First Time Milling Basswood
A month or so ago my arborist friend asked if I wanted a 20" white oak tree. "Of course, thanks very much." When I got to the jobsite and he started cutting it, it was clear the white oak was something else. But with no leaves out yet it's often a guessing game so I can't blame him for getting it wrong; the bark looked a lot like white oak. But it clearly was not white oak. The wood looked similar to soft maple but not the bark.
Fast forward to yesterday when I cut the logs. We put the first log on the mill and the blade got fouled with wood fibers in the gullets so quickly that it wouldn't cut. It was a resharpened blade that I had just finished cutting a black walnut log with w/o problems. I tried another resharpened blade. No-go. I tried adding water with dish soap in it. No go. Finally, I decided to put a brand new blade on. The difference was astounding. It cut straight and true and the gullets didn't load up at all. I guess I have a thing or three more to learn about resharpening blades. Never had any trouble before in the hardwoods I normal cut.
But the effort to figure it out paid off. We got two logs of nearly clear wood that I'm pretty sure is basswood/linden. It looked like this fresh off the mill.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=1
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=1
It's not as white today, more of an orange/tan color. In any case, it's going to make some nice carving stock.
John
