Replies

1. 
   jdbutler999 | Oct 29, 2003 05:49am | #1

    I like your style Frenchy!

   Dan

1. 
   fdampier5 | Oct 29, 2003 04:47pm | #4

   I was hoping that others might find their local sawmill and find out what gems there are by going direct to the source.. Yes it is more work than going to your lumberyard and selecting a couple of already planned boards to make their project from, but the cost savings sure makes up for it..

      I hate waste and to see good wood become firewood or multch when others could use it to make wonderful projects seems criminal to me..

1. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 29, 2003 06:04pm | #5

   http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/index.htm

    

   http://www.mobilemfg.com/

    

   http://www.baileys-online.com/

    

   http://www.woodmizer.com/welcome.html

    

    

   Check the phonebook and the mill manufacturers/sellers for portable sawmillers locally.  The mill builders are happy to provide names of local guys who own their mills.  Local tree service guys will know of them, too. Few advertise.

    

   It'll likely be green or airdried stock....but that's fine if you have a few months to spare...just holler when it comes time to stack and sticker it....generally outside for one drying season per inch of thickness to get it to 18pct or so them a month or so in the shop to get it down to 10pct...which'll be good for anything but flooring over radiant heat, where you'll need 6 pct.

    

   And many claim airdried stock is "livelier" wood to work.....that's arguable, but it's absolutely essential for boatbuilders who need to bend it.

2. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 29, 2003 06:02am | #2

   Good for you.

   But I operate a portable mill...no cherry but occasional Bigleaf Maple and Madrone and scads of softwoods.....and I don't recall ever having to cut 2/4 boards to get the most out of any given log.

   Your mill must be making cants first and those odd pieces are what's left in the last board...can't be very many of them unless it's a real high-volume mill, and those places generally don't welcome small retail sales....jump at it while you can.

   My wanes are used as stickers....durable slabs and cedar tops are saved for rustic trail benches.....and pith becomes blocking or cut into more stickers.  Stuff that won't grade goes into the "utility" stacks for temporary bracing and the like, and I do give that away when a neighbor or friend comes looking for free lumber.

1. 
   fdampier5 | Oct 29, 2003 04:43pm | #3

   Bob,

     Good for you,, I hate to see waste and it sounds like you are using much of the tree instead of feeding a chipper to make multch.

     The sawmill I buy from saws around 1 to 2 million bd.ft. per year,... not that large (it's a family run operation)  but they can't store wood for very long without it degrading.. hence the focus on production and volume sales..

     But to answer your question,  no they don't make cherry cants. they make a clean up cut and from there start to produce whatever they can from the given log.. They do turn the log frequently to maximise grade yield from a given log and that's why they wind up with the odd 3/4 or 2/4 piece..

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 29, 2003 07:56pm | #6

   Big leaf maple? Madrone?  Sounds like you're in the Pacific Northwest.... forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 29, 2003 08:29pm | #7

   Seabeck, Washington on Hood Canal. 

   By trade I'm a Habitat Biologist but taking a few year's sabbatical to build a homestead using the trees taken from house site and "Habitat Cuts"....selective thinning to replicate old-growth forests in the absence of wildfire.

   Site prep and environmental controls are in...100k+ BF of DF, WRC, R. Alder, etc are cut and airdried.....two small barns are up...begin the residence as soon as I wrangle the permits from a building dept that doesn't understand airdried wood or somebody who doesn't like or need plywood, let alone OSB.

   View from the house site in Sprague Pond Wildlife Refuge:

   http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2595357/28968540.jpg

   Edited 10/29/2003 1:41:55 PM ET by Bob

1. 
   BG | Oct 30, 2003 12:50am | #8

   ..a log home houseboat?...kinda small...lol

1. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 30, 2003 02:35am | #9

   Naw...that one's much bigger than the hovel we're living in  now...incentive to get the house done, ya know.

   Actually it's a purpose-built punt to recover old-growth cedar logs from the bottom of beaver ponds...when beavers flood a creek the trees die, fall and leave a jagged stump...regular boats get badly hung on  those stumps.....this odd-looking one has more bouyancy in bow than midships or stern...when you get hung up, you merely move to the sternseat and stern oarlocks and row off.

   http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2595357/29566094.jpg

   Oops...sorry to get your thread off track.

   Edited 10/29/2003 7:36:58 PM ET by Bob

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 30, 2003 03:02am | #10

   Cool!  Yep, I know where Seabeck is -- I'm just the other side of Agate Passage from you.  LMK if you ever have any wood for sale!  Also, in the future, might be needing some on-site milling done, so if you ever hire out, LMK too.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 30, 2003 03:16am | #11

   Agate Passage?  Then I won't mention the local logger's nickname for your island.

   I don't sell my own wood...but bring me a log and I'll be glad to mill it for you sometime just to say howdy.

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 30, 2003 03:25am | #12

   "Then I won't mention the local logger's nickname for your island"  I can only imagine!  I'm a "fish out of water" here, since my annual income is pocket change to a goodly percentage of the residents here.  My store caters to the kids on the island -- easier psychicly than catering to the adults, LOL.

   If we get anything wonderful cut down, I'll look you up!  What's your opinion of big leaf maple and its uses?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

3. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 30, 2003 03:40am | #13

   Bigleaf does everything the eastern hard maples do and just as well....lotta valuable music wood cut here by me neighbors for high-end luthiers.

   Here's my kitchen cabinets today.....one large, figured Bigleaf cut into 5/4 boards and stacked in the bolle.  Paid $.40/BF for it in the log from an arborist buddy...it was a 50" log 20' long plus boughs.  The center panels are 17" and flanked by stile stock from the same board deck....cabinet doors will be arranged in grain sequence as will the drawers, all cut from the same board.  A management pain in the butt...but it will be unique.

   But also notice the amount of checking even with sealed endgrain...and it stickerstains badly...there will be a lot of waste.

   http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/31637395.jpg

4. 
   forestgirl | Oct 30, 2003 06:45pm | #14

   Thanks for the info, Bob.  Wow, that was quite a tree.  I see wht you mean on the checking though.

   Sticker stains:  wonder if an inert sticker would make a difference?  Have you ever seen "Durasticks"?  I-beam sticks made of composite that are supposed to eliminate sticker stains.  They're a little pricey, but I can't help wondering if some of the new man-made decking material might be made of the same stuff.  Maybe they'd be worth it for special large-size-project boards.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

5. 
   fdampier5 | Oct 30, 2003 09:03pm | #15

   I bought some of those,  they hold up well for a year then start to age.. many of mine are worthless now because they break up easily over time..   (don't stain though.. )

6. 
   forestgirl | Oct 30, 2003 10:37pm | #17

   Frenchy, have you ever had occasion to compare them to the man-made decking material (the stuff that's honeycombed)?  I have this persistent, cheap-skate idea that they're the same material!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

7. 
   fdampier5 | Oct 31, 2003 02:29am | #18

   I suspect they are extruded fiberglass.  the reason they use must be the cheapest in theworld and I know they must gather all the dust in a fiberglas factory and use it to make these..

8. 
   forestgirl | Oct 31, 2003 05:06am | #19

   Fiberglas?? Hmmmm, wouldn't have thunk it.  Surprised it decomposes (or whatever) the way you've experienced.  Interesting.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

9. 
   BobSmalser | Oct 30, 2003 09:55pm | #16

   Naw...but will consider something like that for next time.  I'm sceptical that anything will prevent stains...other than blue mold, they occur to one degree or another because the wood beneath the sticker dries slower than the rest of the board.

   The solution is overthick rough cut boards and a thickness planer.