So the challenge from the foreperson (AnnaMarie---this will be her own house) was to make the stairs match the mantel. See previous post for the wood source. It isn't teak. It's either some sort of oak or mahogany----I've compared it to both and it doesn't quite match either---but it does match the mantel, since it came from the same place.
NOBODY will mill wood they didn't sell you. They are scared of nails I think. So I had a truckload of hardwood 8x12's that needed to become 2x2's with no way to cut them. So, as always, call Byron.
Byron. I hope everyone that reads this knows one. The bail out guy. The drop everything to make it happen guy. He'd the white blood cell of humanity, taking care of the stuff no one else can. With no notice, he told me to just lug the stuff up to OC and we'd make it work.
He's got a friend that owns a tall ship---his warehouse has cool tools, exotic wood, old cars. We went there and set up to cut.
Here we are cutting the beams into slabs. First we used a chainsaw to 'shorten' the stock---still much longer than the finished balusters will be. It was slow going until we broke the saw blade and replaced it--then it was like butter.
Then we moved a table saw outside and cut the slabs into the 2x2's I needed to make the balusters. Footnote: truck in the background passed the 200,000 mile mark on the way home, carrying lots of wood and a sofa I bought on the way home for the new place (AM found it on Craigslist)
The finished balusters, Byron, and a boat that's up for grabs if anyone wants it---(Scot---the guy that owns this shop is the guy that owns the Astor) In the spectrum between what I could afford and what Byron's time is worth, when I paid him I'm afraid I edged towards the former. He is guaranteed free stays whenever though.
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