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looking for input

Started by little-guy, January 05, 2006, 12:18:40 PM

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little-guy

Hey guys,
got a question for ya ..I have been milling lumber for myself since getting my norwood lumberlite mill this fall and have come across some salvage birch.some of those birch logs are up to 28 inches in diameter down to about 10".and about 5 to 8 fT long ..what i am wondering is ..i dont really have a use for them right now .. but want to mill them for hopefully sale  or use later.
My question is, should i mill the logs down to say 6 or 8 or 10 " widths  at 4/4,5/4 thickness or just slab them up to as wide as i can get the flitches and just leave them at that ..
Am hoping some of you guys that cut full time,and cut for resale can give a new part timer some direction ,thanks .
Cec
you gotta be happy playing with your toys ..mine are ..norwood lumberlite 24 ,743 bobcat and 1950 John Deere 4010 crawler

oakiemac

I don't know what your markets are like or the Birch markets for that matter, but I would cut 80% or so into 4/4 lumber and 20% into 8/4. Cut the lumber as wide as you can get but make sure the pith is centered in each board or they will warp. Then stack, sticker and cover the pile real good. Then when you get some customers down the line you will have some air dried Birch to sell.
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

Brad_S.

I would agree with most of what Oakiemac said, especially the percentages.
If there is any chance it would be used or sold for furniture projects, I would suggest cutting them for grade and not worry about the widths. Make sure the 4/4 was 1 1/16" to 1 1/8" and the 8/4 was 2 1/4" until you got to the low grade, then cut at 1X dimensions.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

getoverit

I have these large Hickory trees that I want to mill into flooring. My new Peterson that is on the way will easily make the 4/4 X 10" boards, but I am wondering if it would be better to go ahead and cut the boards to the 4" wide when I cut them, rather than having to dry them and THEN run them through a gang saw later after they are dried?

I want to end up with 3" or 3 1/2 inch wide flooring, tongue and grooved, so I am thinking I need to cut the widths to 3 1/2 or 4" to leave room for the tongue.

I do plan on cutting them to 5/4, then plane them to 4/4 after they dry. My question is whether or not to cut the width to spec now or wait until after its dried?

I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

Brad_S.

Wait until they dry. I can pretty much guarantee you they will not dry straight if you rip them to size now. You will need to do a straight line rip on them before turning them into flooring. I leave a full inch of extra width and sometimes that isn't enough to straighten a board back out. You'll need to allow for the tongue, shrinkage in drying and drying defects that will distort your lumber.
20-25% loss of volume is not unusual in making flooring.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

Brucer

Hey, Cec ...

When I was running Louis' WM a couple of years ago, we had a bit of birch to saw up. We cut it to 4/4 hardwood scale, which is 1-1/8" thick. I wasn't involved in the sale, but Louis had no trouble selling it to a local woodworker.

A couple of things about the birch. If it sits through the heat of summer in log form, it'll degrade something awful. Best to saw & sticker it before then, even if you don't have a market for it. Also, you'll probably find you need to keep turning your cant 180 degrees after each cut or two, to keep it from bowing up as the stresses are relieved. On the WM, we'd saw 1 board off the top and one off the bottom; unclamp, roll the cant off, remove the boards, reset the cant, and re-clamp.

I'd love to come down and see your mill in action sometime, if it's convenient.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

getoverit

Thanks for the quick answer!  I had already planned on leaving them in 10" boards, but just needed a good reason for doing so.

I also needed a good excuse for buying a gang saw, but SHHHHHHHHH about it  :D
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

little-guy

thanks for the input guys ... will start to tackle those birch logs next chance i get ..should get some nice clears out of some of the logs ..and Brucer.anytime you feel like a little road trip you are welcome to pop by and take a peek,its not much of an operation ..more of a hobby right now and still getting things figured out ..you can pm me and i can get you some directions and a phone number then we can hook up ..i always apreciate any help and advice i can get ..
Cec..
ps will hopefully get some pics set up so that you guys can see what i've got to work with ..
you gotta be happy playing with your toys ..mine are ..norwood lumberlite 24 ,743 bobcat and 1950 John Deere 4010 crawler

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