Replies

1. 
   davidbrum | Jan 30, 2008 11:23am | #1

   Mapleman, I have actually seen that stump. It is at a small sawmill owned by the father of one of my daughter's schoolmates. I got a tour of the facility a few weeks ago. Pretty cool set up. Anyway, the stump is an enormous, solid lump of highly figured maple, maybe five feet tall. He actually bought it on Craigslist for a good price and spent an entire day with a pressure washer cleaning it. I think he's the only one who recognized what it was. It really looks like some kind of white swamp monster, entirely covered with little spikes and lumps. Not sure how much veneer it would yield, but I'll bet it's considerable.

   That stump was just growing in somebody's back yard. It could easily have been firewood.

   David B

1. 
   jeff100 | Jan 30, 2008 11:47am | #2

   That has been on craigslist for quite a while. I salute the person's fortitude for taking on the project. It will be interesting to see what happens with it.

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 30, 2008 08:05pm | #3

   Holy Moley!  I cruise Craig's List every day, but never thought to search for "stump" LOL!!

   That's the kind of find our local artisan David Kotz would buy, mill and use to make wonderful pieces, but I don't think he'd ever pay $5K for it. 

   What would you guys price it at, 'twere it in your back yard?

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 
   
1. 
   saschafer | Jan 30, 2008 08:13pm | #4

   It's hard to say without a closer look, but there's probably over 100 bd ft of material there, so $5000 might not be unreasonable if it was of veneer quality.

   -Steve

    

2. 
   davidbrum | Jan 31, 2008 09:46am | #10

   Hi Forestgirl. That is actually a piece that David Kotz is selling. You should check it out if it's still at his place. It is really eerie looking. It's kind of fun to stand before it and imagine what you'd do with all that veneer! David B

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 31, 2008 07:36pm | #11

   He's selling it?  Whoa.  Wonder why?  Also wonder if it isn't the piece he told me about last year when he was here cutting up and hauling away our giant downed willow.  He said something about an amazing maple piece he had bought, but at the time, it sounded like he was going to cut it up himself.  Innnnnnteresting.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   forestgirl | Mar 10, 2008 12:13am | #17

   David, did you know he's cut it up???  He sold the bottom piece during his sale this weekend.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   davidbrum | Mar 10, 2008 12:27am | #18

   Cool.  Did you get a slab?  The prices looked really good on all the wood.  I couldn't make it by for the sale but  I did drop by on Thursday and got a 10' madrona board for $10.  I've spent much of the morning trying to make something straight out of it!  Ha!  I had to remove so much material in order to get a straight edge that I clogged the jointer twice. 

   Hope you hauled home some treasures.

   David B

1. 
   forestgirl | Mar 10, 2008 01:47am | #19

   Nah, no slab for me.  The one that sold was $750.  Ouch, I couldn't do it justice, for sure.  "I had to remove so much material in order to get a straight edge that I clogged the jointer twice."  One would assume that's why it was $10.  I hope mine ($150- the $100 credit) goes better.  It looks nice and straight, with just a little checking in the corner of one end.

    forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   BriMcG | Mar 10, 2008 08:17am | #20

   Hi Jamie, Get the new PowerMatic tomorrow!! Have an electrician in Tuesday for final wiring.  Yah  Hoo!

   Brian

1. 
   forestgirl | Mar 10, 2008 08:48am | #21

   Congrats, Brian!  I'm looking forward to hearing how you like it.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

3. 
   WillGeorge | Feb 01, 2008 07:53pm | #16

   A 'stump' in my back yard would mean more work than this old man could do!

3. 
   stantheman | Jan 30, 2008 10:02pm | #5

   mapleman

   So that is what BEM looks like from the outside?  I had always heard & believed that you couldn't tell if there was figure until the lumber was cut, so that is good to know. 

   thanks   

1. 
   saschafer | Jan 30, 2008 10:08pm | #6

   The caption is incorrect. It's a maple burl (probably bigleaf maple), not birdseye maple.

