# My Milling Project



## curdy (Jan 21, 2008)

For those of you that don't already know me, I'll bring you up to speed...

We've done some major work to our property since we moved in about 2.5 years ago. A lot of dead and dying trees were taken down during clean up...along with some healthy ones to make way for an addition. For the trees that didn't get turned into firewood I have bigger and better plans of course...lumber!

I decided the job was way bigger than I wanted to take on alone (I think we roughly guessed over 4000 bd ft), so I've made arrangements for a gentleman with a Wood-Mizer to come in and take care of it. Weather permitting, we should begin this weekend.

With some input from my father along with my trusty lumber mentor: Arboristsite MVP woodshop, I designed 4 platforms for the lumber to be stacked on. All 2x10 PT construction placed on 8" diameter footers at least 24" deep. I don't have a real picture yet, but this should do:








Here are some shots of just some of the stuff we'll be milling. 

Red & white oak, black walnut, hickory, maple, and one of my helpers! That pile now also includes some nice sized black cherry logs.





Nice white oak






So I thought I'd get all your mouths watering a couple of days before hand leading up to the milling. Ooh, and speaking of watering mouths...I also have 2 large 55"+diameter black walnut logs that Tree Slayer gave to me in exchange for a table sized slab (Thanks again Rick!). Those are on hold until I can secure some time at my friends place to mill them on his large home made 60" CSM that runs off of his skid steer. And yes, there will be pictures.


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## wdchuck (Jan 21, 2008)

Nice, and cruel, looking forward to the next episode of this mini series.


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## dustytools (Jan 21, 2008)

SWEET!!! Looking forward to some milling pics!


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## woodshop (Jan 21, 2008)

I've been over there and have seen curdy's platforms he built, and they are definitely the ticket for holding all the lumber he will have when that bandmill gets through with his pile of logs. Solid footers, big enough dimensional lumber, no scrimping. They will be there, and still be flat and true, many years from now even after tons of lumber have been stickered and dried on them. Hope I can get over there to see that bandmill working.


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## curdy (Jan 21, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Hope I can get over there to see that bandmill working.



I'll make sure to keep you informed! Right now weather looks good, sawyer asked me to call him tomorrow to confirm a time. Things are looking like they'll be a go.


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## curdy (Jan 23, 2008)

8:00 Saturday AM milling will start. Pictures to follow.

How about some opinions on how to mill it? The wood will be used for a variety of projects like custom cabinets, maybe coffee and side tables, etc. Main things is that I don't have any specific project I'm milling for...so I can't make up a game plan based on that. 

My thoughts were to mill most of logs over 6' at 1 1/8" or could go to 5/4. Any under that length to 8/4 for table legs and other random stuff that would require extra thickness. Any reason to mill any thicker? Also, some of the stuff here like the walnut is all over 6'...so should I plan to run off a couple of 8/4 boards to have around?

I should mention also that I have the option of a place close by where I could take the lumber and resaw it (same place where the skid steer powered mill is). Matter of fact, he even designed a resaw system that's pretty nice. http://firstcuts.tripod.com/

Also, I was thinking to quarter saw the majority of the big white oak.


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## BlueRider (Jan 23, 2008)

I use my wood to make furniture but I never know what I will be making with any specific tree. I tend to mill every thing at 2 1/4" that way by the time it dries it is an honest 8/4 or a hair over and I can resaw into two 3/4" boards or use as is. Ocasionaly I will mill a slab near the middle of a log at 4". A 4" slab usualy shrinks down to 3 5/8 or less and takes a long time to dry. I rarely have need for stuff that thick but every thing I have milled that thick has either been used or is spoken for and I enevitably wish I had more.

I have never seen lumber that was not usable because it was too thick. Wish I could say the same for thin lumber. besides one of the advantages of working with wood you mll yourself is not being restricted to the commonly available sizes.

You probably would like wood to work with as soon a possible but thin warped stuff is not waht you want. if your cherry and walnut are really nice you might be able to trade with someone for some dry stuff. Of course they have what you want and can use so it will cost you in quantity or less valuable species.


