Advice needed on cutting/stickering downed tree

[John C Cox]

Aaahhhhh. Sweet gum! Very rowey, interlocked grain wood. Not crack prone at all. In fact, it's often impossible to split the stuff for firewood.

Very bug prone.

First thing, get the bark off and break it down with a chain saw.
You can then resaw the chunks on your band saw.

I would watch for evidence of borers and scrap sections aggressively. You may end up cutting off the sap wood, depending on how it goes.

Get some anchor seal and one of the bug killers listed. Saw it up, douse the wood in bug killer and then coat the ends with anchor seal. From there, you can stack and sticker and let it dry in the shade some place outdoors, away from the house, with good air circulation. I would also lay some tin roof on top of the stacks to keep the rain out.

Sweet gum was traditionally used for produce crates and dunnage. The wood isn't crack prone, but it likes to warp. Grain wise, it's beige, sort of porous, and interlocking.

If it was me... I'd let it season outdoors through a couple summer/winter cycles to stress relieve the wood. Hopefully, that will get the movement worked out.

Best of luck with your project.

[James White]

oops paint from the big box store is a less costly option. Though Anchorseal is best.

[Bill Howatt]

...
I remember seeing a chart showing how to cut a log for the best pieces, but cannot find it. Anybody have one?

Also, do you thing spraying the BS blade with WD40 would keep the blade from getting crudded up? Seems like any silicone from the blade would be removed later when dressing out the boards?? Sounds like I should not use the DC when slicing the logs, right?

Thanks again.

You are probably thinking of cutting the logs into quarter-sawn pieces. Just Google it, there is a lot of info on how to do it if it meets your needs.
Regular WD-40 doesn't have silicone but their silicone lubricant does. You are probably right about later dressing removing it but probably best to avoid it in the first place.
What is the DC concern about?

[Rick Potter]

Bill...Seems to me wet wood might stick to the inside of pipes or impellers, like it does to the bandsaw and blade.

John...Since you have worked with this wood, what can I expect? Is is nice enough for Jewelry boxes and such, I have never seen it cut to lumber? Hope so, because this is the only one that I have. If it is plain, but not ugly I can deal with that with inlays etc.

Back to restacking and painting ends.

[Jim Becker]

Cutting wet wood on the bandsaw benefits from a band that's designed for wet wood...I recall some specifications around that were on the Suffolk website...the folks who make/sell Timberwolf, but I haven't visited the site in quite a while.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Info on Sweetgum from the wood database https://www.wood-database.com/sweetgum/

[Rod Sheridan]

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....dsaw&p=1877202

Rick, as others have said, seal the log ends, mill it into boards and make something small out of them.

Regards, Rod