Ash trunk section

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  • BrianJ
    2 May 2015 at 11:13 am #126929

    I was the recipient of a section of fresh ash trunk, measures 42″ across, 4-6 in thick cut on a slight angle cause the chainsaw was not level. Bark is complete except for a 4″ section. Im thinking table top in some form in the future, but i really am not sure what to do with it…. The owner’s yard where it came from someone counted 85 rings.

    Ben Fisher
    3 May 2015 at 3:55 pm #126953

    Cool. Picture?

    chemical_cake
    3 May 2015 at 9:47 pm #126961

    Very interesting, I second that request for a picture.

    Table top sounds like a good idea, or maybe a great big clock? You’ve really got to use it whole to make the best of it.

    There’s a table top in a pub near me using a similar section probably 5ft across at its widest. It’s over 300 years old and they have discreet little labels burnt into the surface showing what was going on in the world when the tree was growing a particular ring; battle of Trafalgar, american and french revolutions, various monarchs, and so on, it’s a great feature.

    I have no idea how you’d go about seasoning a section like that to avoid splits. Very carefully I suppose.

    Matt

    BrianJ
    4 May 2015 at 11:37 pm #126986

    Pic of each side, already has cracks eminating from centre.

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    chemical_cake
    5 May 2015 at 9:48 am #126992

    Get some wax on it as soon as humanly possible, melt up a couple of candles and then slap it on both sides.

    Clearly it is possible to season these sections without complete destruction but I don’t know how it’s done, the inevitable stresses have nowhere to go. Best to slow the drying down and do some research.

    It’ll look great when it’s done, the heartwood looks to be a very interesting shape (is it root end?) and hopefully that’ll jump out when it’s finished.

    Matt

    Peter George
    5 May 2015 at 7:36 pm #126996

    Would something like this work?
    http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20079&cat=1,190,42942

    I’d suggest that once you have it stabilized to fill any cracks with epoxy.

    BrianJ
    6 May 2015 at 12:50 am #127000

    Matthew I did not know i was getting this section of trunk, so i was not able to do research up front. Have not seen that Peter, thanks for the link. all i have is latex paint at the moment.

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