5 200 YEARS OLD OAK FOR AN CARRIAGE BUILD ??

[dan610324]

YEAH THATS RIGHT

one of my friends asked me if I needed any oak for some carriages ??
didnt think much of that as I got some already .
and lots of others , such as apple and elm .

but when he smiled and told me that it was 5 200 years old I start listening very carefully .
I have some that comes from shipwreacks 250 - 400 years old ,
that is absolutely black when polished and oiled .

I was very curious to know how an 5 200 year old oak looked like .
but I was both disappointed and excited when I got the pictures ,
I thought it should be black but it wasnt .
its really beautiful .

this logs have been digged up from an bog during some construction work ,
it had been very slow air dried since it was milled to boards in 1992 .

but how to know the age ??
the largest historical museum in sweden  statens naturhistoriska museum in stockholm
have had an analysis made by the carbon 14 method on those logs
they dated them 5 200 years back +/- 70 years .
full test certificate are available .

now we talking stoneage wood 

ok its just to buy the lot and stock it until its needed .
wish I could , but its an very tiny problem .

THE PRICE 

approximately 100+ us dollar per pound ( 2 000 swedish kronor per kilo )

but I couldnt resist to show it for you guys ,
if there is anyone who want the ultimate in wood for your  carriage building   

[BoomLover]

Oak is Oak, last year or 5200 years ago, nice stuff, but, $100+ per pound US is in the stratosphere for wood! :-O BoomLover

[Ex 49'er]

What size are the slabs? That is a beautiful grain.

[dan610324]

yeah I can just agree , the price is much to high .
but what to do ?? this is an one in an lifetime opportunity .

just the feeling to know that its made of wood from the stoneage ,

I JUST MUST HAVE SOME PIECES OF IT

but if you look at some extremely beautiful pieces of walnut burl or ebony for example then the price isnt high , those wood pieces can easily reach the same price and its still just modern wood thats still growing and you can get as much as you want if you are prepared to pay the price .

I know that Im crazy , but I must have some pieces of it .
dont ask me for what ??
I dont know yet , but some day I will use it for something really exclusive .

why not to carriages to an pair of desktop cannons cast in sterling silver ??
thats an idea I had for an long time to produce an pair in sterling .

what my friend told me he had approximately 60 cubic foot left now ,
just 6 months ago he had more then 120 cubic foot .
so even if its expensive it sell . and fast .

its milled into 4"x4" and 5"x5" , I dont know how long
this is just what Ive been told by my friend .
havent been there yet to see it by myself .
but the piece my friend bought is cut to an length of 6,5 foot ,
so I suppose they must be longer then that .

[GGaskill]

This sounds like a business opportunity.  Buy big pieces at $100 a pound, sell small pieces at $200 a pound but only quarter pound pieces ($50 each.)  And you could add shipping and handling charges on top of the wood cost.   

[paulj84003]

I don't know what type of oak that is. But  seasoned Red oak U.S. is 41 pounds a cubic ft sp gravity is .65. White oak is 46 pounds a cubic ft an sp gravity is .74.  that is quite expensive. Paul

[Terry C.]

Add to that the fact that typically the older wood is, the more dense it is. So the cost for a project of decent size will increase even more.

5200 years isn't exactly 'stone age' but it does date back to Biblical (OT) times.

If only this wood could talk...

[Victor3]

 I'm with you Dan; some of that ol' wood might be nice... For something

 A small polished lacquered box with a brass plate inside the lid detailing the provenance of the wood it was made from would be nice. Maybe a fitted case for a family heirloom.

 My Wife's Aunt & Uncle (Turner Mastercraft) make expensive pens and other small items out of all kinds of fancy wood. People like them look for unique material to make their goodies out of.

[dan610324]

yeah it would be nice to have a little of that , both for business and to make something from it .

5 200 years is stone age . here in the nordic countries the neolitikum stoneage begin approximately 6 000 years ago , thats the latest part of the stonage .
bronze age considered to have been between 1700 - 550 bc then came the iron age .
please remember that the nordic countries was covered by an many miles thick layer of ice as recently as just 10 000 years ago . so this is absolutely stone age wood by scientific terms .

