Branch saw logs?

[TBrown99]

 When is it desirable to use large branches as sawmill logs?

I had a large black cherry come down in the woodland this Winter and there are a few shorter yet clear branch sections...

(Seems that short pieces from branches can be marketed... Is tension still going to be an issue there?)

 Do the likely issues (excess stress in the wood grain) out weight benefits?

[beenthere]

Never, if it is boards you want.

Bowl turning stock should be okay.

[Jeff]

Agree. Never. Branches are not logs.

[Don P]

I go through a lot of 4' 6x6's, 3x3's and 4x4's. Dunnage and cribbing. That is what I use those chunks for. They end up left, rotting or in the fire but some branches get that "best and highest use" on the way.

[Old Greenhorn]

Dunnage, yeah, but keep 'em short and keep you expectations low.
The other use that popped into my head was something I learned from Brad BB here, using the for curved braces, as I recall he cut a lot of them. But again, keep your expectations low. For lumber I can't see any way that will end well.
 OH yeah, and they doo make good mushroom logs if they are not curved too much and of the proper sepcies, but that nit milling, it's bucking.

[SawyerTed]

Writing pen blanks, carving blanks, turning blanks and very short boards for small boxes and the like can be cut from branch wood.  But expect lots of secondary processing to get anything usable.

Expecting more than relatively short pieces to dry in usable condition is a waste of time.

[Magicman]

Limbs ain't logs. They spend their entire life doing their job which is supporting an unbalanced load.  Energy/tension is stored within limbs that is released when they are sawed.

[jpassardi]

I'm with Don: short dunnage or firewood.

[Larry]

Highest value for cherry, walnut, and maple limbs will be turning stock, maybe.

I sawed a bunch of cherry limbs into bowl turning blanks for a beginners bowl turning class at a craft school that I helped teach. The little left overs are cut again into blanks for Christmas ornaments and the last bits become kindling. Sometimes it gets cut for treenware.

If I have big limbs and a few of them I begin on the sawmill by making two cuts to remove the pith. Nest step is to crosscut with a chainsaw. A good turner may be able to get three or more bowls out of a blank by using a method called coring.

In my first sentence I said maybe. Recreational wood turners are notoriously cheap. A professional bowl turner knows the value and will buy, but not many of them around.
 

[Machinebuilder]

I have lots of branch wood I've cut up and saved, mostly cherry, hickory, apple, pecan.

I get them into fist size chunks and use them for smoking

[Joe Hillmann]

Curved benches.

 I have put a few on the mill so they curved sideways off the mill and cut them in half with the mill.  I usually do half the cut, stop, reposition the log and then finish the cut.  I then use the half logs as benches.  One was very curved and made a half circle and needed to be re positioned on the mill 3 times.

I always thought a person could make money with a small, manual mill by making curved half log or curved slab benches if they had the right connections with loggers or tree trimmers to get lots of curved branches in the 10 -20 inch diameter range. 

[Magicman]

Or you could make crooked benches:

[TBrown99]

 Hold the horses folks!

And what about fireplace mantels?

(Thanks for mentioning curved benches.)

[Magicman]

Did I hear someone mention curved benches??

[fluidpowerpro]

Those are neat. I think I'll make one for by my fire pit.
How did you do the curved back?

[Magicman]

It is much easier when someone else does it.  I was only the admirer.