| This page is pictures and description of a recent adventure, sawing a walnut stump. Here is what it looked like when I got it, 3000lbs of clay, rocks and roots. I was looking at the potential this ugly thing had and was excited to see what was inside. | | After 2 hours of pressure washing and almost a full day of pruning it to size I had a manageable chunk to work with. Most of the day was spent sharpening chainsaw blades, very frustrating. | | I said I had a manageable piece, but it was still big. I dug a hole for the root ball to set in on the mill. The very top where the logger sawed the tree down was 24" across. I had a mill full, I am lifted all the way up and it is wider all the way around than I can saw. |
| Finally I start milling the stump, same situation with bandsaw blades as chainsaws...much sharpening. I worked my way around the stump cutting off what I could, then flipped it. I rotated the heavy awkward piece of wood several times. The more I sawed the prettier it got, that kept my spirits up and made me forget the labor involved. | | This is what I was working for ! This picture was taken as it sat on the mill seconds after a fresh cut. It is rough sawn , my mill usually makes a very smooth cut. But one rock throws the teeth out of set and makes a rough surface, that is the case here. Rough surface aside...the colors and figure are awesome like nothing I have ever seen. You can see the curl even in it's rough form, sanded out it will really show well. | | I sanded one little spot later and tried to get a close up of the color contrast in the wood. This is with no finish just lightly sanded. I milled this stump for use as gun stock material in the future. What beautiful stocks they should be. I will replace this photo with a better one soon, it does not do the curly figure justice but is the only one I had when I sat down to add this page. |
