Mr. Anonymous Game #23 @ 18/04/2015

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robutacion

robutacion

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Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Hi peoples...!

Sometimes, I get easy subjects to make these games with, subjects that normally have to do with recent activities or discovers and in this case, is a discover that, and as the pics show, are dated from yesterday the 17/04/2015...!

We, (Merissa and I, and the dogs,) were on the road for another trip to Merissa's Arthritis specialist, and as normal, she was driving as I void to do it as much as I can so, and as a result, it leaves me also free to take attention onto the side of the road and not on the road, for a change and that, suits me to the ground/teeth.

Not far from the clinic and with the weather being very drizzly with heavy showers every so often, I spotted something near a vacant block that had been recently had the grasses slashed.

It was raining, is was fogy and whatever that was, was looking pretty dark but some how, I had this gut feeling that, was wood and very old at that...!

Fortunately for me, it wasn't more than a few meters from the secondary road edge (not a major road or highway), we were about appointment time so, we continued on to have a look on out way back home.

I was excited and hoping that was not a big rock, that has been always there but never seen because of the tall grasses. In my mind, I started to wonder how in the heck, I could manage to take that "thing" home with me, if was wood...!:eek::confused:

I always carry strong ropes, gloves and some other tools, not even close to what we used to carry in the old Ford Wagon when we were still hunting wood but some how, it had to do...! Lots of wishful thinking from my part...!

I though that, I may could have Merissa to some how, help me with something but, those thoughts were blown away when, the specialist decided to give Merissa an steroid injection on her knee, and remove some liquid if possible so, lots of "jabbing around".

The first thing the doctor said to both of us (yes, I was there also as always...!), go home and rest that knee for a couple of days, do absolutely nothing...!:eek::frown:

Humm...! OK I thought, well that stuffs my idea out so, plan 2 was needed.
I was doing all these mind calculations and studying strategies, before I got near this "thing" so, I was anxious to do just that and see if my gut feeling and "natural antenna" were right or wrong...!

Before we got there, the location of that thing that Merissa never had the chance to have a look, when I mentioned something, we were already passed it so Merissa, had no idea to what I was talking about but, she very kindly reminded me that, she was completely out of even getting out of the car, her knee was really hunting from the injection..!

OK, are you guys and gals ready...??? what do you thing that was...??? and how big...???

I could put the pics in here and you would know, huh...??? but, I want your guys and gals imagination, describe what you think that "thing" was, from my description above, can you tell...???

There are about 7 images or so of this thing, some in more detail than others, and what I'm going to do is to select 2 of those images and edited them with some effects, is not going to be 100% blurry so, lets see how good you guys and gals are, at identifying the object in the
pics...!:wink::biggrin:

Pic#1 edit 1.jpg

Pic#2 edit 2.jpg

There are 7 pics taken, the 2 above, are the first and second pics from those 7 so, let me know what you think...!

The person that gets closer to what the images are, get a 12 blanks prize, with conditions as per normal.

Just so that you know, I may award multiple winners on this game

I will give a period of about 24 hours, before I download all the 7 true images, winners to identify correctly what is in the true pics, get also equal prizes...!

Good luck everybody...!

Cheers
George
 
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A rootball/piece of stump that had been burned (but not completely - leaving some nice, usable wood worth grabbing.)
 
Looks like a big chunk of old wood in a wheelbarrow. I agree with Sprung that it looks like it may have been partially burned - possibly by lightning.

I'm going to guess that it's about 3 feet in diameter and about that long too.
 
Well..., lets see...!

*- It seems that is a consensus that, is wood, right..??? Yes, that is true.

*- It seems that is a consensus that, some how, I manage to find a way to get that thing, into the back of the wagon, right...??? yes, that is also true.

*- t seems that is a consensus that, it is a wheel-barrow under that "think", right...??, that would mean that, not only was something that I could use and wanted but also, I manage to get it home, right...??? Yes, the wheel-barrow was at home., and that is correct...!

*-It seems that is a consensus that, that thing is a root-ball, right...??? that is incorrect..!

*- It seems that is a consensus that, it may be a burl, right...??? that would be incorrect..!

