robutacion
Member
Hi everyone,
Would be nothing new for me to show here wood, any shorts sizes and shapes however, is not everyday that myself have this much Olive wood root semi-process for drying and further processing.
The pieces in the pics belong to a single humongous Olive tree root of 2 I have been processing, from a lot of 7 for 13 tonne (some of it is dirt, rocks, etc...!) I brought in to my storage paddock last year, as some may remember here.
I've got 2 of the biggest ones washed and cut into "manageable" sizes (some still need 2 of us...!) but, being short of dry Olive root, I needed to get some done, as root will dry faster them the tree wood itself.
It all started 3 weeks ago, today (Sunday), one day at the paddock with all my "working team" and all the gear necessary to get this initial clean-up done so that I could put the big 36" chainsaw into work.
Since, I have been bringing the chunks home, give them another clean-up and then put them on the bandsaw for slicing. Most I want to cut in 2"1/2 to 3" thick slabs and stack them to dry while processing some smaller bits into square blocks or pen blanks, as I go.
Last Friday, with a sunny day ahead, I decided to bring all the slabs I had cut and thrown on the floor everywhere, outside on the lawn, give them a spray with the garden hose and take some pics before I would start stacking them, on top of a pallet and under cover.
The slabs showing, are only from 1 (one) root, the other is still in chunks and waiting to be done in the same way but, that takes time as the pieces are heavy and slicing them, discovers more and more dirt pockets inside the wood that blunt my 1"TPI x 40mm x 2mm thick bandsaw blade far to fast, making me re-sharp it a few times daily...!
Anyway, I decided to start with the biggest roots (still one more large left) as they were the oldest ones 150 years + and the ones I was expecting/predicting/hopping/anticipating/wanting to find the best "treasures" inside but, these two roots have nothing special about them and a big disappointment, indeed.
The thing is, with Olive Trees, the roots can hold the most amazing and rare grains and formations, you will ever see, including pockets of blue stained wood (very rare) and some inner burls that are NOT visible from the outside. This nature doings, require a long time, therefore the oldest the tree, the higher the chances but, and like so many other things in life, what is suppose to be and or assumptions/speculations based on previous experiences, can prove to be a false lead and or results.
I have great expectations for the other roots I have still to process, why...? firstly because I know that, any of them is capable to provide me with the biggest and welcome surprise, "treasures" and *gems* grow in trees, which ones...??? that takes a lot of trial and error, hard work and lots of luck...!
The second reason I have high expectations for what is unprocessed in that, about a month ago, and due to be running out of dry root as mentioned previously, I was not yet ready to tackle the big stuff so, I went to the paddock and brought home the smallest piece I had there, the same piece that I almost left behind, as it was a small piece (about 20kg) that the bulldozer had snapped from a larger root, in the process of ripping them off the ground. This bit was full of mud and didn't look much, with a good chance of being only sapwood but, I decided to grab it by hand, while the large bob-cat was handling the other roots into the truck and trailer, I walked with it to the truck and throw it in.
Well, it turned out that, that small piece that, even when washed didn't show anything special apart from that dark colour from the dirt stains but, when put in the bandsaw and sliced open, right through its centre, made my eyes nearly drop to my feet...! That thing was a chunk of blue stained Olive with a pocket of BURL inside it .
There was some sapwood around it that I cut off and then proceeded to slice it into 22mm boards from where I cut the pen blanks from. I was so excited that I never though in grabbing the camera, I wanted to slice it up and see how much good stuff I had in there. Another thing I now regret was not, at least, take some pics of each slab/slice before I cut it into pen blanks, loosing immediately (as it would be expected) its natural grain configuration and patterns, damn...! I endup with about 100 blue stained blanks and about 50 burl full blanks and some shorts, and that, I have pics of...!:wink::biggrin:
Now, that's what I would be expecting from the inside of those large roots but, that wasn't to be, unless those already processed and as I said before, I have great expectations on the rest, as that small root piece that gave me such treasures, belongs to one of the largest roots, the PROBLEM IS, when I went to load the roots into the truck, was a pile that we couldn't get close to, not only due to the "marks" put around it but also from clear warning from the construction manager where, he didn't wanted the bob-cat near that marked area, as the Power company has had just installed a under-ground cement box from the connection junction of the power lines to the construction site/new wine factory being built.
