Can I store a cant?

[Rebeldad1]

Being a newbee I gotta ask...

Can I cut logs into cants and store them this way till I figure out what I want to make with them?
Whats the downside?

Thanks in advance for a answer.

[alan gage]

Cracks and splits are the downside. Usually not a good idea. Lots of info in the archives on this if you wanted to search it.

Alan

[tawilson]

I had some pine logs I sawed into 12 1/2" by whatever I ended up with last summer. I sawed some up this summer and the the first board off each side wanted to bow and had some checking in it but beyond that it was fine.

[Joe Hillmann]

It will crack.  You can put in a saw kerf with a skill saw to attempt to control where it cracks.

Some woods will behave better than others.  My limited experience with ash is it will almost split itself in half, yet bass wood may not crack at all.

[moodnacreek]

If you had big logs free of heart center cants would do better than boxed hearts. The very soft woods like white pine or as mentioned basswood do better than the hardwoods or hard pines.

[BandsawBen]

I do it with pine and hemlock, works great for me. I cut them oversized. then when a customer wants a specific size, I fork it on the mill, clean it up and slice it to size. Just like your local deil. I find it super fast. They will crack and split. I keep them out of the sun and stacked with  2 in stickers. 

[donbj]

You can but expect some down grade. Some will check to the center if dried too long and depends what species as well regarding that. Any spiral twist will accentuate down grade.

[Sixacresand]

Get logs off the ground, protect from sun and rain. Pine: get the bark off ASAP.  Probably just as much work as rehandling cants.  JMO

[WV Sawmiller]

   I concur. I sawed this cherry log last week that had been down for 7 years but stored up off the ground and we got 150 bf of beautiful heart wood out of it.


 Original log

 

Finished boards. The bark are edged pieces the customer saved and one LE slab he kept intact to make into benches.

[Brad_bb]

Nope.  You will end up with lower grade boards with checks in them.  Best to cut to the needed size.  Smaller boards will check less(or many times not at all) than a cant.  If you're making boxed heart timbers that's another thing.  Probably fine to do that, but the side wood (the boards removed to get to the timber will be low grade.  Cutting a boxed heart timber slightly oversized to make up for movement is totally fine though.

[btulloh]

Are you sawing grade lumber or framing lumber?

For framing lumber and siding and such you'll always need 2x and 1x so you can just saw what the log wants to yield and be ok.  2x4, 6, 8, or whatever, it'll all be needed.  1x whatever the log is suited for. Wide for siding, narrow for battens, 1x6 is always needed for something. 

Grade lumber for furniture is a bit different, but you'll always need 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4 and the width is usually random anyway depending on what the log will yield. 

Can't go wrong with a good supply of standard lumber, but losing stuff to checks and degraded cants is just lost lumber. 

[jimbarry]

I do that. There's some loss on some of the cants. That cost is less than that compared to the cost to peel logs as they come in the yard, or the cost of dimensional lumber that sits not selling. So I cant if I can.  




 



 

[Woodpecker52]

I have had good luck with storing cants, logs will rot fast but cants stickered and stacked and top covered will keep for years. Added benefit is I always have timbers ready for sale and I can cut specialty at a moments notice.
 

[Magicman]

Personally, I would saw and sticker 1X12's and 2X12's.  Later they can either be used as is or "edged" down to 4's, 6's, & 8's.  Any log that will not make 12's, saw 4's or 6's.

Matter of fact, I have 22 twelve foot logs that will very soon be sawed as such.