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## curdy (Jan 23, 2008)

BlueRider said:


> I use my wood to make furniture but I never know what I will be making with any specific tree. I tend to mill every thing at 2 1/4" that way by the time it dries it is an honest 8/4 or a hair over and I can resaw into two 3/4" boards or use as is. Ocasionaly I will mill a slab near the middle of a log at 4". A 4" slab usualy shrinks down to 3 5/8 or less and takes a long time to dry. I rarely have need for stuff that thick but every thing I have milled that thick has either been used or is spoken for and I enevitably wish I had more.



Only issue with cutting everything this way is that each time I need some, I've got to load it up and take it over to my friend's. I'm OK with this on occasion, but probably not a regular thing.

The 4" stuff, do you do that with the pith included? I see most 4x4 and 4x6 beams with the pith included. I guess with that thickness its a lot more stable.




BlueRider said:


> I have never seen lumber that was not usable because it was too thick. Wish I could say the same for thin lumber. besides one of the advantages of working with wood you mll yourself is not being restricted to the commonly available sizes.
> 
> You probably would like wood to work with as soon a possible but thin warped stuff is not waht you want. if your cherry and walnut are really nice you might be able to trade with someone for some dry stuff. Of course they have what you want and can use so it will cost you in quantity or less valuable species.



No need to trade, I'd rather wait. Since I don't use this for profit, but instead for personal use, I'm not on any serious deadline.

Do you find that milling at 5/4 can warp a lot?


Thanks for the tips!


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## curdy (Jan 23, 2008)

Here are a couple of more shots...

Different angle on the main pile





One of the large black walnut logs...the other is already over at my friends.


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## Adkpk (Jan 23, 2008)

I'd say might be something in there. Look forward to the pics.


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## woodshop (Jan 23, 2008)

BlueRider said:


> ...I have never seen lumber that was not usable because it was too thick. Wish I could say the same for thin lumber...



I couldn't have said it any better. Unless you are slicing true quartersawn lumber, and even then, it has to be premium FAS grade stuff that won't shrink and move as much drying, you don't want to mill less than 1 inch. Just too hard to dry without twisting up like a pretzel. For 3/4 boards I generally mill 1 1/8. It shrinks down to around an inch or tad more after drying, and that gives you enough to run it through the jointer and planer a few times to get your 3/4" S4S lumber. With a few exceptions (ex: clawfeet for fancy bureau), you're not going to need much more than 5/4 for most furniture. I make wooden nutcrackers which start with 1 3/4 inch stuff... my larger breadboards need 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" thick wood... so there ARE things that use thicker stuff. I guess the best advice if you don't know exactly what you will be using it for is mill maybe 2/3 or 3/4 of it so you end up with 3/4 inch S4S, and then the rest various thicker sizes.


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## curdy (Jan 23, 2008)

woodshop said:


> I guess the best advice if you don't know exactly what you will be using it for is mill maybe 2/3 or 3/4 of it so you end up with 3/4 inch S4S, and then the rest various thicker sizes.



That's what I had in mind. I'll split the extra 1/3 up between 6/4, 8/4, and maybe a little 12/4.

One thing I did have in mind was a mantle for a large stone fireplace I have in my den. (Excuse the photo, its from the walk-through when we looked at the house...its a lot nicer looking now)






Going to be more of a rustic type room with a pool table and its our only room for TV/movies. I'm not sure if I should go with a half-round log, or if I should have something like a 4" or 5" thick slab. Its a pretty big fireplace, so something won't look right if it isn't beefy enough. I'll have to double check, but think I remember it at 10' wide.


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## Gene DiNardo (Jan 23, 2008)

You should consider a couple slabs of each species in 12-16 quarter for
Bed posts, ball & claw legs, large turnings, goose neck mouldings,chair legs, etc.
They'll take a while to air dry but when you need thick stock to match a future project you wont have to settle for a glue up.
Besides, think of it as an investment. Imagine the price of 16/4 Cherry or walnut 15 yrs. from now.
That's a nice pile of logs you have there.
Best Wishes, Gene


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## curdy (Jan 25, 2008)

Hi Gene, thanks for the advice.

That fireplace is indeed 10' wide. The firebox is 4' wide. Think an 8' mantle would look good...or would something more related to the firebox be better like 6' (extending 1' past either side)? 

