opened up a maple crotch today

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Oliver Springs, TN
I don't know where to put this, I guess it could be considered flatwork.

I opened this maple crotch this afternoon. It has some nice spalting and figure. I decided to cut off this junction of three limbs that stuck out of the side so I could get a flat spot. I also included a couple of action shots. I think this piece would make a nice turning chunk. I haven't decided if I'm going to cut it into slabs 1.5 or 2 inches thick.
 

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John, around here cutting into a hunk of a crotch will sometimes reveal what the past owners laid in that tree to keep and never came back for. Like horseshoes, RR spikes, pliers, etc. Do you have a metal detector wand that you use beforehand? Man that is nice as others have said!
 
John, around here cutting into a hunk of a crotch will sometimes reveal what the past owners laid in that tree to keep and never came back for. Like horseshoes, RR spikes, pliers, etc. Do you have a metal detector wand that you use beforehand? Man that is nice as others have said!

I do have a metal detector that I'm using. I've been lucky so far, and haven't found anything.

Vaughn, you're right, it's like opening a Christmas present with each cut. My brother in law calls it wood porn.:D This could be addictive.
 
I do have a metal detector that I'm using. I've been lucky so far, and haven't found anything.

Vaughn, you're right, it's like opening a Christmas present with each cut. My brother in law calls it wood porn.:D This could be addictive.

john there is no COULD BE its a definite WILL BE:) the more you see the more you wait for the next one..even if you dont need anymore wood:):thumb::thumb: if you want slabs that are no less than 2.25" to allow for clean up and still have a thick slab when your done the drying can cause warping and you need some extra for cleanup in isle FIVE:rofl:
 
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John,
I don't know if you just came up with that or if it is "old hat" and I had not encountered it---However, "wood porn" really cracked me up.

It is like that in high-fire pottery. You are never sure just what is going to come come out of the kiln after a firing. That is why so many of the larger kilns have pottery figures sitting on them...The Kiln Gods. (I hope that is not too religious for anyone. If so, I apologize.)

That is one beautiful hunk of wood.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
That's some fine looking wood
You forgot the third type of sawyer. The guy that puts the log into the metal detector five time before getting it to go past it than cuts the RR spike. That would be the unemployed sawyer.:thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
If Mucka (the guy who had to fix the mess) had his way the sawyer would have had a matching set of black eyes.:thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
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I'm adding another picture of the crotch. This is about the third cut in and the flame figure is really starting to show. I have it figured to end up cutting close to dead even with the pith as I move down. I was told that is where I'll see my best flame figure. You can see my shoes in this shot, it gives some perspective to the size. I've been cutting them a full 2" and man those suckers are heavy. The picture doesn't do the figure justice!
 

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I finally finished cutting the maple slabs. Here's a few shots of some of the better slabs. The pictures are of the dry slabs with dimensions, closeups of the figure, and wet with water to show the grain.
 

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