Anyone ever milled much Sycamore? (I may have already asked this.)

[Yellowbeard]

Got the opportunity to mill a big sycamore and finally ready to mill a big walnut I was working on last summer. I'll post pics.

Anyone got any experience with sycamore? Especially southern sycamore (Arkansas)? I was told that it wasn't worth milling by someone I don't necessarily believe. Was also told bugs would be a huge problem.

I made the cut shown and then it's going to get pulled down with a track hoe (for extra awesome, it's also going to get loaded for me with said hoe. And I now have an F-250 6.0 Diesel with which to haul giant stuff like this. Yay!). Plan to mill it along the wide direction where the two trunks are joined. Should gets some pretty good stuff about 8-10'X4' or so with a crotch on one end. Interested in what the grain of the conjoined parts will look like.

As always, any advice very appreciated.

Thank in advance!

 

[abbott295]

Sawyer Rob recently posted some pictures of milled sycamore toward the bottom of page 55 of the "firewood tractors " thread in Firewood, heating and so on forum. He is in Missouri. It looks worthwhile.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Thanks!

 

[Brian72]

Here's some Sycamore we milled at my buddy's. Nice looking wood in my opinion. Ended up quarter sawing it for a customer.

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[andy]

Can't complain with that. Looks nice.

 

[Brian72]

Can't complain with that. Looks nice.

The guy is planning to build a dining table with it. Hope he shares pics if he gets it done.

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[Yellowbeard]

Can't complain with that. Looks nice.

Wow. That stuff is beautiful. Is that quarter sawn or just plain sawn? Looks like it migh tbe the plain sawn cut near the heart or something so it's getting a kind of quarter sawn effect.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Also what's the trick to getting the spalting? I saw someone else say they let theirs sit and spalt before cutting. Wondering if I should consider that.

I'll post some pics of the tree now that it's down soon. Going to get 9-10 feet of 42" wide stuff it looks like. If I go to 10 feet I'll be milling a crotch at one end which I may go ahead and do.

 

[Brian72]

Wow. That stuff is beautiful. Is that quarter sawn or just plain sawn? Looks like it migh tbe the plain sawn cut near the heart or something so it's getting a kind of quarter sawn effect.

To be honest, I don't really remember. I do know the Sycamore we usually get tend to be pretty big so we got some nice wide ones. As far as the spalting, the guy brought them to the mill about a year ago. We were waiting for him to come help saw. Those logs were real bears! Here's a better pic to give you a better idea of the size.

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[Woody912]

Somewhere on YouTube there is a video of guys in England sawing it for cabinet making, they call it planetree over there and prize it for cabinet making. They cut to highlight the ray fleck pattern and it looks pretty nice. Sorry I cannot give you a direct link. Bury your log in horses*&t for about 3 months and check for spalting, repeat as needed

 

[Bmac]

It's my understanding that quartersawing is the way to go with sycamore. It more stable and you get that great look that Brian72 showed in the last 2 photos.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Some of the Victorian homes in my area have quarter-sawn Sycamore in some of the interior trim. A friend built some Adirondack chairs from some plain sawn. It looked very similar to Cherry and worked about the same.

 

[Woody912]

 

[Brian72]

I'm no expert and I don't have a lot of milling experience. Just a casual helper at my buddy's mill and I have my own chainsaw mill. Also dabble in some small woodworking projects. I don't really believe that any particular species qualifies as "junk" wood. I've seen real nice logs of all species. Of course, some are better suited for particular uses but I'd never count anything out.

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[rarefish383]

Also what's the trick to getting the spalting? I saw someone else say they let theirs sit and spalt before cutting. Wondering if I should consider that.

I'll post some pics of the tree now that it's down soon. Going to get 9-10 feet of 42" wide stuff it looks like. If I go to 10 feet I'll be milling a crotch at one end which I may go ahead and do.

Spalting is caused by Fungi. So, conditions that favor fungal growth are needed. I know some guys that lay Maple logs in the woods and cover them with leaves. The trick is not to leave them there too long and have them start rotting. The wood needs to be at a 20% moisture content, out of direct sunlight, and kept moist. Check "Wiki", they have a pretty good description of the 3 types of spalting, "Pigmentation", White Rot', and "Zone Lines". I have some beautiful White Birch slabs that I stacked standing up, while I made room else where for them. Buy the time I got back to them they they started to mildew where they were touching and had really nice "Zone Lines" running through them. I got them stickered and stacked and the spalting seems to have stopped as they dried out.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Sawyer Rob recently posted some pictures of milled sycamore toward the bottom of page 55 of the "firewood tractors " thread in Firewood, heating and so on forum. He is in Missouri. It looks worthwhile.

Beautiful. I am hoping to slab at least some of this (maybe all) and. if so, I expect I'll get a couple of true full width quarter sawn slabs near the heart. I might try to do some true quarter sawing in some of the other parts of the wood but all I have at my disposal is my chainsaw mill so I can't do anything as cool as in that video, unfortunately.

 

[Yellowbeard]

As promised, here are some images. I like the look of the stump but am running out of space to store stuff so have to be choosy. I am taking the main trunk section (well, it was ONE of the main trunk sections, and the largest) to mill. Impact driver for scale on the one I am keeping.

 

[Brian72]

As promised, here are some images. I like the look of the stump but am running out of space to store stuff so have to be choosy. I am taking the main trunk section (well, it was ONE of the main trunk sections, and the largest) to mill. Impact driver for scale on the one I am keeping.

View attachment 660711 View attachment 660712 View attachment 660713 View attachment 660714

Wow! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

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[Yellowbeard]

BTW, that's the F-250 in the background I bought at city auction so I could haul all this wood around. 17k tow capacity.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Update: Cut some cookies today from what had been left on site. Here are some photos.

This isn't something I've done much of (cookies). Would LOVE any advice people have on drying them so they don't just fall to pieces.

Thanks in advance.