almost free cedar if I mill it myself?

[keith ouellette]

I can get a couple of cedar logs for free. The cedar tree grew up through a live oak tree which kept the cedar from growing many branches. There is one log about 12ft long 9" in dia (at its smallest) and it has no branches to make knots.

I don't have a band saw to mill it down with but plan on getting one this summer, like a 16" that could take a 1" blade. I was thinking of making a simple carrage on wheels to slide the log by the saw blade.

Is this cedar log any good to saw into lumber. I don't know if there are different types of cedar trees or which ones are good for lumber but I thought the no limb factor might make it worth while?

[Marcus Isaacson]

Certainly you could mill it yourself, and I think most cedars would be of use. Do the needles have spikey points and hurt if you grab onto them, or are they soft and rounded?
The way to get the most usable lumber out of the tree is to first cut the log into the length of boards that you plan on using (and adding a little extra for trim, shrinkage). You will have the most waste by just cutting boards the entire 12' length, especially if it is white or red cedar. They normally have significant taper. Also it would be much easier to handle in 6' or 4' chunks. Obviously I haven't seen the tree, but it is very possible that the large end could be upwards of 12" to 16". That is the measurement that needs to fit inside the bandsaw. Of course you could always rough it to shape with a chainsaw to make it fit.
One thing to be careful of is what the wood will do when it is sliced open and the tension is released.
I would say why not go for it and give it a shot? Free wood is good!
I am sure somebody with much more sawing experience will step in here and give you all the good info you need.

[keith ouellette]

marcus;

For some reason all of the needles on the cedars in this area (there are about 12 on a couple of different lots) have dead needles. I don't know if it is because of winter (what it is in florida anyway) or not so I can't say if they are soft or not. The bark is a very pale brown though if that matters.

[John Bush]

Hi Keith,
We had several 100ft. western red cedars removed when we did an addition on our previous home. They were 5-6 ft in diameter at the base, were 90+ years old, and we were expecting a nice payback when they made it to the split shingle mill. We sadly found out they were considered "too young" for cedar shakes. It takes another century + to develope the appropiate resins ????? to make quality, weather resistant shingle grade stock. Of course, we could have been hosed by the tree guy, but we did get some return as the wood was used for 5/4 X 5 radius edged decking. That's common deck material out here and is less costly than pressure txd or synthetic decking. I imagine there aren't many WRC on the East coast, but I bet you will get some nice boards from your logs.

[Marcus Isaacson]

I would guess it to be eastern red cedar then, most certainly not white cedar in Florida. All of the trees in the neighborhood have brown needles? Cedars should never be completely brown or else they will normally be dead. Sometimes bald cypress can look similar to red cedar and will turn brown in the wintertime.

[keith ouellette]

I just checked with a friend that owns the next door property and he says he remembers them always going dormant this time of year so I don't think they are dead. I think I'm going to take it and see how it turns out. he worst that happens is free firewood. (Limited use for that here but we do use it some).

[Russ Sears]

Are you sure it's cedar and not larch? They drop their needles this time of year.

[Larry Nall]

I've never known eastern red cedar to drop its leaves not have I ever seen it grown tall without branches. It's sometimes used as a christmas tree. My best guess is cypress. What part of Florida are you in?

[Cody Colston]

Eastern Red Cedar is an evergreen. They do not drop their needles nor turn brown in winter. I'm thinking it's probably Cypress, also.

I've sawn quite a bit of ERC on my 17" Grizzly band saw. 4' to 5' lengths is about the max if you are handling 10" to 12" logs and even then, you will need some sort of infeed/outfeed support.

FWIW, I've also sawn up an 8" Cypress on my band saw into 5' lengths. The Cypress was heavier than the Cedar because of the higher moisture content. The flat-sawn Cypress also warped a lot while air drying while the Cedar stayed flat.

[keith ouellette]

I'll be honest. The only reason we think its a cedar is because a number of them were planted at some apartments called the cedars. It does not look like the cedars I am used to.

I thought it might be cypress because of the lighter bark but I thought cypress grew around water and had that distinct trunk with all the buttress roots.
The bark is a pale brown not a dark brown like I've seen on cedars. I will try to get a picture of the wood and maybe someone can help me decide if its workable.