Zignot5 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Hello! Last fall I bought a board at a garage sale. The guy was selling everything from the upstairs of a barn he had just purchased. It was mostly lumber that had been up there for 30+ years. The board I got is approx 3"x6"x10' and all birds eye maple. I was very excited when I found it, gave him the 20$ for it and ran. Now that I've had a chance to look it over I see that there are lots of tiny splits/ cracks, all going with the grain. They range in width from thinner than a sheet of paper to 2 sheets of paper. None of the splits go through the board. They might even just be superficial, but I haven't cut into it. I'm guessing that years of freezing and thawing made it crack. My question is... Is this board usable as a whole with the splits? Or do I need to just cut it into smaller pieces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Throw it in your planer for a few passes and see how deep the cracks are...no way to know until you look inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 ummm the birds eye might be soft i would use a drum sander instead. you could always cut into small strips for keep sake boxes or the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Wow! $20 that's a great find! I agree that you'll need to clean it up a bit to know what you've got. Planer if you have sharp knives, drum sander if you have it, or if you're a purist a good jointing plane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zignot5 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Thanks for the input! I'll see what it looks like and follow up later. I'm really hoping that I don't have to reduce it to small pieces. But then again I don't have a solid idea of what to do with it as a whole. I also go a slab of oak that is 22" x 6/4" x 12'. It was covered with black dust and the guy was convinced that it was black walnut, but a scraper revealed oak with lots of curl. I had to pay 50$ for that because I couldn't get him to believe me that it wasn't walnut. It's in great condition so I don't feel too bad about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmason Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 You could rip it into 3/4" x 3" boards, then you could make some furniture out of it. On a piece like that I'd wait until the inspiration hits you as to what to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nateswoodworks Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Drum sander is the best option if thats not possible and if you are going to run it through a planer make very light passes and slightly wet the wood first, it will give you much better results. A better choice is a hand plane if you are able, lets you control the outcome befor it's too late. As for your plank, I'm not an oak man but a big slab of curly oak will make me smile, and $50 is a steal as long as it is stable. Keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Slack Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 George Nakashima made a living expressing cracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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