I am starting a small shop, and have logs delivered to our farm. I am just starting now, wanting to dry out logs.
Currently I am using Acacia logs of about 8-18" diameter. THe larger ones that are straighter i am wanting to mill into boards eventually but i have bad cracking problem.
To give an idea of my area we are on 22.5 N latitude. its always humid, but not enough for the logs. i have them on tarps and covered by tarps, its rainy season now so its all standing water, few inches, on the ground cover tarps. Still have bad cracking in center. My worry is because i d this mostly by hand or small machines, i am limited in log weight and thus they are not really long. longest is about 12' but most are about 8 +/-.
I have photos on my phone, but have not yet figure out how to upload onto my computer.
so the biggest thing i am looking to learn about is care of the logs when they are first arrived (freshly cut). Should i dry them as a og, or cut them green and dry them? The acacia wood here is hard, heavy and cracks. THe closest thing i can think of is arbutus in canada/usa. Its more grainy than that and not as brittle, but dries and warps similar from my limited experiences. Any help would be wonderful
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Trying to decipher where you might be "in the tropics". A location in your bio would help.
Pics can be posted easily, and first you need to set up your own gallery in this Forum for a place to put your pics. Then you post each of them for discussion in a thread. Not a depository for all your pics, just the ones you want to show in a post.
Go to "Behind the Forum" under the Home menu button and the first thread there will give you a primer on posting pics. Look forward to seeing them and hearing about them.
Keeping logs off the ground and not wrapped in plastic is a good way to manage them if sitting very long. Or submerged in water if for a longer spell.
Is "starting a small shop" for sawing the logs, or are you building a shop to use the lumber from the logs?
QuoteShould i dry them as a log, or cut them green and dry them?
Almost always best to saw the log into boards ASAP and then dry the boards.
Drying a log takes a LONG time, it's likely to crack and split in various ways, and it can be attacked by bugs and fungus while it's still green. Then if you do get it dried, the wood is MUCH harder to saw when dry.
Ian
Acacia consists of over 1000 species, so more info is needed. Koa, in Hawaii, is one. As lumber, it dries very easily. As a log, it dries with some splitting.
When you refer to damage in the center, do you mean the center of the log or center of the lumber?
Do you have an iPhone? When you see a photo, there is a box with an upward arrow that is used to share a photo. There is also air drop.
Thanks guys. I will try and clarify. I am in far south Taiwan. We have wet and dry season, but dry means no rain still humid though.
My logs are being stacked on top of tarps. I have tarps on top too to prevent instant cracking. Logs left in sun crack in day. Maybe open wall shed is needed?
My shop might be split in two now. I want to take logs into do.wished products. But it's the milling stage I am unfamiliar with.
I think my first step is portable band saw type mill I can load on a truck.
The damage would be splitting from center rings outward, looking at the ends.
Igo to phone store today and learn pictures.
Sounds like classic end checking. Happens in any climate and most species of wood, but warm conditions will speed it up. What happens is that wood dries MUCH faster via the exposed end grain of the log. As it dries it starts to shrink, and so cracks open up in the end of the log. These usually go 6-12" into the wood, so on a short log you can loose a lot of material.
To slow that end checking you can paint the end of the log with a wax product that slows down that moisture loss. This also helps with sawn boards as well which can suffer the same problem.
I guess you will have problems obtaining a commercial end sealer in your part of the world? Melting normal paraffin wax (candle or sealing wax) and painting a coat of that over the end of the log will help. It's not as convenient as the wax emulsions that are formulated specially for this, but it will help. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Once the cracks have started the wax is less effective.
But the best option is still to get yourself some sort of sawmill running so you can process the logs into boards and get them drying. A small bandsaw mill is probably the easiest to fabricate locally?
Ian
Very good thank you. Machines are easy to source here, maybe even easier than the west. Problem is translating English to mandarin, also my farm is on small road, so delivery is hard.
I think a bandsaw mill small enough to tow or pack onto small flatbed truck is needed.
I will post pictures later when I figure it out :)
OK here is logs. See the big long curve one, it is 15" diameter and around 20' long. I am using those short little scraps in parallel rows and stacking the logs on top of them to get the m off the ground (not shown in pictures). then the tarp is thrown over top. But looks like sawing it fresh is going to be my next step.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36764/logs.jpg)
Pending success on these cheaper logs, I also really want to work with mango wood and other fruit trees. I think big old wax apple trunks would be amazing wood for fine woodworking, but never cut into it.
Looks like fast growing stuff. You might also consider a Lucas type mill for portability. Or a lighter type band mill that either has wheels or comes apart for transport.
The crookedness of the logs indicates high internal stress which will result in considerable end splitting that cannot be well controlled with end coating.
Great thanks. I think I will buy theses and get custom table to slide built to the truck bed. Not sure yet. My road is small so the truck in picture is max size.
These logs are already exceptionally straight. This species is mountainous and heavy wind warp them. I think maybe the stress you mention can be same if cut green??
Growth stress does not go away by drying. I cannot think of any situation where waiting before sawing is helpful.
Biota,welcome to the forum. Looks like you have some logs to take care of. These guys know their wood. Good luck to you.
Biota...welcome aboard. You can relieve a lot of stress in those more crooked logs by docking them into 4-6' lengths. cut out the bends as well. Most cabinet and furniture work won't use anything over 6' or so anyway. Definitely saw fresh logs and air dry the lumber. if you have pressurized water, run a hose and sprinkler to the log yard and keep them wet during the day. Do you know which tree in the acacia family those are? I'm curious to know.