Milled a Birch crotch today

[Brmorgan]

I cut this Birch crotch out of a downed log late last Fall and it's been sitting in my driveway all winter frozen to the ground, so I decided to mill it up today.

Even though there isn't much snow left and the days have been pretty warm (+14°C here today downtown and beautifully sunny), it was still frozen down pretty hard. A quick whack with the 8lb maul fixed that. I never measured it, but I'd be guessing about 12-14" on the main trunk and 7" on the branch.

Got the 395XP w/ 33" bar rigged up and set to depth with the guide board to split it right down the center.

I was a little disappointed to be honest; I was hoping for a bit of figured wood, but there really isn't any. Just a few odd areas around some knots. Still, though, it has some nice streaking and character - the wood is bordering on going soft in a few areas though, so I'll have to take extra care working with it. You can't really tell in the picture, but the branch piece has some nice open grain and its coloring and pattern are very much like Maple rather than Birch.

Here's what I ended up with. The two largest bookmatched slabs on the right are a bit over 2" thick; not sure what I'll use them for yet, but I was thinking maybe legs for a live-edge trestle-style coffee table or something. The rest of the pieces are 1-1/8" thick. Hopefully they don't check or split too badly. I've had mixed results with older Birch like this - some dry out really nice and sound, and others have terrible ring shake and split from end to end, and it isn't a drying or stickering issue either.

Nice looking stack of wood for the little time it took! I'm going to paint the ends still, and throw a couple hundred pounds on top just to keep them nice and flat. I really like the streaked coloring though. I'd have rather found a bunch of spalted and figured wood, but hey, they can't all be diamonds. I deliberately dropped that tree in a wet area two years ago to see if it would go spalted, but no such luck. There are hints of it here and there, but I think by the time it progressed much farther the wood would be too far gone to be of use.

It probably took me less than 45 minutes to mill this out. The saw was cutting really nicely, and it doesn't take too long to set up on short blocks like this. No wedging and/or leveling the guide!

There's still a fair amount of this log out on the ground. I wasn't sure it was still sound enough to make use of but thought the crotch was worth a shot. Depending on how it looks after drying awhile, I'll probably go back and mill the rest of the larger part down. I think there was another 6-8' between this crotch and the stump end still.

 

[huskyhank]

Nice wood, I like it. The streaking is lovely.

 

[DRB]

Colorful for birch. Nice work

 

[jdrum]

nice! i see a real pretty long flat jewelry box, with about 6 coats of hand rubbed tougne oil

jim

 

[Brmorgan]

nice! i see a real pretty long flat jewelry box, with about 6 coats of hand rubbed tougne oil

jim

Yes, Tung oil goes very well with Birch. I've done a few projects with it. It's a lot of work, but it brings out the grain so well.

 

[BobL]

I was a little disappointed to be honest; I was hoping for a bit of figured wood, but there really isn't any. Just a few odd areas around some knots. Still, though, it has some nice streaking and character - the wood is bordering on going soft in a few areas though, so I'll have to take extra care working with it. You can't really tell in the picture, but the branch piece has some nice open grain and its coloring and pattern are very much like Maple rather than Birch.

I dunno, it looks pretty nice to me!

What are the chance of the crotch splitting all the way?

 

[isaaccarlson]

Just keep yer weight on it and it should be ok.

I have seen pieces curl up like bananas!!!!

 

[peterrum]

I like what you have there BR. Wish I could get some of the birch you have up there. We have very little down here and by the time it gets big enough to make use of it, its rotten.

I am also surprised at how little figure there is right at the crotch, thought you would have more as well. Maybe on the next one. I do like whats there though.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Interesting pieces there.

 

[Brmorgan]

I like what you have there BR. Wish I could get some of the birch you have up there. We have very little down here and by the time it gets big enough to make use of it, its rotten.

I am also surprised at how little figure there is right at the crotch, thought you would have more as well. Maybe on the next one. I do like whats there though.

Well, I'd be more than willing to trade for some of the more exotic hardwoods like Walnut, Chestnut, and fruit trees you guys have access to, however limited that may be. They're non-existent up here and what few are in yards aren't of any decent size yet anyway.

 

[Daninvan]

Brad,

I've milled up a few birches over the past couple of years. A lot of the local birches are dying so they are coming down all over town.

Generally I find birch pretty bland, although sometimes they can contain some birdseye or burl. Also see some streaks of orangey/brown occasionally, although frequently there is an unpleasant discolouration in it as well.

Haven't made anything from birch yet - seems I prefer to squirrel my wood away! My wife is convinced I am getting more eccentric as I get older. Anyways, I can't comment on how it works. Make sure it gets good air circulation as it dries though, it is susceptible to mold. Maybe less of a problem in the Cariboo than here on the coast.

I agree with what Bobl is implying, those crotch pieces sure look like good candidates to split. Still some nice material to work with even if that happens.

I find with birch the pieces closer to the outside of the log will tend to warp much more than the pieces near the pith.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Meadow Beaver]

That wood has nice grain, I like the slabs that look like mittens.

 

[Brmorgan]

I dunno, it looks pretty nice to me!

What are the chance of the crotch splitting all the way?

Slim to none if I were to put some butterflies in there... Never done that before, but it might be a good one to learn on.

 

[BobL]

Nice wood but not an ideal example of how to setup and use CS mill.

 

[Daninvan]

My Christmas plan to add a nose guard and handle has been delayed to Easter!

 

[820wards]

Brmorgan,

Nice looking wood. The Birch tree in my backyard better watch what it's doing or it just may get milled.

jerry-

 

[Andrew96]

My Christmas plan to add a nose guard and handle has been delayed to Easter!

Maybe think about keeping your helper away from the mill until it's done then. You know it will happen...now the job is scheduled is the time something will happen since you know it's not right. I know you'll be careful..but 'your' helper?...you're kind of responsible for them..they might not know the dangers like you do.

 

[BobL]

My Christmas plan to add a nose guard and handle has been delayed to Easter!

Good Idea. I hate raining on operators parades but I guess someone has to point out these things.

It's also not just the bare nose and lack of handles, the stance of the CS operator pulling and a helper pushing like that doesn't look quite right to me. Maybe it's not the case but it suggests the chain is not quite as sharp as it should be.

With short logs like that significant log slopes are possible and only one (CS) operator should be needed and there should be minimal pushing / pulling. The mill should just about drop through the log under its own weight - if it doesn't then there is a chain problem.

This was the very first log I milled with the BIL mill. Thanks to Aggie posting about the slope method I discovered how effective it was on the very first log. Now just about every log I mill has some slope.

 

[huskyhank]

Good Idea. I hate raining on operators parades but I guess someone has to point out these things.

It's also not just the bare nose and lack of handles, the stance of the CS operator pulling and a helper pushing like that doesn't look quite right to me. Maybe it's not the case but it suggests the chain is not quite as sharp as it should be.

With short logs like that significant log slopes are possible and only one (CS) operator should be needed and there should be minimal pushing / pulling. The mill should just about drop through the log under its own weight - if it doesn't then there is a chain problem.

This was the very first log I milled with the BIL mill. Thanks to Aggie posting about the slope method I discovered how effective it was on the very first log. Now just about every log I mill has some slope.

The slope thing sure works.
I never thought about it until I saw it here.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

The slope thing sure works.
I never thought about it until I saw it here.

If you get the slope just right the CSM will feed itself. I've been able to start the cut, tie the throttle down and completely let go on quite a few logs. It's nice being the one watching every once in a while.