Big old maple

Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Here's a big maple from a neighbor farm. The old farmer is in his mid 70s and says the tree was this size when he was a kid. It had been mostly dead for a long time and rotted at the base. I cut out the best stretch of log that would fit in the tractor bucket. Otherwise I'd have cut it longer.

I ended up with several table size slabs, some 4x4s for legs, some 2x4s for cues, and some thinner lumber. It'll be a few years or maybe some kiln time before any of it is ready to be a cue. Just thought I'd show where cues come from, and what it sometimes takes to get good wood for them.
 

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LGSM3

LGSM3

Jake<built cues for fun
Silver Member
Eric....i'm not sure if you ever run any smaller saws (18" or less) but if you do then you should try one of the new stihl saws with the quick adjust bar and chain tightener. They have some type of new flywheel too that makes them really easy to start and the chain can be adjusted without any tools and in less than 10 secs. Best money i've ever spent.
 
Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
LGSM3 said:
Eric....i'm not sure if you ever run any smaller saws (18" or less) but if you do then you should try one of the new stihl saws with the quick adjust bar and chain tightener. They have some type of new flywheel too that makes them really easy to start and the chain can be adjusted without any tools and in less than 10 secs. Best money i've ever spent.
Click to expand...

Been a while since I bought a new saw. Will give it a look. Thanks :)
 
Chris Abaya Cues

Chris Abaya Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That looks great Eric. I've always envied woodworkers who are out in the country and have huge lots with lots of trees to cut down and mill. I have a backyard that is smaller than my living room. :grin:
 
CuesDirectly

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Very nice looking wood.

I just came across the worst cut wood I have ever seen, it was cut with a chainsaw on rails. It was his first cutting.

I told him how I used to get logs milled for $185 per thousand board feet, that is 18.5 pennies per board foot, wow. I think they are charging around $250 per 1000 now. From the logs I had milled, I built a 32 x 52 shop, 2 stories tall from the fir, then we sold the place. I built three decks on my house with the cedar and a complete kingsize bed with 90 pieces of figured Maple.

At times we would have a good wind storm and I would run around and look for the right trees that were down. The worst part of living in Oregon is the fact that we have great trees but none of them really work for Cues.

Thanks for posting and enjoy, Dave.
 
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Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
CuesDirectly said:
Very nice looking wood.

I just came across the worst cut wood I have ever seen, it was cut with a chainsaw on rails. It was his first cutting.

I told him how I used to get logs milled for $185 per thousand board feet, that is 18.5 pennies per board foot, wow. I think they are charging around $250 per 1000 now. From the logs I had milled, I built a 32 x 52 shop, 2 stories tall from the fir, then we sold the place. I built three decks on my house with the cedar and a complete kingsize bed with 90 pieces of figured Maple.

At times we would have a good wind storm and I would run around and look for the right trees that were down. The worst part of living in Oregon is the fact that we have great trees but none of them really work for Cues.

Thanks for posting and enjoy, Dave.
Click to expand...

Yeah I bought the mill just for shaft wood, which it gets plenty use for that, but I also cut lots of burls & other figured stuff. Are you too far north for manzanita & madrone? Manzanita burls is amazing if large enough, and the trunks often get large enough to get turning squares from. The burls are red and the lumber is olive drab. I love using the lumber for ring stock & such, but am out & don't know where to get more. NM isn't known for hardwoods, either, but I was able to find a couple varieties of hard maple, oaks, mesquite, tamarisk, etc. plenty large enough for milling. Now I'm in TN and covered in hardwoods.
 
J

Jon Manning

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice old Maple! I recently got a mill, myself. Not a cue builder, just a wood junky! Got quite a few Black Walnut logs and one Burl that are waiting for the mill. Being in East Texas, got a few nice hard woods around, they just don't get as big down here.
I have family south of Courpus and they just called and told me they found a Texas Ebony on a ranch, I've been bugging them for years to find me one. I really hope the Ebony works out, as I've been wanting some for years.
 