The area was full of mud from rain the day before and also the big hole they dug up to put this box in, the dirt was thrown on top of a root pile next to it, where I knew they were 2 large roots and possibly a couple of small ones, now almost covered with soil so, they had to be left behind.
I did request to the construction manager to let me know when would be safe to remove the other roots from there, as they had to be removed either way, a road had to be built around it so, was only a matter of time.
I was never contacted and some time later, I went pass to have a look and the place has been all cleaned up, the road was in and the roots were gone. I knew that, they were not put a side for me but, have being taken to the dump by the people that went there with a machine to lift/remove the roots out/away and level the ground so, I lost those.
And that is where I could have lost a lot more than what I think I have, if the main root from where the "treasure" chunk came from, is not in my storage paddock, still to be clean/processed, that means that....! exactly...., and that will upset me considerably so, lets hope I got it...!
On the other hand, I also know that, if the main root from where that chunk came from is in the paddock, there is absolutely no guarantee that, I will find any more of it on the rest of that root. I have been on this road far too many times before to know that, no one can be sure of what is inside of a "sealed" piece of wood, ever...! Is the expectation, excitement of the search that keep my blood running in my veins, like a Viagra to my soul...!:wink:
Suspense, excitement, disappointment are, all part of what I love to do and share with everyone, the woods are my passion so are all the "things" that come with it, good and bad...!
The wife (Merissa), years ago said that I was mad (she was probably, right...!), years later and after she was introduced and became an active part of "my world", she is now having a totally different perspective and opinion about "wood", she is now capable to see and appreciate nature's work, that has been one of my greatest successes in life...!
I hope you enjoy...!
PS: Apologies to those with slow Internet connections but, I don't know how do do it in any other way...!:redface::biggrin:
Cheers
George
Would be nothing new for me to show here wood, any shorts sizes and shapes however, is not everyday that myself have this much Olive wood root semi-process for drying and further processing.
The pieces in the pics belong to a single humongous Olive tree root of 2 I have been processing, from a lot of 7 for 13 tonne (some of it is dirt, rocks, etc...!) I brought in to my storage paddock last year, as some may remember here.
I've got 2 of the biggest ones washed and cut into "manageable" sizes (some still need 2 of us...!) but, being short of dry Olive root, I needed to get some done, as root will dry faster them the tree wood itself.
It all started 3 weeks ago, today (Sunday), one day at the paddock with all my "working team" and all the gear necessary to get this initial clean-up done so that I could put the big 36" chainsaw into work.
Since, I have been bringing the chunks home, give them another clean-up and then put them on the bandsaw for slicing. Most I want to cut in 2"1/2 to 3" thick slabs and stack them to dry while processing some smaller bits into square blocks or pen blanks, as I go.
Last Friday, with a sunny day ahead, I decided to bring all the slabs I had cut and thrown on the floor everywhere, outside on the lawn, give them a spray with the garden hose and take some pics before I would start stacking them, on top of a pallet and under cover.
The slabs showing, are only from 1 (one) root, the other is still in chunks and waiting to be done in the same way but, that takes time as the pieces are heavy and slicing them, discovers more and more dirt pockets inside the wood that blunt my 1"TPI x 40mm x 2mm thick bandsaw blade far to fast, making me re-sharp it a few times daily...!
Anyway, I decided to start with the biggest roots (still one more large left) as they were the oldest ones 150 years + and the ones I was expecting/predicting/hopping/anticipating/wanting to find the best "treasures" inside but, these two roots have nothing special about them and a big disappointment, indeed.
The thing is, with Olive Trees, the roots can hold the most amazing and rare grains and formations, you will ever see, including pockets of blue stained wood (very rare) and some inner burls that are NOT visible from the outside. This nature doings, require a long time, therefore the oldest the tree, the higher the chances but, and like so many other things in life, what is suppose to be and or assumptions/speculations based on previous experiences, can prove to be a false lead and or results.
