White Pine

Took yesterday off from milling Hemlock but did take a ride looking for some downed White Pine. I remembered this came down a little over a year ago, hopefully I can still get some good lumber from it.

View attachment 197879View attachment 197880View attachment 197881


bw

Judging by the ferns, that part of the country must get lots of rainfall ?

I wish that we had more softwoods to work with around here. Seems like Cedar is about it in my neck of the woods.

dustytools said:

I wish that we had more softwoods to work with around here. Seems like Cedar is about it in my neck of the woods.

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with Cedar, IMO...although it has a lot of crystal/glass type pieces in the bark, which is murder on blades...

mtngun said:

Judging by the ferns, that part of the country must get lots of rainfall ?

Click to expand...

We had our share of rain this year, but even when we have a dry summer the ferns grow like crazy.

bw

TraditionalTool said:

Nothing wrong with Cedar, IMO...although it has a lot of crystal/glass type pieces in the bark, which is murder on blades...

Click to expand...

No, I agree, I love working with Cedar. I have trailer bottoms and a three point carry all skinned with it. I even framed a little drying shed out of Cedar.

2 x 4's

TraditionalTool said:

Nothing wrong with Cedar, IMO...although it has a lot of crystal/glass type pieces in the bark, which is murder on blades...

Click to expand...

Looks like this weekend I'll mill this pine so I can get some 2 x 4's, any tips would help.

I'm thinking of milling this into planks then next year ripping it down to 2 x 4's.


bw

burningwood said:

Looks like this weekend I'll mill this pine so I can get some 2 x 4's, any tips would help.

I'm thinking of milling this into planks then next year ripping it down to 2 x 4's.


bw

Click to expand...

I think it depends on what type of saws and/or tools you have available to you. I would prefer to cut them to dimensional size, sticker 'em good so they don't bow/twist/warp, and leave them for a year.

If your using a chainsaw mill, I would agree, as it is a lot of work to cut the slabs into usable lumber. However, the slabs will be big and heavy, so if your thinking of ripping them on a table saw, for instance, you'll need to have the means to manipulate the slabs while you do that.

On a band saw mill, it's not as hard, stack the boards on end and cut 'em down. You might be able to make a jig to hold the boards so you can cut the width. IOW, slab multiple 2" slabs, then stand those on end and clamp them together, then setup the chainsaw mill for a 4" cut and cut about 6 at a time. This would be a fair amount of work with a chainsaw mill.

Your other option is as you mention, slabbing it up, and stickering it good, then rip it into 4" boards next years. I'm not sure if you have ever tried to rip a 8' slab that is 2" thick on a table saw, but that can be a job in itself. You might be able to do it with a skill saw and a long straight edge, but could only cut one at a time.

Food for thought.

2 x 4

TraditionalTool said:

I think it depends on what type of saws and/or tools you have available to you. I would prefer to cut them to dimensional size, sticker 'em good so they don't bow/twist/warp, and leave them for a year.

If your using a chainsaw mill, I would agree, as it is a lot of work to cut the slabs into usable lumber. However, the slabs will be big and heavy, so if your thinking of ripping them on a table saw, for instance, you'll need to have the means to manipulate the slabs while you do that.

On a band saw mill, it's not as hard, stack the boards on end and cut 'em down. You might be able to make a jig to hold the boards so you can cut the width. IOW, slab multiple 2" slabs, then stand those on end and clamp them together, then setup the chainsaw mill for a 4" cut and cut about 6 at a time. This would be a fair amount of work with a chainsaw mill.

Your other option is as you mention, slabbing it up, and stickering it good, then rip it into 4" boards next years. I'm not sure if you have ever tried to rip a 8' slab that is 2" thick on a table saw, but that can be a job in itself. You might be able to do it with a skill saw and a long straight edge, but could only cut one at a time.

Food for thought.

Click to expand...

We have a mini mill so my thought was cutting down whatever width the slab is to 3 1/2 inches wide x 1 1/2. My only problem is finding a straight board for the mini mill track to go on. :msp_sad:

Mike

burningwood said:

We have a mini mill so my thought was cutting down whatever width the slab is to 3 1/2 inches wide x 1 1/2. My only problem is finding a straight board for the mini mill track to go on. :msp_sad:

Mike

Click to expand...

