Big live edge slabs
We’ve been working with more and more big live edge slabs, and this week was no exception. We sold and need to dry one of the largest oak slabs we have cut, so it’s getting a little extra time in the kiln. After we got done loading the slab, Kyle showed up with some big pecan slabs that he milled for us. The log is a giant from the Mississippi River flood plain which he busted in half to handle.
Kyle built his own band sawmill a few years ago which will cut 6′ wide, and he has been cutting for us ever since. Kyle is basically a WunderWoods employee, at least as far as I am concerned, but I haven’t been able to convince him to do it officially. Everybody loves Kyle and we have a good time when he shows up. I don’t even mind if everybody stops working when he arrives.
Below is a video of us working with the big red oak slab and Kyle’s delivery.
Building and Installing Live Edge Walnut Countertops
We have been building a lot of live edge tops lately, especially in walnut. I try to keep plenty of walnut slabs on hand, but it seems like they are going out as fast as we can get them in and dried (which is the slowest part). For our latest countertops, I cut down a 13′ long x 28″ wide single slab of walnut into two 6′ long countertops. They are right next to each other, separated by the oven cabinet, so I wanted to use one piece for a continuous look.
Below is a video of the construction and installation of both of the countertops. It starts with transcribing the cardboard template onto the slabs with spray paint. I landed on using spray paint because it is quick and accurate and very visible. The countertop on the right side has an undermount sink, so we got to use the CNC router for the cutout (I don’t know how we ever got by without that thing).
Tom went with me on the install and everything went very smooth. Plus, he got to try out a new tagline for our videos.
Visiting Mueller Brothers Timber
I love visiting Mueller Brothers Timber in Old Monroe. It just feels right to me. I like the the guys that run the place and I like that it feels like I’m out in the country, even though I’m less than thirty minutes away from the shop. I visit there somewhat regularly just to see what is going on, look at logs and to purchase lumber. They run a big operation that I have written about before (click here to read more), but this time I decided to shoot a little video while I was there.
My main reason for visiting was to purchase some hard maple lumber for an upcoming project, since I don’t get hard maple logs, and therefore, hard maple lumber very often. While I was waiting for my lumber to be pulled, I took a look around the log yard to see if anything caught my eye (I don’t purchase logs very often – but I can be persuaded). I’m always amazed by the amount of logs that they have and this time they had even more than normal. I know I love to look around their sawmill and I thought you might too. Check out the video below to go on a quick tour with me.
Some quick notes:
The lumber bundles I am looking at are dry and available for sale, but they only sell by the bundle (usually in the 300+ bf. range). They move a lot of product and don’t sell in smaller retail amounts.
I mention cutting maple logs in the winter, which is desirable because the white (sap) wood of maple logs discolors and stains quickly and easily in warm weather. It is better to cut white woods in cooler weather because they decay or discolor more slowly.
I passed over the double-trunk white oak because I have a lot of white oak slabs and white oak is difficult to dry, especially when cut extra thick. Water doesn’t move readily in or out of white oak which makes the drying very slow and any attempt to speed the drying usually ends with the lumber splitting. Thick white oak can be dried effectively, just not quickly.
The Great Sweetgum Debate
Sweetgum leaves have a distinctive star shape.
As written by Scott’s “lovely wife”, Chris….
As with all families, many of our discussions revolve around trees. Wait, is that only in our house? Well, if you’re married to a “tree guy” like I am, many discussion do revolve around trees. One recurring conversation is about sweetgum trees. I love them! Yes, I’ve had sweetgum trees in our yard and know of the sweet gum balls. But my gosh, they are beautiful trees.
First, a bit about sweetgum trees for the uninitiated. They are native to the U.S. and Missouri. They are hardy, low-maintenance trees that currently have no major problems with disease. They are often planted in open areas, and make fantastic shade trees. They have beautiful dark green star shaped leaves. They flower in April-May and often drop little green “broccoli tops”. If you’ve seen them on the ground, you know what I’m talking about. They are most famous for their fruit which matures in the fall but doesn’t fall until winter or late winter. These seeds are the infamous spike balls that everyone hates. Yes, they are nearly indestructible and yes, they are hard to clean up and yes, they seem to fall over a period of months, so that you never get them all cleaned up.
