Updated 19 Nov 2008
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Felling a large dead oak
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R1112
Red oak,
Quercus rubra, planted 1850.
"...easy to recognize by its bark, which features ridges
that appear to have shiny stripes down the center,
all the way down the trunk"
Height 31 m, Girth 2.87 m, felled 23 Aug 2008.
This slice will be used to count rings, dry, varnish and display
at the
Oak Fair at Stock Gaylard, Dorset on 29 August 2009
together with many wooden objects made from the same tree
by 25 other exhibitors.
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Felling a large dead oak
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A celebration of the life and death of an oak tree in England.
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PRESS RELEASE
"A dead oak tree will be felled by
Adam's Axemen on
the edge of the Church Park and then all parts of the tree will be
distributed around the show site to a number of the exhibitors who
have asked to be involved (some 25). They will then use the timber
in their own way for furniture crafts etc. These exhibitors will
then bring back the products they have made from this oak to create
a unique exhibition at the 2009 Oak Fair."
Stock Gaylard Oak Fair
July 2008
See also Emails about this tree.
If you are involved, please email 
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The author managed to persuade the organisers to cut and supply him
a "Salami-slice" from the bottom of the trunk.
The idea is to photo and analyse the annual growth rings,
to derive the age and rate of growth of the tree.
The slice will be dried, sanded and varnished for exhibition.
The results will be displayed at the fair in August 2009 under
the ITF (
International Tree Foundation) banner. This webpage celebrates
the life and death of a Red Oak "Quercus Rubra".
See the extreme weather suffered by the tree.
.
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R1114 The dead oak after cutting with
"Aussie speed axes". Axe work clears the loose bark to
prepare for saw work. The notches help steer the fall of the tree.
Before felling, a roped climber cut off the largest lower branches
with a chainsaw
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R1115 The dead oak falling. Final work
was done with 2-man crosscut saw and wedges. Saw work produces a smooth surface.
The upper third of the oak was smashed by the fall. The audience was
moved out of range before felling (health and safety).
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Five inch magnesium felling wedge.
Helps open the cut, steer the tree,
prevents the tree falling backwards.
Should be kept sharp.
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"Aussie Speed Axe"
The type used by Adam's Axemen to fell the oak. It is an Australian
wood choppers axe used in competition. On one side of the head is a
kangaroo centred in the map of Australia, with the numerals "89" in
one corner of the axe head and the letter "K" in the other corner.
On the reverse side are the word "Aussie Speed Axe". The handle made
of hickory, has various marks used by the axeman to steady his grip.
Total length with handle = 75cm
head width = 15cm,
head length = 18cm,
weight approx 1 kg
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R1116 The cut stump. Saw work gives very
smooth surface, axe work none. Chain-saw surface
would be poor. Blue marks of wedge to open saw cut, cup of tea essential.
The outer half of the cross-section was cut by by axe,
the smooth central area by two-man crosscut saw.
Wedges were placed to steer the falling tree.
The long straight edge by the axeman's left foot shows the hinge
when the oak finally fell, steered exactly.
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R1117 Cutting a 12 foot length with a
two-man saw. The cut is kept open with a hammered wedge. Saw teeth
need to be sharp, work gets harder nearer the ground.
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How the big saw works
Teeth on the 2-man crosscut saw.
cutters gullet raker gullet cutters
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"...As described, saws will have cutters, rakers, and gullets. As the saw is
pulled toward the operator, the cutters along the saw's surface scores
the wood to the left and right of the width of the blade, cutting a
channel downward into the wood. In many saws there are four cutters, one
which cuts left, another which cuts right, then another pair of left and
right cutters.
After the cutters there is generally a raker followed by a gullet. A raker
is what does the actual removal of the wood that is being cut. The raker
follows the cutters, scraping the bottom of the kerf being cut. As the
raker scrapes the bottom of the channel being cut, the wood is peeled back
and stored in the gullet which follows the raker.
As the saw is drawn out of the log, the accumulated wood being stored in
the gullets in the saw are allowed to fall out onto the ground. A way to
determine whether a saw is working well is to examine the noodle shaped
wood that gets scraped out of the log being cut. Fairly long strings of
wood coming out of the log being cut indicates that the side cutters are
doing their job and that the raker is slicing out the wood cleanly."
(Wikipedia)
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R1156 Victorian 2-man saw, 1 metre between handles.......
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R1157 .....with plain saw teeth, 9 teeth in 13 cms.
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R1120 Cutting a Salami-slice for the author.
