Got oak?

[Rennie Heuer]

I need to make some corbels for the fireplace mantel as shown below. I've tried several methods of glue up and am not satisfied by my results. Either the fronts are mostly end grain with opposing grain lines or, turning the blank 90 degrees, the sides show the layers of the glue up like stripes on a sergeants shirt sleeve. Either way it just does not suit me. What I need is about two feet of a solid red oak 4x4. A bit of end grain will still show but at least it will not show the stripes of a glue up.

Does anyone have a chunk of oak they'd like to sell or have an idea where I might get one?

 

[Rennie Heuer]

just for the heck of it I googled 4x4 red oak.

I nearly fell off my chair to find out the Menards just down the road from me has three 8 footers in stock. Who knew? A little pricey at $63 each, but... Shoulda looked there first.

Guess where I'm going tomorrow.

 

[fred hargis]

I would not have thought they would have that either. Interesting. (and thanks for posting this, now I know where to look when I need some again)

 

[Leo Voisine]

I have a couple of Red Oak logs that may be able to fill the bill for you. I owe you anyway - so free - but you cover shipping.

 

[bill kaminski]

should have a 1/4 sawed side..yes?

 

[larry merlau]

you could have glued on veneers to make them avoiding the end grain

 

[Rennie Heuer]

should have a 1/4 sawed side..yes?

you could have glued on veneers to make them avoiding the end grain

Well, when I got to the store I found out that the description was misleading, at least to me. To my mind a "solid" 4x4 is just that, a single piece of wood 3 1/2" square. Seems that is not the case. Rather it is a 4 piece glue up.





So, on the way home I had an epiphany, I would veneer the sides like I do for table legs and change the orientation of the cuts to maximize face grain. Seems you all beat me to it. Don't know why I did not come to this conclusion sooner. Feeling pretty dumb.

Here's the plan.

The glue up with 1/8" veneers.



Orient the cuts to make best use of face grain.


Cutting this way will not show any of the laminations as the exposed ends will not be larger than the face of one board.

The finished product.

 

[Dan Noren]

that takes care of the sides, and the little bit of the front, but what about the angled side?

 

[Rennie Heuer]

that takes care of the sides, and the little bit of the front, but what about the angled side?

The angled side is the face grain. The small cut ends are 45 degree end grain.

 

[fred hargis]

Welp, that saves me a trip to Menards.

 

[Leo Voisine]

So cool, I don't need to mill a one piece log into sections. IF however you want it - I will do it for you.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

So cool, I don't need to mill a one piece log into sections. IF however you want it - I will do it for you.

Not needed but appreciate the offer!

 

[Rennie Heuer]

How many clamps do you need? I'll plane it to final size and cut some corbels tomorrow.

 

[Leo Voisine]

FANTASTIC plan.

 

[Toni Ciuraneta]

you could have glued on veneers to make them avoiding the end grain

I was going to suggest the same solution.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

I was going to suggest the same solution.

Exactly what I eventually did.