Well, with the weather kinda non-compliant this past weekend, I managed to get in some shop time. Remember all those promises I've been making about putting up some pics of my stump tables? Well, here's a few that I have about ready for final finishing.
First up is a Cherry log that was cut down last Winter. Some of you will remember coming over and wrestling with some of the smaller logs off this tree. This is one of the pieces that I cut into a tripod table and then buried in chainsaw shavings
for several months to slow the drying and limit the checking and cracking.
Here's a shot of the same table looking from above. You can see the ring shake and some of the rot that was taking place where another branch was growing. When I initially cut into this tree, water poured out of the saw cut and the chips resembled wet coffee grounds. Wasn't sure if I'd even end up with anything usable.
Another shot from a slightly different angle. All things considered, this one has turned out way better than I had figured it would.
Next up is a Walnut butt-end log from a neighbor's place up the street. Bluthart should recall this one as he helped me out with getting it home and he also got, (hopefully some good sawable lumber), the majority of the rest of the tree. Had I been the one cutting this one down, I'd have opted for not making such a huge notch-cut. Oh well, it was free wood so I ain't complaining. When sawing into it to make the legs for the table, I discovered
it had been used as a barbed wire fence post at one time in it's young life. That, plus some really determined insects, had contributed to the demise of this tree, and the early retirement of one of my saw chains. Not one to be easily discouraged, I proceeded to remove said wire fence by way of hammer and chisel and carved out the remaining decomposed wood, leaving that nice gaping hole in my table.
Side shot of the sapwood and grain patterns. All things considered, it's sound and didn't turn out too bad for a chunk of what had been destined for the fireplace.
Now, here's my major project. I've posted a couple pics of this one before but it's getting nigh on to being a finished product now. These pics were taken right after giving her a goodly coating of lemon oil which really pops the grain. Still a long way to go yet as far as sanding and final finishing but this will be a nice coffee table when done.
Just for reference, this is how it looked coming off the stump after spending the winter "drying" in the rough. At this point, it's about 500+ lbs. and several inches thick.
A few trimmings and many hours with the chainsaw and sanders, and we have this;
Sorry about the glare from the flash.
Anyway, those are some of the stump/log tables I'm working on. I'll put up more pics of the others as they get to a more "picturable" stage. I've got a couple of spalted, ambrosia Maple ones that are gonna be pretty.
10-12-2009, 06:42 PM
.gif "Drogar BigGrin(DBG)")
Believe it or not, that ain't no Sycamore. It's an Ambrosia Maple that I cut last winter and let it dry a little too fast and it cracked on me. 
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