To sell or wait.

[longtime lurker]

Desired thickness will vary somewhat depending on the overall dimensions of the slab and local usage.

Rough sawn around here and not allowing for leveling out cup that might develop:
Coffee table size slabs - 6/4
Bar size slabs - 8/4 to 10/4
Big slabs - 10/4 to 12/4 depending on width

Best way to look at it is what the desired finished size will be and add up from there to allow for shrinkage, dressing, and whatever cup you need to level out to start with. Desired finished size can often depend on the purchaser: mostly around here normal to large size dining tables are probably around 7/4 to 8/4 thick finished, but I've got one guy that specializes in big heavy slab furniture and on a slab over 48"wide he likes them at 16/4 rough sawn, at that size even with machinery everything to do with them is painful



 



 


Some of his work. The butchers block I knew when it was a tree, and it resides in our kitchen. Takes 2 people to lift it now... and it's an off cut off a conference room table!

[YellowHammer]

They get burned because of all things that can go wrong drying a slab, only some of them are overcome by air drying, and there are still a few surprises left that can bite them.  Bugs is a big one, but warp, twist, bow, end splits, end cracks, heart checks, inconsistent moisture content, unpredictable wood movement, and just plain disappointment are common occurrences when drying slabs. 

As several people have said, taking slabs from log to finished product is a balancing act of managing degrade and time.  It takes experience and hard knocks to minimize time, maximize throughput, minimize degrade, and optimize profit. 

For example, if I buy $5,000 of walnut logs, I have several options.  I can saw as 4/4, air dry for a month, kiln them and have them on the rack and sold in maybe 3 months.  With 4/4 I can minimize degrade, dry fast and sell fast, and get my money back with profit.  If I mill slabs, I have at least 6 months drying time and will not be able to sell for 9 months to a year.  Meanwhile, my money is locked up, and I have no return on investment.  Considering I need to have several different loads of walnut slabs in process to keep my inventory stable, I may have many thousands of dollars locked up. 
Anyway, from a business standpoint, drying slabs is problematic, and with some species, in my opinion, not worth the effort.  So over the years, I've basically down selected to a few species that make good slabs in a relatively short period of time, and completely ignore the others.  Characteristics I consider are maximum allowable drying rate, tendency to move, possibility of sticker stain, general internal log stress, and others.  Mainly, from a business standpoint, the most important is profit potential.

[cliffreaves]

Man! Does he have a crane lift those bad boys!?! Ha ha... he definitely does great work.  It seems like most people around here have had to completely adapt to 4/4 boards to make everything.   It's one of the main reasons I wanted to mill, because I had a need for thicker lumber and assumed others did as well.  The only place (storefront) that sells 8/4 lumber within 50 miles of me charges between $8-$12 bd ft for the more desired species.  Custom mills are too few and far between.

[cliffreaves]

I'm thinking slabs could only be a mildly profitable side business thing for a fella such as myself.  If I had the equipment and expenses, I would have no choice but to plan and mill like a lot of you get to.  I have a free logs, a chainsaw, and a bad habit of learning things the hard way. 😂

[longtime lurker]

mmm, maybe.  The idea of no other source of lumber in 50 miles (assuming theres enough people around to give some demand) is a sawmillers dream come true, so long as you can get a regular supply of logs.

Theres no rule that says you cant saw both slabs and dimension lumber, and theres no rule that says you cant saw slabs at regular dimension lumber thicknesses and then rip them into dimension lumber later if thats what market demand calls for. You can do it with a chainsaw slabber and a pretty basic circular rip saw if your back is strong. But it sounds like a perfect job for a swingmill (Lucas, Peterson, Turbosaw etc etc) with blade and slabber and the levelling attachment: they're quite versatile that way.

At the end of the day we each of us have to decide if this is a business or a hobby. If its a hobby it can be still quite profitable but as with all hobbies its what you do weekends and afternoons and it doesnt matter so much if theres not regular cashflow coming in from it.

If its a business then you have to treat it like a business, and thats a whole different way of looking at things. Theres a whole heap of accumulated knowledge here about running a sawmilling business, but as you can see we all look at it differently because at the end of the day even though we all do the same basic thing - turn logs into lumber - our businesses are all different so what we do, how we do it, and what we do it with is specific to each operation.

[WDH]

I saw at 9/4.  That is 2 3/8" thick.  Most slabs will plane out to a full 2", and that is the magical thickness for many people.  I get calls from people who want slabs that are "2 inches thick".  If you saw at two inches, you will end up with a planed thickness of 1 5/8" or so.  In my book, that is not "2 inches thick".

Also, if you are cutting your 4/4 at 1 1/8" thick, standard for rough sawn hardwood, and if you want a slab, all you have to do is drop two cuts.  The first drop is 1 1/8", like if you were sawing a standard 4/4 board, the next drop is also 1 1/8", but because you did not make a cut between the two drops, there is another 1/8" from the saw kerf that you did not take.  That gives you a board that is 2 3/8" thick, and you can easily switch back and forth between 4/4 and 9/4 without making any adjustment cuts.  That is another advantage of sawing slabs at 9/4 or 2 3/8" thick. 

I can produce some very high quality slabs, and I price accordingly. 

[tule peak timber]

 

  I cut and stack slabs all year long looking for future sales down the line. They get labels and are cataloged for customers looking for that "special piece of wood". The market here is for KD product, so it is necessary to look out about 3-5 years for payback. In the meantime I work my secondary shop for cash flow.  Rob

[ozarkgem]

  I cut and stack slabs all year long looking for future sales down the line. They get labels and are cataloged for customers looking for that "special piece of wood". The market here is for KD product, so it is necessary to look out about 3-5 years for payback. In the meantime I work my secondary shop for cash flow.  Rob

Man you are the slab king!

[Peter Drouin]

I keep some, But they take forever to sell and take too much room.