Milling battens for a wooden fence

[nexy_sm]

Hi all guys,

I am writing you from Europe where I am about to mill battens in order to repair my wooden fence which in this part of the world looks like this:



The rough dimensions are 42 in length, 2 3/4 in width and 1/3 in thickness.

FOr that purpose I acquired a trunk from a sessile (Welsh) oak. The trunk lays for about two years now. Now, in order to mill this my is to first mill the planks a bit thicker than the width of the battens. The battens will be later cut on a table saw. My doubts are regarding whether the battens should be installed "green" or dry. Anyway I don't have time for drying and I would like to get the best quality battens out of the trunk without them getting twisted during the drying process. My idea was following:
1. mill the planks. First top and bottom plank should have the rings more or less parallel to the cut which would lead to the battens with standing rings. Next mill the side planks again to get parallel rings.
2. I am not sure here whether I should allow for the planks a month or so to stabilize or not
3. milling the battens
4. fixing in place not tigthly but to allow for the drying movements and then after a few munts to give after each rain or so a turn on the screw  in order to avoid the cracks in the battens.

What do you think?

Thank you

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Welcome to the forum! Where in Europe are you located?
I did batten-on-board siding for my chicken coop, and did board-on-board siding for my barn. I like the way the board-on-board came out better. It went down easier, too, and I think can accommodate wet-wood. I added additional space for over-lap between the boards to allow for shrink and expansion of the wood.
If my boards were 10 inches wide, and I wanted 1 inch of over-lap on each side. I would place a 'down' board with 2 screws and then measure over 8-inches, place the next 'down' board with 2 screws. The 'top' board was centered over the 8-inch gap, leaving 1-inch on each side, and secured with 1-screw centered on the board (to allow for shrinkage and expansion).
Because I was using fresh sawmill lumber that wasn't _exactly_ 10-inches wide, I often used 1.5-inches of overlap on each side (sometimes 2-inches). That left me with a 7-inch gap between 'down' boards (give or take). Frankly the irregularity gives it a little country charm, and since it's in the back pasture, I'm the only one who ever see's it anwyay!

- Kevin

[jpassardi]

Sessile Oak (other side of the Atlantic ) appears to be in the white oak family and therefore rot resistant. Hence why I suspect you're using it for fence pickets. I assume it's similar to our white oak which tends to warp and twist when drying and is slow drying. If you can get it stacked and stickered with weight for a month, your fence will be straighter in the end. Being a "wet" application, the wood may warp further as it goes through wet/dry cycles.
I would not mill the juvenile core wood for pickets. As you noted, vertical grain will help. Obviously, the straighter the log the better as well.
I don't believe leaving screws loose will benefit any, likely to warp further if anything.

[nexy_sm]

@NewYankeeSawmill I am writting from Berlin, Germany, but the milling is going to happen in Serbia.

Such fenses in Serbia look like this:



No overlapping of the pickets (new word for me).

Does that mean that I should mill the pickets immediately and leave them stacked for drying for some time (about a month) or first milling planks, dry them for a short time and then mill the pickets (I believe the second idea makes not much sense since the think planks dry slower)? Or rough milling pickets and then after a month milling them to a proper size and planing to the thickness?

[jpassardi]

I assumed you were putting them up rough cut. If you're going to mill them cut them rough size, stack/sticker to dry then plane & install.

[customsawyer]

You will need the wood to be under 20% moisture before running it through your planer. I prefer mine even dryer. Damp wood and planers don't play well together.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

GUten Tag! Welkommen. Vie Gehts? Ich sprache bischen deutsch. Sehr bischen... nicht hoch Deutsch. 

I'm sorry I misunderstood your application. I would suggest letting the planks dry before planning and  milling them. The wood will process better the drier it is, and any twisting or cupping will have happened, and you will end up with straighter pickets. If you cut and mill them while wet, they may warp when drying, you will have warped pickets. If you let them warp while they are boards, then you can remove the warp and cup from the boards when milling them into pickets.

[nexy_sm]

Hi,

if I choose to use oak dovels like in cleft oak gats and fences, what should I pay attention on? They look nicer in comparison to the metal nails or screws.