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Bog oak treasure trove.

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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby StevieB » 08 Mar 2019, 08:48

Just out of interest, what is typically made from bog oak? I did a bit of searching and the usual items that came up are pen blanks, fretboards, knife handles and so on. All small items. Is this due to the availability, rarity or expense of the timber or is it due to the intrinsic properties of the timber that mean larger items are not possible?

I don't want to buy a plank and find I have to make 5000 pen blanks or nothing! What I would be after is some dark timber for boxes and cabinets etc so is it possible to easily get say 450mm x 100mm x 10mm slices from bog oak or is that an unreasonable expectation?
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 08 Mar 2019, 08:53

Doug wrote:Have you any idea when you would have the bash yet Mike? I’m always interested in a bit of timber but it’s pointless me saying I’ll have some if I can’t make the date.


Not yet. I'd be hoping for it to be sooner rather than later, .......say 3 or 4 weeks time, but I haven't even looked at the calendar yet.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Doug » 08 Mar 2019, 08:55

RogerS wrote:Regrettably it's way too far for me.


If you were interested in some Rog & I can get along to Mike’s I’d happy pick you some up as it looks like I’ll be in Berwick on Tweed at least once this year if not a few more times
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 08 Mar 2019, 08:58

StevieB wrote:Just out of interest, what is typically made from bog oak? I did a bit of searching and the usual items that came up are pen blanks, fretboards, knife handles and so on. All small items. Is this due to the availability, rarity or expense of the timber or is it due to the intrinsic properties of the timber that mean larger items are not possible?

I don't want to buy a plank and find I have to make 5000 pen blanks or nothing! What I would be after is some dark timber for boxes and cabinets etc so is it possible to easily get say 450mm x 100mm x 10mm slices from bog oak or is that an unreasonable expectation?


Boxes are certain. I would think that coffee tables and the like could be expected, too, but dining tables would only likely be of the resin-filled variety which seem fashionable at the moment. I wouldn't expect to be able to polish up a mirror flat surface on an 8 foot blemish-free board........but it isn't impossible that there might be a board or two like that. Until I open up the stash I won't know. It certainly won't be just pen and bowl blanks.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby StevieB » 08 Mar 2019, 09:06

Thanks Mike, much appreciated.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Stargazer » 08 Mar 2019, 09:16

I am also very interested in both a meet up and some of the bog oak. probably for smallish items but I wonder if it might work for the seat of a windsor chair?

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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Andyp » 08 Mar 2019, 09:21

Very unlikely I could make it outside of school holidays and even then it would take some planning.

Whatever you do Mike and however you organise things it will be a lot of work so I am happy to go with the flow at the moment and see how it goes.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Moteyi » 08 Mar 2019, 09:22

Many moons ago (edit: 10 years ago almost to the day having checked) I seem to remember a similar 'find' on another forum and trekking halfway across the country only to find all the 'good' bits already spoken for and what was left was expensive firewood. Perhaps to avoid this you could put together lots, (just like timber yards do) suitably photographed, with accurate descriptions and dimensions and then people can choose what they want, pay for it and then on a particular day meet up to collect it. It might avoid the potential for falling out between friends.

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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby RogerS » 08 Mar 2019, 09:38

Doug wrote:
RogerS wrote:Regrettably it's way too far for me.


If you were interested in some Rog & I can get along to Mike’s I’d happy pick you some up as it looks like I’ll be in Berwick on Tweed at least once this year if not a few more times


Thanks, Doug...that's really kind of you.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Woodbloke » 08 Mar 2019, 10:21

Mike G wrote:
MJ80 wrote:Wow that is am amazing find. I am definitely interested in getting some if I can arrange some transport. Do you think you would end up making any large package sized pieces?


Yes, I think I probably will. Some of the pieces which have suffered the most from warping and shaking may well get cut up into smaller bits for people who want it for specialist items.......fingerboards etc, inlay pieces, pen blanks, carving blanks and so on. Until I actually get to pick through the pile and see what I've got I won't really know what the overall plan is.

