Slabbing the Bigger Ash Log (Big Logs #4)

This bigger ash log was the fourth of the big logs that I hauled home last spring. It is biggest log I had ever moved.
Referenced Videos
Picking Up the Log Vlog: • A Bigger, Ashier Adven...
More on the log trailer: • My Trailer with Log Lo...
Bandsaw Mill Build: • Wide Cutting Bandsaw M...
Slabbing the Smaller Ash Log: • Slabbing the Smaller A...
Lumber Stack Bases: • Lumber Stack Levelers
A Day in the Woods: • A Day in the Woods
Swing Blade Mill: • Jim's Homemade Swing B...
Products Used
Cant Hook: amzn.to/2n7XNWD
Peavey: amzn.to/2m3Wple
[Amazon links are affiliate links]
Thank you to Triton Tools for sponsoring my work: www.tritontools...
Support What I Do: www.mattcremona...
Check out Wood Talk, a podcast about woodworking that I co-host:
www.woodtalksho...
/ woodtalk
Website: mattcremona.com
Instagram: / mattcremona
Twitter: / mattcremona
Facebook: / mattcremonaww
Email: [e-mail]

[@robb1267]

Jimmy John's delivery guy got tipped with a handful of sawdust.

[@makenis607]

Rob Berger 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@KevinJohnson-hi1xf]

Ill take a slab as a tip

[@SkipThorp]

Matthew, that is an awesome log. Would you do a video about what you do with those slabs once they've sat drying for however long they take to dry? (not these particular ones, slabs in general) It would be really cool to see the process of taking one of those big slabs and breaking it down to ready for use in a project. (given that you're not making just a table top out of one.)

[@WoodByWright]

Ya Jimmy Johns! got to love the #5 with Pep! you do like sitting on your ash don't you

[@stevesussex6997]

That is one big-ash tree.

[@mcremona]

+Steve Sussex 😆

[@stevesussex6997]

Matthew Cremona Good thing you left that nail in - no need to leave an ash-hole.

[@t.m.h.7962]

I've met a lot of those

[@hernancoronel]

The giggle at 5:38 is awesome!! The "hairy giggler" as presented in woodtalkshow! Keep up the great work Matt, congrats!

[@Makercise]

this was a great video! I am really glad that jim got you hooked. tell him thanks for me. also you two are hosses. those slabs looked HEAVY.

[@mcremona]

+Makercise I will :) they were surprisingly manageable. I think because they came off the mill at waist height so there really wasn't much lifting. Just slabs hanging from our arms

[@fnkyjoe]

Matthew Cremona can you explain the reasoning you flip each slab over 180 degree before you move it? i love your channel and podcast.

[@rualert1602]

fnkyjoe - Think about it.

[@mcremona]

Flipping them maintains the shape of the log as they are stacked since the first slab off the log is at the bottom of the stack

[@philipmeuzelaar1702]

Matthew, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your channel. I am not able to do any of the things you do because when I was 12 years old both hips slipped out of joint and I have be handicapped ever since. In my mid 40's I developed a Neuro Muscular disease that made impossible for me to walk, or breath. So now at age 72 I am confined to either my bed of electric wheelchair. However, I get a lot of enjoyment watching your channel. I may not be physically able to do what you do but I enjoy watching you do those things. I will just add this one note. I have for 60 years fought to do things myself. I worked my entire life and ended up as the lead programmer at a large hospital. So a handicap is only a handicap when you allow it to be one.

[@elams1894]

You take on some big stuff and make it look easy; you are one very clever gutsy dude, hats off to you. I am very envious, well done!

[@mcremona]

+elams1894 thank you!!

[@ralphd4581]

I notice Jim mostly got the heavy end 😏

[@mcremona]

hahaha see. he is way too nice

[@mcremona]

lol Ant Man!

[@jacknegele1827]

ralphd h

[@devore1776]

I noticed the same thing!

