Quick Crotch Slabs on the Sawmill

[@macedindu829]

David Heide making out like a bandit with that free advertising.

[@mcremona]

I was supposed to put that out by the road. I think this placement has been more effective 😄

[@jeanhawken4482]

It never ceases to amaze me how much work you fit into your life. And in your usual way it is always done with sharing kindness towards others. Generous bloke.

[@kurtc6372]

You really like going big. That forklift is a huge piece of equipment. Definitely covers all needs.

[@otakarschon]

I have to admit you really changed the way I look at wood. Your enthusiasm about defects, staining and different colors made me appreciate such wood as well along with some use of black epoxy to fill voids and make otherwise problematic lumber usable even if it is on much smaller scale in my case as I am yet to acquire any large slabs and work with three feet long pieces sourced locally from dead urban trees milled by a chap with a chainsaw mill and no machinery to handle larger logs. It is always fun to watch you splash a new slab and explain what is going on so thanks for taking break from all the reno work to film this.

[@elainedegoede6276]

Love the secrets hidden inside the logs and when you cut them you can read it all.🥰

[@dwallich56]

Nice work, Matt. Could you possibly post some "finished project" photos of what you or others have done with slabs like these, please?

[@johnking8679]

Enjoyed and learning more from your excellent explanations !! Thanks for sharing Matthew 😊. I've really enjoyed watching your house remodel with your friend, Donavon !!

[@northvegassailrabbit3642]

Fun to see someone who gets into their work.

[@mikeryan3949]

Glad to see you milling again. "The Flyby" made me laugh.

[@blackvenges]

Came to see the bucket of water that malecki always talks about. Subing for the variety of content.

[@anthonyboudreaux3675]

I'm not able to cut right now due to a knee injury. So thanks for making me miss it more. I recently cut some Cypress slabs the has carpenter ants in it would make a beautiful outdoor slab top table. It had sat for a long time the colors were amazing.

[@saintaugustine1715]

Matt I have been watching a lots of your video but I never totally realized how artistic your cuts are I don't have the mill to do big slab like you do I got only a wood land hm 126 2015 but I cut more artistic wood with that mill than lumber regular lumber you can find in lumber yard but us mill operator that go for the artistic way we are more rare it is not every body that got an eye to place a log so you can get the most detail in that log well have a great day and continue to enjoy your milling

[@janedc5ch319]

It looks so pretty there.. I have a nephew that lives in Foley Mennesota. I would love to visit. I don't think I could live there because of the weather. I'm old ,and don't get around so good anymore.

[@WillyBemis]

Thank you Matt. I always enjoy your videos of the bandsaw mill.

[@gayle4804]

Such a beautiful log each later is better than the other, Really would like to see what you're gonna make with them it's gonna be exciting

[@billunderwood3392]

Hey, Matt. I have a long-term idea for you for after your house is done: A lot of channels are expanding by collaborating with other channels. Matt's Off Road Recovery just wrapped up a year-long project called the Golden Nugget that included Fab Rats, Bleepin' Jeep, Robbie Layton, and some others working on the project. I'm not even sure Robbie had a channel before the project began; but all of them grew enormously by swapping their audiences. So here's my idea: find a channel that both mills and woodworks, as you do, but in another part of the country. Arrange with them to haul them a maple or something else sort of common in your neck of the woods, and trade it for a log common in their area. Here in AZ that might be eucalyptus, grapefruit, or Indian Rosewood. Both you and they do videos of slicing the logs, then both you and they make something fancy from the wood. Your audience and their audience will each watch the other's videos.

[@famasmaster2000]

Very enjoyable content buddy 👌. Canada says hello !!

[@alanblasczyk1779]

Beautiful wood Matt..very nice slabs. good to watch you saw again !

[@mcremona]

Thanks Alan!

[@robertpenn2152]

It happened. Matt said “nice crotch bulge”. Never thought I’d see the day. 😂 Love the vids Matt!

[@daveweber1331]

I caught that too. I must have his "11-1/2 year-old" sense of humor as well. :-) Matt, you should take that outer slab, from the first cut, that you usually throw away, trim it to size, and mount it so it looks like a guy with "morning wood" on your shop wall somewhere. It'd ensconce you forever as "that crotch-cutting guy". :-)

[@Jer-me7pj]

I wished i was younger id get me a sawmill. Anyways this year we had a Honey Locust tree taken down and a lady wanted it for slabs and such, so we let her have it. The base was 30" around and a very huge old tree. We kept all the smaller branches for our firewood for the next winter. She said she was going to make us something so will be interesting what she comes up with. I enjoy all your videos and how you do them. I was wondering where you got your sawmill until I watched your build videos of it, it is a heck of a machine and love the electric motor its so quiet and no fumes from gas ones.