That'll make you work for the 2x4s all right...

You should think about what tools you have and what you would need. As an example, why use a mini-mill if you could use a skill saw?

Lots of different ways to skin a cat, but when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. Couldn't be more true with your chainsaw mill. There's a lot more to dimensioning lumber, other than slabbing a bunch up with a chainsaw mill, IMO.

TraditionalTool said:

That'll make you work for the 2x4s all right...

You should think about what tools you have and what you would need. As an example, why use a mini-mill if you could use a skill saw?

Lots of different ways to skin a cat, but when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. Couldn't be more true with your chainsaw mill. There's a lot more to dimensioning lumber, other than slabbing a bunch up with a chainsaw mill, IMO.

Click to expand...

When I start doing the boards for the siding again it will be 3/4 inches thick instead of 1.25. I did get the bible for milling out last night and started reading the section on milling for 2 x 4's or 2 x 8's.

Should be fun learning.

Mike

If you cut them to 1.5x3.5, you'll end up with a smaller board after they're dry. Much better to make them a full 2x4 & plane them to final size after they dry. Depending on use, you may need to dimension only width or thickness, not both. The general rule on milling wood for an unknown future use is to delay as much dimensioning as possible until their use is known. You may end up needing 2x6s. Just mill them to the point where you can handle and dry them.

Talltom said:

If you cut them to 1.5x3.5, you'll end up with a smaller board after they're dry. Much better to make them a full 2x4 & plane them to final size after they dry. Depending on use, you may need to dimension only width or thickness, not both. The general rule on milling wood for an unknown future use is to delay as much dimensioning as possible until their use is known. You may end up needing 2x6s. Just mill them to the point where you can handle and dry them.

Click to expand...

On average how much wOOd I lose from a 1.5 x 3.5 after drying?


Mike

burningwood said:

I did get the bible for milling out last night

Click to expand...

Title?

Excerpt from a woodworking site:

Eastern white pine’s specific gravity: .35.
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water.

Eastern white pine’s radial shrinkage: 2.1 percent
Radial or quartersawn boards have a grain running roughly perpendicular to the wide faces.

Eastern white pine’s tangential shrinkage: 6.1 percent
Tangential or flatsawn boards have grain running roughly parallel to the wide faces.

Example: A 12" wide flatsawn Eastern white pine board will shrink .154" (about 5/32") from 12 percent moisture content to 6 percent, and a quartersawn board will shrink .053" (about 1/16").

The percentages stated are for drying from 25% (green ) to 0 (oven dry), but it is a straight line so you can calculate it easily. Wood does not shrink until it gets to about 25% MC (fiber saturation point). From green to 15% (air dry) would be about 3/32 in width for a 3.5 inch flatsawn board and about 1/32 in thickness for a quartersawn board. The other reason to cut them bigger than you need them is that they don't come out flat and straight and the extra dimension gives you a chance to correct this. A commercial mill cuts 2x4s at full width and processes off a half inch after drying, but your loss should be much less than that.

I assume your cutting them for your own use, so you need to think outside the box a bit. Whatever dimension you end up with is OK as long as it meets your needs. 1.5 x 3.5 is just a standard dimension for commerce. A 1.9 x3.7 is stronger and if your using them for studs, uniform thickness thickness is not required. You may need boards of uniform dimension, but if they're all 1.8 inches thick, that's fine and would save the need to plane off an extra .3 inches. If rough cut 1.5 x 3.5 that has shrunk a little meets your needs, that's fine too. Save any further processing until after they dry, and if you need uniform dimensions, plane/saw them all at the same time.

When i mill out 2x4's that i want to match store bought lumber, i saw my flitches at 6/4, then turning the flitches on edge and start makeing pass' at 3-5/8",



They match up perfectly with the store bought lumber... They just won't shrink much at 1.5", and i allow a bit on the 3.5"...

Keep in mind, the lumber will shrink differently, depending on where it's milled out of the log.... in this case, it won't matter much at all.

Rob

JamesMc said:

Title?

Click to expand...

Chainsaw Lumbermaking by Will Malloff

bw