[dan610324]

not only to pens , much of this have been sold to knife makers .
they also want the extreme for their handles .

yes Paul , its expensive .
but how often have you found something like this commercial available ??
its an idiot price , but maybe Im an bigger idiot because I want it   

its probably white oak , as what I know we dont have red oak in sweden .
but I dont know for sure .
the science name for swedish oak is quercus robur

[Victor3]

not only to pens , much of this have been sold to knife makers .
they also want the extreme for their handles .

 True, Dan. I forgot to mention that in my last post. Many small shops in your region make traditional knives with wood handles. I just last week bought one EKA and three Mora knives 

[dan610324]

both eka and mora are famous knife manufacturer here in sweden , mora isnt that small . I would guess that they produce several million knifes a year , but maybe not so well known international .
eka is an smaller company , they make a little more "exclusive" models , mora is most famous for their cheap but still very high quality allround working knives .
but they also have many other models
eka have since long back been fomous for their small folding knives .

[Terry C.]

5 200 years is stone age . here in the nordic countries the neolitikum stoneage begin approximately 6 000 years ago , thats the latest part of the stonage .
bronze age considered to have been between 1700 - 550 bc then came the iron age .
please remember that the nordic countries was covered by an many miles thick layer of ice as recently as just 10 000 years ago . so this is absolutely stone age wood by scientific terms.

Point taken. I based my response on the limited knowledge I have of that period, which primarily involves the Biblical regions. Which by most accounts were fully transitioned away from stone-aged technology by as much as 1000 years before eastern Europe.

I keep forgetting that not everyone uses the same frames of reference as I do.

I stand corrected, given the region of origin these artifacts can in fact be accurately described as stone-aged.

its an idiot price , but maybe Im an bigger idiot because I want it   

No, you're not an idiot. I want some of it, too.

Anybody got a few (thousand) spare Quarters? 

[Cannoneer]

Dan, I got curious about this after you opened the topic yesterday; I googled, but couldn't find much info on the subject, though there was a site about a thousand year old Viking shield found in Denmark, that stated that moist soil (like a bog) was ideal to preserve wood.
Did your friend say anything about the working characteristics of the wood having been changed because of it's age? Will it be harder or softer etc., than air dried new growth oak or will it basically have the same traits?

[thelionspaw]

Tannins from a bog, normally soften the hard woods like oak. Also, the "Stone Age" ended circa 1750 B.C. in Nordic lands. I'd still do a carriage with it for a sterling tube. rc

[dan610324]

I still havent hear anything about the characteristics for how it is to work with , but he mentioned that its slightly lighter in weight / volume ratio then usual oak .

maybe it would be idea to buy some and cut up some knife handle and pen blanks trying to sell it on ebay 
who knows what they are willing to pay for it ??
maybe it could pay for my small pieces   
but its still a lot of money first to buy it 

[Double D]

Tongue in cheek comment to follow.

I don't understand the hubbub about a piece of wood you are going to paint anyway. 

[dan610324]

dont understand ??

as this is a little lighter then normal oak it means that something is missing in the wood .
then there are space ( even if microscopical ) for the first layer of linseed oil and turpentine to penetrate deeper into the wood .
that will help protecting the wood from being rotten if there will be any cracks in the many layers of oil paint .

isnt that logical ??   

[thelionspaw]

Cellulose is altered by tannin and that's why it is lighter.  Oil should penetrate deeply. It will burn better that church-yard moss but not like new oak. It can be worked from what your images indicate. It doesn't appear to be dozy. Gofuhvit.  rc

[dan610324]

the only thing I know is that its still hard and no problem to use an bandsaw or dresser on it .
it doesnt need epoxy stabilisation like some half rotten wood they use sometimes for handles and to pens.
what I found out so far is that the tannin in the bog makes some kind of consevation on all material thats normaly get destroyed after a few hundred years .
thats why they have been able to find 2000 year old bodies in bogs .
but still looking for more info if anyone know something interesting .