*- It seems that is a consensus that, lightening could have something to do with it, that is plausible but, there was no trees in the vicinity, that small area/paddock seems (not sure) to have been cleaned long, long ago, all surrounding this square piece of cleared land, have huge, I mean huge Red Gum trees.

*- It is plausible also that, something existed there from our Settlers time (1810 to 1940) that, was totally removed at some time, land seems to be undisturbed for a very long time.

*- I believe that, may be Council/Government land, it is very close to a huge reserve, close to the public 8' fence with 3 lines of barb-wire on top, in an angle.

*- This small area is about 10 meters from the road, no houses or buildings of any king nearby..!

*- I never been that way before, until I had to take Merissa to see her Arthritis specialist, about 10 miles from this place so, I do not know if this area has its grasses cut regularly or not and or the reason why that small area is mowed.

*- I could also assume that, someone bough that block of land and had it mowed/cleaned for easy access to the builders but that, is not the normal procedure when someone clears an area for building, even if there are no trees in it.

*- I can assume that, from the way this chunk of wood looks that, it has been buried for a very long time and that some how, made its way to the surface, it has started what we usually call, "wood petrification" but, at the very beginning of its natural process. Not all woods are suitable to this natural process, wood will need to go through a few different stages before it become "fossilized" and that can take a few millions of years.

*- I can assume that, I know what the wood species is and that, it has been buried under ground in that same spot for a few hundreds of years, plus whatever the age of the tree was when it become separated into various pieces. The oldest piece of this wood I have and, came across, was the local Chinese vegetable farm buried yard posts, calculated to be 150 years old since cut from the old and gigantic trees that once lived in this area that, have been also estimated at 300 to 500 years old. The next find, from the same wood species (there are not many wood species that have the natural capability to survive that long...!), was the log found also on that farm but, under water at the mouth of one of the natural fresh water springs, in this area, I would suspect that, the age of the wood would be identical, if not the same, it was cut by the same people and possibly from the same tree, possibly however, the wood characteristics, was very different as many of you witness and used on some pens..!

*- I'm making assumptions based upon my knowledge and experience, not only with this type of wood but, many others, and while there are Lab tests that can be done to answer many of these questions, its cost is more than what, all of us or at least 99% of us, could afford so, I will work on those fairly plausible calculations and see what I can get of use, out of it.

*- From what I could see, the wood seems fairly soft/fragile, at least at the outer surfaces, its layers formation is well advanced for the mineralization process and transformation into a fossil/stone however, its weight is still considerable, at 117kg just weight with the my 250kg digital scales and a winch pole. Its measurements are 3' long x 2' wide and 15" deep.

*- The rain has stopped last nigh and today, I'm very excited, why...??? because I'm going to slice it into 4 pieces so that I can hopefully continue on, on my band saw...! What will I find inside...??? we all will see...!, what do I mean with "we all will see...!"...??? because, if you guys want, I can set up one of my cameras and video the whole thing, I will probably use my helmet cam so that, I can have my hands free, not the best image and sound but, maybe just good enough, I will take also a few pics, just in case, THERE IS, IF I HAVE ENOUGH OF YOUR INTERESTED IN THE VIDEO...!

Who is up for it...???

PS: The 7 pics will come next...!:wink::biggrin: exciting, huh...???:biggrin:

Cheers
George
 
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Ok peoples, here are the 7 pictures I took when I got home.

I' reckon 1/3 of its weight is water, we have had some dry weather but, about 1 week ago, he had some decent showers and that wood got soaked, reason why is so heavy...!:eek:

So, what do you think it is and, what do you think I will find inside, normal grain, other, what...???

001.jpg002.jpg003.jpg004.jpg005.jpg006.jpg007.jpg


Cheers
George
 
That will be interesting to see when cut up . It appears that the center pith portion has decomposed more than the outer wood . The wood grain will be normal for colonial red gum . There should be some chatoyance or maybe a bit of tighter curl judging by the wavy grain lines .

The degree of mineralization is impossible to judge . There must be a consistently very high water table in that area of the country . Has it gone through a very severe drought , followed by a return to normal wetter conditions ? That might have brought it to the surface .

