My Milling Project

[Daniel McCurdy]

Hello everyone, this is my first post, so I'll have to bring you up to speed...

We've done some major work to our property since we moved in about 2.5 years ago. A lot of dead and dying trees were taken down during clean up...along with some healthy ones to make way for an addition. For the trees that didn't get turned into firewood I have bigger and better plans of course...lumber!

I decided the job was way bigger than I wanted to take on alone (I think we roughly guessed over 4000 bd ft), so I've made arrangements for a gentleman with a Wood-Mizer to come in and take care of it.

With some input from my father and a good friend, I designed 4 platforms for the lumber to be stacked on. All 2x10 PT construction placed on 8" diameter footers at least 24" deep. I don't have a real picture yet, but this should do:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/platforms-1.jpg

Here are some shots of just some of the stuff we'll be milling.

Red & white oak, black walnut, hickory, maple, and one of my helpers! That pile now also includes some nice sized black cherry logs.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Daniellogs2.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/IMG_3243.jpg

Nice white oak
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/bigoak.jpg


How about some opinions on how to mill it? The wood will be used for a variety of projects like custom cabinets, maybe coffee and side tables, etc. I do plan to quartersaw a large amount of that big white oak.

My thoughts were to mill most of logs over 6' at 1 1/8" or could go to 5/4. Any under that length to 8/4 for table legs and other random stuff that would require extra thickness. Any reason to mill any thicker? I do have access to a large resaw bandsaw, but NOT at my shop. So I'd have to plan ahead whenever I had to resaw something. Although, as this is just a hobby, that may not be too big of a deal.

One project I do have on my mind is a rustic timber mantle for my family room. (Excuse the photo, its from the walk-through when we looked at the house...its a lot nicer looking now)
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Fireplace.jpg

Going to be more of a rustic type room with a pool table and its our only room for TV/movies. Fireplace is 10' wide. I'd rather have a slab than a half round log. I think it would fit the look of the room better. I was thinking of having maybe a 4" or 5" thick slab with a natural edge facing the room, 10" deep, and maybe 8' long. By all means, please let me know what you think of those measurements. The idea is to look beefy but not out of place.

[Greg Heppeard]

Don't forget to sticker the lumber so it will dry nicely....1 year per inch of thickness. Nice haul btw.

[gary rogers]

I have had a lot of logs milled with a Woodmizer and they will take very little planing to clean up. If you are looking at needing 3/4 I would cut them at no more than an inch. I think you would get a lot of sagging in the center of those storage decks with only having supports at the ends. Your looking at some tremendous weights on those 2x10s. Try to have your supports under the stickers to transfer the weight all the way to the ground. With those nice hardwoods you have you might want to look into kiln drying and then you will be able to just flat stack it indoors when it is done.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Hi Daniel and Welcome,

I have a Woodmizer mill and for any species that has any amount of shrinkage cut to the 5/4 scale, which yields 1 1/8" lumber. Any less than that may result in boards that won't plane to 3/4 the full length. Your drying platforms look substantial, if not a bit of overkill. Just get something that's going to stay flat and a reasonable distance off the ground.

Have plenty of stickers on hand. Some say avoid some species for the possibility of sticker shadow, but the general consensus is any species will work as long as they're dry. About an inch thick is best to allow for good air flow, especially with a pallet sixty inches wide as you have outlined. After a few stickering operations we decided more is better and go with about sixteen inches or even down to a foot where most say two feet is OK. Have a good bit of wight to put on the top to help eliminate bowing or warping. I generally try to kick what I think will be "culls" to the side and use them on top and have the good stuff buried down in the pile. I don't recall if you said the material will be outside. Have an adequate covering that will still allow for ventilation.

Try to keep lumber from the same tree all in the same pile. When you go to make a project oak tree A may look radically different from oak tree B. (It may in the same tree, but you can do just so much). What we try to do when milling multiple logs is to take a lumber crayon and put one number for the log and a second for the board cut from it. For example, 2-14 would be the 14th board cut from log 2. That way you can keep boards close to the same appearance together and if you take board three, flip it and put it next to board four you will have a bookmatched pair.

