Oxfordshire Woodland Group

Here is a fallen ash tree exhibiting straight grained mode of failure i.e. one great big check all the way through to the heart.

Now what to do with the trunk and stems ?

The trunk could be cleaved in half and then sawn on the mobile saw to make bench seats / chair arms, etc.

The upper stems could be cut to length and cleaved for chair legs, rails, etc.

Some of the upper twin trunk branch material is relatively straight grained with minimal reaction wood and so this will go to the chair bodgers to further break down to make chair components (legs, rods, steam bent back arch, etc.).

Three 4ft logs were cut from the main trunk of the fallen ash.
The 1st log was turned into firewood along with the top branches from the fallen ash tree that were sliced and diced to produce top quality firewood. With big electricity bills on the way even second and third grade timber can be made to provide a financial return.

It's important to split hardwood firewood and stack ideally in a sheltered open air position with weather protection on top. These logs will go into our log store later in the year (Sep / Oct) ready for burning through winter 22/23. Note how a vertical end stack is achieved.

The 2nd & 3rd ash logs were approx 14"dia x 4ft long x 200lbs [100kg] and posed a challenge to manhandle these into the back of the Land Rover

Following loading the logs into the Land Rover we found that a 4 ft log sticks out the back of a LR 90 and so maybe we need to get a LR 110 ! The main challenge was not loading the logs but when it came time to pull the log out of the Land Rover at the barn.

The 2nd & 3rd logs were then loaded onto the sawmill bed and the cracked section of the 2nd log was removed to create a 6" thick slab of sound wood that could be further resawn into slabs.

The 6" thick ash slab was cut into 3 off x 2" thick planks revealing lovely knot free grain.

The 3rd log produced 5 off x 2" thick slabs making a total of 8 off x 2" thick x 4ft long ash slabs converted from the 2 logs.

These are ideal for making bench seats, shave horses, furniture, etc.

The ash slabs are available to buy (Mar 2022) from OWG either singly or in book matched pairs.

Contact trustees@oxfordshirewoodlandgroup.co.uk