Spalted Maple cabinet - Woodworking Talk

JP Sinclair · 03-20-2007, 12:48 PM

My retired farmer buddy is in the last stages of finishing this beauty. All from solid spalted maple. We found the log sitting in the shade and tall weeds on the farm and brought it to my mill. It had sat for just about the perfect amount of time. The funny part is that many local loggers that stop by his shop had no idea what spalted maple was from, now we have some local cutters really in tune for what to spy in the woods.

Burlkraft · 03-20-2007, 04:16 PM

That is awesome......

Can we have a few more pics of that .......???

JP Sinclair · 03-20-2007, 05:28 PM

Sure, I kind of jumped the gun taking this pic, he's still got a sanding and two more coats of finish but I just couldn't resist. You'll like the side view, it's spalted maple but it has some of those ghost lines like in quartersawn oak. We just got in 4 spalted logs off a job from one of the guys who drives the skidder. He saw this cabinet and remembered this particular log sitting in the skid road. He kept running it over thinking it was just a piece of crap dead maple. Now he's got the eye for spalt

Check this out-My same farmer buddy was at a friend's house and saw the guy putting a chunk of maple firewood in the stove when he noticed a birdseye. He rescued the piece of firewood, brought it to the shop and ran it through the bandsaw and then the planer. It has some great birdseye figure. I wish I could have gotten that log..

**TexasTimbers** · 03-20-2007, 10:06 PM

Whoaaaaa dawg. That is unreal! We don't have much maple in these parts. None indigenous anyhow. That's awesome.

Burlkraft · 03-20-2007, 10:27 PM

TT..you been usin' a lot of them big words lately....

Why's that..????

**Daren** · 03-20-2007, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP Sinclair

I wish I could have gotten that log..

Beauty little scrap, I'm sure you can find a use for it. I can commiserate. I have been on the wrong end of the splitter and seen $2000 logs stacked for firewood, $150 a cord. A feller could eat himself up thinking about logs lost (especially like us, we are brothers in funky wood) Good thing is we are where "they" grow. A guy can't get them all, but with a good eye and other brothers with the eye things sometimes just fall into your lap.
Having said that...I would have liked to seen that log myself, that could have been a real prize.

**TexasTimbers** · 03-21-2007, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burlkraft

TT..you been usin' a lot of them big words lately....

Why's that..????

I used up my allotment of little ones today, so I have to use what's left in my repertoire in order to facilitate the description of the arcane thoughts and ideas which distillate in the twisted recesses of my thinkdom.

Whereas, it is still only 11:12 my time, I do not get a recharge of new words for another 48 minutes, thus limiting my access to words of the less, shall we say, lengthy magnitude.

JP Sinclair · 03-21-2007, 11:59 AM

Daren-You wouldn't believe how deep the indents of the eyes are on that piece. There's no doubt in my mind the eyes went right through to the center of the log. Bucky and I have been staying in close touch with all the logging operations around to see who's cutting what. We're going to try to set up a weekend schedule to check out anyone in maple. We figure an hour on a landing with a screwdriver to pull some bark could really pay off. Some of the bigger operations just put out tons of wood but never really check it over before it gets shipped. We brought two skidder operators to Bucky's shop and showed them that piece of birdseye and some spalted stock. They really lit up when they saw it. I told them I would come with my trailer and it will be cash in hand. I know if I gave them a buck a foot, I could get some really sweet logs. Once I finally get the kiln and re-saw shop operational, that stuff will quickly turn into at least $5-$10 bdft.

I've been meaning to ask you a question on quartering your oversize logs:Did you buy a special ripping chain for your saw?. I know they exist, I just don't know where to get one. I would really like to start grabbing some of those really oversize logs. As you've posted, they've got the most incredible figure inside. Just about every logging operation around here ends up with some monsters on the landing that the log yards don't want and the pulp yards definetly don't want. They usually get pushed into the bushes and left.

**Daren** · 03-21-2007, 12:35 PM

I SHOULD use a ripping chain, if I get anymore biggies I will buy a roll. http://www.baileys-online.com/index.htm has them. I have not in the past, but I'm sure it is harder on the saw (and me)

Burlkraft · 03-21-2007, 01:32 PM

I'll pipe in now....That piece of firewood is a BEAUTY...

I've been drooling since I first saw it...

You can even see from the picture that the eyes are deep. That was a nice log....That's a shame.

