Meet Bert, my newest love

I have finally found him. After a seemingly endless search, I now have my very own…giant tree stump. This is something that probably only you metalsmiths out there will appreciate. When I saw the tree cutters parked outside my neighbor’s house this afternoon, I thought I was seeing a mirage. Like every house in my neighborhood, this one had monster-sized trees. My heart leapt for joy when they told me they were cutting down oaks and poplars and that I could have my pick. And they were happy to cut it to my requested size. It was like a dream come true.

They sawed at the base of the trunk of each tree and pulled them down one at a time. It is an amazing thing to see a mighty 6-story tree hit the ground. I mean the ground literally shakes. I was getting worried through because tree after tree had a rotten, diseased trunk (I think the reason why they were being cut down in the first place). Diseased trunk = unusable in any way.

But it was my lucky day because the very last tree to come down was a very nice looking one. I was told it was a white oak – super bonus! Those awesome guys fork lifted that monstrosity onto the bed of my truck, and I drove the 4 second distance to my house. I quickly de-barked it while it was still juicy. He’s now standing in my garage waiting to be dry enough to bring into the studio. I have no idea how long it will take for it to be fully seasoned. Anyone have any ideas?