[@37Iulian]

He is a wise man! He knows how to do God's business in life! God bless him!

[@jeffseaton5193]

Respect on the work you put in and love what your doing. I recently lost a 250 year old willow oak to an ice storm and been cutting it up for days. Gonna try to mill it with a granberg and save what i can. Just moving that stuff around on a budget is a hell of a task. Thanks for all the videos! !

[@davebailey2296]

Your like a miniseries. I can't stop watching!!

[@jlunde35]

You are a material handling savant. The pyramid builders have nothing on you. Glad you had help this time. Great job guys.

[@mcremona]

+Jim Lunde lol thanks Jim!

[@michaeld_aus_b]

11:30 now I know why you call this crotch figure...

[@thomasarussellsr]

Dirty mind much?

[@Tracks777]

Keep it up! Looking forward for more videos from you, don't stop!

[@Thom4123]

Now that's some awesome wood porn. What a amazing log and to think it was going to be landfill, but now beautiful tables for the future. Awesome video.

[@MRrwmac]

Im guessing Jim enjoyed the cutting and exposure of the wood as much as you did. Maybe not so much on moving them though. (Next morning - Oh my aching back - haha). Your a lucky guy to have met and been mentored about logging and guidance for milling by Jim. He's a wonderful man and friend! Oh and yes the wood milled out very nice also!!

[@franksmodels29]

Great to see Sawzilla back In action 👍🏻💪🏻⚒💪🏻e

[@Andreas_Achleitner]

That is an ash log. My last project also was from an ash, but it was only a small piece. Best wishes from Austria

[@jayf1532]

I love ash. I wish it actually grew in Washington State. Someday I’d like to load up a bunch of big logs from the PNW (Big Leaf Maple, knotty Alder and attempt to make a trade with someone in the midwest.... probably a pipe dream but hey...

[@ronron8464]

Thank you Jim for what you helped create!! 👏 Ron1

[@Fazman81]

Hey Matt, love your vids they're really awesome man! As a fellow woodworker (luthier, cabinetmaker) I love seeing those big logs get cut up. Ive been wanting a sawmill for quite some time but cant see myself making one. May buy a used one in the future something American made. I resaw Claro Walnut, Curly Maple, Rosewood, Wenge, Red Oak and Black Walnut into 1/8" sheets for instruments. Keep up the great work and keep putting out great content. Salutations from Dallas, Tx.

[@joshdrumify]

Hey Matt. I would love to see you follow some of the slabs that you keep. Show them and talk about what you expect to see as they dry, then a follow up in another year comparing that to what actually happens. changes in color, cracks, warping, and whatever else can happen during the drying process. I love what you do man.

[@WayneEarls]

Man I would love to get a slab like that to build a table. So super jelly. lol

[@RickRabjohn]

Holy moly Matt - just awesome and what a great friend you have! Can you share how often you need to change bandsaw blades? For example, was your blade shot after this log? Thanks as always.

[@suzylarry1]

one mans garbage tree is another mans glory !

[@FredMcIntyre]

Thank you Jim for the monster you created! 😁 .... Cool stuff Matt!

[@preachersdayoff]

Love all your videos but this 1080 HD only is killing me. My slow internet can't handle it.

[@internetapocalypse4885]

Same here. no options is ridiculous.

[@mcremona]

+Marisa Aguilera I'm not sure what's going on with that. It's not something I have control of

[@TheRedhawke]

I'm having same issue, stop and go is no fun.

