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I got home early this morning from a quick trip to and from Arizona to go meet Carol Reed and pick up a slab of Michigan chocolate. I figured a few pics were in order...
Here's the slab in question. It's slab number 5, but the other numbers are dimensions in inches:
You can see the lower part of the slab still has the bark on it, but the upper part has been cut square. (I'm guessing that was to fit it in the sawmill.) My plans for the slab are to make a coffee table or desk, but I'd like it to have natural edges, preferably with the bark still on them. For weeks and weeks, I've been debating with myself whether to shorten the slab to remove the saw cut edges. I went to Arizona still undecided. If I shortened it, it would fit inside my SUV. If I left it in one piece, it was about 9 inches too long to fit, but I do have a roof rack. I took supplies for strapping it to the roof rack on my SUV, but also took a saw in case I decided to shorten it. (As if Carol wouldn't have a saw.)
Well, after seeing the slab in person, and weighing the various pluses and minuses (and there were a number of them), I decided to shorten it. Larry, you might want to avert your eyes.
Carol had a great sheet goods cutting rack that we set up to hold the slab while I did the deed...
She also had a good straightedge and a pair of clamps. I figured I might as well get my saw dirty, since I already had it on hand...
And a minute or so later I had two slabs. The cutoff will yield at least three nice platters, including one large feathered piece that should probably make me enough money to pay half the cost of the slab.
We threw a few wraps of stretch wrap around the slab to protect the bark and help hold the moisture for now. We also wrapped the cutoff, but I didn't get any pics of it.
Now that it's all home, I get to wait a year or two for the wood to dry. I'm planning to build a vertical rack to hold the big slab and protect the edges. It'll be stored in our climate-controlled storage locker, so I'd like to put wheels on the rack to make it easier to move around. I'll post pics of that project once it gets going. (Hopefully tomorrow.) The cutoff will get rough turned and dried like I'd typically do with any fresh walnut, so we should be seeing results from that part in a month or two.
And the final proof of the meeting, the Family photos...
Aw c'mon, Carol, I'm not that disgusting...
Ah, that's much better.
We had a great visit after the wood butchering session. Carol is a lot of fun, and we could have swapped stories for hours. Unfortunately, I had to hit the road and get back home. I finally rolled into the driveway this morning about 4:30, but had a great ride, with a few stops along the way to stretch my legs and enjoy the surroundings. (A few more pics in the next post.) Carol also took a number of pics, so hopefully she'll get a chance to post a few here, too.
Carol also gave me a nice piece of what appears to be spalted maple that should be getting some quality lathe time here before too long. Thanks again, Carol.
Here's the slab in question. It's slab number 5, but the other numbers are dimensions in inches:
You can see the lower part of the slab still has the bark on it, but the upper part has been cut square. (I'm guessing that was to fit it in the sawmill.) My plans for the slab are to make a coffee table or desk, but I'd like it to have natural edges, preferably with the bark still on them. For weeks and weeks, I've been debating with myself whether to shorten the slab to remove the saw cut edges. I went to Arizona still undecided. If I shortened it, it would fit inside my SUV. If I left it in one piece, it was about 9 inches too long to fit, but I do have a roof rack. I took supplies for strapping it to the roof rack on my SUV, but also took a saw in case I decided to shorten it. (As if Carol wouldn't have a saw.)
Well, after seeing the slab in person, and weighing the various pluses and minuses (and there were a number of them), I decided to shorten it. Larry, you might want to avert your eyes.
Carol had a great sheet goods cutting rack that we set up to hold the slab while I did the deed...
She also had a good straightedge and a pair of clamps. I figured I might as well get my saw dirty, since I already had it on hand...
And a minute or so later I had two slabs. The cutoff will yield at least three nice platters, including one large feathered piece that should probably make me enough money to pay half the cost of the slab.
We threw a few wraps of stretch wrap around the slab to protect the bark and help hold the moisture for now. We also wrapped the cutoff, but I didn't get any pics of it.
Now that it's all home, I get to wait a year or two for the wood to dry. I'm planning to build a vertical rack to hold the big slab and protect the edges. It'll be stored in our climate-controlled storage locker, so I'd like to put wheels on the rack to make it easier to move around. I'll post pics of that project once it gets going. (Hopefully tomorrow.) The cutoff will get rough turned and dried like I'd typically do with any fresh walnut, so we should be seeing results from that part in a month or two.
And the final proof of the meeting, the Family photos...
Aw c'mon, Carol, I'm not that disgusting...
Ah, that's much better.
We had a great visit after the wood butchering session. Carol is a lot of fun, and we could have swapped stories for hours. Unfortunately, I had to hit the road and get back home. I finally rolled into the driveway this morning about 4:30, but had a great ride, with a few stops along the way to stretch my legs and enjoy the surroundings. (A few more pics in the next post.) Carol also took a number of pics, so hopefully she'll get a chance to post a few here, too.
Carol also gave me a nice piece of what appears to be spalted maple that should be getting some quality lathe time here before too long. Thanks again, Carol.