Beech

[MTU Husky]

I'm not familiar with beech. Got a woodworker that wants 4-5" thick slabs without pith. He will cut slabs into sections for turning. Got about $100 (still need to end coat logs) in 8 logs 10' long where only 4-5 logs are big enough to make the slabs he requested. I should be able to get 8-10 slabs. He says I can leave the bark on. He is willing to buy the smaller logs that are full of knots and he will cut out what he can use with a chainsaw. What would you charge?

He also wants cherry & maple. What would you charge?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I would charge him $2.00 BF for Beech. I'm in Rock Hill, S.C......I have only seen beech 1 time come into my mill. I sold the lumber for $2.00BF. Hard to find Beech around here.
What ever he turns out of your Beech, he will get a pretty penny for his work.

[Magicman]

 

 
Got Beech??   ;D

[WDH]

4 - 5" beech is hard to get and commands a premium.  There is a lot of drying defect in beech, especially splits and cracks in thick stock.  Selling it green will put the onus on him to dry it properly, so that would reduce the price.  4 - 5" beech, dried and with no splits or cracks would be very valuable. 

Same goes for cherry.  Bad to split.  The pith always cracks, bad.  You have to factor in the loss of about a 4x4 containing the pith as waste from the log. 

Maple behaves much better than beech or cherry when sawn thick like 4 - 5". 

[FarmingSawyer]

I just dropped a beech....gnarly thing and heavy. You don't see it much, but it can be pretty, especially if there is some defect, erm, I mean, character...to it... They tend to be on the small side here. I've sawn it into 5/4 and some 12/4 to air dry. The 12/4 checked badly and warped, even though I boxed the pith in one piece--it was 90% clear. The 5/4 is nice. I'd say $2/BF is a good price for the bigger pieces. You should be able to get $3-$4.50/BF once it's dry if it turns out nice.....

Be sure to cut oversize to allow for shrinkage and tension. Just spoke with a cabinet maker about serving his needs. He won't buy 4/4 from small mills anymore because he has to plane it too far to make 3/4 finished. He only buys 5/4 or larger. He showed me some 8/4 clear cherry 8" he bought. $8/LF!! It was kilned, and nice, but not worth the price IMHO. Especially since he knocked it down to 1-5/8" He's going to stop in and see what I have......

[Dave Shepard]

I have a couple of beech logs waiting for their fate to be decided. They are not large. There is beech around, but a lot of it seems to have some sort of defect.

FarmingSawyer, this is your chance to show what small band mills can do. I bet you will get a long time customer if you can sell him lumber that isn't oversized just to be planed away.

[woodworker9]

I cannot find any beech logs to save my life.  I'm out of plane stock right now, and I make wooden planes out of beech.  It has to be quartersawn to be used, and I have to be able to get blanks that are 4" square, give or take a little.  Moulding planes can be made out of 6/4 or 8/4, but bench planes need bigger stock.

I'd love to have a big beech log become available to me......  :-\

Here's what I turn them into, although this is from honey locust....



 

Jeff

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Thats pretty neat Jeff. You got a talent. If you weren't looking for Beech, it would be every where. 

[YoungStump]

Yeah, I can testify to that, I get plenty of the stuff up here. Not to fond of it either.



This pile is mostly beech and only a small part of what we have. Drive up here and we'll work something out! 

[square1]

 
Got Beech??   ;D

Wow, that's some'beech ;)

[homesteader shane]

I cut a big beech down a few years ago for firewood and the but log was to nice to burn so I saved it for the mill. I just finally got around to cutting it this fall, first beech Iv cut. it had sat long enough that the first 5 inches of the outside had rotted, but the inside was spalted but hard, and very nice . I cut it all into 1X6 and got 110 board feet out of it. I cut one slab (special project) out of it 2X15X12 

 


 

[terrifictimbersllc]

There's a lot of beech around here in CT, but I don't see much on my mill.  A half dozen times in 15 years.  Some of it mine.   I have a garage workbench with a beech top.  Mostly I remember sawing it thick for turners. 

[GAB]

My experience with beech is not good.  It warps, bends, twists, and all other vises that wood has, it exhibits.  The best thing I have been able to do with beech is stickers, and then roughly half of the boards went into firewood.  From my past experience it is a good wood to start learning to saw or practice with and then cut it up for firewood.
Gerald

[hacknchop]

We have manufactured flooring out of beech nice clear stuff too,but when it would come out the kiln we had a hard time getting any length so we ended up with an average of about  2' which made for alot of extra time for the installers.Real nice wood though have seen cabinets made out of beech as well.

[YellowHammer]

We've got a lot of beech on the farm, it's hard to saw and harder to dry.  I occasioanlly get customers asking me to saw and sell it; I've tried it a few times, but lately I never get around to it, I'd rather deal with something easier and more predictable, like hickory or pecan.. ;). Beech is pretty wood, but....
YH

[Lumber Grader]

Your customer wants 16/4 (4") or 20/4 (5") live edge slabs, which should be worth at least $2.00 a board foot minimum, if you did not have the heart or pith restriction.  Well now he has restricted you to no pith. (Where are you going to sell the lumber with pith???)  So you now have to buy a bigger and better log now, because of his restriction. I would ask him what he expects to pay and then I would check to see what the log costs are and do the math.  16/4 and 20/4 green beech slabs are heavy, so you gotta remember that your gonna have some mighty heavy lifting and sore muscles, unless you have a nice set up with live rollers, etc., which you probably do not. I am thinking he is probably expecting to reasonably pay you $3 to $4 dollars per board foot.  I would have a discussion with him and find out and compare that to what the logs will cost and do the math.  I think one of the biggest problems a lot of small mill operators have is undercharging.  Why not check around and see what it would cost you, if you did not have a mill and you went out and had to buy the beech slabs yourself?  They may be very hard to find and he may be willing to pay what they are worth and that could quite possibly be more than you think.  I hope my 2 cents worth helps.  My opinon and $2.00 will buy a cup of coffee.