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Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Jon Manning said:
Nice old Maple! I recently got a mill, myself. Not a cue builder, just a wood junky! Got quite a few Black Walnut logs and one Burl that are waiting for the mill. Being in East Texas, got a few nice hard woods around, they just don't get as big down here.
I have family south of Courpus and they just called and told me they found a Texas Ebony on a ranch, I've been bugging them for years to find me one. I really hope the Ebony works out, as I've been wanting some for years.
Click to expand...

Texas ebony is about as nice as any of our domestic woods get. It's a dream to work with and looks great, too.
 
Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Snooker Theory said:
Nice brother, some pretty wood! Cool tractor too
Click to expand...

Thank you :) The tractor isn't mine. I helped the farmer take the old tree down. I had a chainsaw big enough to do the job, and he had a tractor big enough to move it around. Had the bucket been bigger, the log woulda been longer.
 
CuesDirectly

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
qbilder said:
Thank you :) The tractor isn't mine. I helped the farmer take the old tree down. I had a chainsaw big enough to do the job, and he had a tractor big enough to move it around. Had the bucket been bigger, the log woulda been longer.
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You don't need a bigger bucket, just a chain. If there is a hook for a chain behind the bucket, hook it and run the chain over the top of the bucket and down to and around the log and hook it back to the chain. You can pick up a 15 foot section of a log that size, the only concern will be the weight on the back of the machine. I had a 1964 John Deere Bachoe that was about that size, when I took the rear hoe off the machine, it would not be capable because the rear tires would have lifted off the ground.

I had a few smaller excavators over the years and the size of the tress I moved with them was something to watch.

A real kick in the A$$ is being on an 80,000 pound machine knocking trees down and pushing them into a burn pile.

Looks like a nice area you live in.
 
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JC

JC

Coos Cues
CuesDirectly said:
Very nice looking wood.

I just came across the worst cut wood I have ever seen, it was cut with a chainsaw on rails. It was his first cutting.

I told him how I used to get logs milled for $185 per thousand board feet, that is 18.5 pennies per board foot, wow. I think they are charging around $250 per 1000 now. From the logs I had milled, I built a 32 x 52 shop, 2 stories tall from the fir, then we sold the place. I built three decks on my house with the cedar and a complete kingsize bed with 90 pieces of figured Maple.

At times we would have a good wind storm and I would run around and look for the right trees that were down. The worst part of living in Oregon is the fact that we have great trees but none of them really work for Cues.

Thanks for posting and enjoy, Dave.
Click to expand...

Funny my father in law just showed me this morning how to build a guide for my chainsaw to rip inch and a half slices off some Myrtle rounds I have. Worked pretty darn good for making cue wood out of fire wood sized pieces. Myrtle is one of the few species around here that's nice for building cues.

JC
 
Snooker Theory

Snooker Theory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
JC said:
Funny my father in law just showed me this morning how to build a guide for my chainsaw to rip inch and a half slices off some Myrtle rounds I have. Worked pretty darn good for making cue wood out of fire wood sized pieces. Myrtle is one of the few species around here that's nice for building cues.

JC
Click to expand...

do you mind if I ask how you made the guide, just a quick explanation if you have a second.
 
Q

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Snooker Theory said:
do you mind if I ask how you made the guide, just a quick explanation if you have a second.
Click to expand...

I know you're not asking me, but if you do a search for chainsaw mill you'll find a lot of info. There are two basic types, both of which work fairly well. As JC points out, it's an awesome way to use wood that otherwise would be firewood or landfill material. If you're ever bored & interested in something different, read up on "urban logging". Guys get yard trees & street trees, trimmings, etc. and mill them. Often times they get some insanely beautiful lumber, and it's pretty often that the trees are some type of ornamental or exotic. There are lots of awesome woods that aren't commercially viable or available, but can be sourced with a chainsaw & some elbow grease.
 
9BallKY

9BallKY

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I wish there was a cue maker that lived close enough to me to come cut the big
maple behind my house. It has a couple big burls on it, but I doubt there are many
that harvest their own wood.
 
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