The art is keeping the two cuts 8 cms apart, parallel, and open with
a wedge. The saw must cut right across the trunk.
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R1121 The salami-slice ready for
close-up photography of the rings. The saw cut
is very smooth. A band of marked-up graph paper is pinned to a radius for
reference.
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GIRTH
cms cms
Year Radius ΔGirth/yr Age
1850 0.0 0
1860 3.6 2.26 10
1870 8.2 2.89 20
1880 13.7 3.45 30
1890 18.6 3.08 40
1900 22.8 2.64 50
1910 26.3 2.20 60
1920 29.2 1.82 70
1930 31.9 1.70 80
1940 34.3 1.51 90
1950 36.8 1.57 100
1960 38.7 1.19 110
1970 41.0 1.44 120
1980 43.2 1.38 130
1990 45.6 1.51 140
2000 47.9 1.44 150
2008 50.1 1.73 158
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Average increase of oak GIRTH per year (cms)
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DIMENSIONS
3,168 cm Height of tree
287 cm Circumference of slice
8.0 cm Thickness of slice (average)
6,555 cm2 Area of slice (approx)
52,438 cm3 Volume of slice (approx)
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NOTES
- Earlywood grows quickly in spring and summer and
is light coloured and less dense.
- Latewood grows slowly in Autumn and winter and
is dark coloured and more dense.
- RED DOTS mark the change from
earlywood to latewood, easier to identify.
- BLUE GRAPH paper has small squares 2mm on
a side.
- 158 rings identified, covering a radius of
51 cms, a girth of 287 cms on felling.
- The tree was felled when dead in August 2008, pointing to a
planting date of 1850.
- Maximum rate of Girth increase 3.45 cms/year at age 30 years.
- Rate of Girth increase reduced to 1.5 cms/year at age 150 years.
- In the tree's lifetime, world population grew from
1.262 Billion to 6.684 Billion.
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DRYING
Wood dried in author's garage under a sunny window.
Density range quoted for this type of wood 0.59-0.93.
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DRYING PROGRESS
Days Date Weight Density Loss
2 25 Aug 08 56.5 kg 1.077 g/cc 0%
10 02 Sep 52.5 1.001 7
18 10 Sep 51.5 0.982 9
29 21 Sep 47.5 0.906 16
39 01 Oct 44.5 0.849 21
02-05 Oct Sample trimmed, sanded and varnished.
45 07 Oct 42.5 0.810 25
59 21 Oct 43.0 0.820 24
71 02 Nov 43.0 0.820 24
88 19 Nov 41.75 0.796 26
29 Aug 09 Display oak section at Oak Fair.
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VARNISHING
- Varnished at density = 0.850g/cc to stop drying and cracking.
- Wood projecting above each face removed by sawing and sanding.
- Dark areas caused by saw and wedge removed by sanding.
- Tree data written along edge of bare wood with blue ballpoint pen.
- Three coats of varnish applied to each face.
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Ronseal clear satin quick drying interior varnish applied which
"brings out the inherent beauty of wood, enhancing the natural
wood grain with a non-yellowing, crystal clear satin finish".
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Display for Oak Fair 2009
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DISPLAY for Hire
'crystallised time'
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A display of the oak slice and its rings
has been prepared for the next Oak Fair in 2009.
The varnished slice rests on two saw horses which can stand
on grass or hard flooring. Two men are required to move
the 43 kg slice safely. Mounted laminated
photos and text contain most that is on this
webpage. A radius tape allows dating each ring
and a handbook gives a complete Timeline.
The slice is very pleasant to the touch, and the
clear rings are a delight to see.
The complete display can be brought
by car and is available free for environmental
meetings.
Dimensions of the assembled display are:
1.5 m high x 1.0 m wide x 1.0 m deep.
Contact the author on
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The Northern RED OAK or Champion Oak
Quercus rubra (syn. Quercus borealis), is an oak in the red oak group (Quercus section Lobatae). It is a native of North America, in the northeastern United States and southeast Canada. It grows from the north end of the Great Lakes, east to Nova Scotia, south as far as Georgia and states with good soil that is slightly acidic. Often simply called "Red Oak", northern red oak is formally so named to distinguish it from southern red oak (Q. falcata), also known as the Spanish oak.
Description
In forests, the northern red oak grows straight and tall, to 35 m (115 ft), exceptionally to 43 m (140 ft) tall, with a trunk of up to 1 m (3 ft) diameter; open-gr
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