ugly logs

[sawwood]

I picked up some walnut logs and all are ugly! There's fence wire in some. Was given the logs so the owner would not have to pay to
have them hauled off. I pick up logs for my selling lumber, so I am not to picky. I do have a question about cutting some of them
as they are not straight. I have have read some of the past posts about setting the hump up, but sure does look like you lose some
lumber cutting that way. Here are some pictures of the logs and one on the mill. Would like some input as to the best way to cut it.


 




 

 

 

[Brad_bb]

I'll cut those all day long.  Great brace stock.  Love the curved ones. Seriously.


 

 

 

 

[Magicman]

I would lay the longest/straightest portion on the sawmill bed and let the blade "feather out" on the crooked end.  That way you will still get a few full length boards and the rest will be gradually shorter.  Also the slope of grain will run from end to end on the boards.

You could get a couple of ovals or partial ovals out of the crooked end.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'm with Brad and I like the curves. I use them to make LE Slabs and make primitive benches. If you want straight boards cut them in the middle of the curve and make short boards. Short boards are still useful, especially walnut, cherry and the like. 

[Larry]

I picked up some walnut logs and all are ugly!

Lester, those are today's money logs!

You lay the logs on the mill as flat as possible and saw live edge slabs 9/4 thick. 

These are a few of the slabs from ugly walnut logs I custom sawed last week.  One of the logs was only 8".





A few hours ago, I sent out another bigger load.  The owner took a few pictures of the better slabs as I loaded on the truck.  He had one sold before he left my mill.

More incoming walnut in a few days.



  

[WDH]

I saw them with the curves, too.  They sell well for me.  I lay them flat with the curve side to side.  

[Sixacresand]

At least one log, cut ovals out of the hump.  Folks like them too. 

[Magicman]

I see these situations during each sawing day.  Each log must be sawn the way the log wants to be sawn. 

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 A set of oak benches I made and sold out of a very ugly curved log.


 Some locust curves. A young man bought one for his dad for Father's day. (His little sister decorated it with a sharpie and he had to re-sand and finish it again. :D) Note the small bench on the end is probably not much over 8" wide but still makes a nice bench.

[sawwood]

Thanks for all the information. I will now lay the log flat on the saw and cut like most of you
say to saw. Brad what do you charge for them and do you dry them ? We have a solar kiln
so how long do you think it will take to dry?

 Sawwood

[Magicman]

You need to have a fairly good idea of your market before you whack all of the logs up. 

Brad is sawing beams and braces for his own timber build, WV showed benches that he makes and sells, WDH alluded to slabs that he saws/kiln dries/markets, and your original statement said that you wanted to produce "lumber".

There is nothing wrong with doing all of them, some, or only one, but that's the fun part. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   And if you saw them into something like 9/4 Live edge slabs you can resaw them later if you need 1" boards and/or you can edge them later if you need the edges squared.

  In recent weeks I have had several occasions to resaw some LE stock to other sizes to fill special orders for customers. Flexibility is always a good thing.

[farmfromkansas]

If you are must making one by lumber for furniture, turn that kink up, so most of the log lays flat, and saw it off.  Then your log is straight, and when you roll it over, some of the boards will be shorter than the longest.  If those logs are long enough, just take your chain saw, and cut them off at the kink. My Cooks mill will cut 4' logs easy.  I build a lot of chests of drawers to give to the new members of my family, and short boards are fine, as long as they will make a drawer front, or top and bottom. 

[Brad_bb]

Yep, MM is correct.  I just use them myself.  Never tried selling them.  I do know that other timberframers will sometimes use them.  I know 3 timberframe shops that regularly use them.  I'm sure there are more, but there are a lot who seldom do because they don't have time to source them themselves, and trying to get a sawyer up to speed with what to look for may not be easy.  I'll have a  bunch extra after my build is done, so I'll try selling those.  There is more prep that I do- I remove the bark and polish the live edge, and I plane the faces after the piece has air dried for 1-5 years.  So they are pretty stable by the time the joinery is cut.

They are a specialty item, and I think it can help a timberframe shop sell a client.  Most clients might only be able to budget  a few pairs in their frame.  There is extra cost in labor to fit them and router and fit the housing.  For me, I get the logs cheap, and do all the work myself, except possibly the joinery (I couldn't do it all myself even If I cloned myself, not enough time).  But what I save in material cost, I can apply to the additional labor.  Standard 4x8 brace stock is maybe $60-$80.  Not sure what you'd sell a live edge one for.....  but they definitely catch people's attention!
Center Aisle of my barn under construction


 

[Walnut Beast]

Looks pretty nice Brad. Definitely adds some awesome character 👍

[thecfarm]

That center aisle looks great. 
If I ever come visit, don't leave something in the aisle, or I will trip over it because I am looking up!!

[cutterboy]

Beautiful Brad, just beautiful!

[alan gage]

Just to add one more perspective I'd personally cut the curve out so that I ended up with short straight logs or else I'd cut them for firewood. I've found that I stay really busy with my own sawing and projects so while I do like to sell some of the wood that I cut I've decided to only saw lumber that I think I might use in the future. I don't think I'm likely to use a really curved piece of walnut to build something so I don't saw them. The last thing I want it so spend my limited free time sawing up a bunch of lumber that no one wants to buy and that is of no use to me.

I've sawn up some short 3-4' sections of walnut and they've sold ok. These are easy to move around and store and it's something I might use myself in the future.

Alan

[DPatton]

  I have been custom sawing crooked walnut logs just like those in the original post for several clients this year. One such client is a turkey call maker in Waterbury Ne. He owns "Country Boy Game Calls" and uses the crooked walnut logs that I have sawn for him to make his box calls. He had me cut the majority of his crooked logs into 7/8" thick live edge material. From there he will cut this into short pieces sized for his calls, and split the 7/8" thickness in half on his bandsaw.
  Another client near Malcolm Nebraska (a repeat customer) has me saw all of his crooked walnut logs into 5/4" thick live edge material that he makes charcuterie boards with. He sells them on Etsy and says he has been doing quite the business selling them there. 
  A third client located in Omaha Nebraska (also a repeat customer) has used me twice this summer to saw a garage full of 9/4" live edge walnut slabs that he is in the process of drying, and will sell them once they are dry. 
  My point being is that there are many uses other than firewood for crooked walnut logs if you know what your customers needs are. Like MM said "You need to have a fairly good idea of your market before you wack all of the logs up".