# When to mill (ash) lumber from felled tree/logs



## ReevescapeS (Dec 22, 2009)

I am looking for some advice on when to saw up logs after they have been dropped. I know some species require time to sit and dry and loose tension in the log. I am specifically looking at dropping an ash for my father and sawing it up with my Alaskan MK3. 
I have used this mill for about 2 years now and have had some luck, haven't really known what i was doing but learning along the way and now know i should ask before i mess up a good log. I've had trouble with red oak and soft maple that hadn't been stacked up to dry and release tension long enough and pinched the saw and was un able to make a good first cut, which with the alaskan sawmill is esential. 
The first tree/log i ever sawed was a cherry with a noticable scar which ended up being rotten inside and was going to die anyways, i dropped that and sawed it within a few days and dried it inside next to wood stove and it dried too fast. Have done a lot of things wrong and am trying to do this right. The ash will be sawn specifically to make some interior stairs so i need some good long straight lumber.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

By the way, the cherry is by the end of the week, being set up for my mother as an 8'6" 4post open sided grandfather clock with keninger works.


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## Andrew96 (Dec 22, 2009)

ReevescapeS said:


> I've had trouble with red oak and soft maple that hadn't been stacked up to dry and release tension long enough and pinched the saw and was un able to make a good first cut, which with the alaskan sawmill is esential.



Reevescape. I'd rather cut the trees when they are wet, then dry them slowly but that's a game in itself. You must have had a wavey grained tree if it pinched your mill during a cut.....or you are not using wedges. I don't see how you could pinch your saw unless the wedges fell out. With a good saw, accurate mill (not bent, aligned properly), you should be able to cut a straight piece. How long it stays that way is a whole other matter.


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## ReevescapeS (Dec 22, 2009)

the soft maple and red oak that pinched my saw both did it in the same manner, you have to understand how the alaskan saw mill is set up with the slabbing rails, when the first slab was being sawn off, the wood on the outside wanted to cup away from the tree in a big U shape and it pinched the bar against the slabbing rails, the red oak wasn't mine and i just couldn't complete the job for the guy, the soft maple was out of my own woods, a tree that had gone down, i took the other 3 logs out and let them sit for the spring and sawed them 2 months later and they sawed fine, i'm just looking for more refined information on letting logs set and for what period of time


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## mtngun (Dec 22, 2009)

ReevescapeS said:


> you have to understand how the alaskan saw mill is set up with the slabbing rails, when the first slab was being sawn off, the wood on the outside wanted to cup away from the tree in a big U shape and it pinched the bar against the slabbing rails,


Where I come from, there is a slab of wood between the bar and the rails. I'm not following your problem. A picture would help.

Regardless, it sounds like you had some lively trees. 

The rule of thumb is that it is better to saw the trees sooner rather than later, however, that's not cast in concrete. In reality, we saw them whenever we have the opportunity.

A tree that has a lot of residual stress may produce warped boards regardless of when you saw them.


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## Sawyer Rob (Dec 22, 2009)

Because the center of the log dries more slowly than the outer part of the log. I find waiting to saw the logs ADD's tension to the logs, NOT take it away.

Rob


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## huskyhank (Dec 22, 2009)

I think cutting sooner is better. 
But ya' gotta do it when ya' can.


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## mountainlake (Dec 23, 2009)

Yes , mill soon as possible after cutting down. The dryer they get the more tension. Steve


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## billstuewe (Dec 23, 2009)

I would recommend sawing that log 21 minutes after you drop it (that is how long it will take to set the saw up on it). Ash is a loved wood by bugs and the quicker you can get the boards dry the better and they will dry quicker once milled into smaller pieces (boards) and on stickers. Most wood borers are not interested in dry wood, only the Powder Post Beatle larva like dry wood) The only time you should wait to saw a log is when you want it to spalt and that is a whole 'nother subject.


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