Looked at a tree

[George Sanders]

Yesterday I looked at a tree that is to be cut down after planting season. It is a very tall hard maple. There seems to be about ten to twelve feet of good trunk about 30" wide. It also has bumps under the bark which seem to indicate it will have some quantity of birdseye. I plan on trying to mill this in place with a chainsaw mill and a rip chain. I know a bandsaw is better but this is what I have. There is a local sawyer but he doesn't mill on site.
I would get to keep all of what I cut if I do it myself and half if I found a way to take it to the sawyer. Either way I plan to have the sawyer kiln dry it. I can machine it myself up to 12" wide.
What would be the best cut, flatsawn or quartersawn? What thickness would be good for 4" table legs and 3/4" before drying and machinng?

[Chris Padilla]

Maple tends to do well flatsawn but there is nothing wrong with quartersawn maple either. Quartersawn tends to be more stable and move less in general but you get less of it from a tree than if you flatsaw most of it.

I'd do a variety of thicknesses: 1", 2", 3", and maybe even thicker if you can forsee such a need.

[Adam Grills]

FYI Bumps under the bark does not mean BE.
Grillzy

[Ken Platt]

I've done the chainsaw mill thing, and just thinking of the work to do a 30" diameter hard maple makes me want to go take a nap.

Anyhow - 4 inches would be a pretty serious table leg. Unless you are planning something really stout, there's not a lot I can think of that'd need 16/4 wood. IIRC, the thickest I've ever used is 12/4, for bed posts.

OTOH, if you cut thick slabs, it's less cuts with the chainsaw, and you can take the planks to someone with a woodmizer for resawing. Less work, and you end up with more wood. I have a friend with a woodmizer, and he resaws thick planks all the time. And the cut quality is excellent.

The QS vs flatsawn difference is not as dramatic in maple as, say oak, but I find it to be very attractive. But, if you just slab it straight through, you'll end up with a mix of some QS which you can pick out later if you want. And trying to saw for QS with a chainsaw mill, well, doing all that turning, I think it's nap time....again....

Just some thoughts. I love milling lumber, as long as it's on my buddy's bandmill.

Ken