But here’s why they are so magnificent. They are beautiful trees. They are large and green in the summer and provide wonderful shade, which is much needed in the heat of Missouri’s summers. Then, in the fall, they become amazing trees with the prettiest color changes to red, yellow, orange and even purple. Even Scott thinks they have the widest range of colors in the fall. To me they are the quintessential fall color. It actually pains me not to have one in our current yard, but there are many in our neighborhood, and I can’t wait each year to see them dazzle in the late autumn sun.
Now, if you’re a “tree guy” like Scott, they have no value. I know, how can that be, right? Well, he doesn’t seem fazed by their fall beauty and only focuses on their shortcomings. Obviously, the balls are an eyesore and backsore (get it? from raking and raking and raking). But, he values trees with great wood. Which, apparently, sweet gums around here don’t have, but according to my internet research, the wood has historically been used for cabinetry.
So….here’s Scott’s point of view, straight from the horse’s mouth/keyboard:
Why do I hate sweetgum trees and why don’t I mill them? Let me count the ways.
Way #1: Dumb, good-for-nothing spike balls. You can’t eat them, they drop continuously from fall through spring, and they are a pain to walk on. People complain about falling walnuts, but spike balls kick walnuts’ butts.
Way #2: They are messy in the spring too, dropping what we refer to as “broccoli tops”. The broccoli tops are the beginning of the reproductive cycle to make the dumb spike balls previously mentioned. Good-for-nothing broccoli tops, making more good-for-nothing spike balls, which make more good-for-nothing sweetgum trees. Don’t need any of ‘em.
Way #3: Open-grown, sweetgum trees are silly with branches. A long, clear sweetgum log might make 9’, with most of them barely making 7’. They can grow much taller and straighter in the woods, but the yard trees are short and stubby. And, there are almost no sweet gums in the woods around St. Louis, so the available logs are always the short and stubby variety.
Way #4: No customer has ever asked for sweetgum lumber or a beautiful sweetgum dining room table. Well, at least none of my customers have ever asked for sweetgum, so I have little reason to mill it. There are just too many better choices.
Way #5: Wicked crooked lumber. Sweetgum heartwood lumber dries alright (so, I hear), but the sapwood does not. Unfortunately, for the sweetgum trees and local sawyers, the short and stubby, open-grown trees are almost all sapwood, with only a hint of heartwood. This makes for some of the most crooked lumber imaginable. I got my introduction to the twisting of sweetgum, when I milled and dried some 4/4 sweetgum for flooring and all of the boards twisted, with some of them twisting almost 45 degrees. And, those were on the bottom of a stack with wood on them as high as the Bobcat could reach. Boards 6” wide and less, lifted up thousands of pounds. Incredible and noteworthy, but not in a good way.
I say, if a tree doesn’t produce something edible or at least some decent lumber, then we don’t need it. Trim it low and plant something else instead. We can get our firewood from other trees.
Powermatic Planer is Finally “Quiet”
Recently, I finally upgraded my Powermatic 180 planer to a spiral cutterhead, and I am here to tell you how much I love it. And yes, I do want to marry it.
18″ wide Powermatic 180 planer
I bought this machine at auction when I moved into the new shop, after I burned up my last planer in the fire. I’ve had it for about 8 years now, and for most of that time fought with keeping the blades sharp. I was excited when I bought it because it was made in America (not like the ones from Taiwan today), had a strong 7-1/2 horse motor, and I knew it would last the rest of my life. I especially liked the warning sticker on the front, which reminds me not to remove more than 1/2” of thickness at a time (like that is going to happen). The coolness continued with the fact that it had an on-board grinder to sharpen the knives without removing them from the planer. The coolness ended, however, with the blade setup.
A normal planer has three or four long blades, the width of the planer to shave the wood. This particular Powermatic planer, “The Quiet One” was outfitted with 27 short blades, which were placed in a staggered pattern in 9 slots, presumably to not have as much smacking of the blades against the wood and reducing the noise. Instead of three or four hard smacks per revolution, it would be broken down to 9 smaller smacks per revolution, running with more consistency in the noise level. I found this set up to NOT reduce the noise and to make knife setting and resharpening almost impossible, which explains why this design was not long-lived.
The original “Quiet” cutterhead had 27 short knives.
The little, 2” long knives, were held in with Allen screws which were supposed to also allow for height adjustment, but they were always jammed with wood and would take an act of God to get them loose. Even after we made a special hook-shaped tool to get them out, it would still take me at least a full day to reset all of the knives, and I still felt like they were subpar. Finally, after the last time resetting the knives, I told myself that once they were ground down enough to need resetting, I was going to replace that cutting head. I hadn’t done it up to that point because I am cheap and the new cutting head was in the $1,500 range, which was $500 more than I paid for the planer.
