SO... You Want to Saw Your Own Lumber

[John Messinger]

I am in the middle of my first experience with a Granberg Alaskan Mk III saw mill. I needed a big powerful chainsaw (mine is an Efco 85 cc), an Alaskan Mk III chain saw mill, lots of time, the $40.00 Granberg rip chain was better than the $200 Rapco rip chain, lots of time, a stong back, plus physical endurance to go with it, the proper sized sharpening stones for a Dremel tool, lots of time, a shop built jig to hold the saw so that you do not have to remove it from the mill for sharpening the chain which would take more time, (did I mention time?), a new ladder to function as a flat plane to make the first cut plus the shop built jigs to hold the ladder properly on the log, time, a log (DO NOT pick a 100 year old, 24" diameter, red oak tree at the bottom of a hill as your first one,) wax or some other material to seal the end grain of the boards, time and lots of it, something to heat the wax (my wife had not used our electric griddle in a few weeks but there are some holidays coming up), a skilsaw, chalk line, come-a-longs, tow chain, tow straps, peavey, prybar, felling wedges, beer, time, smaller chain saws to move branches out of the way, bow saw, marking crayons, tape measures, time, beer, beer time, bar and chain oil, gasoline, 4 cycle oil, gloves, helmit, time, chaps, stickers, and good a place to stack the lumber.

Okay so I am 9 days into going from this:



to this:



I am exhausted and I still have about 2 weekends left of labor. I am wondering when the snow will fly.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nice stack of lumber....I'd be hiding that griddle.

[Jim Becker]

Nice work...and I do mean work...which you know. Grueling work!

BTW, you might want to consider getting that new lumber stacked outside where the air can flow through it and wick off the moisture. Just cover the top (not the sides) and it will be fine. Getting it 6-12" off the ground is a good idea. I use some treated 4x material for that with stickers to separate the stack from the base. Level the 4x material to the same plane with a slight slope end-to-end for drainage off the top cover before stacking on top of it.

[Rick Markham]

Definitely nice stack of lumber! It looks like it is worth it... I would absolutely be hiding that griddle

[Ted Wong]

Nice stack of wood there john. As Jim mentions it'd probably be a real good idea to move that wood outside for at least 6 months if not a year. The first time I stickered a stack of wood indoors like you have I got a tremendous amount of loss due to splitting and checking because the wood dried out to quickly. Fall and winter are the best times to cut up logs and stack them outdoors. The cool temperatures and low humidity are ideal for the first stages of the drying process.

[John Messinger]

I seem to be reading two different theories for getting the wood outdoors. Jim is talking about airflow to get rid of the moisture while Ted suggests the cooler tempertures will slow down the process and reduce checking. At present the wood is in my shop which is separate from my house and heated only with a wood stove and an electric space heater to keep it above 35 degrees in the winter. I am hoping that this will be enough.

We get alot of snow here in New Hampshire. I dried the pine that I used as construction lumber for my shop outdoors and there was a considerable amount of mold accumulation in the wood that was still preseent after planing and dimensioning. Snow covered my 6' high stack of pine.

I have never tried to dry lumber in my shop which is only 3 years old, but I really want to avoid the mold problem which occured with last batch of pine. This oak may be a different situation entirely.

Other photos

[Neil Brooks]

I fancy myself a man of words, but ... sometimes "Oh, that's SO COOL" is the best I can do.

This is one of those times.

I dream of building our fireplace mantel ... out of a tree that I found, and ... well ... obviously YOU know how the story goes, from there

Neat !

[Scott T Smith]

John, you forgot "Advil and Aleve for the day after" from your list!

Re drying, the rate that lumber dries at is related to three different factors. Temperature, relative humidity, and airflow. For mold to occur in a stickered stack of wood, generally the temperature must be between 70F - 100F. At this time of the year, that should not be a problem in NH. The lower the temp, the slower the drying rate, and the higher the RH, the slower the rate.

Of the common species, oak is one of the more difficult ones to dry, because it is very easy to dry too quickly during the initial drying stages (from green down to 35% MC). It is also one of the slowest species to dry; 4/4 oak has a maximum recommended daily drying rate of about 3.5%, whereas pine and cypress are 15%! I would advise against trying to increase the natural drying rate on your oak, although some low speed fans blowing through your stacks would not hurt. If you do put some fans on your stack, to test the airspeed simply hold a handkerchief against the stack on the opposite side from the fan. If you get more than a couple of inches deflection at the bottom of the handkerchief, you have too much airflow.

It is best if your drying (and dried) lumber does not get rewetted during or after the drying process. In your part of the country, due to the snow it is usually best to dry outside in the winter inside some type of shed. One nice thing about fall and winter air drying for oak is that the natural drying rate is right within the ideal range, as long as your stacks do not get too much air flow.

Jim and Ted's advice is spot on, as long as you have a place to stack and sticker the wood that will not allow snow accumulation inside or against your stack. In your uninsulated shop, you should also be ok, but I would increase the distance from the bottom board to your floor to be at least 4", and 7" or more would be better. Out of doors in an open sided shed would probably be a better environment though.

Your oak should be down to 16% in about 6 months, presuming that it is 4/4 and dries over the winter. The 8/4 will require about a year or more.

One other thing - for the best drying rate the minimum distance from your stack to the nearest wall should be equal to at least the distance of all of your stickers added together. Your photo shows 16 layers, thus if your stickers are 1" thick your stack should be at least 16" away from the wall.

Regards,

Scott

[John Messinger]

Thanks Scott, I guess I better slow the process down.

[Jim Shockey]

All are giving you excellent advice. I wish I could have talked to Scott 10 years ago when started milling. If you could raze your log a little off the ground, it would be a lot eazyer on your back. Jim

[Danny Hamsley]

Scott is spot on as usual . Oak will not mold nearly as quickly as pine. Sealing the ends of the boards, especially 8/4, will reduce end checking.

[Dick Aubochon]

Thanks Scott, I guess I better slow the process down.

Hi John,
Isn't Holderness where On Golden Pond was filmed? I've been through there several times, beautiful area.
Good luck drying your wood.

[John Messinger]

I fancy myself a man of words, but ... sometimes "Oh, that's SO COOL" is the best I can do.

This is one of those times.

I dream of building our fireplace mantel ... out of a tree that I found, and ... well ... obviously YOU know how the story goes, from there

Neat !

Thanks, to take something from forest to furniture is something I am very much looking forward to. A mission style sofa is on my to do list.

All are giving you excellent advice. I wish I could have talked to Scott 10 years ago when started milling. If you could raze your log a little off the ground, it would be a lot eazyer on your back. Jim

Oh boy do I wish I could raise those things off the ground more. A 9' log must weigh 1200# or more. Other parts of the problem are that the logs are on about a 10% grade, and they are right up against a wooden stairway/walkway.

Hi John,
Isn't Holderness where On Golden Pond was filmed? I've been through there several times, beautiful area.
Good luck drying your wood.

Yep! The marina where the gas dock scene was filmed is about 4 miles away. The building where my son goes to school was an inn in its previous life. It is where many of the cast stayed during filming.

[dan petroski]

John i dry a lot of wood indoors just put a small fan on it to move the moist air away from it. in winter with the wood boiler running i can dry 1xs in about 4 weeks

[Mike Wilkins]

Nice stack. What you got cooking in the pan next to this stack?