I've found a lot of bird's eye, but none that looked quite that good. I've found some with smaller eyes and lots more of them that went almost to the pith. The bigger eyes have a better tendency to do so. It always looks better in person than in a picture too.

Great score....

JP Sinclair · 03-21-2007, 01:56 PM

I've got to tell you, it's even nicer in person. If you turn the piece in the light, it has a quilt pattern. Even though I know it's not big leaf maple, it looks real similar. I've never seen eyes that defined, it's like an eybrow over the eye. I'll stop by Bucky's shop and get a picture of the boards we got out of a pulp log. The log had about a 30 degree bend, a real cull piece in any log yard. When we cut the outer sweep of the curve, it was just loaded with eyes. I think we might be on to something good, there's a lot of hard maple in our area. If we can just get a few contractors to slow down enough to let us look over the log pile, I know we'll catch some of it. Every logger I asked if they ever saw extra money in their checks for a birdseye log said no. That tells me that the scalers aren't even telling the guys when one of their logs is a birdseye. Bucky made a neat clock out of a couple spare pieces we salvaged, I'll try to get a pic of that too.

Daren-I've got a Bailey's catalog, I think I'll order a rip chain and give it a try. I'll let you know if it's worth it. I've burned up a few chain saws in my logging days trying to quarter big pulp logs and I'm not anxious to repeat those $600 mistakes.

Burlkraft · 03-21-2007, 07:03 PM

Rip chain is definitely worth it....

JP Sinclair · 03-23-2007, 02:39 PM

I went to my local chainsaw shop and he had ripping chain. I though it was something different, it basically looks like regular chain with the tooth angle at about 10 degrees. I've got a couple monsters to try it on, I'll report back after I try it--

**TexasTimbers** · 03-23-2007, 04:52 PM

I just bought a 72" bar for when my 50" is too small. Ya think I will be using ripping chain for anything?

**Daren** · 03-23-2007, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasTimbers

I just bought a 72" bar for when my 50" is too small. Ya think I will be using ripping chain for anything?

Watcha trying to do saw to China? 72"...I ain't poking fun but your new bar outgrew you, little buddy

. That is alot of chain, go get em'

**TexasTimbers** · 03-24-2007, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daren

I ain't poking fun but your new bar outgrew you, little buddy

.

yeah you are poking fun at me, and yeah, the bar is 5" taller than me.

I am gonna cut some slabs out of these spalted red oak crotches I have in the log yard. One of them will take every bit of that bar and I may have to come in from the other side a hair to finish her off.

I have a big sycamore on the stump that I know for a fact the bar`is too short to get the crotch and some of the fork from one side.

**Daren** · 03-24-2007, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasTimbers

I have a big sycamore on the stump

I am working on a stump myself, a walnut stump. It is 24" at the butt cut. These pictures are the other day when I first got it. It looks a little cleaner now, but not much

. That dude has been givin me fits. I got it trimmed up, but not nearly small enough for the mill yet. I worked on it almost a whole day, powerwashing and pruning. I spent more time sharpening chains than sawing

, should have spent more time with the pressure washer. It was growing in clay and the stuff just did not want to come off. It is going to lay for awhile now it is doing alot of raining. I will get back on it when I have more patience. The wood should be awesome, when I get that far

.

JP Sinclair · 03-26-2007, 01:42 PM

Wow buddy, the figure on the outside is very telling. I bet that stuff is going to jump and sing when you get the first piece off. That will help you forget all the sharpenings...

I think you've got the idea with stumps. Although a pain to process, I always seem to find the big figure closest to the ground.

**TexasTimbers** · 03-27-2007, 12:44 AM

Man that is gonna be a prize you can tell. Is it sycamore?

My bar is at the post office I was informed today. I have not thought about it until today but I have a fairly good collection of bars now. Everything from 12" up through 72". What I need to do now is use them to produce a really good collection of big thick wide slabs.

PPo · 03-27-2007, 12:16 PM

That's freakin intense. You should see what they charge for a spalted top on a guitar. Last I checked, the major builders were charging about $700-$1K for the option. There must be something about it that makes it hard to find a good piece that's hard all the way around for a guitar top.

Either that, or they're just looking for suckers, like Fender, et. al do when they charge a bunch extra for an Ash guitar body vs. an Alder body, and tout it as somehow much more valuable.