[@MoondyneJoe]

I think I have an option for you I for years have used a program called Movier ( www.movier.tv/) so I can watch the vids as I want to when I want to and esp keep the good tutorial videos for future reference so if you where to download Matt's Video onto your computer then watch it in full at your leisure you wouldn't have buffering problems with watching it while it is loading with Movier you can convert movies to just about any format IE MP4 to MP# for audiobooks and so on well worth a try Tony from Western Australia

[@TheAtherion]

Hmm I am watching this in 720p so if you cant change resolution there must be something wrong with your browser or something x)

[@TNWoodwright1]

The ones with the widest bases would make some great waterfall tables with the wide part being the down leg. probably have to be in a public place as they are so wide though. Your truly building up and American treasure with all those slabs

[@robertevans6481]

Jimmy John's for lunch...you know is not into woodworking....lol I would have lost my job....been asking all kinds of questions...ash Looks so good...all that crotch and curl...Beuitful slabs...nice workout you too

[@ivanmercado4240]

I love ash, great video. I make cutting boards and wooden coasters from scrap from work. Why do you splash water on each slab? I see that on sawmill videos, always wanted to know. My name is Ivan Mercado and I live in Brenham, TX. We moved here from Miami, Florida back in July 2004. My wife's family lives here. I work in a cabinet shop but now the shop only makes cabinet doors. Evans Cabinet Doors, Ltd. Thanks for your awesome videos, keep having fun.

[@darrenswoodworks8695]

Very nice work on that Ash log. How thick do you typically make your slabs?

[@ryangrimm9305]

Do you have a bark peeling spud? Essentially a giant coarse chisel on a shaft, used to strike under/along the bark and peel it off lengthwise/around the circumference. ERIC SLOANE talks about it in one of his books, and I made one a while back from an old leaf spring.

[@leifjenkinson4039]

I've seen you have to use the chainsaw mill when the log was too big. The guy who runs the you-tube channel OTW (Out of The Woods) is using just a Wood-Mizer LT-35 - with a throat that's tiny in comparison to yours. He has a way to trim a log in the mill - does involve rolling it multiple times. Echoing some of your early-video commenters - you need to get an old forklift - so you have a back left in 20 years!

[@frank-ui4bu]

Whoa. You leave a gigantic log in you backyard for 11 months before milling it? Don't the neighbors complain? Great videos, though.

[@chris3m98]

Matt, I've watch ALL your videos & wondering did you do one showing how you had the levers???? If so could you tell me when???? I do wish you people would number your videos. Jim sure is a blessing. Like in fishing he's a keeper.

[@jesondag]

Slab dat ash.

[@djIgorSomov]

why only 1080p ? Can't watch it, because my internet is not so good =(

You're always alone.......apprentices? Laborers? Whats up; you like to isolate?

[@theshadow1559]

Andrew, you have become an accomplished welder, inasmuch, have you considered making yourself a large rolling double gantry to pickup and maneuver the logs from the ground onto your sawmill's bed for cutting ? Similar in design to your sawmill head. I believe that it would save time and would be so much more efficient. Not that your trailer system isn't good, in fact I am very impressed as to your ingenuity in its construction, I just believe that you will find a rolling gantry to be better in your confined yard space. A gantry would be much better in stacking the sawn slabs as well.

[@orelygarcia]

You guys made quick work of the big ash log. thumbs up Matt.

[@JimDockrellWatertone]

Nice log! Maybe the nicest one yet....but I am biased and love ash. I noticed Jim got the heavy end too.

[@hotrodhog2170]

Really great log Matt! Two questions...why doesn't Jim have a youtube channel and what are you spraying on the blade? Looks too thin to be oil, is it just water?

[@seriouslyreally5413]

We cut down a 50 yr old healthy Chinese elm to make room for a detached garage. It was rod straight for 30ft before the first branch. Had cut it up in firewood rounds. Well seasoned, had to dump it. It was too hard, wouldn't burn. Took it to the landfill Sorry we didn't offer it to a local woodworker.

[@rppvt]

Do you dry these things before milling them to something thinner? I grew up with wide-plank flooring and it looks like those pieces... Well, not that wide. but I was smaller.

[@Sefelix]

ese aserradero hubiese quedado mejor, aun se puede hacer, y es construyendo una grua, en donde el remolque quede debajo, levantes la rola de madera y la ruedes por el mismo riel donde corre el aserradero.. solo hay que ampliar al menos metro y medio los rieles.. bueno es una idea... saludos desde venezuela...