I ended up buying a Byrd Shelix carbide insert cutterhead. It has around 150 little carbide inserts with four cutting edges on them. When I opened the packaging it was quickly evident why it was so expensive – it was a thing of machining beauty. There are so many little cuts and angles and crazy geometry that it would make your head spin if you really had to figure it out. Even the little inserts have a little bit of bend along the cutting edge to make up for the fact that they are set up at an angle to make a shear cut. Nothing about it is straight or simple.
Newly installed Byrd Shelix carbide insert cutterhead
I had a friend of mine from the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild, former shop teacher Dan Coleman, install it for me. You would know (like I did) after talking to Dan for just a minute about machines and machine setup, that he was the guy to do it. It took him less than a day to dismantle my planer and swap out the new cutting head. I’m sure if I did it alone it would have taken much longer and I still wouldn’t be sure everything was right. After listening to several presentations by Dan about machine maintenance, I was sure it would be done perfectly, which it was.
When we ran the first board through the planer, it was amazing! It was so quiet, I didn’t even think it was cutting the wood! Even now, I need to look at the wood coming out of the planer sometimes just to make sure it is doing anything. The hum of the motor is usually about the same noise level as the actual planing. The funny thing is, going into this, I wasn’t so worried about the noise level, or at least I didn’t think I was. If I just got good planing results without having to fight with those stupid knives, I would have been happy, but the reduction in noise makes it almost unbelievable.
So, “What about the finish quality?,” you ask. Also, AHH-MAZING! Since the cutters are set at an angle and designed to make a shear cut, there is almost no tearout like normal planer blades, which hit the wood straight on and lift out chunks of wood while they are cutting. Even difficult-to-plane species, like hard maple, come through almost entirely unscathed. Now, I feel confident sticking boards in the planer, knowing they will come out the other side with the surface fully intact and not blown to bits. This speeds things up in the shop because we don’t need to spend so much time at the wide belt sander cleaning up after the planer.
Since the cutterhead was switched out, I have had a chance to test out the resharpening process, and it is so easy. Twice, I have rotated just a few of the carbide teeth, which got damaged by hitting a nail in the wood, and I had it back up and running, with a perfect finish, in just a few minutes. I have rotated all of the teeth once so far, and that was done in about an hour. The teeth loosen and rotate easily and fall right into perfect position – it is super simple. The sharpening process has gone from something I hated with every bit of my being to something I don’t even think about – a 100% non-issue. It just works, and works better than I could have ever imagined. I can’t believe I waited so stinkin’ long to do it.
Turnbuckles and an Eye Catching Piece of Lumber Keep this Bar Height Table Square
Post by Chris Wunder (Scott’s lovely wife)
Here’s a great example of wood and metal together to create a unique bar table.
Spalted maple isn’t exactly the first choice for many, but the look is very distinctive. If you aren’t familiar with spalted wood, let me enlighten you. Spalted wood is the unique color and dark lines that occur from fungal growth in wood. Simply put, it has a little rot in it. Surprising to some, this look is sought after and makes the wood more valuable. Spalting occurs in trees (or parts of trees) that have already died.
Here metal legs are used for the industrial feel. The cross piece of wood adds a great amount of stability, and the turnbuckles bring the stability home, while enforcing the industrial element.
Turnbuckles and a cross piece of wood keep this table square.
Burr Oak and Silver Maple – Bottomland Species Put to Good Use
Post by Chris Wunder (Scott’s lovely wife)
This spring (March 2019) we completed and installed custom shutters at Lakeside 370 Park in St. Peters. These shutters are made from burr oak that was salvaged during construction at Washington University in St. Louis. A tanquil nature scene (hand drawn by non other than Scott Wunder) featuring local wildlife and fauna was lasered into the wood. The shutters were constructed and installed to be removed in the event of a flood. Who would have guessed that the possibility of a flood would turn into reality so soon after installation? The shutters were removed this summer and safely stored out of harm’s way, when the Mississippi River flooded the park in August.
The counter is silver maple and features a natural live edge. Both silver maple and burr oak are bottomland species which can be found in the park area in the Mississippi River Valleys.
