What to do with these short logs?

[ForestMan]

I have a tree service guy that dumps his chips and logs on my land.  The problem is, the logs are not long enough to do much with.

I have some ash, some hackberry, box eldar, a little pine, and some unknown species so far.

I spoke with him about sending me longer logs.  We'll see what happens.

My question for FF is, what can I do with these?  Can they be used for anything?

Logs.



More logs.



Even more logs.



Some good solid wood, just too short.



I think this is a box eldar.



What we are doing with the mulch.



Thanks, FF.

[Tom]

Firewood, turning stock, compost, build a short-log holder for your sawmill and saw short lumber from the expensive or highly figured hardwood.  There is no law that says a board has to be created on two foot centers.   There are many hobbiest that would jump on the opportunity to buy fancy wood and the short pieces would ship easier. 

You could sell stair treads make stools, end tables and things that require short lumber.

The hollow logs can be used for planters and just turned under if and when they rot.  How about a turning them into wishing wells for people's front yards?

[zopi]

Turning blocks+anchorseal+ebay

might turn a few bucks selling bundled firewood...getcha a plastic bander and bundle up a few dozen bundles and offer a couple local stores a cut to sell them out front..or sell it to then outright
2/3's of what they'd charge....bundled firewood is almost as good a deal as self storage...

[ForestMan]

Thanks for the help.  I like the idea of selling turning blanks and the stair tread idea is intriguing too.  What would I charge for turning blanks?  Would I just make cants out of the short logs, anchorseal them, and sell like that?  How important is it to know what species it is?  I know some, but not all the species I have.

Thanks again for all your help.

Oh, Tom, how would I go about making a short log holder for my mill?  I have a WM LT10.

Thanks.

[RedLeg]

As a turner, we're always looking for nice figuring... check out the prices they go for on eBay, you might be surprised (pleasantly).  ;)

[Magicman]

There are also several "Woodworking" forums for hobbyist.

[Wallys World]

Here is a picture of a small log holder that copied to build mine.

[woodmills1]

looks to me like ya gotta get the good ouuta the bad

I do that a lot

in the chips it all looks bad

can ya get your guy to send ya the chips and then wood

or get a log mover so he dont hava kakem so short

[Stephen1]

Great topic, i also am interested in the short logs.
When you seal a turning blank, do you seal the whole piece, or just the open end grain?
How small or large should a turning blank be?

Stephen1

[ForestMan]

So Wally, are you using super long C-clamps?  It looks like they are fastened to the wood on blocks, then the wood is clamped with the sawmill clamp.  Looks like you have two C-clamps side by side to sort of cradle the log with some shims under each end to give it some height.  Is that about right?  Can this setup work for larger diameter, but short logs?

[metalspinner]

Stephen1,
Blanks are usually sold 3" - 4" thick depending on the size of the blank.  The larger diameter blank you can make, the thicker it can be.  For instance, if the blank can yield only a 6" diameter piece, then 2" - 4" is a good target.  Think about your cereal bowls in your cupboard.  But if you get up to 15" -16" in diameter, then 4"-6" thick would work great. Think large mixing bowl.  All of these blanks should be free of the pith and first few growth rings, though.

But just taking what the log will yield is what most of us do. ;)

BTW, Forestman,
That is Box elder you have there. Depending on the amount of red in the blank, you should be able to get some good $$ for it.  Sealing the end grain is all that is needed.  Although I see fully waxed blanks often.  
If those short logs are left in the round too long, it will be difficult to get check free blanks from them.  Especially with the Texas heat working on them.  Bury them with all those chips and you might buy some more time to get to them.  

[ForestMan]

Redleg, wow, better than expected.  Also, we even saw hackberry on there for turning blanks.  I just got a whole truckload of that.  Box elder sells for pretty good too it looks like.  Thanks for the tip.

[ForestMan]

I was digging through the pile that had box elder in it tonight.  Based on the prices I saw on ebay, I pulled out about $1000 or so worth of wood tonight.  We just bought some anchorseal to try to keep the wood from checking.  I already see a little of that in the wood now.  When the anchorseal gets here, I'll cover the ends of the box elder first.  That's going to make some very nice turned items.  I wish I had a lathe now (and knew how to use one).  Mabe I'll get one after a while.

[Left Coast Chris]

Here is another perspective:  The tree service is likely cutting to shorter lenghts so he can load them by hand.   You could offer to go pick up longer logs if you have a trailer or can otherwise haul them yourself.  That approach may be a win-win situation for you and the tree service.

[ForestMan]

That is a great idea.  We have approached the tree guy with it and he wants to think about it.  I don't know why he wouldn't jump at the chance.  Less sawing for him.  Mabe it is a liability issue?  Who knows.