[@firesurfer]

The end 1:39 would make a really nice coffee table as a cookie.

[@edwardsimmons3721]

Love the tutorials. Great log selections you have.

[@christinakindler9112]

I love maple 🍁 wood. if this log has turned out so good, it'll definitely be Interesting to see that huge log in a few more months. Thanks for sharing. love the video!!

[@kbaker7430]

Dan: Have you considered lessons in how to toss a bucket of water on a log. Good work as usual.

[@Zsolt67]

Hi, thank you for your videos i have learn a lot from them Do you treat the slabs with antifungals? Many fungi growing on those which not under the roof. Sometime under the roof as well.

[@Mykelthompson]

Matt you should add a camera mount in the middle of your band saw .be cool to see the cut from above the blade.i would make with magnets so it wont hurt the blade cover

[@curtisharlan9230]

Matthew you have good videos

[@delphane3704]

Hey Matt, yeah something cut anything😂😂

[@Jer-me7pj]

Also i cut down a black walnut that i cut up for firewood. I left a trunk so mat ask if she would like that also. I just made some cutting boards out of black walnut plus some exotic woods i had.

[@rickmarshall449]

Love your work, you tend to waffle on a bit but the content is so good who cares. The way you are mixing up your post between the house and sawing is great. Now just a couple of things. I am 71 and a fitter with a ton of experience in several trades and due to new rules people like me do not exist and i wish i could have past on my knowledge2. You are doing such a great job over such a large range of jobs it would be great if you took on a trainee You are very smart innovator it is about time you upgraded your saw. A variable speed drive and auto water feed would be a great start. Please keep up the great work

[@leslubiesdetienne]

cool stuff! thanks for sharing! Never get bored of slabbing!

[@ronnielloyd4514]

Enjoy watching the wood being sliced.

[@johnconrardy8486]

thanks for putting on another of these

[@BearCreekWoodworking]

Cool Log! Fun Video Matt! 😃👍👊

[@timarmstrong2338]

I like all the staining and figure too, that's what gives it it's own character. When do you think you'll be doing the record cherry tree you went and got, can't wait to see that one.

[@Jcrum5th]

You need a JCB to play Jenga at Matt's house...

[@josephbohme7917]

Matt considering you have all this wood and usable land for a 24x13 shed--- and all day long you can find free windows (can cut to uniform) it would not be hard to build a solar drying shed Garage door accessible where you could keep >100 deg solar & fanned/

[@garylawrence7547]

Matt’s got some heavy duty equipment now.

[@drhender6943]

@Matt, will the transitions from blue and silver to orange and red and the general staining continue in the same manner even after slabbing the log, or does the air exposure interrupt that process? That is really beautiful wood! As a hobbyist in a garage with no ability to resaw, I am jealous of all of the people able to process their own wood!

[@mcremona]

The staining requires moisture to be present. Once the slab starts to dry, the transition stops

[@blackdog850]

@@mcremona I was unaware of this color changing/staining occurring...after the tree is felled. So crazy cool! Learning something new! Thanks Matt!

[@tharemyhopkins5873]

There's flying a drone cool, and operating a telehandler with skill cool. But Matt is flying a drone WHILE driving a telehandler cool. :)

[@mcremona]

One hand on each joystick 😅

[@daveweber1331]

@@mcremona, does one go blind twice as fast... oh, never mind! ;-)

[@robertr4193]

What do you use to treat for the black ant so they don't continue to go further into the wood? Also are you concerned that the ant might start eating in to your house as they are run out of the logs?

[@mcremona]

In this case I was able to blow them out but if not, household ant spray is convenient otherwise I could mix up some boracare and spray the whole slab. Not worried about them getting into the house. They’re very common and already all over the place outdoors

[@OntarioFirewoodResource]

Tom's of silver maple in Toronto, massive ones too

[@normolson1]

Thank you Matt

[@LewisEGilbert]

what do you use as a lubricant for the blade?

[@jimp.4531]

fun day on the sawmill.

[@justplanebob105]

How are you liking your wee cam so far? It takes nice video.

[@harrisonkatzz7090]

Great camera work .

