# Milling a dry macrocarpa



## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

Right I've read a lot of posts and now its time to have a go at posting some action shots! With a bit of luck I can embed small images, here goes 

I'm new to milling but as we have lots of trees, I thought I would go for speed instead of waiting for a small saw to chew through some big wood. So I bought a new MS880 Magnum , 42" stihl bar, running stihl 404 ripping chain and a 48" Granburg Alaskan mill.

We started with 3 x 1m diameter (that's 39") macrocarpa branches that had been down for about two years (more on the butt log later).

The first photo is Eitan my Israeli helper for the day and the saw in the first cut of the 3rd log, I am using a 5m section of aluminum extension ladder as the guide.







The next is me with the saw in action, in the first cut, Eitan on camera. Saw does 1 metre (39")/minute using exactly 1/2 tank of gas on this size dry log. 3 minutes end to end plus time for wegdes etc. We go this slow to smooth cut, and to get plenty of oil on the chain (note no secondary oiler) the saw would go faster but the cut suffers.






The top slab, a bit rough in patches, which we put down to not having the bar 100% straight at the start of the cut and the ladder could have been better supported in the middle. Log showing good colour and grain but some bark inclusions which disappear in the middle of the log.






Nearly at the end of the cut of the first slab (second cut)






Half way down the second slab (third cut)






Max images for post reached lets see if it works 

mmm that didn't work:bang: , I think I followed the img function instructions but if someone could give me some pointers on embedded images i will have another go at the rest of the log.


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## CaseyForrest (Sep 9, 2006)

Are you sure you opend the image tab? They come up if I click on the link at the bottom. 

Nice pics anyway!!!


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## woodshop (Sep 9, 2006)

Hey, nice pics, thanks for posting them. I'm curious what kind of wood the Macrocarpa is, is it a tropical hardwood? How does it do in the woodshop, is it easy to work? Do they make furniture out of the stuff down there? The 1 meter per minute is pretty impressive for that size log. When my blade is sharp on my Ripsaw (small handheld bandmill), I can run down the log at an inch per second, which is about 40 seconds per meter, but thats only 14 inch wide cut, not the wide log you were slicing.

thanks for the post, keep us informed as to your progress.


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## dustytools (Sep 9, 2006)

Like woodshop, I am also curious about this species of wood.Great pics.


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## Woodsurfer (Sep 9, 2006)

Good shots! I googled macrocarpa and discovered it grows up to 10 feet diameter down there! Looks like a nice furniture wood. What are your plans for all that fine timber?


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

Woodsurfer said:


> Good shots! I googled macrocarpa and discovered it grows up to 10 feet diameter down there! Looks like a nice furniture wood. What are your plans for all that fine timber?




Cupressus Macrocarpa is an import softwood conifer from the the west coat of the states (Monterey peninsular I think) Like the other tree from that area (Pinus radiata) it grows really quickly and big in NZ. The wood is mostly used for furniture, boat building, garden landscaping as the heartwood is quite durable. This timber is going into outdoor furniture, beehives and the better pieces into benches and shelves in our house.

This pic is the butt log that held those branches up:jawdrop: . It was about 130 years old which is about as old as they get in NZ. At this age the branches start to rot and fall off making them dangerous in our high winds, so this tree had to come down (about 2 years ago). We have only just got a chainsaw big enough to do some damage to it . My next new thread will be milling this log. 




My question though is how do I insert the picture into this thread instead of as an attachment? I tried using the img command but it did not seem to work.


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## trimmmed (Sep 9, 2006)

stingray bay said:


> My question though is how do I insert the picture into this thread instead of as an attachment? I tried using the img command but it did not seem to work.



On the manage attachments interface, after you upload the pic, you will see a link to your attachment just below where you uploaded,. Click on that, that will open up your attachment, then right click and select properties, in the properties find the url of the pic, then go back to your post, click the image tag and paste that location in.


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

trimmmed said:


> On the manage attachments interface, after you upload the pic, you will see a link to your attachment just below where you uploaded,. Click on that, that will open up your attachment, then right click and select properties, in the properties find the url of the pic, then go back to your post, click the image tag and paste that location in.


 Cool! that worked! thanks for that That tip should be in the FAQs.


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

Here is the 3rd slab, half way through the 4th cut, that's some rooster tail of sawdust! 






We have a big insect, reputed to be the heaviest insect in the world in NZ, called a Weta. It looks scary (as witnessed on King Kong) but only eats rotten leaves and lives under the bark of trees. We evicted at least a dozen out of this log. Eitan my Israeli helper was impressed!






