I'm a fan of Hickory. The trees I've seen cut had a nice grain and took stain nicely. Smoke some meat with the scraps, but don't over do it, or it'll taste bitter. My favorite thing is finding an ample stand of Hickory with an ample population of squirrels. Squirrels that eat Hickory nuts taste the best! When I was a kid, we'd gather them up and sit around the campfire cracking them open and eating them ourselves.
Are you going to do any tongue-in-groove and lap or any kind? Is this stuff cured? It looks like it will make a beautiful floor.
I've always found satin polyurethane is durable and brings out the natural beauty of floors, whether it's oak or heart pine ... never seen a hickory floor ...
I would not use linseed oil if it were me. The dry time is forever and it can remain sticky a long long time. It can also go back to sticky even after it seems dry. I've seen that before on heart pine floors. Just my 2cents on that.
Understand about pre-drilling holes. I've built using cured oak and cured poplar before, nearly impossible to drive a 16p or 20p nail without drilling.
Looks to me fun. I always enjoyed building stuff. I captured cellphone video snippets some years back of me adding a sunroom to the back of the house I'm in now, just found them again and may slap together a video.
Definitely interested in seeing how it all comes together.
Quote: "nearly impossible to drive a 16p or 20p nail without drilling."
Glad you said "nearly." When I was stationed at MCAS Beaufort, we had a Master Gunnery Sergeant who would bet some of the enlisted guys that he could drive a 16P nail through an Oak pallet board. When they would bet him, he would take the nail turn it upside down where he was hammering the point of the nail and drive it right through the Oak board. I never tried it myself, figuring that he was much better with hammers and nails than me.
LOL yeah for sure. I helped someone build a house in Strawberry Plains TN out of solid oak. I mean huge timbers, 10x10 vertical posts and 10x12 horizontal beams. Tons of fun, that.
When I built my house in TN I drove every single nail by hand. How many nails would that be? Thousands ... I felt like I had PopEye arm for a few years. Then I learned how cheap nail guns were. [headsmack] Duh.
I have a really big chainsaw and alaskan mill--I made a table with movable rails to slide it on--I could slice just as good as your rig--but nothing like as fast-still beat buying hardwood by many dollars.you may as well pick up a 12 inch planer for small projects--
I have a really big chainsaw and alaskan mill--I made a table with movable rails to slide it on--I could slice just as good as your rig--but nothing like as fast-still beat buying hardwood by many dollars.you may as well pick up a 12 inch planer for small projects--
My big saw is an efco 8200 on par with a big Stihl for a lot less money--bu a monster to start even with compression release--but I eventually figured how to prime it just right==now it works really well as a wood splitter substitute--
My big saw is an efco 8200 on par with a big Stihl for a lot less money--bu a monster to start even with compression release--but I eventually figured how to prime it just right==now it works really well as a wood splitter substitute--
The table bit the dust a few years back Al--but I'll draw it up in a day or 2--I wish I had made a vid-It worked good-but you don't wanna be jerkin on that big saw -with that expensive ticker you carry around
alright Fig--I doubt this rig would get you any extra width --but It worked good for me--the four poster bed is there to explain the long gone table --the table would be that shape but the 4 by 4s in the picture would be the 4 posts on the bed and of course much longer--the log would be placed on the bed and screwed down with shallow angles--the rails are the actual ones--they would be screwed with screws at each end,all at the same height from the table--the rip cut made and then all unscrewed and dropped down the thickness wanted --plus the kerf -and re screwed -I invented this --claim to fame --for a minute ha ha
I have a really big chainsaw and alaskan mill--I made a table with movable rails to slide it on--I could slice just as good as your rig--but nothing like as fast-still beat buying hardwood by many dollars.you may as well pick up a 12 inch planer for small projects--
I have logs too big fer me mill..
Was consiterin one of thos to get them to size..
ALWAYS a big plus buying your own tools. But compare the cost first of just running by the local sawmill and letting them do a few cuts to get them to your workable size.
Kudos to you guys and keeping a natural finish on your wood. As a woodworker, I build stained and unstained projects. The one thing that is my unbearable pet peeve is when someone explains to me how nice their project looks now they have applied a few coats of ...paint.
