I am new to sawing but things are going well with my Norwood 23 HP mill. My question relates to sticking and where do you find good stickers to use that are not expensive. I see some that have a groove cut in them but have not tried that. I have made some of them out of seasoned pine but they don't seem to hold up in the Wisconsin weather and a lot of them eventually split, bend, or become crooked. I am air drying in an open shed and do primarily only hardwood. The wood has been drying well and I like the results.
It would be nice to be able to get enough seasoned stickers to get over the hump until I figure out what I need to do to make them correctly? Any specific wood you would recommend be used? Any advice would be appreciated.
John
Most of my stickers are just made from the fletchings of what ever I am sawing. I like oak ones best and clear pine holds up well. But I have cherry, walnut and cedar ones as well. Any sticker is better then no sticker. I bet I have close to a million stickers strung over 30 acres.
Curious about why seasoned pine stickers do not hold up in Wisconsin weather?
If in a pile of lumber as stickers, then they shouldn't decay. If seasoned and in a pile of lumber, they shouldn't split, bend or become crooked (if they do, then I'd guess they really were not seasoned).
Or..are you saying they don't hold up when NOT in a pile of lumber, but just piled up somewhere? If so, they need protection from this Wisconsin weather.
I'd think, to get seasoned stickers, you could rip up some lumber that you have air dried, and use those. A good sticker just needs to be uniform thickness and able to be placed one over the other in a stickered pile of lumber.
I've been getting mine from a sawmill that uses 8' stickers. When they break, they just get thrown into a dumpster. I've been able to get 10-15k stickers, just need cut to length.
Keep the stickers dry when not in use. Damp stickers can cause staining in light colored wood.
Arkansawyer: Do you just have them strewn about the property, or do you have that much lumber drying at a time? :) That is a lot of lumber!
Gday
I just mill My sticks as im going to 1 1/2 or 2" wide by 1" thick out of green pine i also have some hardwood ones aswell if Im reusing them Ill run them through the thicknesser to 4/5s thickness I make cradels out of pine pallet grade timber that hold 2000+ that i can lift with the loader and store or place where I want them Ive never counted how many ive milled over the last 14 years the trick is to keep them out of the weather if there not in a pack of timber even if Your only covering them with a sheet of black plastic they should last about 2 years . alot of My sticks go out with the orders as its cheaper to cut new ones than to pay two blokes to unstick and repack timber ;) I let the coustomer do that :D ;D
Reguards Chris
They are fine when stacked with the lumber but afterwards I have left them piled up and somewhat exposed with no weight on them so that is likely my problem. I do go through a lot of them and will try to see if I can pick up any broken ones at the local sawmill that are just being thrown away. Thanks for the advise.
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10186/DSC03851f%7E0.JPG)
This is only about 1/3 rd of my lumber piles. Most times I have around 50mbdft of lumber on stickers. Right now it is closer to 75mbdft. I go through lots of stickers.
Gday
Atleast You have plenty of space there Arky and You can get at any pile You want to Ive been on 1 acre for the past 5years so its basicily logs in and timber strait out the most Ive stored at any one time is about 30000bft at one time in stick form alot of my timber goes out green sawn in stick . Im looking forward to the next coupple of weeks Im moving about a mile up the road onto 100acres ;D Plenty of space untill I buy a farm of My own got it almost rent free contract sawing some ties for My Mate at 50 bft a week
I used to manage a H/wood airdry yard and kilns 30 acres in size that had 30 million bft in it at any one time I tell Ya that was a paperwork nightmare some times with Quality control :o ::) >:( :D ;D
Chris
I am able to get all the 2x4s that I want from the landfill where I get a lot of logs.
I just cut them to length and saw then in half,they are a little thick but other than sawing are free!!
I like hemlock for stickers it is white, tends not to stain, isn't orderd as boards much so I am not losing stock and it is way tougher than pine. Red oak is a good duable sticker but can stain green.
The most durable wood for high heat kilns with a fast turn around time on the sticks using an automated stickering system, unstickering system and bundling system is the 1.5" x .75" laminated stickers. They do not jam as easily, they are not prone to warpage and have a much longer life then even oak stickers. However, I saw all my stickers out of Doug fir at 1.5" x 1" by the length of the forks. The stickers are sorted when they are cut and each time they are unstacked and restacked. A bad sticker is never used in a unit, they make to good of kindling wood. I sticker each layer as I stack them on pallets when not in use and store them under cover with the rest of the wood.
Any time I come across a 6' oak log that is already pretty dry I saw it into 1"x 1 1/2" stickers and then let them dry as much as possible befor using them.
I have been under the impression that oak is not a good choice for stickers because of the acid or tannin or something in the wood that will stain other lumber. It seems there are enough of you out there using oak that I was wrong. Do you guys use oak stickers for all species of lumber, or just certain types?
Most of my stickers are ones that I have cut from maple or ash logs I have available. Some of those logs were awfully nice to be turned into stickers, and I do get the occasional oak log that is definitely sticker material -- either that or firewood.
What I want to know is if I should reconsider using oak stickers, and if there are any limitations to using oak. Advice, please.
Thanks,
Loren
I use oak stickers to sticker everything. I have never had a problem with sitcker stain if the stickers were dry when used. I have even used walnut stickers on hickory with no stain. Then when do a timber frame job I go through the kiln and pull white oak stickers and make pegs from them. We make most of our stickers from the fletchins and use mostly clear cuttings.
I just use the trimmings from the flitches as I'm edging them!
Set them aside for the customer.
When We're sawing, we don't sticker the customers lumber, we just stack it and the customer stickers it when he hauls it to his drying shed.