Shutters and counter are on two sides of the building.
Closeup of one set of shutters at Lakeside 370 Park.
If You’re Thinking of Going Live Edge, You’re Not the Only One
Post by Chris Wunder (Scott’s lovely wife)
Recently, a customer who visited the shop said they weren’t sure if WunderWoods was still in business because the most recent blog post was from 2018. Scott’s always busy, but lately just hasn’t found the time to write one of his informational pieces. So, I’ve decided to help out with some posts. I’m sure I won’t have the humor that Scott does, or the helpful how-to information that he provides, but I will highlight projects happening in the shop. So here’s my first post!
If you’ve seen any custom wood projects in the last few years you know that live edge slabs are all the rage. Here’s a few pictures of our most recent live edge projects. From corporate offices to laid back bedrooms, live edge wood is everywhere. If you’d like more information on what we offer in the way of finished or unfinished slabs, please click on the “Live Edge Slabs” in the upper left hand corner of our website.
Conference Table-Walnut
Walnut live edge bench
Bar top-Walnut
Amazing table-Sycamore
Another beautiful table-Curly Maple
Floating Bed-Siberian Elm
Don’t Forget the Chainsaw (mill)
I started milling lumber about 25 years ago with a chainsaw mill, which is just a chainsaw with an attachment to control the depth of cut. The simple device allowed me to consistently cut accurate lumber with a minimal arsenal of equipment. It was a great way for a guy who knew nothing about trees or logs or sawmilling to learn about producing lumber. And, even today, I still use a chainsaw mill (Lucas mill) to cut the live edge slabs which we sell at WunderWoods.
Customers are regularly impressed with the quality of the cut from the chainsaw mill, imagining that the chainsaw will necessarily make a terrible cut with a nasty surface finish, which it does not. As a matter of fact, the quality of the cut from a chainsaw mill is better than the bandsaw – it’s very flat and absent of dips and doodles (scientific term) associated with thin bandsaw blades. Don’t get me wrong, bandsaws can and do, cut just as well, but when they start to get dull or otherwise less than perfect, they will cut anything but flat. A chainsaw cut will remain flat as the chain dulls, it will just cut slower.
A chainsaw mill is commonly referred to as an “Alaskan mill” because of the brand name “Alaskan mill” attachment made by Grandberg International, the same way you might call any facial tissue a Kleenex, but it doesn’t need to be this exact type. As far as I am concerned, any mill which uses a chainsaw chain and bar is a chainsaw mill, no matter the setup.
This photo from Grandberg International shows their Alaskan mill attachment.
The Alaskan mill is a simple metal frame, which attaches to the chainsaw bar and can be adjusted to change the depth of cut. It is so simple, in fact, that you could easily build one yourself. They have never been too expensive, so I think most people just opt to buy one. You have to set up two rails (many use a ladder) on top of the log to guide the first cut, but after that the Alaskan mill just rides on the previous cut. I am a fan of the Alaskan mill for its simplicity, and I have a warm place in my heart because it was my first mill. If you didn’t own a chainsaw and decided that you wanted to cut some lumber, you could be making your own lumber for about $500, for a small chainsaw and the Alaskan mill attachment.
I started with the Alaskan mill after reading an article about a father and son using one to cut logs in the woods. I thought it would be cool to cut my own lumber with a chainsaw, and I didn’t want to invest too much in the beginning because I didn’t have a source of logs. Plus, I didn’t own any land, wasn’t friends with any tree service guys and really had never even used a chainsaw before, so I wasn’t sure if it would take. The Alaskan mill promised me the ability to cut lumber anywhere and be able to do it with no heavy equipment – a small pickup truck was more than enough to get milling.
The Alaskan mill works just as advertised, but understand that it is not a production machine. The operator is the sole source of power, and as such, it isn’t an easy row to hoe. It would take me most of the day, by myself, to load up equipment, travel, set-up, mill one 20″ diameter x 8′ log, clean-up, load up equipment and lumber, and travel back home. That was fine with me at the time because I was young and I was tickled to end the day with more than 100 board feet of hardwood lumber. Using my simple logic, my equipment would be paid for in just a couple of logs.
Needless to say, this milling thing did take, and I kept on finding more logs and milling them. It didn’t take long for me to feel like I needed more production, so I moved up to a Lucas mill, but funny enough, not with a chainsaw slabbing attachment. I bought it only with the circular saw setup, which appeared to cut much faster. I then moved onto a bandsaw mill, then to a large circular mill, then back to a bandsaw mill, and only then back to the chainsaw mill attachment for the Lucas mill.
