Questions for those who make their own lumber

[Jason Ochoada]

Hey Guys,

I have been inspired by Stu's Logging project in Japan and it got me thinking......

I have been helping a friend cut up some trees on his property into firewood (walnut, cherry) etc and I have a couple of questions. I would be processing small logs (12") on my MM-16 and/or looking into purchasing a chainsaw mill. The logs would be stored in the dehumidified basement to dry due to neighborhood covedance rules. My main concern would be insects. Last year I dried some cherry from the sawyer and had good luck but I am worried about a whole log. I have a lot of nice kiln dried wood from the mill that I don't want damaged from a rogue log. I also don't want to damage the house. I have heard of boracare, is that an appropriate use of the product? Will it damage the wood? Also, I know this sounds crazy but is it possible to free hand rip a log if you just want to slab it? I was thinking of just getting a ripping chain and proping one end up and having at it. I only expect to do this maybe twice a year. I appreciate any insight.

Thanks
Jason

[Ian Abraham]

One thing is in your favour with regard to bugs.

The bugs that may be living in green wood are NOT the powderpost beetles that can live in dry wood. The 'green wood' bugs will die off as the wood dries. Once the wood is dry it can be attacked by powderpost beetles, just like any other dry wood, but the risk of bringing them in with a green log is small.

You probably dont want to be drying large amounts of green wood inside though, the 'water' given off can be acidic and corrosive in an enclosed room. Small amounts shouldn't do much harm, but an open shed / shelter of some sort is better for initial drying. Do your local rules prevent you building a plastic greenhouse ? (for growing tomatoes of course )

Yes you can slab out a larger log freehand if you are really keen, have a decent saw and a bit of practise using it. It will be ROUGH sawn . An alsakan type sawmill jig (like Stu has built) will give much better result for not much money. Alternatively you could quarter a larger log into pieces small enough to handle with your band saw.

Cheers

Ian

[John Bailey]

Ian,

When you say "quarter a log," are you refering to some way of splitting by hand? This would come in handy for me. If so, how do you go about it?

John

[Jason Ochoada]

John,

I took it to mean quarter it with the chainsaw and do the rest on the bandaw, although I don't see why you couldn't split it by hand.

Jason

[tod evans]

john, if it`s below freezing and the log is pretty straight it`s a simple matter to split it with wedges, unless you`re talking elm .....02 tod

[Ted Christiansen]

Jason,

I have been doing exactly what you described since January 2005. I bought a Jet 18" bandsaw then, and a Logosol TimberJig/Husqvarna 385XP chainsaw milling setup in May 2005. I have cut at least 500 board feet with these two. The smaller logs I cut on my bandsaw with a sled and 1" blade. The larger logs I cut with the chainsaw.

It is not as fast as a bandmill, but it works for me. As an example I can cut a 8' long x 22" ash diameter log into 4/4 boards in 3 hours. It scaled to about 70 bd ft (16 inch wide boards). Multiply that by about $2/bd foot and I saved myself $140. I have cut cherry, walnut, red oak, white oak, elm, box elder, silver maple.

Most of the wood is air drying at my folks, but I do have quite a bit in my basement. A moisture meter is necessary to determine if the wood is ready to be used. See my profile for a website which tells my urban wood harvesting story.

Ted

[Jason Ochoada]

Ted,

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping you would chime in. I have read all your posts and visited your website. Between you and Stu I'm ready to go! Except I don't have the monster saw or jig yet.....So you don't worry about the "stuff in the bark" and such? Just seems like I remember doing the firewood thing when I was young and you would bring in the wood to the house, it would warm up and things would start crawling out....You don't treat the wood at all?

Thanks
Jason

[Dave Richards]

This is interesting to me because I am in the very early stages of making my own lumber. I'm still trying to get a tree to grow.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

[Howie French]

I am very interested in this thread...
I am wondering how large (length and diameter) you can
safetly slice with a MM12 or like bandsaw.



Howie

[Ian Abraham]

Ian,

When you say "quarter a log," are you refering to some way of splitting by hand? This would come in handy for me. If so, how do you go about it?

John

If the log is straight grained it may be easier to split with wedges, although a shallow cut with the chainsaw will give your wedges a start. Not going to work on a lump of nice curly walnut crotchwood though.

Failing that you can just cut all the way through with the chainsaw. Lay the log down on it's side and make several runs, starting with the saw almost horizontal and only cutting a couple of inches in. Follow this cut with deeper runs with the bar at a steeper angle. The saw will cut a lot easier with the grain than trying to cut directly across the endgrain.

Even the portable bandsaw guys may have to split logs like this if they are too big for their mills. I have an old swingblade mill that can handle logs over 5ft dia so I haven't had to do it for a whole log, but I've carved up some stumps and crotches freehand for table tops or resawing later.

There is anouther gadget called a 'beam machine' that is a small guide that bolts to the saw bar. It then fits over a 4x2 that you screw to the top of the log. If just gives you a straight line guide as you split the log and makes things a lot easier.

Either way you want a serious chainsaw, I've got a Dolmar 7900 (80cc), but would want something bigger for serious chainsaw milling.

Cheers

Ian

[Ian Abraham]

So you don't worry about the "stuff in the bark" and such? Just seems like I remember doing the firewood thing when I was young and you would bring in the wood to the house, it would warm up and things would start crawling out....

Well I do get a few roaches, beetles and the occasional weta... but they wont attack the dry timber already inside. I guess spraying around the pile with some bug killer might be a good idea if it's in your house. My family dont have a problem with 2" long wetas hopping around, but some people do

Ian