Barn Timbers in Central Ohio

[Pete Schupska]

Hello all... first post.

I've recently come into a pile of old (~1856) timber frame barn timbers. Most are ~7" square and 6+ feet long with an assortment of joints cut in them. About half of them are hand hewn white oak, the rest are sawn white oak and cherry.

I'm thinking to have them re-sawn into some usable pieces... but I'm having a hard time deciding if that's desecrating this wonderful lumber. Two questions really then:

Anyone have an opinion on cutting open these timbers... or should I find a project in their current state.

Finally, I'm having a bugger of a time finding a mill in the Columbus area that can actually cut them, it's honestly not so much that a decent band saw could handle, but I don't know anyone in the area yet...

Thanks in advance for the help!

[David Keller NC]

Nothing wrong with sawing up reclaimed wood for another project, IMO - it keeps living trees from being sawn down.

That said, I think I'd store it in the condition that it's in, and buy a bandsaw - even a 14" with a riser block could accomodate that wood, so long as you're patient.

One reason for that is that it's easier to move one piece of lumber than 10 (at least if you can lift that one piece of lumber), and it's possible if you have it all sawn into 5/4 boards that you'll wish you'd saved some for 16/4 stock.

If you want to have it professionally sawn, go to the Woodmizer site and look up the owner's list. Most of the owners hire out their time to custom-saw wood, and it's generally not too expensive.

[Pete Bradley]

Around here hand-hewn timbers are worth far more than board feet. Folks buy them to dress up high end houses.

Pete

[harry strasil]

Its now an industry to salvage the timbers from demolished buildings and have them resawn into lumber, one time on my way back from Texas I saw 4 semiloads of them in a truck stop, one was loaded with only 20 and 24 inch timbers about 12 foot long, second one was 16 and 12 inch up to 20 ft long, the other two were 8 and 6 and flooring.
One of the drivers told me the person who bought them gave upwards of $30,000 to the wrecker, and after resawing and milling, he was hoping for a 100 grand profit.

[harry strasil]

The big thing for the wealthy yuppies, is old resawn wide board flooring these days and they pay a premium for them, as they do not shrink and its impossible to buy boards that wide anymore, They have to be checked for metal first and then resawn with a band mill to get the most material and only enough for maybe a light cleaning pass thru a planer.

[harry strasil]

I know of an old counter from an 1800's store in an old river town that is 16 or 24 ft long and the top is one 32 inch wide board and the front is one 30 inch board and the shelves are 3 or 4 24+ inch wide boards.

[harry strasil]

There is also a garage with 24 inch wide 2 by stuff from a lumber yard years ago. They got bales of 2 by stuff in random widths and it was not profitable to rip down the really long 24 inch wide stuff to smaller, so he was told to take them home. He has passed now and I have no idea what has become of the stuff in that garage or his tools.

[Fred Hargis]

That is a gold mine of wood waiting to be unlocked. I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to resaw them. Depending on how big that pile is, it may be worth it to get a resaw or large bandsaw to cut them up. A woodmizer would also be an approach.

[Thomas Williams]

Pete,
The people I know that have had lumber milled seem to end up near Amish country. When I find the information I will PM you the name of a person that I know of that does some sawing. I am not sure if he can help you or not, but maybe he will be able to send you in the right direction.

[Craig T. Smith]

Pete, I'd look at the Woodmiser site or Craigslist and have it sawninto boards and maybe some into blanks for legs.Some here would know better than me but I would think you would want to stack and sticker it after its sawn for awhile to acclimate and to relieve stress. LOL, P.S. Welome to the Creek, Craig

[Mike Wilkins]

Unless you just want some timbers for decoration, saw those babies up and make some furniture. I vote for getting a bandsaw and sawing them yourself.
I have several old timbers from an old tobacco barn and plan to do just that.
I grew up in Rutherford County, NC and while visiting, passed by one of the old cotton mills that was built around 1900. It was being dismantled and the timbers were being hauled off. Acres and acres of 16" and 12" square timbers, stacks of 2 X 6 T&G flooring, some of it 20 feet long and longer. All I could see was the money these guys were going to make after the stuff is sold as wide flooring and millwork.
Go ahead and make something nice from the wood and post pics for us to see.

[Rob Russell]

I would wait until you have a specific project in mind and then deal with resawing lumber for that project. It doesn't make sense to me to put all the time and effort into creating the wood when you don't know how you will want to use it.

Imagine resawing the wood and then, a couple of years later, wishing you hadn't because you need a portion of it in the larger dimensions.

Just something to consider.

[John Callahan]

... but I'm having a hard time deciding if that's desecrating this wonderful lumber.
I don't think so- I suspect the original barn builder would be honored that they were being reused- waste not, want not. A great find ...... you've got something special; go build something worthy of the wood. I suspect the mortises would limit there reuse in their original form anyways. Still remember the one that got away- a 30'+ 8"x8" from the folk's old barn- spruce, from around 1800, nice tight grain, and not a single knot the entire length. One of my brothers decided it was better used as part of a bridge across the stream.:(

[Pete Schupska]

Thanks for everyone's input. I bit the bullet today and had them sawn. Found a mill nearby willing to band saw them... $60/hr and $5 per metal hit, I mad it out at $15, opted for 5/4 on most, and left two in tact for potential legs or some other project later.

Almost all were hickory, and one post and one rough sawn board were elm. I'll post pictures later today.

Now I just need a project to use them on.