Good luck with the operation.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to SMC!

For your "platforms", unless you really need them to be fully decked like that for "alternative uses", there really is no need for so much structure for the purpose of stacking your lumber. The idea is air-flow. Construct what you need to insure a level area, but you can use just a few 4x4 crosspieces with stickers on them to support the first layer...and that should be 6-8" off any underlying surface. I just put the risers on the ground over landscape cloth (to keep down weeds) in a level area I already had and added my first layer of stickers on top of them before laying down the new boards.

Be sure you leave the pile open for air to flow. Only cover the top to keep standing water, ice or snow off.

I had quite a bit of my poplar milled at 5/4 and 8/4 for more flexibility, even though that meant longer drying times.

[Gary Breckenridge]

:cool:Yes it will work. Try to go for shares on the cutting. It may take you years to use up 4000 bd ft of hardwood. I'd suggest getting some paint or wax on the ends of those logs; otherwise you may lose 6" on each end from checks.:cool: I would shoot for mostly 1" planks, second would be 2" planks and finally some 4 x 4" for turning. Sticker the planks for drying at 1'. Do you plan to keep the drying rack out of the rain? Any plans to sell some of the wood?:cool:

[Daniel McCurdy]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Guess I should have included the plans for stickering and covering the pile in the original post. For now, the plan is to take good ol' 1x3 ferring strips and place them on end on the band mill and slice them in half. Figure that should give me roughly 3/4 x 1 1/4" stickers.

Cover will be tarps for now. I'm going to re-size them to cover the top and extend out some, but not hang down to cover any of the sides. I also have plenty of cinder blocks on hand to place on top for weight.

Yeah, the platforms are a little overkill, but it was one of those situations where a little money could have been saved by using lesser materials, but the reduction in capacity would have been greater than it was worth. This way, there's no doubt that I can place 4 tons of wet wood on there. Plus, whenever we move, I'll just pull them up onto a trailer or rollback and take them with me...minus the footers of course. Speaking of footers, I saw this as a must. We are in a low flat area...very bad drainage. My firewood is on pallets sitting on cinder blocks. They all have sunk unevenly. Not a huge amount, but more than I was willing to deal with for stacking lumber on. Renting an 8" auger and making those footers was actually the fastest way to ensure the level base.

Some of the logs have the ends painted and some I just didn't get to. At this point it is what it is. I planned on losing some and just factored it in. I know this will erk some guys on here...and to be honest, it'll erk me too, and I don't want to waste anymore than the next guy...but sometimes, its just the way it is.

This wood is being shared with my father, so we're already in this one together. Sawyer gets $.

Any thoughts on that mantle?

[Richard M. Wolfe]

OK, Daniel, I'll take a stab at the mantle. Besides, you're up there and I'm down here, so I'm not likely to get in on any of the action. :D

the mantles we've sold have been natural edge. Cut the mantle and then peel the bark off whatever you use. there's no end to what some people think they can get by with and want the bark left on. Great bug and dust collector. I have no experience with northern species but you may have to seal the wood against invasion by powder post beetle. Once the wood is down to a certain moisture content the larger borers won't tackle it, but powder post live in dry wood. They're terrible in mesquite but I've seen them in walnut and oak.

Just be aware that the timber will likely crack. It's tough to get anything over three inches to dry without doing that. What I have heard people doing, but have not tried myself, is taking a chain saw and making a series of plunge cuts in the back to alleviate drying stresses. I'll leave it to you to hang the beast, although it's not nearly the size of some we've done.

[Daniel McCurdy]

Thanks Richard. Yeah, I planned on taking the bark off. Not sure what kind of bugs we have here, but they're here for sure. I've found the lavae munching under the bark of my oak and maple firewood...and I'm sure they're in some of the logs too. For that reason, all the lumber we're cutting will not have the bark left on.

And interesting spin on things...I just talked to a guy about 1 hr from my place that's giving away several left over large hand hewn oak beams from a barn. While I was interested in making my own from wood from my yard...this sounds like one that's worth looking into. I'll report the findings.