[FarmingSawyer]

 

[rooster 58]

I just sawed some beech into railroad ties and pallet wood this week ;)

[WDH]

If I had (which I don't) 8/4 beech, quartersawn and kiln dried, I would be at $8.00/BF for perfect pieces.  The tool makers often only need a piece 6" - 10" wide and 24" long.  This would be about $16 - $26 for a piece, and that would be a good deal for a tool maker.  The USPS flat rate shipping ($18) brings the price for up to $34 - $44.  Still a good deal.  The flat rate box is quick and easy to ship.  This is what I plan to do with any beech that I saw.  Every little bit adds up. 

[Peter Drouin]

I make grade stakes out of it.


 

[WDH]

At $8.00/BF, those would be some fancy grade stakes. 

[Magicman]

I walked up one of my ridges this morning that has many Beech trees.  In less than 200 yards there were probably 15 trees in the 20" dbh range, and I measured one 31" tree.  Lotsa Beech.

[clww]

I've cut quite a bit of it on some of our jobs here in Tidewater. Heavy, dense wood.

[Peter Drouin]

At $8.00/BF, those would be some fancy grade stakes. 

say_what
Not the beech we have :D :D :D :D

[GAB]

At $8.00/BF, those would be some fancy grade stakes. 

say_what
Not the beech we have :D :D :D :D

You got that right!
Gerald

[GAmillworker]

I built and installed some beech raised panels for a theater room in Atlanta private residence.  Customer loved it and I charged a lot more than $8 ft




 


  

  

 

[WDH]

Wow!  Now you're talking  8). 

[Magicman]

That is a very nice use for Beech.   

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I have a feeling these pics do this job no justice. This is absolutely beautiful!

[landscraper]

If it looks that good on my yard-sale computer monitor I bet it looks amazing up close.  Very Nice Work!

[Banjo picker]

At $8.00/BF, those would be some fancy grade stakes. 

say_what
Not the beech we have :D :D :D :D

We got good beech,  you got good maple...the maple down here is a sorry lot, as a rule only fit for fire wood ...but I got some awesome beech.  Banjo

[SwampDonkey]

Most of the beech is dying up here. When you find a good smooth one, and I have seen 30" beech up here on some farms, most of the ones around it are dying. And people will run to the good smooth one first for firewood. Usually the dying ones are mostly rotten with a live piece of bark feeding a bunch of limbs with a dead top. Look like knarly apple trees. :D

Had one woodlot owner, years ago, tell me he didn't want 'apple trees' left behind. His woods was full of those old shaded beech, full of disease and significantly larger at the but than the decent maples and yellow birch in through it. You get the wrong guy in there with a brush saw and they cut the little stems because they are easier cutting and leave some of them old junk beech.  : It's not easy laying down apple tree shaped trees between other good trees. ;)


Beautiful wood work there GAmillworker. Worth every penny.

[johnnyllama]

Beautiful work! You must have more stable humidity levels down there than us. A solid raised panel that wide would move WAY too much seasonally up here to even stay in a frame. That looks to be 36-42" wide? Wow!

[reubenT]

I have plenty of beech,  haven't sold any because it's too cheap,   last I saw a price it was $315 per 1000 ft in the log I think.  I sawed and dried some for our house,   made the kitchen floor out of it and mixed it with ash in the main room.   (not finished yet, waiting on time and money)   

   Buckeye is a good for nothing wood in industry but I found it makes good interior ceiling board.   It's too soft for lower walls,   dents easy.  It's one to saw in the winter if possible and then get it dry as fast as possible to keep it white. 

[dtody]

On Washington Island, WI and we have beech bark scale. About 15 more trees to cut then boarding it out. Got about 500 bdf from two thick ones at 5/4.  We're probably looking at 10,000 bf?  8foot log at about 1400 lbs, so it's a bit hard to lift and rotate.  but getting the hang of it.  looks like the 5/4 was the right way to go.  leaving pith as turning stock.

[4x4American]

most of the beech around here has the beech blight.  I was talking with a logger not long ago about the beeches, he said that the eco guys have figured out that round up will kill the blight, and they are trying to get the loggers to take a course to be specially trained in spraying round up like 8ft around each beech stump after they cut it to help stop the spreading blight.  He won't do it for a few reasons, the main one being that if the round up makes it way into drinking water, and they trace it back to him, he's liable.  Anyways yea most of the beech round here is small, blighty, and undesirable

[dtody]

I wonder about Round-up getting into the water table.  The DNR will be using its water safe counter part in my swamp, a tweek in the formula.  I've sprayed in the woods and pathways and my water table is about 10 feet down?  Been doing it for 14 years adn eye donut cee ane slide efex.

[fishpharmer]

dtody, studies support that Round-up breaks down rather quickly, the research has shown that it doesn't "build up."  This study provides some interesting information...

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/pubs/fatememo/glyphos.pdf

I like beech

[mesquite buckeye]

Good reference. ;D

Thanks.