[Closed] A big piece of a tree

mcmoonter to the forum, mcmoonter to the forum.

Go to a saw mill, they'll sort you out.

You will discover why traditionally several planks are used though. Getting a big table sized plank to stay straight is a challenge.

If you have access to tree there are mobile sawmills that'll cut you a slice. If not then a there are places out there eg: http://kentlogs.co.uk/hardwoods-for-sale/

Yes i think there might be a few challenges with a single plank. I dont have the machinery to do a good job of joining bits together plus i just like the raw non machined look.

Anywhere near mid/south Wales? How big a piece can you collect?
Won't be a bit of big elm like they used though, very hard to find big elms and a shame to drop them when you do.

I am in yorkshire so wales is not that convenient. I seem to remember there was a saw mill/timber yard in dacre banks near pately bridge but no idea if that is still in existance, anybody know it?

A tree surgeon friend just cut up a couple of mahoosive Cedar trees, might have worked well for you. Sadly it's all been cup up for firewood.

My local sawmill does a sideline in planking hardwoods. Google, Scottish Wood at Inzievar. They have a showroom full of nicely grained planks.

The guy who cut down out Chestnut told me of a job he had done for a guy up in Perthshire. They cut down a big Monkey Puzzle. Their branches grow outwards at the same level, when you cut a section across them the grain is like the radial spoking of a wheel.

[url= http://www.johnboddytimber.co.uk/index.html ]John Boddy[/url] is a well known timber merchant up that way. Give them a call.
As mentioned, keeping something flat enough or designing in freedom of movement is the trick.

You'll need to look for a mill that specialises in over size logs as most mills are only kitted up for stuff upto 750mm.
Think we can get about 1200mm through a Woodmizer, otherwise you are looking for someone with a chainsaw mill, but that will require a lot more finishing.
Also want a species with not too much sapwood if you want to keep the wavy edge.

Do you not need to let it dry for years and then mill it flat?

There are, as nickjb says, mobile sawmills around, I've watched them at Treefest, Westonbirt Arbouretum, where they drive the saw with an old traction engine, although the saw unit is very modern. They use complete trunks of trees culled from the Arbouretum collection, and slice them into bloody great long planks, I think about 20-30ft long. Very impressive to watch.
I think googling for a local sawmill and going along and having a chat about what you need will be the best way to go.
It might be worth getting this book as well:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=17366040100&searchurl=tn=the%20soul%20of%20a%20tree&an=george%20nakashima
George Nakashima is a superb furniture maker and carpenter, and his tables are frequently a big slice taken from a trunk, or even a slice taken through the root system, which usually has amazing figuring and grain, but can involve issues with stones stuck in the root system.
Stunning book, I've had a copy for many years, and anyone interested in beautiful furniture ought to try to find a copy.

http://www.wentwoodtimbercentre.co.uk/default.htm

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/771/22257421633_f7f89c74e3_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/771/22257421633_f7f89c74e3_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/zUP71R ]Wentwood timber[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/58162507@N07/ ]SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/693/22255816504_423b3ecb5d_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/693/22255816504_423b3ecb5d_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/zUESSd ]Wentwood timber[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/58162507@N07/ ]SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

John Boddy has unfortunately closed down but you could try

http://www.duffieldtimber.com (outside Ripon)

or

http://www.scawtonsawmill.co.uk/

blader1611 on our estate we used to use a Norwood portable sawmill to plank our own timber. If you look them up on Facebook you might find someone who has one near you.

As a side note could you drop us an email timber as I'm struggling to get a tree surgeon to assess a mature horse chestnut. I'm based near Cowbridge. Ta.

G

Marin No 8 - I don't climb, so not much I can do unless there is a big space for it. Tree surgeon we use is Newport based, Ben Daniels, can't remember company name, but very good and tidy. The other climber we use I'll see later this week, but he won't be climbing for a while as has torn a load of stuff in his arm and was getting reattached and braced last week.

Grantly saw mills is still running along with Dacre banks.

OP - try Ecclesall Woods, Sheffield. go to the visitors centre. Lots of the businesses there have all sorts of stock of wood for building such things.

Shame you're not in S Wales/Herefs/Gloucs/Bristol area as I have a portable sawmill and some 4ft dia oaks to mill over the next few months. Also have some large air dried oak slabs.

Might be worth sticking up a post here http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/ to see if anyone in your area has milled boards suitable.

@simon w, do you have any other machinable wood? I'm looking to try some wood for my 3D map sculptures and struggling to find any local (Malvern). Thinking along the lines of sycamore and woods like that.

Sorry for the slight hijack 😳

Good thread, I've been thinking about this too!

I'm in the process of buying an old house which will need a kitchen dining table and there also happens to be a 100ft tree (might be exaggerating) in the garden which we have been told needs to come down before it goes through the house.

The problem is the tree is spruce so I don't know if this will work. I would need to take the bark off the edges but leave the shape, will it just look like some attacked an IKEA table with a sander??

Some good links above, I have some reading to do....

Stevied - depends on what you want and mean by machinable........what sort of size lumps do you need? I have sweet chestnut, ash, larch, Douglas, spruce, oak, spalted beech all in varying sizes and states from green to well dry.

Email in profile if it's easier than a hijack!

V8_shin_print - spruce'll be fine, it's the sort of softwood that most joiners will use as 'whitewood', if it's a decent size you'll get a decent slab out of it, it just might be a plain and soft to use for a table top.

Waney edge is soooo last season now anyway.

If you want waney-edged, then maybe try it resin-impregnated?...

Some people doing some great stuff with resin.

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Apologies for the lengthy post. A pissing wet lunchbreak made this a welcome distraction…

As noted above, get yourself to a smallish sawmill, specialising in milling and drying local (i.e. not just resawing imports) hardwoods. Getting really big stuff is a challenge as there are few mills that have equipment up to the job, it requires a lot of effort to mill, season properly, handle and (for the end user) work.

Getting something big to dry/season properly is a challenge, then you’ve got to imagine how you’d be able to work it from a sawn board (that will likely have moved somewhat during drying) to the state you need to work it and get finish you require. You aren’t going to find many machines that have a large enough feed for planning/thicknessing to take what you describe. Unless you’re very fortunate then you’ll have to work “with” the wood, and even if you’re geared up a lot of it would be a lot of effort (and no little skill). Having said that, if you’ve got the space and the time it is incredibly rewarding to complete these kind of things.

As you’re in Yorkshire (depending on where) in the past I’ve found both Boddies and Duffields to be reliable. Boddies are no more but Duffields are a good (large) set up to deal with. They may not have the “one off” unusual bits a smaller mill would be able to produce but would likely know where to head if they didn’t have what you are after. Wherever you end up, go with an open mind, describe what you’re after size wise, and see what species you like when you see them.

I’ve done quite a few similar things over the years and would suggest…
- Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Big stuff always has a wow factor, but you must be able to work and handle it with the equipment/muscle/space you have. As a piece of furniture in a home you have to be able to use the finished object.
- Don’t disregard possibility of jointing. Plenty of good woodworkers will join pieces discreetly, or making a feature of it in ways that add to the finished piece. More importantly it means you have more choices of pieces to select, techniques to use, and easier handling. And there are plenty of tools to make this easy nowadays (probably easier than getting a flat finish on a single large board by hand).
- A great piece of wood is often ruined by disregarding what it is going on. It’s pretty straightforward to keep a beautifully figured top looking good, but make sure you give everything else the consideration it deserves.