Is 1" too thin to mill for 3/4" finished product"

[Max Neu]

I typically buy my lumber kiln dried from sawmills planed to 7/8",and it is probably 95% cleaned up.I met a guy that lives close to me that has a WoodMizer,and he said he would cut up about 500 bd. ft. of QSWO for me,from one of his logs.He said he saws his 4/4 lumber to an inch,and nobody ever complains about it.This will be my first time air drying my lumber,so I am in some unfamiliar territory.I primarily build kitchen/bath cabinets,built in's,etc.I am not familiar with lumber coming off of one of these saws,so I don't know what to expect.I am thinking 1" will be cutting it close,maybe too close?But,at the same time,I don't want to be doing an excessive amount of planing,and dealing with all the waste either.Looking for some suggestions from guy's that do their own sawing with with this type of saw.He's not going to start for a few weeks,so I have time to let him know if I need it thicker.BTW,he is charging me $.80 per bd. ft.,is that a good deal?It seems cheap compared to what I pay for kiln dried from the sawmills I buy from.

[David Nelson1]

I don't have a saw mill but I say that stacking and allowing the pile to breath will go a long way. Oak is temperamental to dry. Open celled fibers loose to much from the outside while the interior is still wet can crack easily. I have in the past bought green and took it right away to the kiln. Usually takes 4 - 6 months to get it back but that's not reflective of the drying time, my guy has a small single kiln that can only handle 1500 or so bdft. so if someone is in front of me.......... the plus is if done right you'll have a better yield and no bugs since it's been sterilized. Cost .25 bdft here. That ups the ante to 525 for QS still seems a like a good deal to me. Maybe you can ask him to add an 1/8 to the cut that should take care of the shrinkage.

[Izzy Camire]

I have a sawmill. For QS that price seems ok. Bandsawmills when setup properly are able cut true and reapeatble.
As far as the thickness it really depends on how much the boards move while drying. My experience is that hardwood moves quite a bit while air drying even if stacked properly which mean supported every 18" or so and the stickers running exactly ontop of each other. The other important thing when stickering a pile is to make sure the base is coplanar throughout. If it were me I might go 1 1/8" on the boards.

[Art Mann]

I buy oak, maple, walnut, cherry and occasionally poplar lumber from a small time band saw operator all the time. The lumber is sawn to 1-1/8" and then properly kiln dried. He will then skip plane it so customers can see the grain. His best grade of material will yield 13/16" lumber fully dressed and ready to make furniture. 1" might be cutting it a little close.

[Al Weber]

Personally I would have it cut at 1 1/8" based on my experience. It isn't so much what you would lose thicknessing a perfectly flat board but what you lose in correctly any bowing, twisting or other movement.

[Danny Hamsley]

If it is $.80/BF for QS white oak lumber from his white oak logs, that is insanely low. Something does not sound right. Quartersawn lumber shrinks twice as much as flat sawn lumber in thickness. 1 1/8" is a minimum thickness. 1" is not thick enough to insure that all the boards will clean up to 3/4" finished thickness in QS white oak in my experience. Especially it they are wider that 7 - 8".

Even just flatsawn regular southern yellow pine is going for about that green off the saw for 4/4. I is hard for me to imagine someone selling QS white oak lumber for that price, even green off the saw. However, you might be onto a gold mine.

[Scott T Smith]

Max, I quartersaw for a living. Several observations.

First, you mention that he will cut up ONE log and yield 500 board feet for you. That's gotta be one heck of a log to yield 500 bd ft!

.80 bd ft is an exceptional price! I frequently pay more than this just for the logs, not to mention milling, drying, end sealing and transport costs. Matter of fact, when we QS mill for others (their logs) we charge $1.00 per bd ft (flat sawing is less than 1/2 of that), so for him to provide the log and mill for .80 is a steal for you!

Shrinkage - as Danny mentioned QS lumber shrinks twice as much as flat sawn lumber during the drying process. You will typically see a 12% reduction in thickness from green to dry with QS oak (about 8% for rift sawn and 6% for flat sawn). Thus, if you want a dry 1" thick board, you had better mill it at at least a fat 1-1/8". We mill 4/4 QS at 1-3/16, and 5/4 at 1-7/16" in order to ensure that we have adequate room to net 3/4" and 1" finished boards. It is highly unlikely that oak lumber milled at 1" green will yield an S2S 3/4" board. More like 5/8".

Pay attention to the details in the drying process! There is a sticky in the Milling forum about drying lumber. Start with a flat base, use similarly dimensioned stickers and sticker in a clean, vertical line for the best results.

Your miller will yield a mix of quarter and rift sawn lumber when he mills. The percentage will vary depending upon log size and his milling methods.

[Cody Colston]

FWIW, I agree with Danny and Scott that you need to QS the Oak lumber to a minimum of 1 1/8" to ensure a 3/4" finished thickness. Those two guys process and sell lumber commercially. They know what they are talking about. Scott, in particular, deals primarily in QS Oak.

[Max Neu]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.I called the guy this morning and told him to saw everything to 1 3/16",just to be safe.I did confirm with him the price of $.80 bd.ft,He told me he has 2 logs about 20" diameter,and 16' long,he's guessing to get about 500 bd ft,or somewhere in that neighborhood.I talked to 2 other guy's in the last few day's from my area that have Woodmizers,and their prices are similar to his.I just got off the phone with another guy about 30 miles away that said he would sell me either Walnut or Cherry,already cut and air dried for $.80 - $.90 a bd.ft. These guy's are hobbiest's,and I am guessing they probably get their logs for free,either from their own woods or friends.I have been doing my homework on stacking/sticking and storing air dried lumber,I am pretty excited to give this a try!

[John TenEyck]

White oak is one of the most problematic woods for me to dry. QS has fewer problems than FS but it still doesn't always play nice. My advice is to stack it somewhere where you can maintain a relatively slow drying rate. I recently wrapped some hard maple and red oak stacks with black mulch fabric and they dried with no apparent problems. I know there is a fabric specifically made for this, but I can't remember the name or who sells it.

John

[Max Neu]

John,
I am considering buying some covering called Shade-Dri,maybe that is what you are referring to?I think I will need it,I am located out in the country,with no wind blocks to speak of,it's alway's breezy out here.I called them today,and they sell a 50% protection,and an 80% protection against wind and rain.She said the 80% is the most popular,but I am concerned it will block too much air?Hopefully some others will chime in that know more about this product.

[Scott T Smith]

John,
I am considering buying some covering called Shade-Dri,maybe that is what you are referring to?I think I will need it,I am located out in the country,with no wind blocks to speak of,it's alway's breezy out here.I called them today,and they sell a 50% protection,and an 80% protection against wind and rain.She said the 80% is the most popular,but I am concerned it will block too much air?Hopefully some others will chime in that know more about this product.

Shade-Dri is indeed the product (and a 20" small end diameter, 16' log will yield around 250 board feet flat sawn, probably around 200 or so if quartersawn with the sapwood removed during milling).

The best thing is that the weather is starting to cool off, so this is the ideal time to start drying white oak. The 50% protection should be fine for your needs.