Questions about milling a tree branch, cutting it up, and then bending it....

[Wade Lippman]

I have been wanting to make a small shelving unit with a lip on the shelves. The shelves will be about 1' x 2', with one side cut with a 1' radius.
I was going to try my hand at steam bending the lips, but then read that kiln dried wood can't be bent, and that is all I see readily available.

Yesterday the electric company trimmed branches. I salvaged a walnut branch about 8" diameter and 33" long. I am guessing it weighs about 60 pounds. I want to cut some wood out of this to use for the shelf lip.

1) It is rather too heavy to have my wife help me put on the bandsaw, and would like to wait until my son is home in March. It will average about 30* in those two months. I have wrapped it in plastic. Will it survive 2 months that way?

2) I have milled wood before, so I am acquainted with the process, but the bending is new. At what point do I bend it? Now? When it is half dry? Fully dry?

3) I have never used branch wood, but understand it is unstable. Since I am planning on bending it anyhow, maybe that isn't a problem. Or maybe it is an even bigger problem. I don't need much wood; so I can make the pieces oversized to start with, but perhaps that just makes it worse. Any advise.

4) The last time I did this, getting the wood through the bandsaw the first time was an interesting challenge. A sled of some kind might be a good idea. Any suggestions, given the size of my log?

It will be a huge amount of work for a small amount of wood, but it will be a learning experience. Right?

[Myk Rian]

Branches are not good for any projects. There is too much tension in them for the wood to stay straight.

[Joe A Faulkner]

For commercial sawyers, branches are not profitable for lumber, but for the small scale hobbiest with a bandsaw, it may be worth your while, depending on the project. I've had good luck using small, floating door panels out of milled branches, as well as small boxes. Since you already have the log and a bandsaw, I suggest you give it a try and see for yourself.

[John Lankers]

If it wasn't walnut, I'd say: burn it. If you want to store the log for a few months, keep it dry and out of the sun. When you cut it up, sticker it and put lots of weight on and tie the whole bundle tight together with ratchet straps, adjust the straps as the wood dries. There is a good possibility that it'll be usable for only the smallest projects or not at all, nobody can tell for sure. What do you have to loose.

[Wade Lippman]

If it wasn't walnut, I'd say: burn it. If you want to store the log for a few months, keep it dry and out of the sun. When you cut it up, sticker it and put lots of weight on and tie the whole bundle tight together with ratchet straps, adjust the straps as the wood dries. There is a good possibility that it'll be usable for only the smallest projects or not at all, nobody can tell for sure. What do you have to loose.

There will be no sun here for a few months, so that is easy. But dry? I thought I would want to prevent it from drying before I cut it up. It surely won't decay any in the cold; why dry?

[John Lankers]

There will be no sun here for a few months, so that is easy. But dry? I thought I would want to prevent it from drying before I cut it up. It surely won't decay any in the cold; why dry?

Sorry Wade, poor choice of words.
I should have said 'protected from the elements', direct sun and soaking wet is what you don't want. However, a couple of months is not gonna do any harm at this time of year, just seal the ends to prevent checking and get it of the ground.

[Mark Gibney]

You might want to think about using a sled (like you said you might) to rip the branch - any twist can easily kink your bandsaw blade. I've done it...

[Warren Wilson]

On the other hand, I have bent laminated kiln-dried birch a few times without issue -- to a tighter radius than you are contemplating. In once case I built a coaming around a kayak cockpit, in another case I bent it to about a 4" radius to make a surround for some lights -- a third time I made a curved base for a music stand with about a 10" radius.

In all but the kayak, I didn't even use steam. I dry fitted the strips to the form and when they bent without making a disturbing crackling sound, I just went ahead. YMMV.

It might be a whole lot less work and more fun to experiment with some thin strips of your chosen wood species and a form. (And that way you don't have to wait so long to start).

[Wade Lippman]

This morning I found a 6" diameter piece of walnut further down the street. People are away for the winter, so I couldn't ask permission, but is hard to see how they will care.
It was perfectly straight and weighed half of what the first piece did, so I went ahead and made 4 7/8" thick 4" boards out of it. I only want 2/4, so that ought to be fine.

So questions 1, 3 & 4 are pretty much taken care of. (I may or may not bother with the bigger piece).
BUT, no one has addressed no. 3. When do I bend them? They are at 32% now.

Warren suggested bent laminations, but I am kinda intent on trying my hand at bending a 1/2" piece.

[John K Jordan]

Wade, Others have commented well. Limbs have reaction wood that must be dealt with if used. I just want to recommend a good book which will answer this and many, many other things about wood. "Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley
https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Craftsmans-Guide-Technology/dp/1561583588

JKJ

[Yonak Hawkins]

...why dry?

I don't wish to answer for John but, the reason I would let it mostly dry in the limb before cutting it up, is to let it bow and twist while drying then cut as much decent lumber out of what's left as you can. If you cut it green and dry it, even stacked and stickered with good weights until totally dry, it will bend since it's limb wood.

[Wade Lippman]

I don't wish to answer for John but, the reason I would let it mostly dry in the limb before cutting it up, is to let it bow and twist while drying then cut as much decent lumber out of what's left as you can. If you cut it green and dry it, even stacked and stickered with good weights until totally dry, it will bend since it's limb wood.

I figured that since I was going to steam bend it anyhow, it wouldn't matter what happened to it. Bear in mind that the finished pieces are only going to be 0.5x1.5x25. But if it warps badly while drying, I won't be able to plane/saw it when it is dry.

However, I could plane it and cut it to size now. If it warps badly, steaming and bending it will get it back in shape. Does that make sense? How much oversized should I make it to allow for shrinkage.

[John K Jordan]

How much oversized should I make it to allow for shrinkage.

It depends on the orientation of the board within the tree.

From the Wood Database. Black walnut: Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 7.8%, Volumetric: 12.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4
This is probably an average. With limb wood and juvenile wood can be far different, as can wood from individual trees.

JKJ