Slabbing
1996 - 2000
At first we did not bother too much about safety. However the slabbing become a serious business demanding all precautions. My great grandfather died in his sawmill. As did his replacement.
This is an Alaskan mill and used on small logs using a short chain bar.
On larger logs a rail mill is more useful as it can take th 6 ft long chain bar.
Slabbing is fascinating but heavy, and dangerous. We need a 5 tonne jack to lift the log to insert supports to keep the saw out of the dirt. If too much is taken off one side, then the log can roll and squash you. Sometimes the chain breaks and can badly disfigure anyone in the way.
The end of the log has been painted to stop moisture escaping, and cracking the end grain.
The person in the background is leaning on a rope pulling the chainsaw through the log. He has to judge the pull by the sound of the motor.
We were sometimes called on to give slabbing
demonstrations at local shows.
This log is silver poplar which gives a
beautiful pearl like finish. The edges however
are quite prickly.
The newly milled slabs must be seasoned exactly right. The rack must be 600 mm off the ground, and flat to within 1 mm. Stickers are 19 mm and need to be of the same species of the slabs to avoid staining. The stack must be covered from the rain but open to air flow. . It must seasoned for a year per inch, plus a year. The ends need to be painted to slow down moisture escape from the end grain.
If the chainsaw teeth are angled and sharpened perfectly, the finish can be smooth enough to finish with 100 grit sandpaper.
You never know what is going to be inside a log.
This became a coffee table, but it took a lot of epoxy to
hold it together. Sometimes the slabs split with a bang
as the internal forces are removed. The colour when it
is first cut green give you a good idea how it will look
when seasoned and varnished.
Morten bay fig produced the most marvelous scultured and slabbed tables. Not your normal timber.
Slabbing is very labour intensive, especially on the smaller logs. Sometimes it is the only way to salvage speciality timber. This one is Banksia Serrata. (Old man banksia)
Internal forces are often released when the wood is slabbed.
The rail mill is faster and safer. however timbers such as iron bark grown in dry confditions, yellow box, and grey gum are very slow to cut.
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1996 - 2000 |
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Slabbing is fascinating but heavy, and dangerous. We need a 5 tonne jack to lift the log to insert supports to keep the saw out of the dirt. If too much is taken off one side, then the log can roll and squash you. Sometimes the chain breaks and can badly disfigure anyone in the way. The end of the log has been painted to stop moisture escaping, and cracking the end grain. The person in the background is leaning on a rope pulling the chainsaw through the log. He has to judge the pull by the sound of the motor. |
We were sometimes called on to give slabbing
demonstrations at local shows.
This log is silver poplar which gives a
beautiful pearl like finish. The edges however
are quite prickly.
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|
|
The newly milled slabs must be seasoned exactly right. The rack must be 600 mm off the ground, and flat to within 1 mm. Stickers are 19 mm and need to be of the same species of the slabs to avoid staining. The stack must be covered from the rain but open to air flow. . It must seasoned for a year per inch, plus a year. The ends need to be painted to slow down moisture escape from the end grain.
|
If the chainsaw teeth are angled and sharpened perfectly, the finish can be smooth enough to finish with 100 grit sandpaper. |
You never know what is going to be inside a log.
This became a coffee table, but it took a lot of epoxy to
hold it together. Sometimes the slabs split with a bang
as the internal forces are removed. The colour when it
is first cut green give you a good idea how it will look
when seasoned and varnished.
|
|
Morten bay fig produced the most marvelous scultured and slabbed tables. Not your normal timber. |
Slabbing is very labour intensive, especially on the smaller logs. Sometimes it is the only way to salvage speciality timber. This one is Banksia Serrata. (Old man banksia) |
Internal forces are often released when the wood is slabbed. |
|
The rail mill is faster and safer. however timbers such as iron bark grown in dry confditions, yellow box, and grey gum are very slow to cut. |
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