Any thoughts on thickness for it (I'm thinking 5", but will that not look nearly as thick if its 8' long)? No worries on surface checking since its intended to look rustic. 

My thought was to have it sawn on top and bottom, but leave the front natural (I think the half round looks better in a log home). 

What's a good depth for a rustic mantle anyway, maybe 8"? 

Think maple would look too boring? Haven't worked with maple too much, but have a lot of it in the pile. I'm thinking a darker color is going to look better in there...how well does maple look when stained dark? The majority of the maple in there is silver and red maple to my knowledge. 

I'll have pictures tomorrow!


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## BlueRider (Jan 25, 2008)

The 4" stuff, do you do that with the pith included? I see most 4x4 and 4x6 beams with the pith included. I guess with that thickness its a lot more stable.

Milling soft wood beams with the pith for stability is very different from what I do. I do tend to capture the pith, but not for stability. for me it is because I have a strong preference for vertical grain, so when I mill thick stuf I have a good idea that I will want it to have my favorite grain. on a practical side most of my work has curves and on sawn curves if the front is verticle grain you can not see the grain run out like if it was flat sawn. I have also found that with many hardwoods the pith will split so sometimes on a wide slab I will mill it at 4" and then freehand cut it down the pith into two halfs that weigh the same as all the other slabs. on slabs that I don't rip I count on them spliting down the middle and that part being unusable.




No need to trade, I'd rather wait. Since I don't use this for profit, but instead for personal use, I'm not on any serious deadline.

Do you find that milling at 5/4 can warp a lot?


Thanks for the tips![/QUOTE]


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## curdy (Jan 26, 2008)

*Bummer*

Major bummer. Sawyer shows this morning and we start to set everything up...only to find out the electric motor to set the saw depth wasn't working.:bang: He was pretty frustrated considering he was just using it yesterday at another site. Oh well, looks like we'll have to wait.


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## curdy (Jan 31, 2008)

Argh, due to the technical difficulties with the wood-mizer and time off for the sawyer, milling will not commence until 2/17.:censored: :bang: :censored: 

Sorry guys, looks like a couple weeks before more pictures.


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## czeigler (Jan 31, 2008)

curdy said:


> Hi Gene, thanks for the advice.
> 
> That fireplace is indeed 10' wide. The firebox is 4' wide. Think an 8' mantle would look good...or would something more related to the firebox be better like 6' (extending 1' past either side)?
> 
> ...



We just cut a mantle for a guy out of Hemlock. It was 10"x10"x8'.

i think it will look real nice when he gets its up.


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## curdy (Feb 6, 2008)

Still on schedule for some milling on 2/17. 

In the mean time, scored a very nice load of oak beams from a project that fell through. So far I got 2 large 9' long 7"x12" beams. One which will become the mantel. I was pressed for time, so I'm heading back early Saturday AM to scrounge more. 

This guy had a bad contractor get in over his head on rebuilding the barn and basically stopped showing up. The beams have been out in the elements for about 2 years while lawsuits were going back and forth. Basically its all over now and he wants the stuff just gone. During those 2 years, some made it through better than others (lack of air flow and ground contact). I'm getting to the pile after some others have already gone through it. A lot of what is left will not make very long beams because of rot.

Aside from the mantel I have a couple of ideas for the other stuff like tables, benches, etc.

Does anyone have any recommended books or websites to check out on this subject? looking for some project ideas as well as working techniques.


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## Jerry Lord (Feb 6, 2008)

ive made my house, my shop everything because of my mill. ive cut every board in my house and shop, made some coffee tables done it all with the mill its probably my 4th best investment behind my pay loader, bucket truck, and horses
-jerry


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## big daddio (Feb 8, 2008)

i've ran into the same thing as bluerider and curdy on leaving the pith in beams. all the oak, maple and cherry ending up with a large crack down one side. only thing that hasn't done it is some pine.


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## curdy (Jun 16, 2008)

Haha, my how things change! After repeated attempts to get the sawyer over when both of our schedules would allow it, I decided to go a different route. I met a very nice gentleman not 15 minutes from me with a wood-mizer. He has it set up at his friend's property who also happens to own a tree company and log truck. Sooooo, we've transported most of the wood there. This guy saws every weekend, so that fits my schedule well. Plan is to mill all this up by mid-July...and I think that will actually happen this time!

