A day cutting wood

Peter Drouin · January 05, 2018, 06:19:37 PM

The sweetgum up here cuts nice and straight. :D

Southside · January 05, 2018, 07:29:54 PM

Oh it cuts nice and straight here too....

Peter Drouin · January 06, 2018, 07:37:51 AM

Just kidding Southside, No sweet up here . Maybe someone can tell us how far north it goes?

Sixacresand · January 06, 2018, 09:47:16 AM

I will be going with the Pine instead of sweet gum. Gum comes "ALIVE" when milled.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 06, 2018, 11:37:02 AM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on January 06, 2018, 07:37:51 AM
Just kidding Southside, No sweet up here . Maybe someone can tell us how far north it goes?

About as far as Grits. :D

47sawdust · January 07, 2018, 10:49:27 AM

No sweet gum,but poplar will sometimes follow you down the log when sawing.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 07, 2018, 11:48:23 AM

Quote from: 47sawdust on January 07, 2018, 10:49:27 AM
No sweet gum,but poplar will sometimes follow you down the log when sawing.

Sometimes a Sweet Gum or stressed Poplar board will load itself on the trailer. :D

paul case · January 07, 2018, 03:34:58 PM

IF that happens do you still charge for loading?

$300?

PC

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 07, 2018, 03:43:32 PM

Quote from: paul case on January 07, 2018, 03:34:58 PM
IF that happens do you still charge for loading?

$300?

PC

Yes....the more stress in the wood the less stress for me. ;D

WV Sawmiller · January 07, 2018, 03:55:35 PM

Peter,

I can tell you sweetgum does not grow up this far. The few trees I have seen in WV were planted and not naturally occurring. I see it in Charlotte NC 200 miles south and maybe half way between. We had tons of it in Fla where I grew up.

I remember seeing the leaf in a medical display in Ulaanbataar, the capital of Mongolia, while I passing through there after leaving a project down in the Gobi desert so evidently it grows there and has some medical applications.

FWIW - A type of Chinaberry tree grows in Saudi Araibia and other parts of the mideast and is called a Neem tree. It is also used for some local medicines and teas and such over there. (Dad said hogs down in central Fla where he was raised would starve to death if there was a chinaberry tree around because they sit under it all day long waiting for a berry to fall then fighting over it when it did fall rather than getting out and foraging for readily available food.)

Peter Drouin · January 07, 2018, 08:40:30 PM

Darrel · January 07, 2018, 11:44:30 PM

Had a dog once that would sit all day under the persimmon tree when the 'simons were ripe.

Southside · January 08, 2018, 12:09:28 AM

I have seen some decent sized sweet gum in southern Joisey. Maybe it's the winter low that determines how far north it will grow as that area is pretty mild.

YellowHammer · January 08, 2018, 10:03:26 AM

Quote from: Darrel on January 07, 2018, 11:44:30 PM
Had a dog once that would sit all day under the persimmon tree when the 'simons were ripe.

I bet he was regular. :D :D :D

Bruno of NH · January 08, 2018, 10:19:02 AM

Peter
My sweet gum saws straight as an arrow over here too ;)
Bruno

Slingshot · January 08, 2018, 01:02:23 PM

My father-in-law told me about an old farmer back in the day who
cut down a gum tree and had it milled into boards that he used for
a farm wagon bed and when the boards dried out the wagon twisted
so bad that only one wheel was left sitting on the ground. :

____________________________________

hopm · January 08, 2018, 01:09:37 PM

Had a friend who had logs he wanted sawed. Told him to bring them to the mill and I would take care of it for him. When I went to see what he had brought it was all gum. Against my better judgement, I went ahead and sawed it. Wasn't bad at all and I sent it on it's way back to where it had come from. This was about 7 or 8 years ago. I was by his house last week and I noticed a tangled mess of rotting wood. It was the sweet gum. Twisted, bent, and bowed and now rotting too!!

caveman · January 08, 2018, 05:27:51 PM

On another thread WDH was mentioning planting some improved loblolly pines on his place. I followed the link he posted and the nursery also sells improved sweetgums. I have been wondering how they improved the sweetgum. Did they make the gumballs soft so that they do not hurt my bare feet? Did they precondition the trees to produce logs that will eventually produce high quality, straight boards? Did they improve the tree's benefit for wildlife? I have been cogitating on that for a few days now and would appreciate some enlightenment.

Darrel · January 08, 2018, 07:23:58 PM

Quote from: Slingshot on January 08, 2018, 01:02:23 PM

My father-in-law told me about an old farmer back in the day who
cut down a gum tree and had it milled into boards that he used for
a farm wagon bed and when the boards dried out the wagon twisted
so bad that only one wheel was left sitting on the ground. :
__________________________________

If that's how good sweet gum is, I'm going to make some apple boxes from green sweet gum and when the wood dries it will squeeze the cider out of the apples.

No can't do that sweet gum doesn't grow here.

Peter Drouin · January 08, 2018, 07:29:59 PM

One wheel, :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D, Thats bad. :D :D :D :D

WDH · January 08, 2018, 08:04:44 PM

Kyle,

Improved for fast growth. And, the faster it grows, the more it twists and warps :D.

Sixacresand · January 21, 2018, 04:07:05 PM

Quote from: Sixacresand on January 05, 2018, 09:42:58 AM
I will be milling some pine or sweet gum today to get some 3/4 X 8's for vertical siding and doors for a yard building. If I go with the gum, I will need to nail it ASAP to minimize warping. And as it dries, the gaps between the boards will be wider, but that is not an issue.

From log to wall in 6 days during some of our coldest days. I milled this pine to 1/2 inch thick X 8 inches wide, kinda to match the beaded masonite siding on the original building. When it dries, there will be gaps between the boards which is OK for a yard building lean to. Nancy will paint it anyway when it warms up. All I lack is putting hinges on the doors.