oak tree felled by storm

[rob mason]

Greetings!
A recent storm in Southwest MS felled an old oak tree. It's some variation of red oak - possibly a pin oak - not entirely sure. The tree blew down roughly 10d ago. How long would I have to get some usable logs for sawing into rough stock? The logs I would salvage would be no more than 12" in diameter. The larger part of the tree is roughly 3' in diameter, but was split by the storm. The 12" diameter logs would be from limbs further up the trunk.

Should I cut them into logs and seal the ends?
Should I go ahead and rough cut them into planks for air drying?

I would likely use the wood for small boxes, picture frames, etc.

Thanks!
Rob

[Mike Parzych]

If they're limbs you'll end up with "reaction lumber." The limbs are stressed from bearing all the weight of the smaller limbs, twigs, and leaves. When you take the first cut on the edge of one of those type boards, you release the stress and the board will turn into a banana.

Plus you won't get much usable lumber from a 12" dia. log, even if it was trunk material. Best option is firewood.

[rob mason]

Funny you should mention that...

I bought some kiln-dried walnut off ebay roughly 8 years ago. It's been stickered in my shop for that long. A while back, I resawed a 7/8" piece and was surprised that both resulting pieces bowed at least 1/4"! After I researched, I found that it was 'case hardening' - is that the same thing as 'reaction lumber'?

Thanks!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Probably the best use for 12" limbs is firewood....sorry :o. As was mentioned, the limbs have grown with stresses (gravity compressing the bottom and stretching the top)such that when sawn they can almost turn themselves inside out. Reaction wood is not the same thing as case hardening. Case hardening results from improperly drying the wood. It's dried too fast and the cells of the wood on the surface collapse and seal moisture in the wood. Even if it does eventually dry it can result in stresses that can cause bowing and cupping when the wood is milled.

[rob mason]

Thanks guys - firewood it is :(

[Loren Bengtson]

Funny you should mention that...

I bought some kiln-dried walnut off ebay roughly 8 years ago. It's been stickered in my shop for that long. A while back, I resawed a 7/8" piece and was surprised that both resulting pieces bowed at least 1/4"! After I researched, I found that it was 'case hardening' - is that the same thing as 'reaction lumber'?

Thanks!

Rob,

If that wood had been sitting around for eight years, you didn't have any case hardening.

Case hardening describes the condition of a freshly dried board wherein the outer surfaces are significantly lower in MC (moisture content) than the inside of the board. When you cut a board like that, it will likely bend due to the stresses within the board or as the core dries out.

What you had was reaction wood. This is wood from branches or leaning trees that builds up internal stresses as a result of reacting to bending forces while it grows.

Case hardened lumber can be fixed by allowing it to stabilize. Reaction wood can't be fixed.

You made the right choice on those branches.

Loren

[Michael Conner]

Greetings!
A recent storm in Southwest MS felled an old oak tree. It's some variation of red oak - possibly a pin oak - not entirely sure. The tree blew down roughly 10d ago. How long would I have to get some usable logs for sawing into rough stock? The logs I would salvage would be no more than 12" in diameter. The larger part of the tree is roughly 3' in diameter, but was split by the storm. The 12" diameter logs would be from limbs further up the trunk.

Should I cut them into logs and seal the ends?
Should I go ahead and rough cut them into planks for air drying?

I would likely use the wood for small boxes, picture frames, etc.

Thanks!
Rob

I agree with what others have said about the 12" limbs, but you may be able to get some usable lumber from the butt log IF it is split and not 'shattered'. In the old days, some sawyers would actually use explosives to split really large logs so they could load them on the mill. You may want to see if you can locate a sawyer that would take a look for you.