question about my father

[badcars2]

giving dad a couple of cherry logs to play with in his wood shop. I took down this tree last spring at the request of the owner.
questions i have:
my uncle, who live close to him has a sawmill (bandsaw type), wellanyhow the logs i will be bringing are between 20, and 16 inches. is eight foot a good working length , or do you think i need to shorten them out in the field before delivery?
and if they have to be stored, is ther any way to avoid the usting of the log, i mean this tree is destroying itself, for any period of time?
to be honest, this is dads thing. he is really down in his back, and i will do most anything to put a smile on his face. i know nothing at all about wood worhttp://lumberjocks.com/jocks/juniorjockking, i am a metal fabricator by trade, so if these questions are supid, i am sorry.
he eveb has a link to a site , this is his stuff and his dogs, sorry, i just thought it was neathttp://lumberjocks.com/jocks/juniorjock
ill get back to my screaming saw forum, and probably check out the firewood forum .
thanks for listening to another ramble
later
badcars2

 

[woodshop]

...my uncle, who live close to him has a sawmill (bandsaw type), wellanyhow the logs i will be bringing are between 20, and 16 inches. is eight foot a good working length , or do you think i need to shorten them out in the field before delivery?

Like lots of things on here, depends on intended use. Example: if you are going to cut this wood for grade, then technically it is worth less (regardless of the quality of the board) if it's less than an 8 ft piece. Width also affects grade of the board. That said, if you're using it in your own shop as I do, cut it the length you can get long enough boards from for the kind of stuff you do, simple as that. If you make beds or wide chest of drawers, you need long clear boards... if you make shaker side tables you're going to cut that board down to less than 3 ft regardless. If you make something like this:

...then you can get away with using those 2 ft cutoffs you end up with when you cut an 8ft board down to 5 ft for a table. Keep in mind that if you are going to air dry the stuff, you often lose an inch or so each of the board as it's drying. For that reason, I often shoot for between 7 and 8ft logs when I'm bucking a tree. Unless it's really premium or rare stuff, I rarely mill less than 3 1/2 to 4 ft log, just too much hassle for the return you get.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I would cut all the logs to the same length, 8' would be good... With all of the logs the same length, the lumber will be a lot easier to sticker... Easier to saw on the sawmill too...

You do realize the lumber will have to be stickered for 6 mo. to a year don't you?? And then moved into a heated spot for another month ot two "if" you (he) is going to build any furniture out of it...

I love cherry, it's my fav wood!

Rob