I have a customer that has called and asked about getting log siding cut. He wants the siding cut from his hemlock logs. The reason he does not want to buy the siding from a local lumber store is that he wants to leave the bark on. I have never cut anything like this but I know it could be done. I am sure it would take more time than cutting plain lumber. Has anyone done this before? And what are some of the tricks to being productive to cut this? There is not doubt that it would be nearly impossible to saw 1500 or 2000 feet a day. There has been no discussion as to the "disposal" of the rest of the log. First time anyone has wanted me to cut "slabs" for them. Might take the lumber as trade for sawing the slabs. I am supposed to go and look at the job Monday and get more details. Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated.
Junior,
Bark edged siding was popular around here for a short while and I cut some of it. (I wouldn't want it on my place) It is still popular in the Blue Ridge.
What I was doing was cutting 3 faces of the log to make a "D" log and then cutting it through and through. I was making the boards 7/8's which was easy because I just used the inch scale on the mill without being concerned with adding in the kerf.
The boards were flat so the customer would just nail them up, horizontally, with plenty of overlap and allowing the bark edge to hang over the board below.
The side wood was trimmed on one side and siding was made from it too. The slabs, if they were shaped properly, were used for trim around doors and window with the bark side exposed.
It makes for a pretty rustic looking building, even the porch posts look better if they aren't clean edged, so smaller poles will work better than larger logs.
Hand-rails are just thick slabs or small D logs with the bark up.
Inside stair treads, table tops, bar tops, stools and the like can be split logs with the bark down, if the customer is interested in going that far. :)
I don't know how you would make beveled siding without resawing each board.
was the guestion [log siding or live edge siding ]
rl , You're right. Log siding is different. :-\ :-\
Jeff can tell him all about log siding. :)
log siding would be fun to cut [especialy if you get the left overs ] great market for slabs .i'd do it with out thinking twice..you're going to need a lot of log's to make any amount of siding R L
I've cut some, but I have a vertical edger on a circle mill, so that makes it pretty easy to do.
To get something consistent, you could start by cutting a slab that will yield a certain width piece of siding (8" for example). Rotate the log 180 and pull another slab. You may have to use the taper to get a good slab.
I would then take the tapers off and square the log 2 sides and saw down to your desired width.
Lay the log flat and pull another slab. Use tapers if needed. Flip over, pull the other slab. Then lay into the log and cut 2 x stock.
Using this method will give you at least half of the siding with some consistency. You don't want to make it too thin, I like to have mine at least 1 - 2".
I don't know how long the bark will stay on until the bugs have it chewed off.
I was asked to do this once but the customer was an especially finicky one. I decided that the job was going to have a high aggravation factor and is one of the few times I have told a customer, "No, I can't help you." ::)
Ron's method is what I was going to use had I tried it. Sawing parallel to the bark and striaght line edging the slabs on a two bladed edger would be easy. Edging it on the mill with variations in slabs would be much more challeging.
The fact that I know this client was picturing a perfect, uniform look from logs that were anything but is what scared me off.
I think that the solution used to make Jeff's siding was the way to go. They sawed 2x6's and then ran them through a molder to produce a log looking piece of wood. Might have been 2x8's , but they were all alike.
Here is the thread:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=7218.msg99503#msg99503
I went to look at what this customer wants yesterday. He wants siding cut the way Tom descibes. He wants to use hemlock and he is of the opinion that if they dry it fast, the bark will stay on. He also showed me a building that they have this siding on and showed me that they were going through and nailing the bark back on. They want me to saw 8,000 feet to start with. They are going to pile the logs in an open sided building with a concrete floor for me to saw in. He has mentioned more than once that they realize that "it will cost quite a bit more to get it sawed this way". I am not sure if I am overlooking something but I sawed a couple logs this way today and it seems to me like I should be able to saw at least 2500 feet a day with a decent off-bearer. I don't want to overlook something and price the job too low.