From my little experience of handling the stuff and looking at the pics of the haul, there might be quite a lot of wastage (split boards, cupping, bowing, twisting) from that stack although there looks to be some good stuff as well. As you say, you won't actually know what you've got until it's opened up - Rob
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 09 Mar 2019, 09:36

I took the only off-cuts home last night, and planed them up. I would stress that this is out of one board, but not a board that's in my pile. It must be a left-over from the work the farmer did 15/ 20 years ago. It is wider than most of the boards I have bought, so the proportion of black to brown will be different (the black forms from the outside of the trunk). It had 2 massive shakes through it, one of which I just pulled apart with my hands, and the other I ripped through on a bandsaw. I have planed up the main board both sides, and measured it carefully, as well as recording the one shake in it. I'll now keep this inside and see how stable it is. Anyway, here are some piccies (it was very bright, so the colours are somewhat washed out):

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The above are straight off a planer. I then wiped some white spirit on:

Image

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The light coloured shavings are ordinary English oak:

Image

You can see that the colour is highly variable, from deep black, the colour of your keyboard, through to a gorgeous dark brown, with the medulliary rays sort-of colour reversed (they're now darker than the surrounding wood).

Unfortunately I couldn't pull out any of the bog ash, as it is at the bottom of the stack. I can't wait to see what that looks like.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby StevieB » 09 Mar 2019, 10:08

Thanks for doing this Mike - it is most informative. Colour wise it looks similar to some Iroko I have in the middle of the board, blacker towards the edge as you say. Presumably it works like standard oak, but just curious - is the smell the same?
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 09 Mar 2019, 10:17

I'm afraid I've no sense of smell, so I can't tell you Steve.

As for working like ordinary oak....I've only used a spokeshave for a minute on the little black sliver you can see in some of the photos, and it seemed to be just the same as ordinary oak. I haven't been near it with a hand plane, chisel, or hand saw yet, so I couldn't really comment.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby fiveeyes » 10 Mar 2019, 17:32

I, too, would love to have a bit 'o that.
The distance may be a trifle too far. :lol:
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Jimmy Mack » 10 Mar 2019, 17:56

RogerS wrote:Regrettably it's way too far for me.
Yes, me too

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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 22 Mar 2019, 19:42

I've finally got all of this lot away from the farm and into a friend's barn. I don't think I'll walk properly for a week; there are some incredibly heavy pieces. I am not convinced there is any bog ash, though. I seems initially to all be oak, but it is all so filthy it's impossible to be sure. Unfortunately I won't get back to it to clean it up and take photos until the middle of next week, but my initial impression is that whilst there has been a lot of movement, and shakes, there is an amazing amount of timber.....and one tree in particular seems to be very black indeed.

There are some great bits of wood (some decent size coffee table tops or raised panels, for instance), some that will be perfect for turners, and loads that will make smaller components such as stiles and rails, drawer fronts, and so on.
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Stargazer » 01 Apr 2019, 16:10

Hi Mike,
Any more news on the bog oak? Trying to plan the weekends in April and May.

Thanks

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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 01 Apr 2019, 19:24

Buggered my back, I'm afraid. I'm hoping to be well enough to take some photos towards the end of the week (some of the boards must weigh over 100kg, and they'll all need moving again). I'll let you know what is what as soon as I know!
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Stargazer » 01 Apr 2019, 20:24

Thanks for the update, look after your back!
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Re: Bog oak treasure trove.

Postby Mike G » 06 Apr 2019, 06:49

At long last my back has relented enough to handle the boards, and I have been able to sort, measure and photograph the ones I am putting up for sale. Look out on Monday afternoon for a new post in the For Sale section replete with 50-odd photos, measurements, some description, and a price. I'll have a date for the sale day, too, and details of how I will be running the sale.
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