Inner City Lumber Jacks

So Long, Mountain Ash...This past Sunday I spent the morning with my friend Douglas, limbing an old Mountain Ash tree in his yard here in Toronto. We basically climbed the trunk like a pair of spider monkeys and with a Japanese style, Ryoba saw and some line made quick work of removing the limbs. Some of these were up to 6" in diameter and about 12 to 16 long so a couple of more friends were on hand with a little electric chainsaw, a few cold drinks and some determination. All that was left was the trunk to deal with and we tackled that last night. We decided that instead of simply throwing it into landfill or the fire wood pile wed try splitting some up for possible future projects. I havent heard of anyone using Mountain Ash for furniture but hey, why not try? At best itll be a nice little bench or the like for the backyard.
The first step was dropping this thing and we began with an old buck saw Douglas had...we shared the duties and then settled in with both of us at either side of the old frame. Between a slightly dull saw and the wet wood we were cutting it soon became clear that the little electric chainsaw was in our future. A couple of cold drinks and we were off. It probably didnt save us much time but it did save our backs and arms. A relief cut here and a little wedge cut there...timber!
Even a tree on the small size like this one gives a mighty thump when it finally lands. From here we cut the remaining limbs off and blocked up the trunk into a few lengths. I wasnt sure how or if this would split for me but a couple of wedges and my Swedish made, Gränsfors axe I began the process. I started at the top end of the piece and drove in the first wedge; I wish I had a tape recorder because the cracking and splitting noises were amazing! Id give the wedge a knock and stop...the wood fiber would continue to split and crackle for a few seconds longer every time-a very cool audio display to say the least.
The first spilt went pretty well although where the limbs once grew the grain had some irregular patterns and it went a little off. No problem though, from here I would quarter the two sides and then quarter those again. The second split went much better due to the fact that I ended up shortening the length just behind the knots and swirls where the limbs grew. We had a good time dropping and splitting this tree. The cold drinks helped as well and I wondered through the entire process about woodworkers of the past doing this kind of job for all of their wood stock...its not terribly hard work but Im sure theres a knack to do right. I think I discovered a few tricks in this first session and will keep my eyes out for any more inner city gems needing disposal. Funny this morning thinking about limbing the tree, falling it and splitting it, a few hours spent with a few more hours to go in a year or two when it dries.
I just ordered some Quarter sawn white Oak for my next project but took a slightly different method...it involved sitting in front of this computer, typing out a cut list and faxes it over to a local saw mill; not quite the same work out but hey, its not how we get our wood onto the bench that counts, but what we do with it from there that really matters. Time for a cold drinkCheers!

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