A nice oak cant 12x12x12' long, I'm making 2x12's for a building project - I did 16 footers yesterday - Boy, they're heavy.
12x12x12' oak
- Thread starter Mike Van
- Start date
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Englishrob
ArboristSite Lurker
Hi Mike Van
Gorgeous looking beams.
Do they need planing before you use them, if so how are you going to do it? I'm planning on cutting a single 20' beam for the main beam of my new roof. What an inspiration. How long are you going to season it before using. Can't seem to find much info on the seasoning/drying of such large timbers.
Having just bought my 660 and an Alaskan Mill, I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in.
Cheers
Rob
Gorgeous looking beams.
Do they need planing before you use them, if so how are you going to do it? I'm planning on cutting a single 20' beam for the main beam of my new roof. What an inspiration. How long are you going to season it before using. Can't seem to find much info on the seasoning/drying of such large timbers. Having just bought my 660 and an Alaskan Mill, I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in.
Cheers
Rob
Hi Rob, from what I've learned & done, beams are best [and easiest] worked fresh sawn. Once they dry, they get a lot harder to cut mortises, etc. in. This 12x12 is going to get sawn into 2x12's tomorrow, I need 2 headers in my barn 20 ft long, each one made up of triple 2x12's double bolted every two ft. I'll use some 16's, some 12's & 8's to stagger the joints 4 ft. These 2x12's will air dry for a month or so, just to get the outsides dry. If you bolt fresh sawn lumber right back together, mold will form & grow something awful. Like "dead stacking" wet lumber, you don't want to, you want to sticker it up asap.
