Minimizing ing: Timing of felling and milling

[vamtjewboy]

I guess C-racking is a buzz word here. lumberjacks on C-rack, who knew?

I am still unclear as to what the best method is for minimizing ing in milled lumber. I have cut down trees that are alive and and have milled immediately and a year after felling. I have cut in the summer and the winter and have had all combinations respond differently without any consistency or noticeable pattern. I have heard that felling in the winter when the tree has the least moisture in it is best...what about timing of milling? should the log be green, dry, somewhere in between? do different species get different treatment. I know that my dry locust are as hard as steel so i always mill those as green as possible. how do u guys approach it? are end sealers worth while? i met a farmer who puts his logs in a pond if he isn't going to mill them for a while. he says that fast drying causes ing...please post ur 2 cents on the subject. thanks for ur time and input. if this has been discussed somewhere else please let me know. my search feature for the forum isn't working. -nick in VA

 

[Wismer]

generally speaking wood mills easier the greener it is. Dry wood is harder, cuts slower, works the equipment harder, and makes it run hotter.

I don't usually put logs in my pond except black walnut, the dark color of the heartwood bleeds into the sap wood, and then the whole log retains the color.

If you put the harvested logs in the pond, it will stop end checking and the log won't rot.

I prefer to just seal the ends. The product is called anchorseal, although latex paint works as well, but not as good.


Craig

 

[Al Smith]

Most of what little lumber I cut come from take downs of hazard trees.I seal them but do experiance some loss due to checking etc. ,firewood.On maple though you can't fiddle around because the stuff will spalt .I really don't know why.To get good lumber you have to be timely in your milling of this tree.

 

[stonykill]

Most of what little lumber I cut come from take downs of hazard trees.I seal them but do experiance some loss due to checking etc. ,firewood.On maple though you can't fiddle around because the stuff will spalt .I really don't know why.To get good lumber you have to be timely in your milling of this tree.

true, but then I like spalted maple. I mill spalted shorts out of the firewood pile all the time for guitar bodys.

 

[stonykill]

I guess C-racking is a buzz word here. lumberjacks on C-rack, who knew?

I am still unclear as to what the best method is for minimizing ing in milled lumber. I have cut down trees that are alive and and have milled immediately and a year after felling. I have cut in the summer and the winter and have had all combinations respond differently without any consistency or noticeable pattern. I have heard that felling in the winter when the tree has the least moisture in it is best...what about timing of milling? should the log be green, dry, somewhere in between? do different species get different treatment. I know that my dry locust are as hard as steel so i always mill those as green as possible. how do u guys approach it? are end sealers worth while? i met a farmer who puts his logs in a pond if he isn't going to mill them for a while. he says that fast drying causes ing...please post ur 2 cents on the subject. thanks for ur time and input. if this has been discussed somewhere else please let me know. my search feature for the forum isn't working. -nick in VA

I've milled it all different times, etc just like you. The way I look at it is, if its free, and been down for a long time, I get what I get. Sometimes the time down adds some cool figure to the wood. As stated before maple spalts, elm tends to, so does ash. Thats fine with me. Spalted wood makes interesting furniture, guitar bodys, whatever. Whenever possible I mill as soon as its cut down, the wood just mills easier. But if I get old logs dropped off for free, they get milled, and I am always surprised when I open them up.:greenchainsaw:

 

[woodshop]

I've read more than one place where best time of year to cut varies by species. In other words there is no one set best time of year, like when sap is running or not. For some species it's best in spring, some winter etc. As for milling logs that have been sitting a while... any log milled no matter how long it sits will still have a lot of moisture in it and the boards will have to be dried, but I found in general as other have said, milling fresh cut logs goes easier in all the types of wood I have ever milled.

 

[vamtjewboy]

spalted cherry

i just milled some spalted wild cherry. gorgeous! do u guys know anywhere to sell specialty wood like this? i have heard of some specialty websites that have their own classified section for buying and selling small, high priced wood. i met a guy who makes gunstocks exclusively. he told me about these types of website and that he buys wood that way a lot. i'd love to sell some wood for $5 - $20 per board foot! sometimes he would pay even more than that for supremeo black walnut for stocks. -nick in va

 

[woodshop]

The way those specialty high end pricey wood blank websites make money is buy or acquire that wood real real cheap, and then market it back to you real real expensive. Start googleing and you will find lots of places that sell those specialty blanks and lumber. Key words, spalted, crotch figure, curly etc etc. Whether any would buy from you?... have to contact them and ask. My guess is a few might IF you have quantity, but they won't want to pay you much for it.

 

[Al Smith]

Spalted wood,root stock,figure etc. is a very niche market.High dollar stuff but limited buyers .You want to see specialty stuff "google " timeless timber or superior lumber.This is old growth that sank in the great lakes about a hundred years ago. They have retrieved some maple that has the same tone quality that Stradivarius used.

I have both spalted cherry and hickory that got that way from me fiddling around getting it cut.It does have a different quality to it.I have not a clue what I'm going to do with it.

 

[vamtjewboy]

al, that is really interesting about the tonal quality of maple compared to stradivarius' intsruments. i heard a bit on NPR that a violin by Strad sold for 3. something million. some huge corporation bought it as an investment and loans it out to this master player who can't afford to buy it. ok, sign this..."i promise not to break ur super expensive violin." how much per board foot for the wood in that violin is what i want to know!

 

[Al Smith]

On the Stad stuff,the old boy never let out the secret of his great tone quality.Some speculate it was the "fiddle back" or "Birds eye" he used.Others it seems think he used submerged lumber to get this magnificent sound quality.I for one,have no idea how he did it.Man I wish I did though.

 

[woodshop]

On the Stad stuff,the old boy never let out the secret of his great tone quality.Some speculate it was the "fiddle back" or "Birds eye" he used.Others it seems think he used submerged lumber to get this magnificent sound quality.I for one,have no idea how he did it.Man I wish I did though.

I have also read where he "grounded" his wood for a while before using it. By that I mean he literally buried it in moist ground for a certain period of time. Not long enough for it to spalt or rot, but long enough for apparently certain changes in the wood? I have read other violin and instrument makers doing the same to wood before using it. Those folks are VERY particular about where their wood comes from and it's exact properties. I once gave some strait grained fast growth willow to a violin maker, and you'd have thought I was giving him gold bars. Apparently you need just the right kind of willow for the glue blocks inside the instrument.