I can`t think of a process by which a comparatively small piece of such a large tree could have been made , unless by human hand . I wouldn`t think that a small part of a large trunk would be much more rot resistant than the rest , unless it was at a knot or wound site , neither of which is obvious .
 
eucalyptus regnans aka swamp or mountain gum and I think it's going to have some fiddleback figure in there. Cut it up! : )

You asked about a video, I think that would be worth watching if you are up for it.
 
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And the winner is/are...???

Yes, you are correct Kelly, "Sprung" gave me the best answer after, I have posted the 7 true images of my find so, he gets 12 blanks prize HOWEVER, that was a prize for the person with the best answer with only the 2 edited images shown, and Edgar (edohmann) was that person on his post #4 completed on post #14, congratulations to both of you, you both are certainly going to get some of this wood, regardless of how it turn out to be...!:wink::biggrin:

Now, how it got there, I can only speculate based on my experience and details found on this chunk of wood and, the location where it came from/was found.

In my view, all that area was covered with gigantic Red Gum trees, some of which are still seen in the vicinity, those tree are a lot older than 200 years therefore, never touched by the white man.

The area cleared next to the road, seems to indicated that, at some time in the pass, something was built in there, could it be a "pub"...??? possibly, Australia is well know to have built old pubs in some remote and unpopulated areas but not far for civilization and in this case, the old town near this area about 10 miles away however, it could have been something else totally different.

The area is about 150 meters by 150 meters and like I said previously, about 10 yards from the old road so, I would assume that, easy access would have something to do it...!:confused:

I should make a correction on the "mowing" term I used before, is not really mowing because, there is no lawn, the correct term should have been, "slashed"...!

I'm almost sure that, if I wanted to spend the time and the money to drive around and find people in the Council from that area, possibly Lands department and Heritage, to help me identify/resolve the puzzle, I would have a good chance but, that is not that important to me and if I manage to find the answer to my curiosity along the way, I will share that with you all...!

To me, man has cut any the gigantic Red Gum trees once in existence there, it couldn't be many as looking to the trees next to that lot, each tree takes a considerable amount of space, each of the large trees, claimed its own territory and anything smaller and of the same species, close by didn't survive, this is a fact of the natural tree self preservation realities, and still happen today.

There is a lot of smaller trees and shrubs under and around those large trees but, there are not competing and happy to get low sun but lots of protection from the large trees.

Could it have been a natural thing with lightning hitting the tree and blowing it into threads..??? plausible but, where is the rest of the tree and why is the paddock so squarely cleared...???

There is one clue on the picture #5 that tends to make sense and be consistent with a though I had. Looking at the wood in that pic, that wood was torn and not cut, there are no chainsaw or other tools marks on that wood chunk (not that I have found/seen yet) so, what is my theory...???

Well, was a reason to clear that piece of land, in it at least one of these trees produced a root so large and deep that, no machine could get it out so, and quite often used in these situations, dynamite is used to blow the root to pieces. I reckon, they had used plenty of it, after the failed attempts at digging it out so, a massive explosion did occur and, one of the root chunks was sent hundreds of meters into the sky, and when it cone down, it buried itself deep under the ground, where it stayed for many years until it made its way to the surface, the soil around there is the same as here, sand and more sand so, fairly low resistance in both way down and up.

To me, that could have happened long, long ago by the first Settlers, they wouldn't have machinery strong enough to dig such monster out, which today, wouldn't be a problem. In those days, dynamite was widely used in mines and so on so, all these calculated/assumptions leads me to believe, I may the correct.

Another point to consider is that, yes, that area has plenty of water under ground, the advance deterioration and mineralization seen on this chunk, is a lot older than 200 years however, these gigantic Red Gum trees, may be may hundreds of years old and underneath and deep in the ground, the older parts of the root system, can dye and mineralize into a fossil without compromise the tree life and root system, they are so huge that, wouldn't make much difference, anyway but, when someone drills these monsters deep and fills the hole with dynamite, even the deepest of the root pieces, would be thrown upwards and everywhere, they clean it all up but, they missed this and any other possible pieces that are still buried down there...!