I have great expectations for the other roots I have still to process, why...? firstly because I know that, any of them is capable to provide me with the biggest and welcome surprise, "treasures" and *gems* grow in trees, which ones...??? that takes a lot of trial and error, hard work and lots of luck...!
The second reason I have high expectations for what is unprocessed in that, about a month ago, and due to be running out of dry root as mentioned previously, I was not yet ready to tackle the big stuff so, I went to the paddock and brought home the smallest piece I had there, the same piece that I almost left behind, as it was a small piece (about 20kg) that the bulldozer had snapped from a larger root, in the process of ripping them off the ground. This bit was full of mud and didn't look much, with a good chance of being only sapwood but, I decided to grab it by hand, while the large bob-cat was handling the other roots into the truck and trailer, I walked with it to the truck and throw it in.
Well, it turned out that, that small piece that, even when washed didn't show anything special apart from that dark colour from the dirt stains but, when put in the bandsaw and sliced open, right through its centre, made my eyes nearly drop to my feet...! That thing was a chunk of blue stained Olive with a pocket of BURL inside it .
There was some sapwood around it that I cut off and then proceeded to slice it into 22mm boards from where I cut the pen blanks from. I was so excited that I never though in grabbing the camera, I wanted to slice it up and see how much good stuff I had in there. Another thing I now regret was not, at least, take some pics of each slab/slice before I cut it into pen blanks, loosing immediately (as it would be expected) its natural grain configuration and patterns, damn...! I endup with about 100 blue stained blanks and about 50 burl full blanks and some shorts, and that, I have pics of...!:wink::biggrin:
Now, that's what I would be expecting from the inside of those large roots but, that wasn't to be, unless those already processed and as I said before, I have great expectations on the rest, as that small root piece that gave me such treasures, belongs to one of the largest roots, the PROBLEM IS, when I went to load the roots into the truck, was a pile that we couldn't get close to, not only due to the "marks" put around it but also from clear warning from the construction manager where, he didn't wanted the bob-cat near that marked area, as the Power company has had just installed a under-ground cement box from the connection junction of the power lines to the construction site/new wine factory being built.
The area was full of mud from rain the day before and also the big hole they dug up to put this box in, the dirt was thrown on top of a root pile next to it, where I knew they were 2 large roots and possibly a couple of small ones, now almost covered with soil so, they had to be left behind.
I did request to the construction manager to let me know when would be safe to remove the other roots from there, as they had to be removed either way, a road had to be built around it so, was only a matter of time.
I was never contacted and some time later, I went pass to have a look and the place has been all cleaned up, the road was in and the roots were gone. I knew that, they were not put a side for me but, have being taken to the dump by the people that went there with a machine to lift/remove the roots out/away and level the ground so, I lost those.
And that is where I could have lost a lot more than what I think I have, if the main root from where the "treasure" chunk came from, is not in my storage paddock, still to be clean/processed, that means that....! exactly...., and that will upset me considerably so, lets hope I got it...!
On the other hand, I also know that, if the main root from where that chunk came from is in the paddock, there is absolutely no guarantee that, I will find any more of it on the rest of that root. I have been on this road far too many times before to know that, no one can be sure of what is inside of a "sealed" piece of wood, ever...! Is the expectation, excitement of the search that keep my blood running in my veins, like a Viagra to my soul...!:wink:
Suspense, excitement, disappointment are, all part of what I love to do and share with everyone, the woods are my passion so are all the "things" that come with it, good and bad...!
The wife (Merissa), years ago said that I was mad (she was probably, right...!), years later and after she was introduced and became an active part of "my world", she is now having a totally different perspective and opinion about "wood", she is now capable to see and appreciate nature's work, that has been one of my greatest successes in life...!
I hope you enjoy...!
PS: Apologies to those with slow Internet connections but, I don't know how do do it in any other way...!:redface::biggrin:
Cheers
George
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