Lumber length

[Chris Padilla]

Darn, SC is a bit far from me to help you with that "storage" issue you have! Do what you gotta do. Cut them in half...makes them easier to handle for sure. But mark them in case you want to match them up later one. Maple is great...sands up beautifully and is a very strong wood. Very dense pores. All I've been working with the last few years is maple and I still have two large boards like you have but mine are 2.5" thick and yeah, they do weigh a TON! I haven't needed any maple much longer than 5' and if I did, it was crown and other longish trim and I ordered that from someone since I don't typically make my own (although I have).

[Kent A Bathurst]

Darn, SC is a bit far from me to help you with that "storage" issue you have! Do what you gotta do. Cut them in half...makes them easier to handle for sure. But mark them in case you want to match them up later one. Maple is great...sands up beautifully and is a very strong wood. Very dense pores. All I've been working with the last few years is maple and I still have two large boards like you have but mine are 2.5" thick and yeah, they do weigh a TON! I haven't needed any maple much longer than 5' and if I did, it was crown and other longish trim and I ordered that from someone since I don't typically make my own (although I have).

First - I can get there from ATL in no time - just need to borrow the wife's pick-up truck. Lemme know, and I am on the road in an hour......

Next - if you cut them, don't just willy-nilly chop to some predetermined length. Go for as long as you can stand, and look at each board carefully - the piece you want to save may be in the middle. IF you can handle 8', then try as best you can for consistent color and grain with 8' sections, wherever they occur.

There are plenty of pieces and parts in any build that can be cut out of shorter pieces - table leg stretchers, drawer fronts and kicks, etc.

[Peter Quinn]

Average length.....12'. Most of the lumber i buy is 10' or 12', sometimes I buy 8/4 in 8' lengths in certain species. I'd go crazy having to cut them down before having a set of plans in front of my, I'm sure my inspiration would call for something just longer than I had cut, or I couldn't get enough multiples out of the shorts I'd made. So here's another vote for leave them long, find the room. Under the bed?

[john davey]

How much of this did you get. If you have 9K of oak there should be a little room left in htat barn to keep it full lrngth. If not pull some oak and make room for it. You got allot of oak

[Jim Matthews]

In one of James Krenov's books he states that after you cut a 12 ft board into 6 ft lengths you will have a 7 ft idea.

Okay, that's funny right there.

[Jim Matthews]

It's not so much that I can't lift them, but I'm not as young as I used to be and my back suffers from a fusion some years ago. But the major issue is storage.

Gotcha.
This sounds like a task for day labor.

If you cut these boards down, now - you'll degrade their value in the event of resale.
I don't know how wet the Seasons are in Orangeburg, but storing them outside is sure
to raise their moisture content, the day before you start your project with them.

If you must cut them down, preserve the finest figure over the longest span you can carry.
I would say 8 and four foot lengths.

That said, anyone that's had a spinal fusion has heard the admonition to lift carefully, more than once before.

I move larger boards using a canoe cart.
The longest board I can store in my basement is 10' - longer than that and I can't get it down the stairs
or through the rear bulkhead.

canoe cart.jpg

[Lewis Ehrhardt]

John, it's only about 550 to 600 bf. Yeah, that's a lot of oak. Like I said, these trees were huge (over 36 inches at the base). I had most of the oak quarter sawn, some plain and rift, but mostly quarter. He spent three days cutting. My grandson and I spent three two stickering and stacking. But I tell you, these boards were simply beautiful to look at.

[Scott T Smith]

John, it's only about 550 to 600 bf. Yeah, that's a lot of oak. Like I said, these trees were huge (over 36 inches at the base). I had most of the oak quarter sawn, some plain and rift, but mostly quarter. He spent three days cutting. My grandson and I spent three two stickering and stacking. But I tell you, these boards were simply beautiful to look at.

Lewis, you're my kind of guy with all of that QS!

Re your maple, I'm also in the camp with Jim and Kent about not cutting the boards down unless you have to. Long boards give you the maximum ability to grain and color match, or to select the best grain for the location in your project.

In order to make them more manageable for storage, two things to consider are to 1) skip plane them now in order to reduce their weight a bit, and 2) end trim them as needed to get rid of an checked ends, but otherwise keep them as long as possible. I store many of my 12' boards vertically in racks.