Beech Logs

[Wismer]

Beech much good for milling?

I took down a couple nice beech trees today, for some friends. The biggest being about 24" diameter which is a fair size for around here. I have seen some pictures on here of members milling beech but I was wondering if it is worth the trouble of milling, and more importantly what is the best use for beech when milled?

Thanks guys

Craig

 

[Poindexter]

Beech much good for milling?

What is the best use for beech when milled?

Thanks guys

Craig

Depends a little on the variety I guess. European Beech is used to make some hand tools, think Swiss block planes with ebony feet and German steel innards. American Beech is also pretty hard, but I think we have more than one variety on this side of the Atlantic.

I would mill, than worry about finding a use for it.

 

[Woodsurfer]

Maybe you saw my recent post, milling a beech in a snowy spot. There is plenty of furniture made of beech and that's what I plan for mine. I don't know what specific variety I've got... I see it has a bad reputation for checking and warping as it dries. My Dad is watching my stack dry in the barn and says that the crotch area has cracked already, 9 weeks after milling.

I say mill some up and add some more variety to your wood supply. Be ready for some slow milling, it's tough stuff!

 

[Wismer]

Maybe you saw my recent post, milling a beech in a snowy spot. There is plenty of furniture made of beech and that's what I plan for mine.



Be ready for some slow milling, it's tough stuff!

Yea, I took the beech because i saw your post. I was planning on making some furniture out of it too. It looks like it might have some real interesting figure in the pith, its a a nice deep red brown color

 

[woodshop]

One thing about american beech (fagus grandifolia) is that once it's down and on the ground, you better mill it quickly, within a few weeks of dropping it if possible, as it spalts and starts to rot real quick. As was said, it is a hard wood similar to rock maple, and thus a little tougher to mill than something a bit softer like cherry or walnut.

 

[Poindexter]

Yea, I took the beech because I saw your post.

I found this about American Beech:

http://www.thewoodbox.com/hardwoods/beech.htm

And this about European beech:

http://www.internetlumber.com/lumber/EUROPEAN-BEECH?gclid=CPn4zYX51IwCFR4zgQodmlm0qw

The (presumably American Beech) I have here in North Carolina does indeed split very easily while drying, even with spray paint on the end grains.

 

[Adkpk]

I would definitely slab it up. See what it looks like inside. I slabbed up a tree I knocked down because it had a really bad crack the trunk. It was in bad shape. It was full of worm holes and had a little spalting. Made some real nice benches. Have people still asking if they can get one of those benches.
I have many beaches that need to come down but have no time to do it and less time to slab it. But I will get to them some day.
Wood doesn't have to be in the greatest shape to make furniture. Some of your more beat up pieces will be your favorites.

 

[Esbjug]

I have milled some beech on my Logosol M7. When drying, the boards can easily twist and should be kept under firm pressure. This is my experience.

 

[Poindexter]

When drying, the boards can easily twist and should be kept under firm pressure. This is my experience.

I found a little more about American Beech in one of Ray (Roy?) Underhill's 4 books. He was the woodwright who had the show on PBS some years ago. Anyway, Mr. Underhill suggests stacking beech not only near the bottom of whatever stack, but also coating the end grain with wax rather than paint --- and starting the drying process in a damp basement.

The good news is after five to seven years of air drying American Beech is firm enough to make into woodworking tools, block planes and jointer planes and so forth.

Just a tidbit for the future search button users.

 

[Poindexter]

Well, I was going to edit my last post in this thread, but I am not seeing an edit button. I have a good sized American Beech come down in my neigborhood in early July. The butt was about 30" in diameter at the business end. I split that into 5 pieces, split other parts into quarters and some into thirds.

Then I painted the ends of all my pieces with spray paint, and stacked the lot in a damp basement belonging to a neighbor. So far so good, our summertime NC drought seems to have broken, but none of my beech has checked at all.

I did try to split one piece, sap wood from heartwood today. No dice. There is still a lot of moisture in there, but my pieces are staying true and unchecked.

I found one old book at the library, says beech needs to be cured seven years, same as elm, before it will be dimensionally stable.

If the stuff cracks or warps I'll just run it through the wood stove...

 

[woodshop]

I found one old book at the library, says beech needs to be cured seven years, same as elm, before it will be dimensionally stable.

If the stuff cracks or warps I'll just run it through the wood stove...

I'm far from an expert on drying wood, but depending on how thick those slabs are, everything I've read, as well as my personal experience says that wood won't do much drying after the second season if outside. Actually not much after one good drying year unless you are taking steps to limit how fast it dries, forcing it to dry very slowly. It certainly won't take 7 years. Also, some species will warp and twist a little no matter WHAT you do drying it, apple is an example. You don't necessarily need to run it into the woodstove, you can salvage warped twisted boards in the woodshop without much trouble. They might be shorter or not as wide as originally planned, and you will plane away more than normal, but that is why I slice certain wood on the thick side in the first place, knowing it will shrink and twist a bit.

 

[cantcutter]

I don't know about handling it but we had beach wood flours in our house growing up.....they where real nice wide boards....it is also exclusively used in cider presses as it does not flavor the product.