[@FredMcIntyre]

Awesome stuff Matt! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

[@charleswelsh3138]

Hey Matt, Thanks for the maple tutorial. I have a bunch of hard maple logs that have been down for about 2-3 yrs. hopefully this fall I’ll have time to saw some. Hopefully they get the color you talk about. My sawmill gets very neglected due to my Constrution work. I haven’t had time to watch many of your videos since your move. Do you have a kiln?

[@billhatcher2984]

I really enjoy your sawing videos do you ever just take smaller logs for people or do they have to be to big for the small mills

[@mcremona]

I'll take small logs but the big logs are far more interesting to me

[@joshuahasson9687]

Will this log continue to stain as it ages?

[@mcremona]

no, once it starts drying the staining will stop

[@robertmalmgren4640]

What is your opinion of silver maple? Had several people tell me it doesn't even make good fire wood this week. Do you do anything else to kill off the ants in your slabs?

[@chrisgriego549]

I wonder how many other small sawyers have their own tele handler?

[@RatelLaw]

Thank you for sharing

[@bavondale]

26:01 "Slab #4, here we go" lol

[@caroltollefson103]

Hey I have not been watching for very long but I think, being 54 years old, you should try to find some kid that wants to help you flip all that wood so you don't, you know, tire yourself out, I'm sure there's some kid out there that would love to help you for nothing! "love whatever it is!" I'm new to "KZbin" I'm so happy and love watching you! You're great thank you for explaining everything

[@mcremona]

I think you just called me old

[@sshuggi]

29:25 almost looks like the Eye of Sauron.

[@kevinhenry7273]

Will the Maple continue to color after it is slabbed ?

[@mcremona]

Not really. Might be a slight color shift but the staining stops when the wood starts to dry

[@jeffcowles8274]

What do you mean when you say that leaving the big silver maple log for another year will cause the colors to shift more to the blue/red? Is that due to water absorption? Light decay?

[@Garrett572xpg]

Have u ever slabbed any huge Beech logs? I've got a several 30" butternut Hickory logs and crotches and a 3ft beech that we are gonna be slabbing with our lt 40

[@mcremona]

Haven’t cut any beech before

[@Garrett572xpg]

@@mcremona I'm in Wisconsin. I'll make sure my brother makes a video of it for his KZbin channel when we get to sawmilling it. We kiln dry tons of white cedar , pine, and walnut slabs and lumber. We've got several 4ft-5ft walnut logs 10ft long, weigh about 10k lbs each that we are gonna slab also.

[@mcremona]

@@Garrett572xpg Those are some beastly logs!

[@Garrett572xpg]

@@mcremona the guy we bought 1 tree from has 3 more giants in his backyard,200+ yr old trees

[@anthonygrey9282]

They are the biggest freaking ants i have ever seen!! Oh and nice wood!

[@michaelslade5747]

What do you do with the top and bottom bark sided pieces when the wood is dry and sold off or used yourself?

[@mcremona]

If there’s anything significant, I’ll cut it into stickers

[@barriesmith3489]

Matt what is your criteria for the top of a slab

[@slytrader]

Matt, does electric motor give you a smoother cut? It looks like it does.

[@Teetles_807]

How do you keep termites under control and away from house. All that would seems like The Chocolate Factory to pests

[@mcremona]

We don’t have termites here

[@18robsmith]

Ants - what do you do to get rid of them, or do they end up encased in epoxy forever?

[@mcremona]

In this case I was able to blow them out but if not, household ant spray is convenient otherwise I could mix up some boracare and spray the whole slab

[@ericcorse]

It turned out pretty neat especially fun watching the ant evacuate. What do you lubricate with?

[@mcremona]

Diesel mixed with bar oil. Thanks!

[@tpalshadow]

"Crotch Bulge". Glad no one walked by my office.

[@GreenHair81]

It's Wood! Do you ever sing the Log Song from Ren & Stimpy while you're moving Logs?

[@mcremona]

No, I never watched that show. I thinks it’s from before my time 🪵

[@ShadeTreeMachinist]

Hey Matt. Nice video as usual 👌 👍 what is the spray you are using on the blade?

[@mcremona]

Diesel mixed with bar oil

[@finison1]

Matt - any best guess idea how long a silver maple needs to dwell here in the south before cutting to get coloration from white vs in the north where you are ? Or is it impossible to say based on too many factors ? Also I'm looking at building some of your lumber stack base levelers and curious if you would ever put 2 logs side by side if smaller diameter (say 15-20" each) or would that impede drying ?

[@mcremona]

I would guess it would be somewhat faster. The winter pretty much stops the staining process. Two side by side would be just fine. Thanks!

