Maple and Cherry

[Daninvan]

I like to get started with milling in the fall, usually shortly after Labour Day in early September. This is the second year I got off to a late start, although not as late as I did last year. I use a log dump area that is run by the Parks Board on a local beach. The area is normally open for chainsawing from early September until the end of May.

This year due to a strike by teachers combined with good weather there were still plenty of people after Labour Day using the beach for beach activities. So the Parks Board decided not to open up the chainsawing area until after Thanksgiving (early October in Canada).

I was eager to get started as there was a lot of really nice wood accumulating there.



So while I was waiting I loaded up my DH kiln with a couple loads of cherry that I had milled two years ago.



I also reorganized the woodpile on the side of my house where I let the slabs air dry for two years before kilning them. I really need to stop stacking fresh wet slabs on top of older drier slabs, it really makes for a lot of work to get at the drier ones!



Anyway I patiently waited until Thanksgiving, then the next week I broke a finger. Not a bad break, but I broke it a few years ago in the same spot so the doctor said to splint it up, buddy tape it to the next finger, and take it easy for six weeks. So three more weeks of waiting, I finally said the finger feels good enough, and I finally got out and did some milling today!

It was an unbelievable gorgeous day after a week of foul weather. My three buddies and I really lucked out after the recent monsoon like rains, thunder, etc. As you can kind of see in the picture below, there was no-one else at the beach today at all!

I had my eyes on a lot of nice wood in the pile, but know from experience that two is enough for one day, so selected a wide piece of maple and a promising piece of ornamental cherry. Both were likely street trees.

maple:

cherry:

We started on the maple, cutting 4" slabs. It quickly got too wide for my mill which cuts about 30". The wood was nice and white with a bit of staining. A big ugly knot right in the middle a bit further down caused a lot of wastage though. My bowl turning buddy took almost all of it, got about 15 blanks in total from the 5 slabs we peeled off.

Next was the cherry. My bowl buddy didn't want any, and neither did I since I have three kiln loads of cherry that I am processing right now, plus some from previous years. So I milled it into 2" slabs and the other two friends who were there helping us took it all away.

I was not super happy with the mills. They did not give me any mechanical problems, but the chains seemed to dull quickly. I spent way more time sharpening today than I should have.

I had ordered a couple new chains from Granberg last month, but somehow they sent me the wrong gauge chain so I was forced to use older chains that I should have worked on a lot more to make them right. Hopefully new chains will be here soon and that will be the end of that problem.

So here is the area after we were done. Maple scraps on the left fore ground, cherry scraps on the right. As we were standing around talking afterwards, a guy came up to us and asked if he could load up the scraps for firewood. Nothing was wasted on this beautiful day!

 

[SDB777]

I am so glad you're milling again!
The 'pictorials' are awesome!!!

Do you get to 'claim' chunks, or is it first come, first serve?



Scott (always fun when you are back on the beach) B

 

[Daninvan]

Do you get to 'claim' chunks, or is it first come, first serve?

Thanks Scott,

Aside from me and my buddies there is only one other person who seems to take any of the logs from the dump, so it's not like it's a race or anything to claim chunks! If I mark one with my initials I can pretty much count on it as being mine. There's probably 15 logs or more sitting down there now with my initials on them. Enough for the whole 'season' for me.

If I don't claim them they get hauled away (costs the City $400 a bin last I heard) to the 'burbs and chipped into hog fuel. Really an unbelievable waste.

 

[SDB777]

I should start taking photo's of the stuff I cut in the right-of-way for the County....it all gets chipped into mulch and given away twice a year to anyone in the County(think they have to show proof of residence). Thousand of cubic yards!!! Most recently, 44"DBH Pecan that I had to remove that was too close to the pavement(now this tree had been there for a long time, long before the road was thought about). It was heavy enough in a 10' section that the grapple truck had 'issues' picking it up to put in the bed for transport!
This coming week, I am supposed to remove a twin set of dead Oaks(think they are WhiteOak from what I've been told). Boss took a tape measure and wrapped it around the tree...said they both are over 130"(we'll see, but regardless, what a waste).....chipper bound.


Are all the logs typically that short, or do you just look for crotched chunks or weird buttlogs?(hoping for good figure and something for the bowl turning buddy that goes with you)

What have you been building with the stuff you've had beside the house?





Scott (you there today too) B

 

[Daninvan]

I have to pretty much take what I can get, length-wise. Recently they have mostly been kind of short at the dump, but that's OK since my van packed it in and I reverted to using my wife's old Subaru, I can't really deal with any lengths longer than 6' 6" anyways. Figure is always a nice bonus and we'll take it if we can get it!

It is a shame that those logs you are describing just get turned into mulch. I know there has been talk here in the past of commercializing the process and selling the logs to mills so they are not wasted, but people are afraid that will result in undue pressure to cut 'desirable' trees in the city.

I have not built a heck of a lot the past couple of years. I have a small slab table and a shoji style lamp on the go. Have built several cabinets in the past as well as a bookshelf that took me over a year!

 

[SDB777]

This one hurt...



Ten minutes later, I had it to here...


And then 15 minutes later...(the grapple opening is 24" across...not huge, but still sad)



From there it went into a tub grinder.....sad day
The 'county' can not sell the logs, have to give them away as mulch(non-profit thing). Can't even let folks go in and get for firewood(think a lot of morons with WildThings)....at least you get the chance to get something. Hope you get some time this weekend for more?!?!?!


Psst...don't tell, this one followed me home:



Scott (reincarnate me as a dog) B