The next slab (slab#4/ cut 5) note the wet area coming out of some rot in the centre of the log.






the next slab (slab#5/cut6)






The next shot shows some of the beautiful strong grain in this timber. Despite the grain the wood is very stable and doesn't move/split much.


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

Here I am starting down the log for slab #6/cut 7






slab 7/cut 8 showing the beautiful grain again






slab 8/cut 9, last one






Eitan chilling out on the slabs for my neighbor (half the logs) a job well done 






That's the branches done, now back to the farm work while we think about that butt log and how we are going to attack it


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## dustytools (Sep 9, 2006)

Those are some really awesome pics. How does this type of wood tend to act as it dries such as cupping or twisting? How do you plan on drying it?


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

dustytools said:


> Those are some really awesome pics. How does this type of wood tend to act as it dries such as cupping or twisting? How do you plan on drying it?



It's really good. These logs were already pretty dry but to test the movement I left one of the slabs (8' long, 30' wide, 2 1/2" thick) outside in the rain and sun for a month. There was no cupping or twisting, the surface was faded grey with very fine hairline surface checks that did not go in more that 1/4". But to be sure I have filleted and stacked it all in the barn where it will stay for a while. The outdoor furniture will get wet anyway so that will be the first out of the barn.


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## Ekka (Sep 9, 2006)

Nice pics, well done.

Now a question for you milling blokes.

What about that mountain of saw dust, what do you do with it ... at a customers place, your place or whatever?


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## dustytools (Sep 9, 2006)

I hope to see some pics of some finished projects that you get out of this lumber. I would love to run up on a log of that size, dont know how I would mill it, but it would still be nice.


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## upandcommer (Sep 9, 2006)

to answer ekka's question on what to do with sawdust. I collect all my dust crosscut or mill dust and put it in a trash bag once home i spread it into a thin layer on a cookie sheet and place in a 160 degree f oven overnight. in the morning it goes into a ziplock to wait till i have enough to break out the good stuff. Grab some cardboard egg cartons fill them with the dried dust then melt down as many old candels or go buy parafin wax melt it all down over a double boiler ladel the wax mixture over the sawdust and allow to cool then break the egg cartons apart and voila instant firestarters for those wet campfires they burn for about 20 minutes even when half underwater.


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## stingray bay (Sep 9, 2006)

Ekka said:


> What about that mountain of saw dust, what do you do with it ... at a customers place, your place or whatever?



We use all we produce, On the paths in the garden, in the chicken yard, in the compost, in the longdrop at the barn. Upandcommer you must make a hell of a lot of firestarters!


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 9, 2006)

Nice stuff. It's good to see a log like that used properly.


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## Ianab (Sep 10, 2006)

To give you an idea what the macrocarpa looks like finished, this is the new breakfast bar I've built out of it.
The wood air dries easy enough, and doesnt warp or twist very much at all. The panelling behind the bench is the same wood, just cut as 4x1 and shiplapped.

2nd picture is me sawing a smallish log, got some nice boards out of that one too  

The picture of the big mac log posted earlier shows why portable bandsaw mills aren't that popular here!!!

Cheers

Ian


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## hautions11 (Sep 10, 2006)

*Milling*

Great Pictures!! I can't believe the size of the base log. The only feasible methodology would seem to be quarter the piece and start from there. I have never handled anything that big, but we had a 60" oak a few years ago that was too big for anything we had to mill it. We quartered it up and it worked out really well. I would love to see some finished product and the set-up for the big log. Neat stuff!

Cheers


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## woodshop (Sep 10, 2006)

Ianab said:


> To give you an idea what the macrocarpa looks like finished, this is the new breakfast bar I've built out of it.
> Ian


BEAUTIFUL wood, I like the way you left the natural edge on that. Wonder what a traditional small Shaker side table would look made out of macrocarpa. I suppose if I dug around I could find somebody in the states that sells it. I'd need about 10bd ft, most of it 3/4.


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## stingray bay (Sep 10, 2006)

woodshop said:


> BEAUTIFUL wood, I like the way you left the natural edge on that. Wonder what a traditional small Shaker side table would look made out of macrocarpa. I suppose if I dug around I could find somebody in the states that sells it. I'd need about 10bd ft, most of it 3/4.



Someone in California must sell it surely, since it is a native of that coast of the US. It is used for boat building as a replacement for NZ native kauri here. I think because of its workability and natural durability.


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