Up-coming hickory - I'm nervous (SOLD)

[WV Sawmiller]

I cut a slab off a small spruce several weeks ago and it jumped 6" high when it came free. Seems like the rest of the boards coming off were not too bad.

[YellowHammer]

I sawed five skinny 12 footers today for a customer, and the boards lifted off the cant like carrot peels, it was pitiful.
I was talking to the owner of the business who planes my wood and he said a customer came in with a big stack of kiln dried hickory a few weeks ago, (it had to be as hard as a rock) and he said it dulled the planer blades so fast he thought his guys were planing concrete.  He said he could hear the planer screaming from his office. 

So looking at the bright side, there is something worse than sawing hickory.....its planing it. :D

[gfadvm]

I sawed five skinny 12 footers today for a customer, and the boards lifted off the cant like carrot peels, it was pitiful.
I was talking to the owner of the business who planes my wood and he said a customer came in with a big stack of kiln dried hickory a few weeks ago, (it had to be as hard as a rock) and he said it dulled the planer blades so fast he thought his guys were planing concrete.  He said he could hear the planer screaming from his office. 

So looking at the bright side, there is something worse than sawing hickory.....its planing it. :D

I built a coffee table with hickory that was too wide to go through my planer so I scraped it with a card scraper. That is worse than sawing or planing it.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Saw the guy at the flea market today and he told me he had sold the whole load of hickory the same day we cut it. Said he sent a picture to his brother who immediately bought it all. The guy got the bug and now wants a mill.  His brother told him he is crazy. That has never stopped any of us yet has it?

[Larry]

I've found sawing a few inches off the ends of the log helps when they have laid around for any length of time.

As Marty suggested sawing around the log first, before cutting lumber helps with the tension.  I sometimes do that with other species as well.