[@SmokeFlame1]

How long do they remained stacked before they can be useable for a project? Great mill and video..

[@Edwinedwin1]

How often do you replace or have to resharpen the blade (if you do that of course)? I know it depends on logs size, but I'm asking on average.

[@kay486]

can you actually get a tabletop from one board? would it be stable? wont it warp so much?

[@VKMilling]

Next build: Tower crane! After that, kiln!

[@willemkossen]

Thats two cups of slab instead of one... I think you need to get a row of metal detectors mounted a foot before the blade on the saw connected to some big flashing lights.

[@mrbakerskatz]

I can't watch this video because it is only 1080HD and out here in the boonies my computer don't like that kind .

[@mikesamples6188]

I am so jealous of your machine. Loved watching you build it. My only ask is that you PAINT your shed door please. haha... Keep up the good work and looking forward to more videos.

[@AnthonyJanflone]

Matt, What are you spraying on the tensioner? Are you willing to sell some of the ash? It's good that Jim is a big guy...

[@josephbohme7917]

You can attatch a cam/pin to your transport winder and it can spritz your blade incrementally with water and then spring back to do it again- every foot or so as needed. Of course a milk carton & regulated drip valve will let gravity measure it out for you

[@sarapulford5957]

🇬🇧 My god those slices are so big and beautiful. Pity about the yellow toned photography.

[@MattGoodreau]

I don't know why these videos are so meditative. Lol you are definitely lumber rich for sure.

[@49erdigging]

man i wish u and i were closer i would need 3 slabs and a new work shop lol nice of u to give credit where its due to your buddy you're a good friend!

[@thomashawkins2395]

How do you keep next door sweet while you using the bandsawmill here in the uk would have the neighbors calling the police in minutes after powering that machine up

[@Juancarlosq676]

i like your videos, i wish i could cut wide slabs like that. we got some huge trees around here, most i wouldn't ever think of cutting them up we have some oak trees that been here since the beginning of America. not too many trees survived the logging industry in michigan. whats a ball park cost of that mill. i got a woodmizer LT40 super, every time you cut a log for your self you get excited to see what its going to look like inside. i found a oak burl stump it was under the ground i cut it into a table. it was normal on the out side but it is almost darker then walnut on the inside i have looked all over the internet but i haven't seen anything else like it. only thing im not crazy about the woodmizer is the beeping when you turn the debarker on.

[@paulineroyadair3505]

do you have a blueprint for your sawmill

[@DogsBAwesome]

How much beautiful wood is just chopped up for firewood, too much?

[@richardstinnett7796]

How many horse power motor on the saw and where did you get the blades? Nice vids. I'm inspired

[@jeffgannon1]

All the Ash trees in Ohio are dead or dying from the emerald ash borer. Did they make their way to Minnesota yet? Beautiful lumber.

[@robb1267]

Another great video! So much fun to watch! What type wood do you use for your stickers?

[@stahpitt8531]

I saw the log and audibly said "holy fucking shit thats the biggest tree i've ever seen">

[@VampireOnline]

Haha that delivery guy walking in was great. Nothing out of the ordinary just a couple of guys and a giant band saw mill!

[@mcremona]

+VampireOnline haha he didn't seem very surprised by or interested in what we were doing

[@OldNew45]

@@mcremona I know. I can't believe there are people like that. I've never cut a tree I didn't look at afterward.

[@piwengema4534]

how possible that i may get the plans for this machineMr Cremona?,i want to build one

[@robertpearson8546]

Make a video about making stickers. I assume all that is required is that the two faces be parallel and all the stickers have the same thickness.

[@ericmichael1964]

The cut durations for those huge slabs....geez. :}

[@elidouek5438]

Matt are you planning another day in the woods video any time soon? they're some of my favourite vids on your channel!

