First time doing some real milling

George Zarifis · April 10, 2017, 04:57:12 AM

A tree at my school had been slowly dying for a few years and I finally volunteered to take it down. I don't have any pictures of it, but it was quite horrible. It was very rotten at the top ( the wood felt like a wet spunge) and it was full of cavities. It also had been severely pruned in the past in an effort to make it survive and pretty much only the trunk was left along with a small crotch at the top. Upon topping it this is what I found:

Two of the decay pockets were full of mouse poop and a bunch of mouse hair..

Fortunately, below the crotch the wood was quite sound, enough to be woth milling. Now comes the funny part. I made an alaskan type mill for my Stihl Ms 261 c-m and having just an 18" bar it gave me a maximum cut width of 14". I understand this is quite tiny but it got the job done.

Since the log was about 18" at the base and 15" at the top I had to turn it into a cant freehand, with the help of a chalk line. Then I just started cutting the slabs. I decided to cut the whole log into 6/4 slabs as I would like to use the lumber to make a traditional woodworking workbench in the future. I got about 60 board feet in total plus the half round pieces which I have no idea how they are called.

I could turn those on the lathe...

And I hit a nail which really messed up my homemade ripping chain

Anyway, I took the slabs home and stacked them.

I also sealed the end grain with some latex paint.

Since my shop is tiny I can't put the slabs inside to dry. But I keeb worrying that they will attract termited and other wood eating insects, of which we have a lot in our area. Is there anything I can do to protect them? Maybe spray them with kerosine??? Also, Should I place a piece of nylon on top to keep them from getting wet? I would appreciate any bit of advice. Thanks!

George Zarifis · April 10, 2017, 05:05:02 AM

I wanted to add that in order to get the maximum cut width possible I removed the bumper spikes and also that the cuts averaged out to about 3.5 minutes which I think is not all that bad...

Jemclimber · April 10, 2017, 06:37:54 AM

If I were the sticker police I would let you know that you would be better served by putting your stickers within an inch or two of the end, (this helps stop end checking up to the sticker) and to add another row of stickers. To answer your question, yes you should keep the rain off your stack, but with something above your pile, not in direct contact with your boards, to let the boards breath, such as some roofing tin or a piece of plywood covered with a tarp. Your wood looks good and it looks like you had a fun time making your slabber attachment and making some boards.

Ox · April 10, 2017, 06:57:13 AM

Well done, George. Making do with what you have is always good for a young man.

George Zarifis · April 10, 2017, 07:21:10 AM

Thank you very much for the tips. Oh, did I mention it's sycamore?

WV Sawmiller · April 10, 2017, 07:44:51 AM

George,

Pretty neat. Thanks for sharing. I concur with Jemclimber suggestions. Also some weight on top might be a good idea to help the upper boards from wanting to cup as bad. Looking forward to seeing finished products.

Savannahdan · April 10, 2017, 08:14:19 AM

George: Well done. Unless you use some termite pesticide you may just want to keep an eye on your stack. I like to sprinkle some 20 Mule Team Borax on the wood. Thank you for sharing.