We just got hold of some new slabs, from French Oak and Sapele. Took this photo of two of my granddaughters exploring the big Sapele piece, which is over 5′ wide and almost 5″ thick. Now we just have to let it air dry for a while. Might even be ready in time for one of the girl’s marriage!
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That is some serious wood
Beautiful little girls.
Did
Beautiful little girls.
Did you carry the wood home on top of your car?
Will, I'm afraid it would've
Will, I'm afraid it would've crushed the car! I don't know exactly but the Sapele piece alone is certainly over half a ton.
David
- Of course it would be French Oak... You villain!
What is the MC on them now and do you think there will be any significant further advance on the checking?
Nice Haul.
Boiler
Yeah, we couldn't resist that
Yeah, we couldn't resist that French Oak slab, and part of the reason I posted this was just to poke you in the ribs. The MC is way off the scale of my meter, that is, somewhere above 20%. We immediately inlaid some dovetail keys into it in the hope that it will stop further opening of the checks, but we'll just have to see what develops.
How you feelin' these days?
You will have plenty of time to contemplate what to create from this huge chunk of wood or maybe you already have something in mind. I'm not familiar with French Oak. How might it differ from our domestic red and white oak here in the states?
They will be tabletops, for sure. There's no way that we'll cut them up into smaller pieces.
The technical specs of the French Oak are not what's important to me. It is from the white side of the family, and has a very old and interesting look. The American varieties I know seem kind of crude by comparison. English oak is even more refined and conservative; the French has some kind of rustic provincial feel about it. It takes every kind of finishing remarkably well - oil, fuming, staining, clear lacquer, whatever you want to do with it. Like all the oaks, it's a good wood for machining. And happily for me, I can get it in a variety of cuts, and sometimes even have it cut to order like these slabs.
bd,
Here is a link to a site showing a fine picture set of English oak at the bottom of the webpage.
http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/hardwoods/exotic_hardwoods/exotic_wood/english_oak_lumber/english_oak_wood.html
As I understand it, European (English, French, Swiss etc.) oak is the same species quercus robur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_oak#External_links
However, there is a bewildering number of variants, as the Wiki page shows.
As I understand it, European (French, Swiss etc.) oak is the same species quercus robur.
Your white oak is quercus alba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_alba
English and other European oaks are less muddy than American white oak and also seem to have a lot more "character" - knots, included branches, pips, catspaws and so forth. In my experience American white oak is prone to split more easily but is finer-grained - less fibrous than the English/European stuff.
Here is a pic of a trestle table I made with mostly English oak. The breadboard ends and two outer planks of the top are American white oak. You can see the difference is shade under the same oil finish.
English oak also comes as brown oak, dyed throughout by the action of a non-destructive fungus that makes it look fumed.
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/oak,%20english%20brown.htm
Then there is bog oak, which has lain in anaerobic peat or other watery grave for a long time, with the tannins reacting to cause the timber to go almost ebony-black but unrotted.
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/oak,%20bog.htm
Ah, we lucky Ypeans, to have such stuff at the bottom of the garden. :-)
****
That Richard Jones (the black dagger) knows all about this stuff. I think he should give us all a learned lekshah!
Lataxe
David,
Much better, thanks.
No good enough to horse around those monsters. Anything twinkling in the gray cells as to the design for the tables? Would think the aprons/legs wouldn't exactly be Queen Anne :) Perhaps great museum refectory tables or grand entrance pieces. Such woods need to have people look at them.
By the by, this is January...wasn't this retirement month?
John
David
Nice haul, indeed! Is this a local purchase for you, or did these beauties come from your adventures in Africa? Great looking girls.....they must get it from their mother! :)
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
The slabs were cut specially for us in Israel. We've been buying French Oak from an importer for many years now, and he has recently set up a local mill, instead of bringing it in precut from France. So we actually ordered these specific slices of specific logs.
Not cheap - that piece of Sapele cost $2700, and the oak was $1900. Considering that we can't use them for a long time, it's an investment. By the time they get turned into tables I'll be long retired.
As far as my grandkids go...knock on wood...I've got 12 of 'em living a stone's throw from my house (there's another 3 in New York). The older girls wanted to have a look at what I claimed were the biggest pieces of wood they'd ever seen. They agreed. We started counting growth rings but got tired at 250...
regards,
David,
I'm afraid those
David,
I'm afraid those checks are just going to get larger, no matter what you do, rendering the slabs completely useless. So I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll take them off your hands. This will relieve you of all the disappointment that you obviously will endure if you hang onto these worthless pieces of timber.
No need to thank me for this service. I do it out of sheer kindness. Simply send them to me freight pre-paid and you won't need to feel further obligation or indebtedness.
Yer Pal,
Rich
Rich,
I couldn't possibly
Rich,
I couldn't possibly impose on you in that way! After delivery you might be disappointed in what you're getting, sight unseen, and demand to return them. I think the only reasonable way to proceed would be for you to stop by our shop and sign off that you will accept them, checked and flawed, and then we'll see about stuffing them into your mailbox.
regards,
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