Possible burn marks, is nothing surprising, such explosions are very hot but, I have not yet identified any...!:smile:

Plausible..??? all clues lead me to it...!:wink::biggrin:

I apologize for not having any new pics or video of this wood chunk being sliced but, I was quite optimist when I though that, I would be able to work the wood piece and a chainsaw, the day after I brought it home, took it out of the vehicle, put it on the wheel barrow and walked it over to where it is now, I keep forgetting that, I'm not the same person as I once was and until fairly recently (18 months or so), I did find that out when I couldn't move, back, neck and shoulders were locked and painful, the furthest I managed was from the bedroom to the computer room, and that was it.

Today, I'm a little better but not much, I wouldn't do anything if I didn't have to but, I have a heart specialist appointment in a few hours and while I don't have to drive, I still have to go and continue on my treatment so, will be dark by the time we are back and that means that, nothing will happen to that wood chunk, today...!

Maybe tomorrow, if I can...!

Don't feel sorry for me, I know that, I will pay dearly for any of my treasure hunts I may spot, I try not to look but, I can't change my nature and passion for what I do so, I do it to myself and on my own free will, am I mad...?? possibly...!:smile:

PS: There are still prizes to be won, the next is for the best description of what the wood inside will look like, in colour, density and grain...?

Cheers
George
 
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First and FOREMOST.. take care of yourself and feel better!!

I am thinking.. it is old growth.. so it will have tight grain.. but it will be spalted because of the moisture and I think it will be light colored with reddish brown streaks
 
Very dark red , very tight grain , chatoyant , no obvious spalt , maybe some lighter mineral staining .

Don`t hurt yourself by rushing to do the job George . A few more days wait on a piece that was hundreds of years in the making is not very important .
 
Well, I am especially looking forward to what's inside this thing since I'm in line to get some of this wood. :smile: I remember reading several of your posts about the old "colonial red gum" trees in your area so I thought it was highly likely that this was some of that old wood. I especially enjoyed reading some of your old posts about why you started calling this wood "colonial red gum" rather than "ancient red gum" and those have stuck with me.

As to a guess of what might be inside: I expect that it will be mostly quite dark - primarily black and dark brown, with some splotches and streaks of white or gray, and possibly some lighter reddish or greenish stains caused by mineralization. In general, I think the inside will be quite dense with very tight grain that is quite wild and wavy. I don't expect there to be much contrast between the grain and surrounding wood, but the grain patterns will be quite obvious. I don't expect to see much if any spalting - having been buried for so long, there was not likely much air available for fungi development.

Regardless of what you actually find inside though, I am sure that it will make some wonderful pen blanks & I am looking forward to seeing them. In the meantime, take care of yourself and make sure you are well healed up before tackling this monster.
 
I had a correct guess? :eek: But not as good as Edgar!

The hints you gave in post 12, then the additional pics in post 15 were good food for thought. You like to hide hints in plain view - we just got to make sure we read what you write and follow along! :smile:

The pictures are neat to look at - and the possible back story is very interesting!

I'm guessing that since it was likely the roots getting blown out, that maybe there will be some crotch/feathering figure in it from roots branching out. I'm going to guess that you'll find a variety of colors inside from the mineralization process - reds (especially deeper reds), blacks, whites, maybe some other colors like yellow or brown.
 
Sprung said:
I had a correct guess? :eek: But not as good as Edgar!

The hints you gave in post 12, then the additional pics in post 15 were good food for thought. You like to hide hints in plain view - we just got to make sure we read what you write and follow along! :smile:

The pictures are neat to look at - and the possible back story is very interesting!

I'm guessing that since it was likely the roots getting blown out, that maybe there will be some crotch/feathering figure in it from roots branching out. I'm going to guess that you'll find a variety of colors inside from the mineralization process - reds (especially deeper reds), blacks, whites, maybe some other colors like yellow or brown.
Click to expand...

Sprung
Your answer was quite good considering what you had on those first 2 pics to work with while Edgar, gave his more complex answer after he saw the 7 true images I took, both are equally good, reason on the prize awarding...!

Arbetlam
Thank you for participating, I believe this was your first times so, welcome...!