As far as hanging it...yeah, I think I'm going to call in my builder on that one. Don't want to screw it up.

[Daniel McCurdy]

Regarding the bugs, these 2 have been around.

Cerambycid
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Cerambycid.jpg

Buprestid
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Buprestidae.jpg


One plus to having some insects around is that a bunch of the maple here has some very nice ambrosia ghosting.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Daniel,

I'm impressed.....someone who actually knows the terms cerambycid and buprestid. I don't know how ambrosia beetles work, as we don't have them in this country. But for everything else when the wood reaches certain moisture content the large borers etc won't tackle it. Since you have found the larvae it's obvious that there's "critters" in the wood. One thing that can fool you is old borer holes in wood and other types of insects that overwinter in old borer holes. Of course you still have to deal with what's in the wood itself. As I mentioned before, the bane of dry wood is powder post beetles. They are awful in mesquite, due to the high starches and sugars in the sapwood. They are also commonly found in ash, but I have gotten them in walnut and oak.

[Anthony Whitesell]

My uncle runs a small mill down in Pennsylvania and he uses the 4x4 pith as the lower blocking under the stacks. He lays down several short ones across with longer ones on top running lengthwise. His 4x4's are layed down in a way that would resemble your decks built upside down. That gets the bottom layer 8-10 inches of the ground.

Just a thought for you for a way to use the scrap from the pith. Free would doesn't cost anything.

[Daniel McCurdy]

Daniel,

I'm impressed.....someone who actually knows the terms cerambycid and buprestid. I don't know how ambrosia beetles work, as we don't have them in this country. But for everything else when the wood reaches certain moisture content the large borers etc won't tackle it. Since you have found the larvae it's obvious that there's "critters" in the wood. One thing that can fool you is old borer holes in wood and other types of insects that overwinter in old borer holes. Of course you still have to deal with what's in the wood itself. As I mentioned before, the bane of dry wood is powder post beetles. They are awful in mesquite, due to the high starches and sugars in the sapwood. They are also commonly found in ash, but I have gotten them in walnut and oak.

Yeah I'll be paying close attention to the pile to make sure the critters are dealt with.

I don't have a good picture of the one maple log I already have sliced up with the ambrosia staining (also called 'ghosting' because of the way the staining looks like a ghost with the holes as eyes.). But it looks like this:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/ambrosiamaple2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/ambrosia_maple.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/ambrosiamaple3.jpg

From WoodCentral (http://www.woodcentral.com/splinters/ambrosia.shtml)
The Ambrosia Beetle causes pinholes 1/100 - 1/4" in diameter and attacks only recently killed/cut trees, logs, and green lumber. They usually bore into the sapwood of both hard and softwoods although sometimes they affect the heartwood. Interestingly, the beetle does not consume the wood; rather, when he excavates his "tunnel", he introduces two types of fungus.
The first grows on the walls of the "tunnel" and it is this fungus which is consumed by the beetle for nourishment. The fungus is called Ambrosia and the name was passed on to include the beetle.
The second fungus is a staining fungus which, if introduced, causes greenish-gray or bluish-black staining around the pinholes.

[Daniel McCurdy]

Argh, due to some technical difficulties with the wood-mizer and time off for the sawyer, milling will not commence until 2/17.

Sorry guys, looks like a couple weeks before more pictures.

[Daniel McCurdy]

Well, better late than never! Here are some pictures of the milling action from last weekend. Black walnut, black cherry, red oak, white oak, hickory, hard and soft maple were the species for the day. Tomorrow we tackle the big white oak logs back in my yard (got the original guy bringing his mill here...yes, my fingers are crossed!). Then its back to the saw mill pictured here to hopefully knock out as much as we can. Should be a lot nicer milling in 85 this weekend as opposed to 95 last weekend!

My father...well, at least the back of him. We'll both be using the lumber.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling1.jpg

Some nice red oak
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling3.jpg

Black walnut and Steve making a blade change
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling4.jpg

More walnut
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling5.jpg

[Daniel McCurdy]

The rest of the pics...

