Is oak really that hard?

[warren46]

I had a customer come some 100 miles to pick up 1,100 board feet of 2" oak for trailer decks.  He told me that none of the mills near where he lives will saw oak "because it is to hard one their mills."  Apparently the mills in his area are older circle mills.  It seems to me that a circle mill with carbide inserts would have little trouble sawing oak.

I dulled 2 bands sawing 50 2" planks but made quite a bit of money for a days sawing.  Perhaps the mills just don't want to handle a 2X12 that weight 125 pounds? :

[Magicman]

Our White Oak is much harder than our Red Oak, but that does not exclude it from being sawed.  I slabbed the White Oak yesterday with 10° blades.

It's good for business when other sawyers/sawmills say "no".   ;D

[ddcuning]

When I got a red oak from Chapel Hill several years back, I ran into the same issue. Everyone in the area wanted to saw pine only and would not saw hardwoods. That issue 7 years ago is what got me started on running a mill myself and so the story begins. Even with steel teeth, a circle mill will have no trouble with red oak. It isn't that hard but there is a perception  around here also that it is . It stands to reason that it will be harder on the mill to saw hardwood and if you have  bearing issues or some other issues with the mill like mine had, throwing a hardwood on it may reveal problems. I was reading a book this morning about how circle mills will adjust themselves overtime to compensate for mechanical issues within the mill. If you only saw pine for a long time, the circle mill may adjust itself for that sawing. At that point, hit it with a hardwood and some of those covered issues may arise. Maybe this is what some of these folks have experienced.

Dave C

[diesel pap]

i try to saw all hardwood green. hickory is very hard after it dries.

[EZ]

I would rather mill oak then anything, but it's not what people want all the time.

[Ron Wenrich]

We have a hardwood industry up here.  Our production level is well over half oak.  We run circle mills and have no trouble with hardwoods.  We rarely deal with pines because there are so few and markets are thin.  You don't need carbide to cut oak.

[Andries]

 

We mill ash, elm and oak.
In winter I switch to 4 degree bands (use seven degree in summer) due to frozen wood and lower horsepower (Onan 24hp). I think that Magicman and CustomSawyer are happy with seven or ten degree bands in oak because they have lots of diesel power and their temps are mild compared to Canada.
Given that, oak is hard but manageable. Gives the band a nice gun-metal blue colour too!

[drobertson]

It sounds like to me that the other mills did not want to fool with it,  even the driest of white oak saws fine.  Hickory on the other hand is a funny wood for me, some of it saws pretty good, while other times I can hardly get the blade through it. :-\    Hickory sure smells good when you saw it though,

[dboyt]

I suspect that as much as anything, it is the sawyers who adjust themselves to mill whatever types of wood they cut.  On any mill, cutting oak at the same feed speeds as pine is going to cause issues.  Here in southwest Missouri, you'd never be able to keep a mill busy on softwoods.  I suspect that many mills consider custom jobs to be a nuisance.  More opportunity for the rest of us!

[Magicman]

I take it as it comes and do not make any pricing distinction between sawing softwood and hardwood.

[backwoods sawyer]

One of my first oaks had been out in a cow pasture for 5-6 years, the limbs and root ball held it well off the ground so it dried from all sides. It was like cutting metal, smoked several new out of the box saws, since then I have had very little issues sawing Oak even long dead log, fresh oak saws like butter 24" cuts at a good feed rate. Now dry old growth D-Fir butt cuts can be a bit more of a challenge to saw as it is abrasive and pitchy.
Put up a sign I MILL OAK  ;D

[Nomad]

     Oak isn't usually a big deal.  (Unless it's Live Oak.) :  And decades dead, standing Live Oak?

[ladylake]

Red oak saws like butter and a 10° blade works good, white oak saws a lot better with a 4° blade.  Steve

[warren46]

Upon further reflection I hypothesize that the reason the saw mill owners are reluctant to saw oak is not so much that it is hard on the mill.  Instead I suspect that the reason is an Oak 2X12 is hard on a person's back.  I just finished an order for pine 1X6 and must admit that my muscles liked the  pine a lot more than the oak.

[bandmiller2]

As Ron said regular bits cut oak just fine although you may need to touch them up sooner. Its the power requirement that affects light underpowered mills. A mill that will barely cut pine will be down on its knees with oak of any size. Many sawyers don't want to handle oak because of the weight, you hump 2x12x14' planks all day and you know it. Frank C.

[longtime lurker]

Compared with say Cooktown Ironwood, or some of the other stuff I cut on a regular basis the short answer is - NOPE!!! :D

[mikeb1079]

Compared with say Cooktown Ironwood, or some of the other stuff I cut on a regular basis the short answer is - NOPE!!! :D

i figured an ozzie would chime in....you guys cut some crazy hard stuff.   

[Ron Wenrich]

If you know how to handle wood, weight isn't so much of a problem, especially if there are any types of rollers.  If you're carrying wood, then you're doing it wrong.  We had an old guy that used to stack and sticker 16/4 tulip poplar all day long right off the rolls.  He was lucky to weigh 125 lbs. 

[NMFP]

As Ron said, if your working efficiently, its no problem.  We had an older guy as well that could stack boards all day and never break a sweat or rush. Worked at one pace and never missed a board.  He laughed at most of the young guys running like chickens.  He was 86 when he retired from stacking lumber.  He then went to help his grandson stack rocks and block for his landscaping business!

[Magicman]

Never pick up both ends of the same board.  :D  (Old Saying)