Working up a new oak log

Let the fun begin

There’s really woodworking in this post - but first one more commercial for our household’s offerings - both spheres. Maureen & Rose have kept adding stuff to their etsy site. Knitting, the last of Rose’s crocheted penguins and Maureen says the eco-prints are on sale. Their site is https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

a sample from Maureen's Fiber Arts site

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I’ve finally packed the last 2 recent panels and put them in the mail. But that whole flurry of carved panels reminded me I have two panels I carved when I did the Dedham Carvings video - these are riven panels, from some red oak - the best boards I use. Thickness varies a bit, but around 5/8” to 3/4”. Linseed oil finish. Signed on the back. Email me at PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com if you’d like either of these. Check or paypal - additional charge for paypal…

Panel #1

8 1/4” x 12”
$500 including shipping in US.

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Panel #2 - SOLD

9 1/2” x 13 1/2”
$550 including shipping in US.

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Now, out with the old, in with the new. It’s the perfect time of year for that saying - but it’s only coincidental that I’m applying here.

This red oak’s so big you can’t see the white oak hiding behind it

I’ve needed a new oak log for a while - the last couple of sections of the previous log sat so long that they got bugs into the heartwood...my own fault. The wood is still good, but I don’t feel right selling something like that. So my long-time friend and cohort Rick McKee https://www.instagram.com/medullary_rick?igsh=emRmb2JycjYwOXlw and I went out Christmas shopping - no crowds, no commotion. Plenty of parking. We both needed some oak - me for my usual stuff, he’s got a shingling project he’s about to sign onto. First thing I saw was a white oak - not big enough for Rick’s shingles - but we so rarely run across it I decided to buy it as extra, just to have some. It’s not a great log, but there’s lots of chair parts and maybe one or two other projects to come out of it.

But the red oak is/was the star of the trip. No taper - 28” in diameter at one end and 14’ later it was still 28” in diameter. First thing, Rick made a perfect crosscut to bust it into halves. Then he split one of those 7-footers in half while I tussled with the white oak. He continued to work that into sections easy enough to load into his truck. Some eighths, some sixteenths. That was enough for one afternoon.

Then yesterday we did much the same - with the 2nd seven-foot section. You have to start somewhere - this log had a significant check on one end - so we went with that.

We split them in the log yard so we can move them home more easily. At my end, there’s no truck access down to my shop. After a few hours’ work on 2 different days, we’ve still only got half of the red oak split and moved. So next week we’re back there for the rest.

Here at the shop, the first thing I did was to work up the short off-cuts. The red oak sections for panel stock, the white oak section for chair parts. This split in the red oak is just the beginning - each of these got split again.

these get split again