Resawing Green Lumber

[Derek Larson]

Hello all,
My father had a large maple tree cut down in his back yard. The base of the tree is over 36" in diameter. He has been limbing the tree and giving me a lot of it to resaw. I have never resawed green lumber and I was curious if anyone had done this and could give me some pointers. The limbs vary from 10" in diameter to as small as 4". I was concerned about grain orientation, does it matter if I cut a slab that goes from one end to the other right through the middle? Or can I cut it to the grain orientation of my choice? I don't know if it matters but I have a Jet 16JWBS 1.5hp bandsaw and I order a timberwolf blade specifically for green wood.

The next problem will be trying to figure out who will be able to resaw the massive trunk.

Thank you for your assistance.
Derek

[Julian Nicks]

Derek, save the limbs for turning or firewood. You CANT use them for lumber since there is too much built in tension in limbs. You will just waste your time if you think you are going to get useable lumber out of them. I know over the group over at http://www.sawmillandtimberforum.com/ might be of more service.

Where are you located? I know in Illinois, you can check out the states department of natural resources website and get a list of all the small sawyers listed by what county they are in. Maybe your state has something similiar?

[Greg Crawford]

Derek,

Be prepared to do a lot of cleanup on your saw and blade. Wet wood is just that, wet. The moisture can cause rust problems, and cleaning wet sap isn't fun. Milling your own wood can be very satisifying though. Possibly a mill could cut some large cants from the trunk and you could cut them to your needs after they dried for a while.

As for the limbs, I've been told the same thing Julian said. If you go ahead, make sure you hold them securely so they can't twist. If they catch and twist, they can bend or break your blade, and cause you to do more laundry than expected. Don't ask how I know. I now have a sled with brackets on each end that runs in the miter slot. The brackets are in slots to adjust for length, and have drywall screws driven through so the points will catch the logs.

Greg

[Bob Genovesi]

I'll give you my perspective on trying to use your 16 inch bandsaw as a sawmill.

I have Jet's 18 inch model with the same 1.5hp motor. I went through the same exercise of contacting Timber Wolf for their best blade for resawing wet wood and they recommended one.

The blade Timber Wolf recommended immediately gummed up with sap. The blade they recommended was either 3 or 4 TPI and this is way too fine for resawing wet wood. I wasted $35+ on this blade only to ruin it. The only way I was able to resaw wet wood was by picking up a 1 or 1.5 wide Olson blade with 1 or 2 TPI.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/BobbyG53/Resaw02.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/BobbyG53/Resaw01.jpg

The 1.5hp motor is marginal at best for resawing wet wood but does an OK job sawing dry. I use my saw rough rip quite a bit of wood instead of using the table saw and I seem to use it more and more for other work besides resawing.

[Scott T Smith]

Derek, ditto the other's comments about NOT using the limbs for milling. The stresswood will move all over the place as it dries.

Milling the trunk should not be much of a problem. If you log onto the Forestry Forum (www.forestryforum.com (http://www.forestryforum.com)) they have a link to various sawyers all over the country (and the world for that matter). They are the largest and best forestry and sawmill related website.

Woodmizer also maintains a listing of all of their sawmill owners, so you can also contact them. If the log is too large to fit onto a bandmill, one option is to quarter it with a chainsaw and then mill the quarters. Another option is to locate someone with a swingmill; many of them can handle logs up to 60" in diameter.

Trunk diameter is typically measured at DBH (diameter breast height), or around 5' above ground.

[Derek Larson]

Thank you all for responses, I will not be resawing the limbs. Thank you