Wood Species For Sawmilling

[AndrewB]

Hey im picking a woodland mills hm130max this week, going to be building a pole barn style shop with a little living space at the back, was wondering if there are any guides are where best to find information on wood species and what each one is best used for, ill be gathering the logs myself and dont want to be fussy with what species i go trying to find and would like to make use of the stuff others usually scoff at.

Alot of Aspen (poplar) and Silver Maple in the area, a little bit of yellow birch, and a couple species of pine and spruce, im sure theres some oak and hemlock scattered around but i dont know how to eye them at all

Im in eastern canada, trying to come up with a list of what logs to use for studs/framing and joists, what can be used for exterior siding most likely in a bevel lap configuration with stain put onto it, and what should stay off the house and be used to make some sheds, sawmill covers, and fencing boards

can i post links on this forum to information regarding my post or will any links to external sites be flagged/removed?

[doc henderson]

shelters over the decades have been made from local available resources.  especially before mass transportation evolved.  framing is usually a soft wood species.  flooring and trim are typically hardwood species.  shingles and siding should be rot resistant.  The topic of specific qualities is a massive topic and requires years to learn.  many 100 y/o homes built here are framed with cottonwood (hardwood) as it grew along the rivers and streams.  Flooring can be made from pine (softwood).  Are you building a timber frame, or stud framed home?  I am trying to get the conversation started.  you can search and find answers to questions already asked.  others will chime in.  specific questions will get you more detailed focused information.  congrats on the mill, and welcome to the forum.
p.s. it may help to know your background.  I have no idea from what point on that learning curve you are starting.  there are wood data bases, and books on tree ID.  I am tempted to give you basic info, but do not want to spend time telling you stuff you already know,  

[Nebraska]

Welcome, Good luck with your new mill. 
Silver Maple and aspen are good places to start with framing lumber. You may need to check on building codes/ requirements before you start.

[AndrewB]

Welcome, Good luck with your new mill.
Silver Maple and aspen are good places to start with framing lumber. You may need to check on building codes/ requirements before you start.

do you have any experience using these for framing or milling them at all, ive read a couple books last night and flipped through some information, that makes me believe while not ideal or rot resistant you can do anything you want with aspen other then put it in the ground, silver maple im not so sure of i cant seem to find any mention of it being used as lumber or siding

[moodnacreek]

Thinking back when I started sawmilling. We had plenty of the wrong trees on the place like aspen and sycamore so that is where I started because when you are young and have a new toy you go right to work of course.  These days I don't fool with that unless there is a blocking order. Any straight softwood should be  the way to start making lumber. White pine is about the easiest to saw and dry. However any true pine will stain in warm weather. Oak and cherry are quite forgiving but being hardwood may not saw so straight as the softwoods. Hard maple can really be a problem, the logs must be fresh and stickered twice. It will twist and cup and split as it dries fast. It also tends to turn gray and even if you don't care the sticker stain looks terrible and will never plane out. Always try to find cedar, you will love it. Hemlock [full of splinters] is easy to saw and useful as is red pine and red pine can be used for most anything, the hemlock is too course for interior use. Read all you can on sawing instructions and air drying. Learn to identify log defects like hemlock shake and red rot in pine. Good luck.

[AndrewB]

shelters over the decades have been made from local available resources.  especially before mass transportation evolved.  framing is usually a soft wood species.  flooring and trim are typically hardwood species.  shingles and siding should be rot resistant.  The topic of specific qualities is a massive topic and requires years to learn.  many 100 y/o homes built here are framed with cottonwood (hardwood) as it grew along the rivers and streams.  Flooring can be made from pine (softwood).  Are you building a timber frame, or stud framed home?  I am trying to get the conversation started.  you can search and find answers to questions already asked.  others will chime in.  specific questions will get you more detailed focused information.  congrats on the mill, and welcome to the forum.
p.s. it may help to know your background.  I have no idea from what point on that learning curve you are starting.  there are wood data bases, and books on tree ID.  I am tempted to give you basic info, but do not want to spend time telling you stuff you already know,  

i can tell a pine from a leaf and thats about it hahah, did read a few books on the topic last night,Native Trees of Canada by RC Hosie, Trees of Nova Scotia by Gary Saunders, and a US Ag report from Louis Rees on "Aspen Lumber for building purposes"
that last one was written in 1947 i believe and is quite interesting, only a dozen pages long, talks about the strengths and weakness's of the stuff and steps to take to over come the weakness's, mentions buildings being sided with the stuff still in good shape 20years later

[Don P]

Just for the numbers part of that question.
Aspen has published "allowable strength values" used for sizing studs joists and rafters. Silver maple design values are a little hidden, it is in the group "mixed maple" in the span tables and calcs. It is not that easy at least for me to get one of size at quality but red maple is specifically given its own set of strength values, it is the structural maple. If you have some good ones they are joists or rafters. I pretty much borate most hardwood to keep the critters out.

[etd66ss]

Welcome, Good luck with your new mill.
Silver Maple and aspen are good places to start with framing lumber. You may need to check on building codes/ requirements before you start.

Yeah, I talked to my local building inspector. He said for non-residential, I can use any species listed in the NDS design value tables, but I would need plans with an engineering stamp on them to build with sawn lumber. Poplar and Silver maple have design values, and from my research, Silver Maple is about 68% as strong as Douglas Fir when it comes to the span tables.

If there is living space in the structure, then no, it is not possible to use sawn lumber unless you get it graded + having an engineers' stamp of approval. (In my part of NYS)

If I were to build a pole barn out of store bought lumber, I would only need engineering approval for the roof trusses.
So I think the moral of the story is you need to talk to the local building inspector about species, sawn lumber for residential use, etc. Local townships can also augment the NDS and require things above and beyond the national building codes.  Basically more government overreach etc...

[SawyerTed]

There's nothing so satisfying as starting with a cut list and cutting out the lumber you need for a project.  There's nothing so disappointing as seeing that lumber dry into "designer firewood."  I've been there and done that.

For your framing the pines and spruces will be likely be your best bets if you can source enough logs that are big enough to make milling worth while.  With a bit of practice and experience you can get the framing lumber you need to dry in usable condition.  Building with the pines and spruces will be easier, it will take fasteners better and as long as it is under roof (no ground contact) will last a very long time.

The other materials like siding, paneling, flooring and trim can be from whatever you've got so long as your construction methods keep it from staying wet, from ground contact etc AND you paint/stain/treat the wood properly and maintain it.  

[K-Guy]

This link has some useful information on different wood species. One feature you may like is they tell you common uses.

https://www.wood-database.com/wood-finder/

[Walnut Beast]

That is handy. I've looked at that several times 👍

[Don P]

The US Forest Products Labs is another good resource. Chapter 1 or 2 of the Wood Handbook there has good descriptions of common uses. There is a wealth of info on their site. I've read reports as far back as 1919 discussing ash and auto frames of the day :D.