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Milling truck bed decking from river red gum

Started by David B, November 06, 2024, 12:08:10 PM

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David B

I have an 8'x12' bed I want to deck with 1" boards. I have an oval log 21" dia  x 28" dia x 14'.  Euc cracks and warps a lot. I have been advised to avoid the pith. I'm wondering what the best way to mill it is. Maybe boards on the narrower side will twist less? right now the truck has 7" wide apitong boards, breaking down. Planning to screw it down green.

Thanks 
Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

RetiredTech

The only thing I could suggest is that you use the driest wood you can find. Green wood is going to shrink and leave gaps in your truck bed. Good luck with your project. Share some pictures when you get it done.
Philippians 4:8

Branson 4520R, EA Wicked Root Grapple, Dirt Dog Pallet Forks, Woodland Mills CM68 Chipper
Echo cs-450 & cs-620p , Husqvarna 136, Poulan Pro, and Black Max Chainsaws
Partially built bandsaw mill

TimW

Mahindra 6520 4WD with loader/backhoe and a Caterpiller E70 Excavator.  My mill is a Woodmizer LT40HD Wide 35hp Yanmar Diesel. An old Lull 644D-34 called Bull

David B

Eucalyptus 


Somewhere on here another fella said he screwed it down green to prevent warp. A little bit of gaps are ok, will let the dirt fall thru. Once desert dried, Euc is quite hard and hard to work with, and also full of cracks. 
Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

RetiredTech

Well I learned something today. I thought you meant ERC and just hit the wrong key. ffcheesy
Philippians 4:8

Branson 4520R, EA Wicked Root Grapple, Dirt Dog Pallet Forks, Woodland Mills CM68 Chipper
Echo cs-450 & cs-620p , Husqvarna 136, Poulan Pro, and Black Max Chainsaws
Partially built bandsaw mill

caveman

Ian, surely has a lot more knowledge about Eucalyptus than I do.  There are many species with different characteristics.  The ones we have sawn were smooth barked, and the wood was red.  The pith would split due to tension, but the wood away from the juvenile wood behaved a lot better than I anticipated it would.

Caveman

David B

Progress
Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

Ianab

You can see the pith check opening up in that 3rd picture. Basically the slab is going to split in 1/2. Not the end of the world, as you can (should?) rip 2 quarter sawed boards from it. 

Because eucalyptus is such a huge family of trees, that are hard to ID, it's also hard to give advice. If you aren't worried about a bit of bowing / uneven gaps, then screw it down green and let it dry in place. It can't move much that way. 
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

David B

The extras are going to be something pretty 

Unfortunately, my wife says the color clashes with most people's decor. 🤦🏻�♂️😆
Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

David B

Screwing it down green and promptly coating with boiled linseed oil seems to have worked great.
Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

David B

Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

David B

That being said, I'm not sure quartersawing is worth the extra effort and waste for truck decking.

Found bed pics.

IMG_9820.jpegIMG_9819.jpeg

Machine and welding shop day job, trees after work.

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