That was a post I made on a thread in the other place that dates back to 2006.I've got a big chunk that is currently serving as ballast for my lathe.
It's about 5 feet long and more than a foot in diameter.
Biggest problem I have is how to get it cut up into chunks, I can't lift it by myself.
I'd bought that log from a chap on eBay sometime prior to that, and it took the two of us to lift it into the back of my Peugeot 206. Not sure how I managed to get it out again.
Anyway, it stayed underneath my lathe for the better part of 20 years until this weekend when I decided that my long dormant lathe should get a good clean and be brought back into operation again. This would necessitate me moving the big lump so I decided that it was time to try to reduce it into more manageable dimensions.
I managed to get it off the shelf onto the floor and my first thought was to try splitting it so I gathered some wedges, both steel and wood and mjolnir, an old sledge on a short handle that was my father's. I thought I'd be able to start a split on the end and then open it along the length just as I'd seen in many YouTube videos. This thing was having none of it. It is very dry (apparently it originated in a desert in Africa) and very very dense (it sinks in water).
Now drenched in sweat, and having only achieved a small dent about half an inch deep, and some bits split from the sides, I realised I wasn't going to get very far, probably because I didn't really know what I was doing, but something else needed to be done .
So I then dug it the electric chainsaw, an old JCB model that I've had for a fair few years. I thought if I chopped a chunk off one end, that I'd be able to make it light enough so that I could lift it onto the band saw. I plugged it in, fired it up and applied it to the log and the log just laughed at me. So after a bit of thought, a YouTube video and a trip to Toolstation, I had a sharpened chainsaw and now I was laughing at it instead.
The log was now appreciably smaller and I took the smaller part to the band saw that now had a brand new Axminster blade. I forget the dimensions but I think something like 1"" and 3tpi.
This went through the chunk surprisingly easily and I soon had several smaller, squared chunks that should be handy for some vague ideas I have formulating.
The next problem was getting the remaining part through the saw. Off to Screwfix this time for their cheapest electric planer and I soon had a face flat enough to sit on the band saw table. Again I was surprised how easy it went through the old saw with minimal fuss. It was I danger of stalling once per twice and I'm pretty sure I was at its limit with this log but I soon had a nicely squared off chunk.
i left it at that as I need some inspiration as to what to use it for but I think there is going to be some very nice figuring inside there.It's now sat under a newly cleaned up lathe and acting as ballast again until I can decide its ultimate fate.
Postscript:
I took everything off of the lathe for a bit of a clean and to be able to de-rust the ways and to remove the headstock I inside the big nut underneath but forgot about the big mirror hanging over the back that immediately caused it to to over the back where it fell onto the various bits I'd cut the small chunk into. I know I should have moved them but they looked comfortable. Anyway, the headstock hit the end of the largest piece that was then propelled very fast into my shin and I then spent the next 4 hours in the local minor injuries unit where the large resultant gash on my leg was glued and steristripped.
But at least I finally got that log sorted even if it did take something like 20 years.
Any ideas for how to use it gratefully received.
