Milling Cedar

[oaktreeguy]

If you were milling 18-24" cedars for furniture... would you cut full width slabs say 5/4 thick and later plane to 3/4"? Or would you cut to 6" and later re-saw perpendicular to the chainsaw cut, to 3/4" x 6" wide? Was thinking the 6" slabs would dry straighter (albeit more slowly) and waste less total in kerf. Just wouldn't have the full width pieces.

 

[SeMoTony]

If you were milling 18-24" cedars for furniture... would you cut full width slabs say 5/4 thick and later plane to 3/4"? Or would you cut to 6" and later re-saw perpendicular to the chainsaw cut, to 3/4" x 6" wide? Was thinking the 6" slabs would dry straighter (albeit more slowly) and waste less total in kerf. Just wouldn't have the full width pieces.

My experience and what I've read indicates that red cedar from Missouri will not warp or twist as oak and other hard wood has a tendency to do. Ash IMHO and experience moves very little as it dries. I've leaned slabs against vertical poles or fences and only got cupping in the second slab after the bark cut. Two slabs of white oak which shared the cut that took out the pith of the log cupped.
On the red cedar logs I was gifted I will cut cants that I can handle onto the bandsaw table to resaw . The auto correct just changed resaw into Texas??? Glad Caught it wood have been confusing to anyone reading this post.
In my opinion cutting the cant just over the size of board width as large as you can manage. Then resaw to four quarter or even less depending on how smooth the bandsaw blade leaves the surface. I use "Wood Slicer" bands from Highland woodworking in Atlanta Georgia and am pleased with the surface they leave. If you're working with red cedar my experience will be more applicable, but as always Your Milage may Vary.
I chainsaw mill so what I lose in kerf is greater than a band saw mill. The vertical band with the mentioned band saves a few boards. Specialy when I cut 3/8" thickness for small items.
Play safe and enjoy.

 

[Bmac]

I'm sort of confused by your question. Are you saying you want to cut slabs 6" wide and 6" thick and you are saying this because you don't want to waste wood with the kerf width and the idea that the wood will dry straighter? I'll answer based on assuming these are your questions.

Waste from the kerf cut; If you are doing the initial milling with a chainsaw than yes, cutting thicker slabs and resawing later on a bandsaw is a good idea. With my hardwoods I routinely saw are 9/4 or 10/4 for drying and resaw in my shop. It is sort of a middle of the road approach since I chainsaw mill. I save wood but I'm not leaving the slabs so thick that they take forever to dry. Tony is correct above, you produce more product by resawing later. Also I believe the size I'm slabbing dries straighter. Leaving slabs 6" thick is really going to lengthen your drying time significantly, 6" is just too thick to be a good idea.

As for the width, the best answer to that is that it all depends. It all depends on what you are building, how wide is your jointer and/or planer, and whether you want flatsawn wood or looking more for quartersawn wood. In the end it really doesn't matter that much in regards to width since you can always rip to the width you want on the table saw. For me, a deciding factor is the width of my jointer, mine is 8". To flatten boards I need them at 8". If I want a wider panel I'll take a wider board and rip to 8", flatten on jointer, plane and then reglue boards together as they were ripped, often blending the grain and figure so you can barely tell they were ripped and rejoined.
So here are my random thoughts on width;
- Cutting narrower boards will not speed up drying significantly
- Cutting wide boards may cup more but that can always be addressed later on the table saw
- As Tony said, cut to the width you can best handle is a good idea also
- The logs you are talking about are not wide enough to quartersaw. Quartersawing gives you more narrow boards but boards that are more stable.
- Flat sawing a log gives you a mixture of cuts and you will get quartersawn lumber with your middle cuts.
- I like to edge one side or both sides of my slabs to make it easier to cut for width and to edge if I'm resawing on my band saw. I don't do much natural edge stuff.

So, I'd cut thicker slabs, but not too thick, look to resaw later and not worry as much about the width.

 

[oaktreeguy]

Thanks for the replies! To clarify, I was thinking of cutting with the chainsaw Mill the full width of the tree, but 6 in thick. This would allow me to then resaw as many 6 inch wide boards as I can get out of the width of the tree. Another option to help with drying, might be to cut said 6 inch slab, then go ahead and Re-saw 12/4 boards while wet, which can be left to dry and then resawn again to 4/4 or just under once dry.

I guess and unknown for me is how flat I will be able to keep these boards as they dry. The more cupping and twisting, the more extra width I'll need to leave.

 

[Bmac]

OK, I see now what you looking to do.

My experience with cutting wet wood on my shop bandsaw has not been a good one. Seemed with the wet wood that my dust collection wasn't as efficient and the wet sawdust made my wheels get unbalanced. The saw would start to shake during the cuts. Now if I let the wood dry some it wasn't nearly as much of a problem. Cedar dries fast so if you stick with your plan and cut 6" thick slabs then wait a few months before taking it to your bandsaw to resaw boards you should do better.

Once you resaw to 12/4 you'll stack your wood correctly. Meaning start with a level base, have stickers every 16-22" and make sure you put weight on the top of your pile (or straps). If you do that you should be good, just will need to wait longer for drying then if you cut to 4/4. Proper stacking will go a long way in ending up with straighter and flatter boards.

 

[oaktreeguy]

Thanks, I think I'll mill to 6" slabs and then re-saw a bit later.

This has me debating whether to spend the $100 on a bandsaw riser, for the ability to re-saw 12" wide.