Antique 8’ screen doors wardrobe

[FC]

Doors were rotted at the bottoms. 8’ tall doors with bronze screens. Cedar from trees of deceased friend, oak from a log cabin Kansas post office, and oak and hickory from near Augusta, Georgia. Breaks down. Will need another coat of urethane when I take it to TX, where it’ll be a wardrobe in the church-to-house conversion. Forgot- headboard back is mainly flooring from the stage of the building.

[Dr.Hess]

Ya know, you're welcome to come get cedar, oak, hickory, elm, etc. wood from my property anytime, FC.  Saw it up, stack it, then plane, etc., and you got boards.

[FC]

You're kidding me.. really? I just LOVE wood! I've pondered getting a portable sawmill, but you about need a tractor to move the logs. Let me think on it. Probably best to hire out the job. You have Dutch Elm, or is it Cedar Elm? One thing I've discovered about hickory, besides it being VERY hard, it splits and chips easily from nailing and planing.

[Dr.Hess]

Not kidding.  I have plenty.  Some standing dead but solid, some on the ground, etc. I don't know what kind of elm it is, just "elm."  One big elm log has been laying for about 2 years now and I really need to cut it.  My plan is to go after it with a chain saw like that Russian guy does, just stake out some line to use as guides and cut it in small passes until it is a board.  I want one of those pieces for a rifle stock.  I have a lot of oak, black and white, I think.  I have maybe 1 walnut tree big enough to make anything out of, but I'm not dropping that one.  Some smaller ones, not many.  It is almost like about 40-50 years ago, someone cleaned out all the walnuts.  Oh, and I have native pecans too.

The hickory is really, really hard.  I wanted to take a block of it and use it to grab rifle barrels in my barrel vice.  It was an aged piece about 8" in diameter.  I tried cutting it with various wood saws and it was no-go.  A hack saw barely made any progress.  I have cut a lot of metal, and this was about as hard as cutting mild steel, even the bark.  I finally put it in my metal cutting wood saw, turned it on and walked away.  It made it through, but the whole effort was so much, and it needed 4-5 more cuts, that I used a piece of oak from a shipping pallet structure instead.

[FC]

My wife said, "I'm glad to see you're using up some of your wood." One kid said I had enough wood to build a house. I've decreased my stock, but I'm mighty tempted! Guess I should look up any portable sawmilling ads in your area. Ft. Smith, right?

 

[Dr.Hess]

Fayetteville area, about an hour north of Ft. Smith.

[FC]

I see an add for a sawmill in Muskogee. There may be a portable service too. Too much going on through the end of the year, but I'll give thought to when the weather up there allows, early next year. It's expensive to make the trip, but it may be worth it. Hardwoods aren't cheap anymore. I used to be able to get it here cheap when somebody wanted to be rid of it, but I haven't see those kinds of ads since Covid.