   -Steve

    

2. 
   forestgirl | Jan 30, 2008 10:27pm | #7

   Stan, I've "walked a tree" with David Kotz when he was looking for evidence of figure.  Those who've milled a large number of maples (for him, mostly downed trees) get a feel for what kind of surface characteristics may indicate internal figure.  Wish I could give you a list, but my brain is numb, been working on taxes!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

3. 
   mapleman | Jan 31, 2008 08:01am | #8

   Stan,

   Steve is correct, that log is maple burl. However, confusing things is the fact that a lot of people call it "birdseye" maple burl because it does contain small eye like figure usually.

   Lee

1. 
   dgreen | Jan 31, 2008 08:06am | #9

   Serious roll of the dice, the figure could go all the way through or just the first inch. Where's the mobile cat scan when you need it?!------------------------------------

   It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore

1. 
   JeffHeath | Jan 31, 2008 10:31pm | #12

   You've certainly got that one right, Mr. Green.  Some of those burls are filled with voids, dirt, and gravel to the point that there are more rocks than burl.  I cut open a cherry burl last year that had about a 5 gallon bucket of rocks inside, and a small mint tin.

   I would guess that the professional log purchasers experienced in veneer and burlwood would have a trick or two for knowing how solid they are, as they purchase these, and veneer logs, on speculation on a daily basis.

   The fun part really is, how to cut the damned thing.  Turn it the wrong way on the mill, and you've got yourself $5K worth of firewood!

   Jeff

2. 
   JeffHeath | Jan 31, 2008 10:33pm | #13

   Hey, Lee

   You should buy that and bring it on up.  We'll hack it up on my new Woodmizer!

   ha ha ha

   Bar-b-q anyone?

   Jethro

1. 
   mapleman | Feb 01, 2008 08:13am | #14

   WHOA BUDDY!

   What happened to the swing mill? Whatddyaget? The HD40 with hydraulic log loaders? Glad to hear you are moving forward. Hope I can score some good Indiana cherry from you in the future. I just had the absolute worst transaction of my life buying cherry from someone sight unseen. Won't happen again (unless it's you or someone equally qualified).

   Still trying to figure out how to get up that way for the "Q". Is the date set yet? I can't seem to remember.

   Lee

2. 
   JeffHeath | Feb 01, 2008 06:06pm | #15

   Lee

   Given the current state of the economy, I decided to start small.  I'm getting the LT 15 manual mill, and a Nyle 200 kiln. 

   Originally, I was going to get the Lucas 830, but I decided to spend half as much to start.  If it goes well, and sales become "brisk" in a year or so, I'll add the Lucas to my small enterprise.  I've taken a a cautionary stance to the sawmilling business, as I've spent a good 18 months paying attention to the Forestry Forum, and have watched and read about guys going belly up, mainly because their businesses shrank, and they had too much capital investment.  I'm not gonna let that happen to me.

   The LT 15 is quite a capable mill, albeit slower.  I can still make wide slabs with it, and I've never been afraid of hard work and heavy lifting.  Been doin' that my whole life.  And, the best thing about the LT 15 is resale.  I'll be spending close to $8K on the mill, as I'm getting a longer bed extension for "moulding logs", and I'm upgrading to the 25 hp motor, which was recommended to me by the FF guys that know sawmilling inside and out.  The resale value on this mill is rediculous.  I've seen 2 in the last 3 months sell for more than 90% of original sale price.  So, I'm not concerned with the smaller investment.  If this takes off like I truly think it will (there's nobody around here selling "reasonable" sawmilled stock for woodworkers), then I'll sell the LT 15, and upgrade to a bigger production mill.

   I have to tell you, I'm so impressed with the Lucas mill.  You can cut slabs from large tree's up 60" wide, or wider with an upgrade (not needed for me), and you can quartersaw species like oak and sycamore, where q'sawing is desired, without ever having to handle these large, heavy logs.

   I'll definately let you know when lumber is available, and you know I'll only sell quality stuff.

   No date set for the "Q", but I'm definately doing it.  I'm thinking June or July, and I'll put out a post next month to see what's best for folks.  I spoke with Jeff Miller yesterday, and it sounds like he's coming, so I want to line up some other well known pro's or companies (LN or LV) to see if they'd like to show up for a demo or two!  What do you think?  If we get enough guys coming, maybe we can even get Philip to drag 10 or 15 of his planes here, and we'll get em' sold for him on the spot.  ha ha ha

   Jeff

   Edited 2/1/2008 10:10 am ET by JeffHeath