Florida Hickory

[Henry C. Kelley]

I am new to band sawing. I have a Florida hickory log that I want to mill. I need advice on how long to dry if needed before putting it on the mill. I have a Woodland starter mill. Everything is manual. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You can answer me direct at ckelley52@hotmail.com.

[Old Greenhorn]

Just back up your mule a second there partner! The way this forum works is you read and learn, then ask questions when you don't understand something and participate in the discussion. You joined a few days ago, spent a total of 44 minutes on these forums, and then expect us to answer your exact and specific question and take the time to send you those replies in a email for your use only? That's not how any 'forum' works. The information you seek has already been discussed here many times and that information is available if you use the search tool and do a little looking.
 How bout we try starting over? Fill out some of your profile info so we know where you are and a little about what you do and your operation and experience and get to know us and we'll get to know you and we can help you a lot. But speaking for myself I shy away from one-sided relationships.
 OH, and the simple answer to your question is, don't let the log sit, mill it right away and get it in a drying shed properly stacked on stickers with some kind of a rain shield over the top. Some folks call Hickory 'the devil wood' because of how it might behave after milling and how much fun it can be to mill. We have experts here that can add more, but that's the basics.
 Now a question for you: What is a Florida Hickory? Is that like a NY hickory or a VT hickory? Pignut? Shagbark? Inquiring minds and all that.

[beenthere]

I am new to band sawing. I have a Florida hickory log that I want to mill. I need advice on how long to dry if needed before putting it on the mill. I have a Woodland starter mill. Everything is manual. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You can answer me direct at ckelley52@hotmail.com.

Welcome to the Forum. Stick with us here for the answer. The less time drying in the log is better for sawing/milling. The more the log dries, the less desirable will be the sawing. Old wives tale is where the idea comes from to dry logs before sawing. Maybe an excuse to not get at it and get it done?