[@spiridondimaris465]

Well done Matthew how long you have to live that tree out to dry before you start doing things with it

[@ohasis8331]

Sounds like you need a bigger compressor.

[@ugoogletube8873]

Matt, Do you worry anything about the ants? And, the damage they can do to everything?

[@DonnaMSchmid]

I hope you realize that, after this, your "Public Enemy #1" picture is going to be hanging in every ant post office across the country...

[@mcremona]

😂😂

[@SciPunk215]

I like these videos, but I'm still confused by a couple of things... 1) In construction, they take measures to keep water away from wood so it doesn't rot and is less likely to become food for worms and bugs... yet Matt goes out of his way to douse every plank with water. Doesn't that encourage rotting, warping, and bugs? 2) If "this one" has ants, doesn't that mean all of the wood in the pile has ants? Isn't it bad when pests eat the product you're trying to sell? I really have no idea about these things. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on.

[@ps.2]

Air-drying a slab may take 2 years or even longer. The water Matt splashes on each slab in order to bring out the grain, may soak in ⅛ inch (the whole slab being 2 inches thick), and will probably evaporate within an hour, maybe a few hours in humid weather. It's not significant.

[@chrisgriego549]

Matt did you treat for the ants?

[@mcremona]

Not this time. Their caverns were easy to blow out

[@DebsHill1]

how big are those ants?

[@rogerdudra178]

Neat wood.

[@richardcanon755]

I see a lot of sawdust spraying on you blade exit bearing. Could you install a shield in front of the bearing to reduce getting on bearing?

[@mcremona]

There’s one that goes on there. I had removed it for a bit of extra clearance. I need to bolt it back on

[@richardcanon755]

I knew you were smarter than me!

[@woogaloo]

I always hate having ants in my crotch... 🤓

[@chadhilk]

I think we all need to pitch in to buy Matt a garden hose. I've never understood the bucket method...Ha!

[@nicolej9101]

Looks like that tree had ants in its pants

[@mcremona]

😂😂

[@billhatcher2984]

What did you hit to mess that first blade up and do you still run the carbide teeth or just reg blades

[@mcremona]

Same blade the whole time. It’s getting tired. Carbide

[@billhatcher2984]

@@mcremona why did the first couple of slabs leave bad kerf marks and from like 3 or 4 on it dodnt

[@jackyoung42]

about 1/2 pint of lacquer thinner and those ants will be done for !

[@robertpearson8546]

When you were building the sawmill, you mentioned hydraulics. When you got the Skidsteer and crane, you stopped.

[@mcremona]

Those are hydraulic 😁

[@eddyarundale1566]

👋🏻

[@geraldmoore3686]

Matt, what keeps the blade from pinching when you get deeper into the log with your cuts. Great to have you back on the mill, if only for a short time. OK, time for you and Donovan to get back to work. He'll be all charged up after his break.

[@plane-o-1292]

The teeth of the bandsaw blade are offset to be wider than the body of the blade. The resulting kerf in this situation is not very wide, so the slab dosen't fall hardly at all. Using a chainsaw produces a much wider kerf and wedges are commonly used to keep the slab from dropping. When the slab drops it can cause noticeable irregularities in the slabs for a variety of reasons.

[@ttehan1]

Hey Matt, just curious. Are you concerned with insects invading your house with your mill so close to the house. This episode has large ants in the log which made me wonder. Thanks.

[@mcremona]

Not really. Those ants are common here. Plenty of them close to the house already in the gardens

[@edcianfarra7890]

Is there a specific reason you keep moving your saw mill

[@mcremona]

Take the saw to the infrastructure

[@dwightbauer6705]

Matt's bad Joke for the day.....I just broke up with my mathematician girlfriend. She was obsessed with an X.

[@kennethlegendre]

How do you plan to cut a 15' log on a 10' band saw mill? Going to be fun to watch that or is there a plan to extend the bed of your saw mill?

[@mcremona]

I made a track extension for it

[@Blue.4D2]

⭐🙂👍

[@billhatcher2984]

Do you spray the ants or do you let the colony move and repopulate

[@curtisharlan9230]

How old are your children now

[@SilverBack.]

Ooooooooo Nice

[@casycasy5199]

are you going to do anything about the ants now or let them work on the wood still?

[@gdp3rd]

You're out of practice with the water bucket!

[@michaelc.3812]

Mathew…. “It has a nice crotch bulge”!

[@pestr999]

When you discover an ant colony, how do you avoid the queen migrating to your house since they might panic with the invasion into their colony.