John Came Back with a Wild White Oak Crotch

Today we are cutting another log for John. Awhile ago, I cut up a walnut log for him that came from a tree that his great-grandfather had planted, and when I was doing that, he asked if I could cut up a white oak crotch that was too big for his sawmill. I said sure, as soon as I have some time. And now, 53 weeks later, I have the time, so that’s what we’re going to do.

This log has this hole that goes all the way through, which is going to make some really interesting slabs. I don’t know how this happened, it’s almost like it split and then grew back together. It has lots of crotches and knobby things all down the log as well, so there should be some interesting grain inside. Let’s find out!

Here’s a look at that hole. It looks like the tree joined right back together. Crazy!

There is a split, but it makes for some really interesting figure and grain around it. 

This is definitely one of the weirder things I’ve had on the saw. It’s definitely unique. 

These are some big slabs. 52 inches at the splay, and 30 inches at the bottom. 

I like this rot staining, it creates lots of interesting color. 

Some pretty crazy stuff on these slabs. 

This one has some nice crotch figure as the hole is starting to close up.

This one has really cool interspersed stain which follows the grain lines. Really cool, I’ve never seen something like that.

That is wild. Look how swirly this is! It’s like the fibers are all jumbled together through here.

This turned out to be an absolutely wonderful day! It’s a beautiful, oddly warm day here in early November, and it was great to see John. He’s always fun to talk to, and that’s what I like about this kind of stuff: getting together with people who share a common interest of cutting big, weird logs on a sawmill. So that’s going to do it for this one. Thank you as always for joining, I greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a comment. As always, I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have, and until next time, happy woodworking!