cutting logs into planks.

[michael foster]

I have found two casurina trees that I want to cut into lumber. The bases burnt in a bush fire and the trees fell over. Firemen put out the fire which was burning very slowly up the tree. I want to use this wood to surface a floor . It will be stuck to a concrete subfloor. My questions are about how to cut and cure the wood. The finished thickness will be about 3/8"or a little less . I am trying to get as much as possible of it quarter sawn. It is a very hard wood it is cracking already. Should I cut it into 2"or 3" slabs and then stick it for drying or should I go down to just above the 3/8" and dry it at that dimension? I also wondered if I should put bituminous paint on the end grains to try and reduce the cracking . I am new to this process of turning logs to lumber and any advise on the topic would be appreciated. I also wondered what would be the best way to stick the wood to the concrete? We do not have a winter and the humidity is fairly constant year round.

Michael from Barbados.

[Scott T Smith]

I have found two casurina trees that I want to cut into lumber. The bases burnt in a bush fire and the trees fell over. Firemen put out the fire which was burning very slowly up the tree. I want to use this wood to surface a floor . It will be stuck to a concrete subfloor. My questions are about how to cut and cure the wood. The finished thickness will be about 3/8"or a little less . I am trying to get as much as possible of it quarter sawn. It is a very hard wood it is cracking already. Should I cut it into 2"or 3" slabs and then stick it for drying or should I go down to just above the 3/8" and dry it at that dimension? I also wondered if I should put bituminous paint on the end grains to try and reduce the cracking . I am new to this process of turning logs to lumber and any advise on the topic would be appreciated. I also wondered what would be the best way to stick the wood to the concrete? We do not have a winter and the humidity is fairly constant year round.

Michael from Barbados.


Michael, lumber dried best in board form. However, when a tree experiences a forest fire often times there are problems with the outer wood becoming dry and case hardened, and it does not dry in a normal fashion.

If it were me, I would consider the following steps:

1 - trim back the ends of the logs until you have clean (no end checks / cracking) wood. Imediately apply some type of end sealer to the freshly cut ends of the logs. In your environment, rather than incur the expense of shipping Anchor Seal in, I would probably opt for several coats of latex paint as a financially viable alternative.

Have the logs milled ASAP. I would suggest quartersawing them at at 11/16" to allow for drying shrinkage and planing. Standard practice is to allow at least 1/8" on each side of a rough sawn board for finishing, plus whatever percentage is applicable to the species and milling pattern for shrinkage. When quartersawing oak, I add 12% - 15% to the desired dried, rough thickness when milling. Thus, a quartersawn board that is desired to be 5/4 thick when dry is milled green at 1-7/16" thick.

Due to the way that wood dries, it is better to mill with your finished thickness in mind than to mill thick planks that are later resawn. The reason why is that thicker lumber takes longer to dry properly, and you run the risk of resawing a thick board and having the resawn pieces cup due to inequal moisture contents from face to face.

You can adhere them to the floor with a flooring adhesive, but another option would be to tongue and groove the boards with a "snap-lock" type of joint, and float them over the floor on a thin rubber membrane. This would add some cushion to the floor as well.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Found this hiding in the Tech Support Forum. Hopefully someone here can help answer some of Michael's questions!

[Jim Andrew]

Michael, cool to have someone from Barbados on the forum! I'd like to visit there, but the economy has slowed down my tripping.

[michael foster]

Scott,

Thanks so much for your advise. The tree trunk was not exposed to a lot of heat. I have only seen this wood used for workbenches many years ago so their is no milling pattern, no history. I have never seen the bits for this snap lock system where should I look and how thin would you mill the wood down for this application?. I have seen it laid on television and always wondered what stops the floor from lifting ? This would be my only worry. Michael

[michael foster]

Jim,
I know, all over, let me know when ya coming.

Michael.

[Scott T Smith]

On a snap-lock type of floor, the perimeter baseboard keeps the floor from lifting, and individual slats are secured by the board adjacent to them. They basically float in place. The bad news is that you usually have to use a moulder in order to properly mill a snap-lock onto boards, as each side of the board requires milling in two dimensions (usually from the side and either the top or bottom of the plank). The profile cutters are typically custom manufactured to order, based upon the moulder.

Finished snap-lock flooring planks are usually somewhere between .400 - .500 thick, so you would mill at 3/4" green to allow for shrinkage and surfacing.