Logging Slash Picnic Table

Twisty cedar logs from the slash pile are not always small with really tight grain. The tree used for this table top and benches was pushed over at a young age by some force of nature. The “S” curve shape resulted. The log was milled to preserve that shape producing the unique lumber necessary for this project.

This log could have been milled into a small amount of dimension lumber by rotating 90 degrees on the mill. The resulting lumber would be of poor quality as the grain would cut through the face of the boards at sharp angles in two places, and the rotted center spiraling through the log would totally ruin some of yeild. This log would never get loaded on the truck at the harvest site, but when crafted into its highest and best use the results are impressive. You just don’t buy lumber like this at Home Depot.

The framing supporting this table features lumber dimensioned on three sides leaving the spike knots protruding as the stubs of limbs from one edge of the board. This is significant as a visual reminder that this is part of a tree and not just a board cut in a factory somewhere.

The process of acheiving this "belongs to the land - lodge style look" starts at the timber harvest. Efficient commercial harvests will always cut the limbs flush with the bark to make loading and handling easier. This is usually done with a timber harvest machine that cuts, fells, limbs and bucks a mature connifer tree in less than a minute. With any luck they might leave a usable top after the last log is bucked from the tree for the slash pile. Once again Mintlake Technology identifies what is discarded by others as the most interesting material.