Could There be Something Great in these Old White Oak Logs?

Welcome back to a nice cold day! Not exact the perfect day for running the saw, weather-wise, but today I’m going to cut up the oldest logs I’ve had in the pile. 

I’ve got this white oak log at the back there, and another chunk of it in the pile. This was part of the first load of logs ever brought to the property after we moved, and it’s been a few years since I’ve seen these logs. But let’s get it up on the saw and see what’s inside. 

I oriented the log with this larger crack more or less parallel to the bed. This log has cracks coming out in every direction, but this should isolate the larger crack in the center slab, and I might be able to eliminate some of the crack based on the cuts when I get in there. 

Here’s a first look. It’s pretty clear grain, and it has less cathedrals than you’d expect for that first cut. Slab one is 24 inches at the top and 33 inches at the bottom, so even the first slabs are pretty significant in size. These are 6 feet long, 10 quarter thick. 

These are getting significantly bigger. This is a big piece of wood!

This one has a fun knot in the middle, which must have been an old limb. But otherwise, again very straight grain. 

This one is one slice away from the pith, so it’s starting to show some more of the original limbs. This is also starting to get into a quarter sawn orientation, so there is some ray fleck starting to show. 

Here’s a look at a different part of the same tree. This one has a little bit of crotch, but the next few slabs should have some actual crotch figure. 

This one has some burl, which is cool, and a pruning cut. I always love pruning cuts, because you can see how the tree grew around it. 

Here’s another slab from the base of the tree, and it has some defects from bugs on it. Pretty cool.

This one has some embedded metal in it. It’s not magnetic, and it has a hole in it. Could be a cable swage or a bullet. I’m not sure. 

This last one has some crotch figure in it. It’s got a nice, big, rippled crotch feather. That’s a nice piece right there. 

That was a fun little adventure, if a little cold. But got through some more of the log pile, and found a mystery piece of metal. Let me know what you think it is. But I’m going to go inside and warm up now! 

Until next time, happy woodworking!