Jebediah Eckert
07-12-2015, 8:47 AM
I kind of found a good stash of 4/4 cherry boards, and they were kind of free.
Eight or so years ago we built our timber frame home. The frame is built out of red oak. At the time it was no more expensive then pine. We liked the look of the oak, it is unique (pine more tradition), and it is normally a costly upgrade. The timber framer has a large portable sawmill and was willing to bring it to the property and use our trees but we needed between 125-175 trees. There was not any cost savings because he would have had to bring his whole operation two hours down to us, plus it was a logistical nightmare, so we decided against it.
We still wanted to use some tree(s) from our property and I found a couple of large straight cherry trees. I dropped them and pulled the logs out. The timber framer came down with a trailer and transported them up to his mill. We ended up using them for 3 live edge beams in our living room and also had enough for all the cherry braces on the first floor.
After the beams were cut we took a ride up with the kids to look at them and decide how we wanted them used and positioned. While at the mill the timber framer had a small stack of cherry boards he cut off the remaining parts of our logs. He gave them to me and we took them back to our property.
Being in the middle of a home build I was just happy to have them. I didn't seal the ends, sticker, or anything like that. They ended up under a piece of plastic up on some scrap 2x4. A month or two later when the frame was up the stack made it to a back corner of a bonus room area above the garage we were not planning on finishing with the house. There I did a nice job stickering and weighed the top down nice and even.
That area became a home base for construction as we finished the house. In fact the paper coffee cup I was drinking the day I got the C.O. From the building inspector remained there until this weekend, measurements still scribbled on the empty cup.
For various reasons we are finishing off the "bonus area" and cleaned it out this weekend in preparation. Not fun, it was hot and humid. But once I got to the back of this large space I stumbled upon those cherry boards I FORGOT I had put up there 8 years ago. Score!....kind of I guess, they were there all along. They were hidden behind empty boxes, with spare plumbing and electrical parts stacked on top. The stack was promptly brought down to my basement workshop. They dried awesome, straight with very little checking. Now I have to decide what I am going to use them for. I'm in no rush, finishing the bonus area will have to come first.
And for those of you wondering how does a woodworker forget about having a nice stack of cherry board in the house? If you ever build a house someday you will see a bunch of small things fall by the wayside during the process....
317178
317179
Eight or so years ago we built our timber frame home. The frame is built out of red oak. At the time it was no more expensive then pine. We liked the look of the oak, it is unique (pine more tradition), and it is normally a costly upgrade. The timber framer has a large portable sawmill and was willing to bring it to the property and use our trees but we needed between 125-175 trees. There was not any cost savings because he would have had to bring his whole operation two hours down to us, plus it was a logistical nightmare, so we decided against it.
We still wanted to use some tree(s) from our property and I found a couple of large straight cherry trees. I dropped them and pulled the logs out. The timber framer came down with a trailer and transported them up to his mill. We ended up using them for 3 live edge beams in our living room and also had enough for all the cherry braces on the first floor.
After the beams were cut we took a ride up with the kids to look at them and decide how we wanted them used and positioned. While at the mill the timber framer had a small stack of cherry boards he cut off the remaining parts of our logs. He gave them to me and we took them back to our property.
Being in the middle of a home build I was just happy to have them. I didn't seal the ends, sticker, or anything like that. They ended up under a piece of plastic up on some scrap 2x4. A month or two later when the frame was up the stack made it to a back corner of a bonus room area above the garage we were not planning on finishing with the house. There I did a nice job stickering and weighed the top down nice and even.
That area became a home base for construction as we finished the house. In fact the paper coffee cup I was drinking the day I got the C.O. From the building inspector remained there until this weekend, measurements still scribbled on the empty cup.
For various reasons we are finishing off the "bonus area" and cleaned it out this weekend in preparation. Not fun, it was hot and humid. But once I got to the back of this large space I stumbled upon those cherry boards I FORGOT I had put up there 8 years ago. Score!....kind of I guess, they were there all along. They were hidden behind empty boxes, with spare plumbing and electrical parts stacked on top. The stack was promptly brought down to my basement workshop. They dried awesome, straight with very little checking. Now I have to decide what I am going to use them for. I'm in no rush, finishing the bonus area will have to come first.
And for those of you wondering how does a woodworker forget about having a nice stack of cherry board in the house? If you ever build a house someday you will see a bunch of small things fall by the wayside during the process....
317178
317179