Oak and walnut sundae with a cherry on top
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling7.jpg

Black cherry
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling6.jpg

Oak, hickory, and maple
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling8.jpg

Oak and stickers
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/Milling9.jpg

And one of the largest pieces of black cherry I've ever seen. Its not mine...but I'm working on making it mine :D
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/BigBlackCherry.jpg

[NICK BARBOZA]

That looks like a great time Daniel! i am in the process of trying to find someone to mill a bunch of cherry maple and apple that i have. i have thought about just biting the bullet and buying my own mill.... but i shouldn't.

nice looking wood. now hurry up and wait to let it dry!

Cheers,
Nick

[Daniel McCurdy]

That looks like a great time Daniel! i am in the process of trying to find someone to mill a bunch of cherry maple and apple that i have. i have thought about just biting the bullet and buying my own mill.... but i shouldn't.

nice looking wood. now hurry up and wait to let it dry!

Cheers,
Nick

Have you tried calling Wood-Mizer yet? If you haven't, call them and ask them for local owners who are for hire. I toyed with the idea of purchasing a smaller more manual Wood-Mizer, like the LT15. But after looking at everything, for my situation, this was a better route to go for me.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Hey, Daniel, just caught your thread that you updated from way back when. Looks like you're getting a lot of stuff to play with. You're welcome to load everything up and bring it down here to cut. It was only 103 today :D - but a lot less humidity than yours, I imagine.

[NICK BARBOZA]

Have you tried calling Wood-Mizer yet? If you haven't, call them and ask them for local owners who are for hire. I toyed with the idea of purchasing a smaller more manual Wood-Mizer, like the LT15. But after looking at everything, for my situation, this was a better route to go for me.

I haven't contacted them yet. the main issue at hand is that one of the logs i want to mill is a maple trunk. it is 34" at the butt, and at about 5' high it branches of into two. across that crotch it is about 4.5'.... im pretty sure WoodMizer doesn't make anything that big.... one option i am considering is buying an Alaskan mill setup. ya know, everyone needs a 121cc chainsaw with a 50" bar! right?

Nick

[Daniel McCurdy]

I haven't contacted them yet. the main issue at hand is that one of the logs i want to mill is a maple trunk. it is 34" at the butt, and at about 5' high it branches of into two. across that crotch it is about 4.5'.... im pretty sure WoodMizer doesn't make anything that big.... one option i am considering is buying an Alaskan mill setup. ya know, everyone needs a 121cc chainsaw with a 50" bar! right?

Nick

No mfg I know of sells anything that size to the public. I know someone near here that built a custom band saw that will handle 50". Yes, a chainsaw mill is the other option. Although, if you're not planning on cutting much else that size, its probably not worth your investment. I'd search around for somebody who has a large CSM and see if they'd be willing to slice it up for you. The guy that milled my logs with the wood-mizer is going to be getting a large CSM pretty soon. We'll be using that to slice up that big black walnut...and that big cherry if I can work out a good deal.

[Brent Ring]

Gosh I am Jealous! Nice Haul!:)

[Daniel McCurdy]

Gosh I am Jealous! Nice Haul!:)

Wait until you see this weekend's load. Some of the coolest looking maple I've ever seen (I'll try to get a couple of pictures tonight). We still have A LOT to go too!

[Daniel McCurdy]

Here are a couple more pics for you guys...

Some really nice ambrosia maple
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3624.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3625.jpg


http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3626.jpg


Neat ambrosia maple with curly figure
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3627.jpg

[Daniel McCurdy]

And some more...

Red oak slab with some nice quarter sawn ray flecks.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3628.jpg


Some spalted hard maple. This stuff has a lot of character.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3629.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x270/dmmccurdy/logs/IMG_3630.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Wow...some really nice material there!

[Daniel McCurdy]

Wow...some really nice material there!

Thanks Jim! Yeah, I'm very excited! I didn't get any good shots of the cherry and walnut before I stacked it...but I might be moving that pile back on top of the maple to make room for the additional red and white oak. I'll get some water and toss it on some boards for a couple of pics before I re-stack.