So now over a year and a half on in a well covered, well ventilated stack, we’ve picked out a few pieces to see how things are going. Down into the 16-19% range with the long pins on a Mini-Lingo meter 8/4 and just a hair more in a fresh end cut on the 12/4.
Fair cup in the 12/4, as the board was close to the pith, and some twist/cup in the 8/4 stock as well, but unexpected amount of figure that wasn’t immediately visible in the fuzz/dust on the day of cutting/stacking.
Will be proceeding extremely cautiously to avoid cutters remorse!
Replies
I would skip the 4/4 unless your making a lot of face frame cabinets. You might want to get a book on drying your own lumber you don't want to ruin a lot of nice wood. Instead of 8/4 you might want to do 10/4. Good luck and post some pictures after you have the lumber milled.
Now a spoiled noob . . .
So big turned out to be really big . . . and so accordingly I've provided some big photos! I felt it was appropriate to include a photo of the stump, because I don't endorse cutting down trees just for the fun of it. This cherry was downed by Irene.
Troy we unfortunately didn't read your post until after we had gotten through one of the bigger logs, so I did end up with a bit of 4/4 stock. But what 4/4 stock it is! 8 boards with up to 15.5" heart, some figure, 95" long. I'm a younger woodworker, and enjoy chest-work like sea chests, blanket chests, and other obvious displays of great wide stock, so I don't think it'll go to waste.
2 large secondary logs yeilded flitch sawn 5/4 w/ crotch and some figure, 18 boards total.
And the butt log put out a bit more than 140 bdft along in 8/4 and 12/4 stock, some up to 15" wide!
My father in law and cousin haven't had much experience with the mill, or hardwood, so I'm not sure how long the logs sat out without the ends painted, but we did get to the boards with a heavy coat of oil based primer before careful stacking. A nearby weather-downed fir generated enough 2x and 1x stock to build a nice cover for the stack to keep the snow and rain off for the next 2 years or so.
Enjoy the photos!
Bob.
Looks like you got some great wood, thanks for posting the pictures and when you get something built post thoses as well.
Wood drying
-Nice yield. Helps to have a newer blade - looks like that milling machine was brand new. I had a maple milled last month. Downed from the hurricane as well. If I might make a suggestion. This is going to hurt but you really should move that stack and start fresh. Put down a sheet of plywood onto the 6x6's then lay heavy mill plastic on top of the plywood. Then start your stickers and stack up. From the pictures, it appears the stack is just sitting over the ground. Lot's of moisture coming up and during rainy periods, mold growth.
Artagain, definitely good point on the vapor barrier between ground level and the first layers of freshly sawn lumber. I took my chances and the results seem acceptable, but I'll definitely be working with that concept for the next stack!
Recently couldn't restrain myself, getting +/- 16% with a MiniLingo meter on a fresh end-cut, and planed away the band-saw marks on one face of a chunk of 16/4 to see what we've got going on . . .
Looks like a winner!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled