Newbie just sounding off...

[Southern Boy]

One of my hobies is gunsmithing and it lets me work with wood and over the last two years I have really learned a lot. I have been given the oportunity to get two walnut trees. I hope to work more with lumber and aquiring my own woods. I went a head and purchased a used Stihl 066 with a 36" bar to use to quarter saw these trees up with. All lumber will be 2 3/4" thick. One tree is around 36" dia and the other is approx. 48" in dia. I have read that the 066 may not be up to the task of milling larger trees. Please, someone calm my nerves and tell me it will work.:bang: I'm working on making a homemade rig out of a bed frame I picked up and plan on ordering 1 or 2 Bailey ripping chains. We will see how it works out.:bang: :bang: :bang:

Sorry for being so long winded. I sure look forward to hanging out and learning.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Welcome to AS!

48" walnut? *drool* I'd be real careful on how you mill those. Depending on the quality they can be worth big bucks. Got any pics?

The 066 will work but don't get in a hurry. Lets see that rig, too.

You are well on your way to becoming a wood junkie!

 

[CaseyForrest]

I milled up some 27" black walnut with the 066 I used to have. No problems. I wanted to seel it to someone with the same intention as you, but cant find anyone. So it sits, 5 pieces of 5' long, 22" wide, 4" thick knot free, straight grain. Such a waste!!!

 

[hautions11]

066

I've been milling with an 064 on 30" oak and it works pretty well. Go slow like Aggie says. I also quarter sawed the oak and that makes for a 16-20" maximum cut, which will be fine for your saw. I did some of mine with the 044 if it was 14" 0r narrower. Look at the "oak milling" thread and you will see my quartered pieces. If you free hand the quarters it is very hard to get a straight cut. I bought a cheepie, ebay lumber maker you can see in the pics. $29. It uses a 2 X 4 guide that will let you cut a straight quarter. It works well for slabbing. Welcome to the club. Search archives and ask lots of questions. This is a great group.

 

[Southern Boy]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'll get pics when I get the saw in and the jig finished. I'm going to use plans similar to the the ones described on Backwoods Home Magazine's for a chainsaw mill. I won my saw off ebay and it is coming from B.C. Canada and should be here sometime next week.:biggrinbounce2: :biggrinbounce2: :biggrinbounce2: HAPPY!! HAPPY!! JOY!! JOY!!

My hurdle on the jig is going to be drilling my bar :help: . I'm going to try it first on my Jonsered 2050 first and see how it mounts up before I do it to my big boy.

I'll get pics of the set up and of us working the tree when it all comes about.

Is a locust tree any good lumber?

 

[hautions11]

Locust

Doin't know Locust for lumber. It burns nice.

 

[woodshop]

Is a locust tree any good lumber?

Whether locust wood is "good lumber" or not depends on what you want to do with it. It is hard and dense. I have made cutting boards from it, but it has a greenish brown color, and that makes it not as appealing for furniture. It is extremely rot resistant. Like osage orange, I have used it on the bottom of picnic tables where there is ground contact, and it lasts forever even in moist soil that way. What you are planning to do with it thus determines how you will mill it.

 

[flht01]

...

My hurdle on the jig is going to be drilling my bar :help: . ..

Welcome to AS, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Lotsa nice mill-a-holics here. If you can't relate to the mill-a-holic part yet, you soon will :hmm3grin2orange:

As far as drilling the bar, use a variable speed drill and keep you drill speed very slow. Use a lot of trill/tap lube and you should do fine (it worked for me).

Welcome aboard,
Kevin

 

[Southern Boy]

I don't have any plans for the locust, just that there is a locust tree approx. 60"+:jawdrop: dia on the property that the walnuts are on and they are just going to burn it. I hate to see the tree go to waste. It was just a thought.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Not being an expert at all on milling or wood, I do sometimes run across interesting pieces of wood. Inevitably what happens is I cut out the wood, then it sits to dry, at which point it warps or checks so bad it's junk.
My point is, there must be some expertise needed to cure the wood once it's cut.

 

[oldsaw]

Not being an expert at all on milling or wood, I do sometimes run across interesting pieces of wood. Inevitably what happens is I cut out the wood, then it sits to dry, at which point it warps or checks so bad it's junk.
My point is, there must be some expertise needed to cure the wood once it's cut.

Keep it out of the sun, paint or coat the ends. I have had very little problem with excessive warping or checking. Of course, a lot of the time, it is the "interesting" stuff that is prone to the problems. The more "interesting" the grain structure, the more problems seem to occur.

Mark

 

[woodshop]

Keep it out of the sun, paint or coat the ends. I have had very little problem with excessive warping or checking. Of course, a lot of the time, it is the "interesting" stuff that is prone to the problems. The more "interesting" the grain structure, the more problems seem to occur.

Mark

ditto to the above. In GENERAL, the smaller the piece of wood the faster it will dry unevenly and warp or crack. Also, certain types of figure like crotch or burl type figure where the grain is going all directions at once tend to crack and split first. I take extra care to dry those boards slowly, and under the best conditions I can. Nothing ruins a day more than seeing a 14 inch wide $25/bd ft crotch figured board reduced to firewood because it dried too fast and split. For small pieces of wood, I coat the ends with wax. There is also PEG, a solution you can soak the wood in that replaces the water in the wood, and thus keeps it from cracking as it dries, but this is usually only worth the hassle with small or very valuable pieces.

 

[Southern Boy]

Thanks again for all the great info and suggestions. Does anyone have any insight and suggestions on the root ball? I'm going to have them dug up and I was hoping to cut them up too or is it just too much work and headache?

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Thanks again for all the great info and suggestions. Does anyone have any insight and suggestions on the root ball? I'm going to have them dug up and I was hoping to cut them up too or is it just too much work and headache?

Root balls are a headache but they can be worth the trouble. You never know until you open it up. A lot of gunstocks are made from root ball lumber.

I sent you a PM