iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

saw basswood do ya?

Started by 4x4American, July 24, 2015, 08:18:11 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

4x4American

Sawed some basswood into dimensional lumber for a customer today.  He plans to use it in his new hog barn for pens and what not.  It sure sawed easy.  Anyone build with it much?

  He has alot of it on his 400 acre farm.  They were skidding logs right to the mill.  I could keep busy for a real long time there.  Lots of oak, maple, and ash too.

Boy, back in my day..

4x4American

Would you put it up green or wait awhile?  also does it dry decently?  It sawed really nice.  Not too much stress and the logs were good sized
Boy, back in my day..

Larry

Sounds like the worst possible use of basswood to me.

Yes, I like to saw it. :) 
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

4x4American

Thanks, Larry!  I haven't had any experience sawing or working with it, until today.  I have a cluster of them in my yard, and know what they look like, but didn't know what they're good for.  And that's why I love the friendly forestry forum 8)
Boy, back in my day..

4x4American

He's also building a bunch of chicken coops.  Has alot of projects on the farm and two hired carpenters.  I'm willing to bet he'll find a use for it.  I only sawed two basswood logs. one i made stickers out of and the other i made some 2x4s. The rest was hard maple.
Boy, back in my day..

Dave Shepard

It saws well, but can get fuzzy if the band isn't really sharp. I used a bout a board foot of it to make a tenon repair on a basswood stud in a barn I was repairing. I don't know what happened to all the rest of the lumber I sawed.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Knute

I like basswood. Used it for vertical siding on my garage 14 years ago and it is holding up well. Wood carvers like it also for decoys etc.

Bruno of NH

I think they use basswood in old airplanes .
Bruno
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

WV Sawmiller

   I sawed some in mid-May for my next door neighbor. Real easy sawing but I did not think it had the strength for what your customer is proposing. I'd heard it was used for carving, making skinning boards for fur trappers, and the bees love it if I remember correctly. They are pretty common around here and some are pretty good sized trees.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Larry

I think if possible, each species should go to its highest or best use.  I know some think basswood is a weed tree where it grows in abundance. 

Pallets of basswood carving blocks ready for shipment.



One of the highest uses I think, with minimal processing is for model aircraft planes.  Bringing over $10/bf will buy a lot of treated wood to use for pig pens.  Of course it takes knowledge, skill, and work to find those markets.  Way to much work for this old guy.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

YoungStump

Basswood works real good for fur stretchers as it does not harden when it dries like some other softwood species. I have some basswood and pine stretchers and the pine will make you want to say bad things and get blisters on your thumb from pushing in tacks.
Echo Enterprises 45HD2 production series band mill, Cook's Edger, sawing mostly pallet cants, rr ties, and grade lumber.

4x4American

Nice pallet of carving blocks!  How long does something like that take you from sawmill to pallet?
Boy, back in my day..

IndianaJoe

I thought that the model airplane guys used balsa.

4x4American

Quote from: IndianaJoe on July 24, 2015, 10:05:50 PM
I thought that the model airplane guys used balsa.


Yup I've been asked by a model airplane builder for balsa before!
Boy, back in my day..

Chuck White

I don't know for sure, but I've been told that they use Basswood for making bee hives!

Basswood is so fuzzy you can't even get a sliver from it!  (Old Saying)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

YellowHammer

I used to mill a small amount of basswood and sell it to customers, especially to carvers, not the decoy type but the ones who carve flat relief on boards, like portraits and emblems, as well as people who had computerized carving machines.  I had a lot of trouble with sticker stain, and most people seemed to consider it a specialty wood so the damand wasn't there, and I haven't sawn a basswood log in a couple years.   Got the logs dirt cheap at tie grade prices, and it sawed like butter.

I didn't know it was a bee hive wood, we have a lot of bee people here, and I never marketed to them.  Maybe I need to rethink. 

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Magicman

And they would not be concerned with sticker stain. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

GAB

Quote from: Chuck White on July 24, 2015, 10:14:23 PM
I don't know for sure, but I've been told that they use Basswood for making bee hives!

Basswood is so fuzzy you can't even get a sliver from it!  (Old Saying)

I was told by a Forester that Basswood was the best wood for bee hives because it did not impart a taste to the honey.  I personally have no experience, as I'm not into any bee related enterprises.
Basswood saws great but my experience is that it likes to move as it dries.  so I saw it large and after it air dries I resaw it to get it square again.
I keep some on hand for carvers.
Gerald
W-M LT40HDD34, SLR, JD 420, JD 950w/loader and Woods backhoe, V3507 Fransguard winch, Cordwood Saw, 18' flat bed trailer, and other toys.

SwampDonkey

I've seen it used for moulding, not fancy ogee stuff but plain rounded over stuff. Most people here would use white pine or maple for fancier moulding.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ox

We have a road and a crossroads up here called Basswood Rd. and Basswood Corners.  In the old days there was an old church out there, built entirely of basswood, hence the name of the area.  So apparently it can be used for other things not commonly known today.  This was in the early 1800s and nothing remains of the church today.  A house is now standing on the church site.  A guy I know, in his 60s, remembers the remains of the church standing there when he was a kid so apparently the basswood will stand up like other woods to the test of time.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

beenthere

As long as the basswood remains dry, then nothing to prevent it from lasting a long time.

But basswood just isn't as strong or as rot resistant as other woods, and those two things need to be taken into consideration.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

mesquite buckeye

Regarding the beehive question. I think basswood is best used on the internal parts like hanging frames and the small frames they use to produce comb honey. It rots way too fast exposed to the elements. Most of the supers and hive bodies, lids and so on are pine. I actually think a big improvement would be to use red cedar or black locust for external parts so they wouldn't be needing replacement as often. Old habits die hard....
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

Thank You Sponsors!