As for your guess, this wood chunk was on its own and lose so, I used no chainsaw or any other equipment to remove it for its original location, you can see that, the pics show all 4 sides and the top, none show any signs of tools, cutting or otherwise and the underneath is also all natural as the rest.

The wood is inside of a metal wheel barrow at home/yard...!

I would like also to make an observation in relation to those of you that, had made a mention to a possible root ball, to which I have dismissed in my "assumptions list", in fact, there may be a connection between this piece and a root ball, considering that root ball is normally classified as the complete root system of a tree. Even if root ball is to some, an abnormal growth in the tree root system, that could be the chunk I got, that is plausible also...!

Is that "ripped\torn" side on the piece and the fact that, it was buried for so long with no signs of any other pieces around that, gives me the consideration of root removal by dynamite, only something like this could have throw a piece like this to great eights, forcing it under ground on impact.

I have been part of a few large tree roots being "removed", this way, I know/seen what can happen...!:eek::wink:

In the end, it may not be so important, to know exactly what happened, we may never know so, I'm happy to consider a situation where it is most plausible/sensible to be, what have happened...!

I'm building a bit of courage to have it sliced up this afternoon, I'm not 100% and I never will be so, its better to get the curiosity/anxiety/excitement over and done with, it is really bugging me...!:eek::smile:

Cheers
George
 
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Lets play a little more...!

OK folks, the time has come to reveal what is inside that chunk of Pre -Colonial Red Gum wood...!:smile:

I spend most of the afternoon on it, it was cut initially into 4 quarters and then I sliced each of those 4 pieces in half so, I endup with 8 pieces.

There are 3 short video clips of this process, exposing the inner surfaces and cover with water to give us all a better idea of how would look like when finished, they will be added here. There is absolutely no editing of any kind, the clips went straight from the camera into YouTube.

*- Clip 1 https://youtu.be/K8nDKeLMcCY

*- Clip 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM0daqAiWtQ

*- Clip 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ezMVXaXf38&feature=youtu.be[/URL

As I'm typing this post, the clips are downloading into YouTube, and it is taken awhile so, I went ahead and composed the text that I wanted as presentation of these 3 clips that, I will put the links here, as soon as they complete downloading...!

After the videos are posted, I will then continue working on this issue but, showing you a series of pics I took before and after the video clips. The last pics are from slices I cut on the bandsaw from 2 of 8 pieces I endup with.

I could see that, each half of the wood chunk, had a few different markings so, I decided to put aside one small piece from each half of the original chunk and sliced it away...!:wink::biggrin:

Most pen blanks were cut with the grain that is pretty much a compacted bunch of layers, going in all directions, very interesting grain as you will see.

That's no burl for sure but, parts of the grain could be considered and, as I often call it "burled wood", 2 very different things as, a burl is a burl..!

There are some small soft spots in some blanks but, I eliminated anything that I would see soft therefore, the wood is still very solid and cuts like butter and completely different than fresh/new/young wood from fairly young trees or 50 years or less. Low tree butt and root wood from this tree species, are always a lot softer and easier to work. There is no need for stabilization on these hand selected blanks...!

Like I said, most of the blanks made today are "ST" straight cut, I have a few that I decided to cut in diagonal and cross cut, and I got quite surprised of how the cross cut blanks look, with this type of grain, you will be the judge...!

Now, this is another 12 blanks prize, up for grabsin this last part of game #23, the 2 already found winners and this third person, all will receive 12 blanks, and guess what they will be...???:biggrin:

After the 3 video clips are linked to this post, I will download a series of 11 pictures that, as mentioned before are from before and after the chainsaw work, the 2 pics identified as "slice 22 & slice 23" were positioned on top of the bandsaw table and, I have wet/spray them with something that was not exactly what I wanted but, was something that I always keep close to the bandsaw area, where I spent most of my time so, the question that will give a third winner to this game is as follow;

*- What did I use to spray those 2 boards with...???

Pics will be downloaded in here...!

Sorry for the "tease", wyone asked for some more of it...!

PS: There is a moral to this story, you will find out what that is, when I wrap the game up...!:eek::smile:

Cheers
George
 
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