Got a sasafrass order in the morning, (never cut it)

[drobertson]

I got the call, been in the works for well over a year, need to know what I might need to expect, They want 1" for boat paddles, any advice I can give these good folks on what to expect?  thanks a bunch,  david

[Kcwoodbutcher]

Cuts like butter and dries pretty fast. It's always behaved for me with the occasional board cupping. It's a little lighter than walnut. It's also fairly rot resistant so you can dead stack it for a few days even in this weather.

[drobertson]

Thanks kc, will do, these folks are busy  beavers, wont set very long,   david

[YellowHammer]

Sassafras, pronounced "Sass fur us" for some reason around here, is just about my favorite wood to mill and sell, and ranks right up there with walnut and QS white oak for resale value for me.  The wood saws easy and straight, and dries the same way.  It smells like root beer, is rot resistant, bug resistant (except for carpenter ants), almost as light as poplar, but has a grainy hardwood look kind of like oak.   I have a friend who builds extremely expensive and long lasting porch chairs and rockers with it, guaranteed for life (his or the customers) because of these properties.  It's hard to get decent logs around here, and most are pretty small.  Last weekend, I was able to get a tree that was scaled at 24 inches in diameter, the biggest I'd ever seen.  Here's the lumber stacked and ready for the kiln, although some customers prefer it to be only air dried.  I like sassafras, I've made a lot of money with it.

  

 
Lumber from big un


 
Average size sassafras trees around here
YH

[Tom L]

I've cut some, seems really easy to saw. smells great and I use all the scrap wood in my smoker.
doesn't seem to really burn, just smolders away

[WDH]

Hammer,

That is some well prepared lumber.  I have not sawn any yet, but hope to do so.  Not many big ones around here.

[ddcuning]

My Mom has three large trees in TN that she want's taken down. I figure this winter I will go collect them. When I was a kid we used to collect the roots and make some good tea but I have never sawed any.

Dave C

[Magicman]

Sassafras is not knotty and saws very well.  You will enjoy sawing it, plus the smell.   

[Kansas]

You guys have access to so many species that I don't have access to. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side. We have excellent walnut and bur oak we can qs, plus hackberry and other species. I don't imagine we will ever get to mill sassafras.  However, we did have a guy pull in with aspen and one pine. He brought it all the way from Washington State. Glad we aren't mobile. That would be one heck of a drive to mill up 500 bd ft.

Of course, Magicman would have probably gone up there.

[dboyt]

Good to hear you're sawmilling again.  Boards will be nice and light.  You'll enjoy the job, if you get decent logs to work with.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Dont forget to collect some bark and root if you can, it makes the best tea. 

[millstead]

Sassafras is my favorite log to saw it saws great and smells even better. Sassafras makes very pretty lumber

[jimparamedic]

It wil clear any sinus problem. But nice to saw. I think it saws alot like polar

[drobertson]

Jim brought 5 logs this morning, it sawed out 250bdft, he was happy, I could get use to sawing this stuff, man it smells good!  thanks for the info,  david

[logman]

Sassafras stairway.  Sassafras tea is considered a carcinogen now.

 

[drobertson]

Ahh yea, I rember your pic from another thread, very nice indeed!! man the whole room looks great,  david

[hackberry jake]

I used to work for a large commercial sawmill. The sassafras would usually sit out in the log yard until we had enough for a bunk or two of lumber. Some of it had to have been there for a year or two. The smell loses its attraction when you saw nothing but dry logs for over an hr.

[Ron Wenrich]

Black birch is a good one to saw for the aroma.  Not as pungent as sassafras.