They are also working on getting set up with a 72" CSM...so those big walnuts will be taken care of as well.

The big white oak was inaccessible for the truck (plus, they couldn't load anymore on anyway.) So I'll still have to hire the other guy to drive up to them...which I'm OK with (he was a nice guy, just really busy).


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## woodshop (Jun 16, 2008)

THAT's what I need Dan, a triaxle with a loader to haul logs, along with the time to mill them. How many miles per gallon do ya think it gets????  

Thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing some finished product there...


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## curdy (Jun 16, 2008)

woodshop said:


> THAT's what I need Dan, a triaxle with a loader to haul logs, along with the time to mill them. How many miles per gallon do ya think it gets????
> 
> Thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing some finished product there...



I think we'd have a hard time finding anyone who posts to this section that couldn't find plenty of excuses to have one! MPG? Who knows, probably the best bet would be to find somebody making biodiesel.


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## curdy (Jul 26, 2008)

Well, better late than never! Here are some pictures of the milling action from last weekend. Black walnut, black cherry, red oak, white oak, hickory, hard and soft maple were the species for the day. Tomorrow we tackle the big white oak logs back in my yard (got the original guy bringing his mill here...yes, my fingers are crossed!). Then its back to the saw mill pictured here to hopefully knock out as much as we can. Should be a lot nicer milling in 85 this weekend as opposed to 95 last weekend!

My father...well, at least the back of him. We'll both be using the lumber.





Some nice red oak





Black walnut and Steve making a blade change





More walnut


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## curdy (Jul 26, 2008)

The rest of the pics...

Oak and walnut with a cherry on top





Black cherry





Oak, hickory, and maple





Oak and stickers





And one of the largest pieces of black cherry I've ever seen. Its not mine...but I'm working on making it mine


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## curdy (Aug 3, 2008)

*Here are some pics of the stacks in progress. (These were taken before the covers and weights were added.)* 







*Red oak, hickory, and some maple shorts in front.*





*
Black cherry and black walnut. *


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## AndyR (Aug 4, 2008)

Thanks for sharing pics of the milling. Looks like you have a little bit of lumber there...

Hope it all dries well for you.


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## curdy (Aug 4, 2008)

AndyR said:


> Thanks for sharing pics of the milling. Looks like you have a little bit of lumber there...
> 
> Hope it all dries well for you.



Thanks! I'll get some more pics as more progress is made. What a work out!


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## Zodiac45 (Aug 5, 2008)

Very nice stack of lumber


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## curdy (Aug 5, 2008)

Thanks Zodiac! Looking forward to completing this project...and obviously the projects that will involve it later on. 

Here's a good story...

In the fall of '06 we had a large red oak blow over and it ended up taking another with it on its way down. My son was just as curious and amazed as I was, and we got some great pictures of him with them...including this one:





So last week when I was finishing up some stacking he was hanging out with me and climbing on one of the piles...which just happened to be from the tree in the above picture. I asked him if he remembered taking the picture, and he said 'yes'. So I replied 'Well, that wood you're standing on is from that tree!'

His response: :jawdrop:


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## Zodiac45 (Aug 5, 2008)

Very cool! You're doing him right!


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## curdy (Aug 12, 2008)

*More Pics*

Here are a couple more pics for you guys...

*Some really nice ambrosia maple*













*Neat ambrosia maple with curly figure*


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## curdy (Aug 12, 2008)

*Even more pics...*

And some more...

*Red oak slab with some nice quarter sawn ray flecks.*






Some spalted hard maple. This stuff has a lot of character.


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## woodshop (Aug 12, 2008)

I got to see curdy's stacks up close and personal last Sunday. I envy the room he has to sticker and then store it. Like me and many of us, he is storing wood in a sort of "wood bank" for future use in his woodshop. The more you have though, the more you have to keep from rot and bugs. It's a never ending battle, but I'm not complaining.


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## dustytools (Aug 12, 2008)

Very nice!!


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## curdy (Aug 13, 2008)

dustytools said:


> Very nice!!



Thanks!

Stay tuned, there's more to come later...


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