Hickory sawing questions

[plowboyswr]

Okay I've got a customer who's been after me for a while to cut him some Live Edge countertops he says he has a hickory that he wants to cut them out of. 3 in thick and as wide as I can go which is about 18 in on that thick of product on my little saw. I want to try to get him the best product I can any tips on how to go about this? I know Hickory can be a difficult wood to do and I've already talked to him that it's going to take awhile to air-dry so he's thinking about getting it kiln-dried but with something this thick will it pay to go ahead and have it kiln-dried or is it going to rip itself apart? Having only ever cut Oak Walnut cherry and Hedge what all do I need to watch out for while sawing the log?

[drobertson]

that seems might thick for sure, but I reckon its possible, folks want what they think they want,,not sure on the drying part, if it does check, I suppose some epoxy could be used to fill in the cracks,

[YellowHammer]

The most stable slabs will be further out on the sides of the log, once you cross into the heartwood they will start to cup when drying, stay out of the pith, they will cup and split very badly when dry.  Just think of splitting hickory firewood with a maul, you aim for the end cracks in the pith.  Thats what will happen to slabs, also.

[dustyhat]

All i can add is keep a eye on buildup on the blade, hickory can realy heat one up especially in wide cuts.

[moodnacreek]

Cut a lot more than You need, stick it on flat concrete or steel, treat for powder post beadles and put tons of weight evenly on top. Make sure the first and last stickers over hang. Wait 3 years and stand up in a heated room.   The best wood for these is cedar if you can find it sound and big enough.  I would never do hickory.

[plowboyswr]

I've tried talking him out it but he is determined to do it. Yellowhamer that is the info I need. Dustyhat I sure will. We haven't set a date yet on the sawing as far as I know the tree is still standing. Maybe I can still talk him out of it.  :D

[RPowers]

depending on the HP of your mill use either a 4-degree or 7-degree blade, with lots of lube if using water or use diesel/atf to keep the sappy sawdust from sticking. I cut a lot of hickory here. The best thing I have found yet was a 1.5" wide Wood-Mizer bi-Metal Turbo-7 blade followed closely by a Cooks SS DT 1.5" 8-degree. The 1.25" woodmizer 4-degree in .045 will do the job with a slow feed rate and more blade tension.

[YellowHammer]

Maybe I can still talk him out of it.  :D

Heck, go for it. Mill the hickory as soon as posssible after its cut down.  Green is better than dry.  I use a water based oil in my blade lube to cut the pitch and keep the band shiny and slick.  Have a spray bottle of Diesel ready for the band if it starts to pitch up.  The blade needs to stay clean of pitch or it will heat up and game over.  I have overheated a band in a single cut on hickory when things are not right. If you have a band tension gage or hydraulic pressure gauge on the band, that will tell you all you need to know.   
I normally won't run my debarker when sawing slabs because it disfigures the kerf, but in hickory I always run it to get through the bark. 

[plowboyswr]

I'm running 4 degree kasco bands on a hf mill so no debarker and no pressure gauge. All done by feel and uneducated guess work.  :D Been just running water, dish soap and pine-sol on my fresh cut hedge. But like I said I haven't cut hickory before so I'm hunting all the advice I can get.

[drobertson]

PB, as many said in this post and older ones, hickory takes sharp blades, and cool through the cut as well, 18" is a fare enough size for bout any band mill, contrary to some, I've done better many times with dryer hickory logs than green, only in that from my experiences the green hickory, and to be clear, these have all been the bitternut specie, the bark is brutally thick and hard, it often times takes in debris that's hard on blades, I've found in short order the bark will slip off, well before any degrade takes place in the wood itself.  The green fresh fell logs seem to grab the blade thus building heat pretty quick.  A good flood of coolant has helped me get through these with minimal wave or ill affects.  But its no cake walk, I'm not sure if I'm the only one that has had to grind out the blade from a thumper hickory, wedge the slab, and finally get the blade section out, but rest assured, it's a brutal situation.  Now many folks like the green better, and all I might add, is if it were possible, get a smaller one to test out the performance of your bands and mill, surface quality, and all that goes with sawing hickory on your mill.  Then go for the big one,  you can do it, just have sharp blades,