Birch trees felled – making usable lumber
Hi all,
My mom just had 3 birch trees felled in her yard. I am working on getting it milled into lumber and then dried, so that I can make stuff out of it for her, and others. There is a lot of log here to be milled. They were just felled about 5 days ago, and are kind of jumbled together at the moment.
I’m casting around for sawyers/portable mills in the area. I have watched some videos of these things in action – pretty cool stuff.
I’m wondering what kinds of questions to pose to the sawyer. What kinds of requests should I make to them about how to cut the wood: does it make sense to try and quarter-saw it? Or just plank it all?
I’d like to make some standalone book shelves – so would want planks for the ends and shelves. I would kind of like to have a live edge showing on the front of the shelves. Does the bark stay well connected?
I have also thought about: material for picture frames; have seen some interesting table tops done with small-limb slabs (with bark); cutting some slabs/cookies for trivets, coasters, stool seats; I would like to do some cutting boards (face or edge grain for that?); also had thoughts of doing a butcher block section for a small island counter-top; seems like 2″ squares on-end for that (glued together). Does it make sense to just cut a 2″ think plank and then cut that down into 2″square sticks after it’s dried?
I would like this to be solid and stable…which is all about the drying. I have read about anchor seal, latex painting the ends; salt rubs; PEG; denatured alcohol; pentacryl; cutting out the heart wood (that seems like it will lose a lot of the usable lumber doing that)… so many options!
I have read some postings here… they don’t usually address directing the sawyer in how to cut the logs into lumber; some discussion about cutting it yourself – but I don’t have a bandsaw.
Thanks for any hints and tips.
Replies
What is the diameter of the logs ? Is it yellow or white birch ? You only need telling the sawyer the thickness required, I would go for 5/4 . Air drying will get you to 12 % rh here in the North East, probably need to spend an extra 6 months indoors to get it down to stable wood 6-8% moisture content.
Thanks for the response.
I'm not sure about the species... nor how to determine. :)
The diameters vary; largest is ~30" at the base; others are in the 18-24 range; then some of the larger limbs are in the 8-12" range.
You want to get birch milled as soon as you can. The wood underneath the bark will start to rot very quicker -- faster than any species I've heard of.
If its an experienced sawyer, ask their opinion. Once they have eyes on the logs, they can tell you how to maximize the yield.
These grew up on the NW coast (US; Oregon) - no idea how they were planted, though; might be native...
Maybe this will help (photo attached, showing some of the logs). (Oops... trying again with the image.)
This is large, get it milled. White birch has paper like White Bark, it is a tender Wood without Much character but good for casework. Yellow birch is hard and slightly more figured than maple, its a good Wood for everything indoor, the Bark is thin and silver and flakes .
Birch bark doesn't play nice for the live edge crowd for the same reason the canoe crowd loves it. There is a corky layer under the bark that seperates it from the lumber. If you slit the bark and peel it from the logs you can remove the layer and glue the bark back on for a live edge effect.
Cookies will probably go Pacman on you.
Ask the sawyer for a 2" thick center slab containing the pith. Once dry you'll have either a really nice slab or some stable Q-sawn stock for your end grain and smaller furniture projects. Flatsaw the rest and hope for the best.
Other than working out payment terms (wood or $$) and work terms - who is cleaning up, paying for broken blades, travel time, who is stacking, etc. there are only 2 basic questions: How thick? and What direction?
It doesn't have to all be the same. You can cut some 5/4 and some 8/4. You can have some quarter sawn and other flat sawn. One approach is to make a list of potential projects and then cut the wood accordingly.
The bark is going to come off. It's usually easier to do it sooner rather than later. Wood and bark will expand and contract at different rates. Over time that will loosen the bark and it will fall off. do you want it in your living room or your yard?
The small limb slabs you mention are a sawyers nightmare. Lots of work for little pay off. If he's working by the hour it's less of an issue for him, but expensive for you. If he's working by the board foot he can't make any money.
Try visiting The Wood Database to help ID the species.
https://www.wood-database.com/
And last, but not least, I'm a big fan of Anchorseal.
Enjoy your wood.
A bit of researching later... I'm guessing paper birch. I was thinking maybe River birch based on a textual description, but some photos I saw make me think that it's paper birch. Not very peely or white at this age, though. :)
Thanks to all you others for the considered responses. I have more research to do!
The sawyers I have found so far have all been by the hour, so I am less concerned about the labor cost. These are sentimental trees - I would like to maximize the amount of usable wood gotten out of them.
I'm busy for a while, so won't be able to get with the sawyer for another week or two, but plan to get on it about then. Not sure if that is quickly, or not. :)
Thanks for the hints on the bark; I may end up going for just a 'natural edge' instead (no bark, but original-ish contours? Making it up as a go along).
It looks very much like white birch (paper birch) and at this size will yield good lumber. It can also be a good source of turning blanks if there are burls or sections close to ground that have cross grain, it turns beautifully.
I've used several sawyers. Some good, some not so good. Some cut exactly 1" and call it 4/4, the one I like the most cuts it a shy 1 & 1/8. Be sure you are clear with him before you start.
Be up front about what you expect a 4/4 board to measure & watch them like a hawk, I don't care how much they look like they know what they're doing.
Lumber is not cheap, even if the logs are free, it has good value.
You will also need to give thought to drying. Set up a good solid drying base all level and planar. Air drying is only going to get the wood down to 12-16% or so.
Or, you can look into building a kiln (which you might want to do anyway for the final drying).
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