Planing green wood

[sawwood]

 I have some White Oak Logs that i will have milled soon,
 Has any one planed them ofter milling and befor stacking?
 I have read some where that it will help drying more even
 and that way they will dry flater. If so would my woodmaster
 planer be ok to use ?  The Oaks are 34" across and 10'
 long so will have a fair amount of lumber and have 4 logs
 to mill. I don't want to handle them any more then i have
 to and if planing will help will do so. Thanks for any help.

 Sawwood

[Texas Ranger]

I am not a mill hand, and some of those boys will be here soon, but.

You'll lose wood.  The drying will discolor and you will have to replane, two trips over the planer.

[dewwood]

Sawwood,

Planing when green is not a good idea, especially white oak.  You will get reaction and immediate staining of the wood and all of the metal components it comes in contact with including your planer.  Also as the last post indicated you will end up with less wood and more labor because any movement in the wood during drying will result in planing the wood a second time to flatten it out again and you will have less than your desired final thickness.

Dewey

[Don P]

The only thing I've read on preplaning had to do with checking. By having a smooth surface without small tears caused by sawing there was more surface strength so less checking...sounds fine in theory but I don't have such aggresive drying conditions in the shed that surface checking is a problem, maybe in a green from the saw drying setup thats pushing things through fast? I get a fair amount of building supplies that have been planed too wet, too fast, too dull and the tear out is a problem...wet wood is half as strong as dry and tends to rip apart with the grain.
I've planed some of my less than fine efforts just so they would stack before :D

[Don P]

Found the reference, read chapter 3 "Drying Hardwood Lumber" :P

"Lumber that is manufactured to a uniform thickness will promote more uniform drying because thicker lumber dries slower than does thinner lumber; the thickness of the lumber determines drying time. If excessively thick lumber could be reduced to an acceptable average thickness, drying times could be reduced as much as 25% with an accompanying savings of 10% energy usage (Wengert 1990). Also, less warp occurs in uniformly thick lumber because the stickers can seperate the lumber effectively. Sawing variation of less than 1/32" is becoming common in hardwood mills. If accurately sawn lumber is not available, presurfacing lumber (planing both faces) or blanking (planing one face) to a uniform thickness before stacking for drying hardwood increases the useable volume of a unit package, increases drying speed, and reduces the amount of warp
.....................................................................
Some firms purchase lumber that has been inaccurately sawn and has rough surface characteristics. Research has shown that presurfacing lumber to remove all fine saw marks substantially reduces surface checking in oak....
.............
Several furniture manufacturers have succesfully used presurfacing to improve drying. As an added benefit, surfacing to a uniform thickness, when the lumber has not been precisely sawn, helps to control warp. The best way to address the problems of poor surface quality and sizing is to work directly with the sawmill rather than modifying drying practices.
..............
It is theorized that that a roughsawn surface has a large number of minute tears from sawing. When planed the surface becomes much stronger and better able to withstand the tension forces of drying. In one study, rough, unplaned lumber had 11 times more surface checks than did presurfaced lumber.
...........
To presurface lumber routinely the thickness may have to be increased slightly. The typical size of 4/4 lumber is 1.03, because at least .09" would be required for planing allowance, rough lumber should be no thinner than 1.12". "

It goes on to say tha blanking does not realize the benefits with regards to surface checking but does realize the benefits of uniform sizing.

[sawwood]

 Ok Thanks all. That is what i had heard and i didn't know
 if any of you had planed befor drying. Sounds like if the
 sawer can cut the log to a close dimension then you will
 have not much trouble in drying. I have him cut it to 1 1/4"
 thick for 4/4 lumber. I know that may be a little over but
 i like to have some added materal to play with. I think i
 will him quarter saw these log.

  Sawwood

[Tom]

Just remember that your sawyer, if he is charging by the board foot, will be looking for that 1 1/4" to be measured as a 5/4 board when he counts up.

I got caught in a situation not to terribly long ago when a customer moved my sawing thickness form 1 1/8" to 1 1/4" and then to 1 3/8" and before I left was wanting 1 1/2" under the pretext that  he  needed that to make a 1" board. The boards were cut true, he was looking at retailing 5/4 and was going to get it cut for 4/4 prices.   Needless to say, I'll not go back but please don't do that to your sawyer.

[sawwood]

 Tom i have been using this guy for about 5 years now. I help
 him cut some times so we both know each outher. Also he
 charges buy the hour most of the time. I know from past
 times that cutting quarter sawn that it takes longer. Do you
 guys charge differant if you quarter saw ? I am trying to
 work a deal with a tree service that has a large dump site
 that i know has a lot of good logs. How does the cut on
 shares work? Or is there a better deal i can use to see if
 we can cut them up?

  Sawwood

[Tom]

Some charge different to quartersaw but I don't.  I just saw whatever happens to be on my mill the way they want it.  I'm probably losing money here but gain it in other areas, like advertising and contented customers.

Cutting on shares is a good deal for you but not on the fellow who has no ready market for the lumber.  I shy away from cutting on shares for that reason.

Tree service wood has a lot of tramp metal.  Be sure you check these logs with a metal detector or you will have a nightmare.  If the logs are clean it may prove to be a real bonanza for you. (some tree services are just glad to get rid of the logs)