to the losses they assigned me and it looks like I won’t be able to see the first one until tomorrow (Wednesday).

Talk to you all soon.

The first thing I had to do was cut the log into pieces I could fit into the bandsaw.

I was pretty happy to find some beautiful spalting in the wood but also disappointed because the wood is deteriorating quickly. I wish I had cut the log when I first brought it back instead of coating it with wax and letting it sit.

Then to the bandsaw where I eventually broke a blade. Lucky for me the guy I bought the bandsaw from included a bunch of old blades I use for this purpose.

I got about 18 blanks from this one log. Even on the cheap side from Rockler or Woodcraft it would come to a couple hundred dollars worth of wood. (Man I can’t wait until windy season this year)

I decided to rough turn a few of the blanks so I could have them ready for the holiday season. Here I am marking the square blank.

Cutting it out on the bandsaw

Then to the lathe to true them up and add the tenon.

Finished on the outside now for the inside.

Switched to the OneWay jaw.

Hollow out part of the center

Two more roughed blanks to add to the shelf.

As you may have noticed I didn’t treat the wood with anything but wrapped them in newspaper. This is the same method I used to dry the Ambrosia Maple lidded bowl I posted earlier and it only took a couple months to dry. I learned of the method from an issue of Woodworking Magazine “Turning a Cherry Bowl”. It’s kind of interesting, you can feel the dampness in the paper when you check the bowl periodically. I don’t know how well this works with all wood but it seems like the paper works well to slow the drying process. I’m still new and still experimenting with all this.

Buddy woke up the next morning with his back legs partially paralyzed, ears and skin were very very red and his breathing was very erratic. I scooped him up and took him to the vet and he was given a shot for an allergic reaction. It took until late Saturday night before he could get up and walk again and by Sunday he was back to normal.

Walnut sure is beautiful but who knew it was that dangerous to animals.

Just thought I would let you all know.

Every time I sit down to rummage through Lumberjocks I find my email bin filled to overflowing. After driving to and from Nor Cal I just don’t have time to sort through it all. I hope you all aren’t too offended that I’m not giving your projects the attention they deserve and please know I appreciate all the kind words your throw my way. My shop is what usually gives me peace but I don’t think I will be in it too much for the next month or so.

Frank, if you’re reading this…I’m sad my life has become so busy lately that I can’t even focus on your beautiful words. I’m anxious to get back to them and the rest of you “jocks”.

Keep creating sawdust everyone!

Sincerely,

Steffen.

For starters, I am always shocked when someone commisions work from me and when I tell them I don’t have time they up the anti in the form of “MORE MONEY”! I think to myself, why would you pay 40% more just to have me do it when there are 20 guys who do just what I do and some of them are cheaper? ( I have one couple in Yorba Linda who have been waiting for me to have time in my schedule for 6 months just so I can put an arch over their stair well)

The fact of the matter is, that’s the begining of a loyal customer base who will ultimately continue to buy from you throughout the years. In the world of art it is very difficult to judge what people are going to display in a glass case and what they will want to put tortilla chips in (I’m not gonna let that go Trent).

I read Marc’s blog about getting advice for a business plan and I posted the following knee jerk response. I think valueing our work is one of the most difficult problems we have…that is, once we settle the age old argument of Domino or not to Domino…Saw Stop, no Saw Stop…or maybe Spiral or Strait cutter head…you get the idea. After I posted the reply to his blog I thought “ding” this could be a good first blog for you Mr. Werner! So here it is…uncut and unedited.

Marc,

I would like to add my two cents worth of advice and a little story if I may. Pricing fine woodworking is a very subjective and difficult thing.

I work as a docent for Sam Maloof. Every third Tuesday night we have a meeting in Sam’s house where we all have dinner together and talk about what’s going on that month. The best thing I like about it is I get to talk to Sam and sit in all of his furniture.

I was sitting talking to another docent and he saw one of the pens I make in my pocket. He said “hey, I make pens too” (this man was about 40 years my senior). He then asked if I give them away and I kind of chuckled and said no. I said I actually have them in a store in Orange and the retail price is $110 to $135. He about fell out of his chair. Apparently he gives his pens away or will sell them for maybe $10 which doesn’t even cover the cost of the kit, wood and electricity to make the thing.

He spent the next 15 minutes practically scolding me for trying to get so much for my pens and he finally stood up and walked away…Stood up out of a $35,000 Zircote rocker that had already been sold. Oh yeah, there is a 4 year waiting list for those rockers and Sam and the boys can build about 60 of them a year along with a lot of other stuff…Do the math!

All out of Sam’s shop, attached to his house (don’t get me wrong, there aren’t too many of us who have 750,000 BF of lumber at our house). But Sam started in a chicken coup where he had to take every tool out at the begining of the day and put it back at the end and he was nearly 40 when he started doing it as a full time income. His house was then and is still today, his showroom.

When I get discouraged about not making enough money or there won’t be a client for my product I tend to visit the following site. It is a woodworking cooperative and there are a lot of artisans there who list their work and how much it cost. Some of it is shocking but most of it is all commisioned work.

Good luck…stay focused…be encouraged.