[@heriberthuber54]

That happy chuckle made me smile :-)

[@Andrew-lg1rd]

Why does the video only play at 1080 HD with no other options in the settings? Not everyone has high speed internet.

[@charlieg9559]

I would definitely leave those nails in the finished slab. Great story for whoever owns the table.

[@williamalanphoto5859]

I've noticed in the last couple days that youtube seems to be unsubscribing me from channels. I get the email notification for a new video, I come to look at it, and I notice that i am not subscribed to the channel any longer. ???

[@mcremona]

+William Alan Photo well that's just dumb

[@emilevoyer123]

Matt, How many years ago was that nail put in to that tree, 75 years, square nail, antique. lol

[@harryragland7840]

Have you experimented with the mill to see how thin you can cut a wide veneer from a large log?

[@JayRaxter]

Wow...that's some nice wood there...I've seen some beautiful stuff you've salvaged but this is just awesome...

[@makolemos]

Olá amigo como faço para você me enviar a planta da Serra e Projeto do Guincho ?

[@unclejack123]

Matt - It's been an absolute pleasure watching you build and use your saw ........ thank you for being a persistent young man ......... now it's time to watch the shop videos ......... JRW

[@mcremona]

Thank you!!

[@stefanodogg280]

I'm a medieval weapons enthusiast and ash is prized for spear and polearm shafts as well as bowmaking. the sapwood edges with some heartwood are ideal for longbows/self bows. You could make some money with what you might currently consider scrap

[@2thelight]

That is one big chunk of wood I notice you always slab these the same thickness what looks about 3 inches what is the reason for that

[@TheSuiram3]

how long do you let the slabs dry, before you make somthing out of them ? :)

[@JDLarge]

Seriously awesome, thanks for the fever, I’ve got it bad now lol! Talk about motivation... I’m ready! Think my neighbors will mind hearing my chainsaw in their backyard at 2AM or should I bring the rechargeable? 😜 thanks for sharing!

[@mcremona]

lol! awesome!!

[@stewart51able]

WOW...What pretty figure in those slabs...

[@eugenecarkoski4591]

I hope you are in touch with some gun stock makers , it would be a shame not to use the figure for gunstocks

[@Unclebuddy01]

What is the rest of the storu? How did you meet JIm?

[@krisw.6676]

You should have given the delivery guy a slab for a tip!

[@florinvelisco3901]

Bravio buna unealta

[@JimG31547]

It is great to be able to do what you love but a real plus to be able to do it with a special friend. Jim

[@paulstanding7267]

That is one hell of a fantastic tree loverly grain and colours nice 😀👍👍

[@umbalaba]

Super cool, but it is time for you to think about installing those rollers!

[@richardrodgers1883]

How did you do that trick at the 2 min mark of turning the Sun up and down. :)

[@stevehansen5389]

Seriously, Jim should get a slab of his choice.

[@bobleeswoodshop7919]

I too was lucky to save an ash tree . But no where that big 👍👍👍👍👍 the wood is beautiful Matt The Mill is incredible too!! ,😂😂😂😂

[@rodneysrepurposingrecyclin3821]

I'm enjoying your channel. I am trying to find a mill that cuts big slabs like that. I want to make a table for my wife's sewing room. That ash is an attractive lumber.

[@rodneysrepurposingrecyclin3821]

@rats arsed lol no, I want a 24 inch wide live edge table.

[@Wolf-xi4if]

How do you sell the slabs, and how long before you put them up for sale?

[@hhymer1]

have you thought of installing a bark blade?

[@scottgraham4906]

That is some beautiful wood. Fun to watch the mill in action.

[@TheBigburcie]

Is there a Matt Cremona drinking game yet? Crotch figure - drink, Curl - drink, bark inclusion - drink...

[@mcremona]

+Bruce Sutherland there was one going for just uses of the word crotch. This one sounds way more dangerous 😄

[@SublimatedIce]

I'm sure you get asked this a lot; did you ever count the rings on the logs to see how old the trees were?