Scott Wunder (a long time ago) with his new Lucas mill, just getting it set up for the first time.
I always liked the Lucas mill and once wide, live-edge slabs started coming into style, it just made sense to use the Lucas with the chainsaw slabbing attachment to cut big logs. The mill I use now (a bigger Lucas mill) is a major upgrade to pushing a chainsaw through a log and really makes the process more enjoyable. I still have the noise of the engine and need to sharpen the saw quite often, but the sawdust and fumes aren’t directly in my face and I don’t have to work so hard to push the saw through the cut. The hardest part now is moving the slabs out of the way, since the Lucas mill can cut up to 60″ wide and they get quite heavy.
This Siberian elm slab maxed out the Lucas mill.
Most white pine logs are not as wide as this one, which was also cut on the Lucas mill.
This sycamore log is a perfect candidate for the Lucas chainsaw mill.
I was prompted to write this because even though I have upgraded to the Lucas mill for my sawmilling, I still do a lot of work with a chainsaw, and I want to remind or encourage everyone to not forget about their chainsaw as a means of milling. Don’t think that you need a “sawmill” to produce high-quality lumber or that if you have a “sawmill” that you no longer need your chainsaw. You won’t get dazzling production numbers, but you can still be milling at almost any time with just a chainsaw. I am reminded of this all of the time when I see posts from others of the big and beautiful wood they have cut, just by taking their chainsaw mill to the tree.
Even if I am not using it for the actual milling, there are plenty of times where the chainsaw still comes into play, whether freehand or on some type of mill, and I am still amazed by the simplicity of it all. I use the chainsaw to rough mill mantels which we haul out of tough locations by hand and to cut large logs into quarters for further processing on the sawmill.
I use my chainsaw to get big logs cut into manageable pieces.
These white oak quarters are now ready to be milled into quartersawn lumber after being cut lengthwise with a chainsaw by hand.
I also use a chainsaw by hand to rough mill logs in tough spots, like this soon-to-be elm mantel.
Every time I do some sort of work with the chainsaw, especially if it is part of the milling process, I always think back to my early days and appreciate what it can do. I think I really like the idea of knowing that if I needed to, maybe if I was stranded on an island full of large trees (and plenty of gas), I could mill everything I needed with just a chainsaw – maybe one with an attachment, but still, just a chainsaw.
Feel free to send me a photo of your chainsaw milling, and I will be glad to post it here with a link. I am sure everyone would love to see what is possible with a chainsaw/chainsaw mill.
Impress the Ladies with Tape
I use a lot of tape on a regular basis. Usually it is for regular things which you would guess require tape – normal things like holding parts in place or masking something off before finishing. I always have tape with me, from blue masking tape (my favorite) to electrical tape, and we keep plenty of other tapes in the shop, including packing tape and aluminum foil tape (my second favorite).
No matter which tape you prefer or which of these you have with you, they are all equally good for one thing – cleaning up. That’s right, cleaning up.
A nearby rug can be a handy clean-up tool too.
You see, I was on an install about 15 years ago which was small (only drilling a few holes), and I brought nothing with me to clean up. Since there was no rug nearby to sweep the dust under, I decided to use some tape like a lint roller to clean up the mess. I simply rolled the tape around my hand, sticky side out, and used it to pick up the dust. And, it worked great!
Tape does a great job on manly messes like glitter and paper scraps (above).
Now, whenever I don’t have a vacuum or a broom handy, or if I just want to impress the ladies, I reach for the tape and pick up the mess. And, while not perfect for cleaning big messes, tape excels at thoroughly cleaning up small, lightweight messes which are hard to grab and tend to easily fly around or cling with static.
On the job site, I use tape to clean up all kinds of dust and debris. And, at home, we use tape to clean up after doing home repairs and craft projects (it works amazingly well on glitter). My fancy tape clean-up method works so well that I don’t bother to turn the truck around when I realize that I head out without any official cleaning tools.
Next time you find yourself needing to clean up a little mess, don’t go searching for a vacuum either. Just get out the tape and get on to the next job.
What’s Going on at WunderWoods
Everyone always asks what I do. Here's the answer. Click on the photo above for a short video tour and see all of the steps it takes to go from a tree to finished furniture.