Not wanting to put a damper on this, but when our big sycamore was felled in the driveway everyone said that the wood wouldn't be useful to anyone for carving or cabinet-making. Seeing this it appears that planking is an option, maybe I'd heard wrongly?

BTW Colyn, did you notice we've got 4 full trunk slices (4ft across) drying in the driveway, leaning up against a big Yew. They're separated by blocks but still the centres are showing signs of splitting. We're thinking of making them into outdoor 'rustic' tables, hopefully before our next party!