[SwampDonkey]

The lesser demand species I'd make firewood. But, if you had some figured wood for turning, make blanks. Also, keep in mind much of the stuff a wood worker makes in his shop is made from boards under 4 feet long. If you had some 16" Θ cherry, oak, ash, maple slice her up if you don't want just turning blanks. Heck, I'd buy a pickup load of nice 3 foot, cherry, ash, birch boards any day. Much nicer to handle in the hobby shop than 12 foot boards, since I'll have to break down that 12' board to build most anything. Of course you have to know your markets, no one wants to turn out this stuff and have to sit on it for ever in the barn with no pay.  ;)

Of course I couldn't steam bend a 4' ash board into an 8' ski or 12' brush guard.  :-\

Delema of Steam Bending a 12 Footer in a 8 Foot Steam Chest ;)

[Magicman]

When you are taking a tree down from the top, short blocks is the normal. Not as much sway when the block kicks over, and doesn't upset the customer's yard as badly when they hit the ground.

[sigidi]

Another thing, old mate tree lopper may be wary of 'leaving' longer bits for you to take away as he will be the one getting cranky calls from customers when the longer logs are still in their yard and also he will be the one losing word of mouth business - seems to be the situation with a lot of the guys I contact down here... they have been burnt before and won't do it again.

[ForestMan]

Those are both very good points Magicman and sidigi.  He does work an urban environment.  He has offered to try to cut longer logs.  I may get 4' out of them.  But your points ring true and are probably things he has to think about.

[Left Coast Chris]

I have been getting increasing calls from a tree service that finds it easier for me to pick up a butt log.   He does not want to handle the 24" diameter and up and I love to get them.   The last was two sycamore 30" to 36" in diameter.  I am very careful to prove myself by picking them up the same day or following day so he can close the removal obligation with the home owner.   Its all about trust and reputation and establishing a relationship with the tree service.   Sounds like you may be able to build a relationship over time with the service mentioned.  One other issue, I did have to get a metal detector as urban logs have metal as we are all aware.

[Qweaver]

I'm surprised that the tree service does not process the shorts into firewood.  I have a friend here in WV that owns a tree service and he claims that firewood production is a large part of his income.  Maybe you are in a part of Texas where the market for firewood is low.  They would not go to waste here.  I hope you find a way to profit from them.

[ely]

also the tree cutter in the bucket truck may not be comfortable cutting longer lenghts. i know thats the case here. i have shown several of them a few ideas and i do get some longer logs now.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

We sell wood turning blanks on ebay and also to local wood working clubs and yes they do fetch a good price. In fact most of the wood I cut on my mill is geared to the hobby wood turning trade. Here are a few suggestions for you to consider to maximize profit and minimize effort:

1. Wood is heavy and expensive to ship, but the postal office flat rate boxes are a blessing in this arena. You can ship anything you can fit inside the three flat rate size boxes for a single flat rate. Their middle size box can take 100 pen turning blanks and can ship for under $11.00. If you do a little planning and figuring, you can often get 3 to 4 wood bowl blanks in their largest size flat rate box. Using a band saw and cutting them round instead of leaving them square helps to get more in a box.

2. Many wood turners, myself included, prefer to turn green wood. I do not recommend anchor seal, but rather sealing them with wax. It is much cheaper and much neater to use. A 10 lb block of wax can be bought for around $10 and will cover hundreds of wood blanks. What I use is a large electric table top turkey roaster filled with about 20 lbs of wax. Just quickly dip the wood blank and by the time you remove and set it down the wax is already hardened. If it is too big to dip in one single dip, just turn it 180 degrees and dip it from the other end. Always take your picture of the blanks before dipping it in wax because after you dip it you will not be able to see all the nice  grains and colors that will get the the higher ebay bids.

3. Set up your table saw to cut 3/4 x 3/4 stips from you scrap boards, then cut them to 5.5 inches longon your chop saw and sell them for pen blanks on ebay. In one hours time you should be able to cut well over 500 of them. More common woods like oak and maple will fetch you about 10 cents each, but some nicely colored red cedar will get you closer to $1 per blank.

[Wallys World]

Forest Man - I am using 3/4" pipe clamps attached to a wooden frame with 3/4" conduit clamps. You clamp the fixture in your mill, and then put the log on top of the pipe clamps and tighten down. The one I made will take 4 feet long.

[metalspinner]

If the blanks are bandsawed round prior to sale, that would limit the potential use of the wood.  I turn many more small projects that start out as bowl blanks then are cut down into many small turning blocks.  I also buy bowl blanks to make bandsawn boxes or whatever.

That being said, some turners I know like to buy round blanks because they don't know how (or care enough) to tune their bandsaws to get good results. :