# Milling Russian Olive



## IchWarriorMkII (Oct 29, 2006)

I've been looking for productive uses to the Russian Olives trees that infest my local area. I read online that they can be used to make posts and boards, so instantly Im thinking of all sorts of uses. Im planning on doing some landscaping around my yard, and some rough cut 4x4 timbers (I'd treat them, somehow) fit the bill. 

Im also looking into making some 2x4's or 2x6's in conjuction with the posts to put together a wood shed of sorts. 


The trees are small, I wouldn't figure them to be bigger than 12" in diameter... no more than 20" at the most. I would count them in the soft wood class, as they are rapid growth trees... but Im a newbie in this wood business. Basically, Im clearing out the over growth on the ranch. (If my milling pans out, Ill leave some crops of trees here and there for the future)

Whats going to be the easiest set up to produce 8 or 10 foot boards? I've seen the Alaska mill, it looks like the ticket (fits into my budget) but Im not sure how large of a log it will produce. 4x4 or 6x6's possible?

Also, would the Alaska mill work ideally for squaring the log up to later mill into the desired boards? Im not sure what all the terms are... Im reading lots of old threads here to try and catch up.

Finally, Im planning on employing a Husqvarna 365 (yet to be purched) for the milling operations. It looks to be the ideal saw for me outside the mill in terms of being a firewood saw, so Im hoping with a longer bar and chains, it will pull double duty.

Any other tips, advice, pics (I like pics ) to help a new guy get his feet wet would be appreciated.


----------



## bookerdog (Oct 29, 2006)

*Ich*

Welcome Ich I see you made it over here from the chainsaw thread. I have used a 365 for milling and in soft wood it works pretty well. If you are only doing 12 inch log and ocassionaly 20 it should do okay. The alaskan mill will work fine for what you want to do. The home owner mini mill might be just the ticket and I think bailey's has them for 104.95. You can also start with this and have the learning curve down so when you become addictive [like all of us} and go bigger it won't be a problem.


----------



## woodshop (Oct 29, 2006)

I also used a 365 for milling on my Alaskan mill for a short time before I got my 395XP. As booker says, a csm will do what you want done, and won't cost you an arm and a leg. The 365 will mill small and soft stuff like pine, poplar and cedar, but once you get into hardwood like oak over 12 inches, it really doesn't have the muscle needed for milling. btw... Russian Olive is indeed a hardwood. It's not all that soft, being more dense than poplar for example. Maybe we aren't talking about the same tree? (I'm on the east coast)

Not trying to give anybody a wood lesson, but the term hardwood and softwood have nothing to do with how hard or soft the wood is. Example, Balsa, that light soft wood you make model airplanes out of, is a hardwood, and SYP (southern yellow pine, hard and dense) is a softwood.


----------



## bookerdog (Oct 29, 2006)

*dense*



woodshop said:


> I also used a 365 for milling on my Alaskan mill for a short time before I got my 395XP. As booker says, a csm will do what you want done, and won't cost you an arm and a leg. The 365 will mill small and soft stuff like pine, poplar and cedar, but once you get into hardwood like oak over 12 inches, it really doesn't have the muscle needed for milling. btw... Russian Olive is indeed a hardwood. It's not all that soft, being more dense than poplar for example. Maybe we aren't talking about the same tree? (I'm on the east coast)
> 
> Not trying to give anybody a wood lesson, but the term hardwood and softwood have nothing to do with how hard or soft the wood is. Example, Balsa, that light soft wood you make model airplanes out of, is a hardwood, and SYP (southern yellow pine, hard and dense) is a softwood.


So what makes wood a hardwood or softwood densety?


----------



## Ianab (Oct 29, 2006)

> So what makes wood a hardwood or softwood densety?



If you change that to broadleaf and coniferous it makes more sense.
Hardwoods generally have broad leaves and flowers, softwoods usually have needles or scales and cones. Of course there are some exceptions to these generalisations, but they will see you right 99% of the time. 

I believe the hardwood / softwood thing started in the old days in England when they had Oak trees and pine trees. Oak trees had hard wood and pine trees had soft wood and they weren't as aware of other species from other parts of the world. The names have just stuck.

Generally softwoods are actually softer, but remember yew is a softwood,and balsa is a hardwood.  

Cheers

Ian


----------



## CaseyForrest (Oct 29, 2006)

Hardwood comes deciduous trees, softwood comes from Evergreens, technically speaking.


----------



## woodshop (Oct 29, 2006)

Thanks ianab and casey... it's a common mistake most people make. I do a little presentation on trees and wood to scout troops and home school groups where I give them basics of what a tree is made up of, how it grows, how it works etc. Fun for me, and the kids love it. I usually bring my wood collection (I have over 200 species so far) and I pass them around and ask them to identify which ones are hardwoods and which are softwoods. I have never once gotten a 100% correct response, even when the parents get involved. Another one that opens eyes and raises eyebrows is when I blow through a 2x2 10 inch long chunk of solid red oak. Red oak is very porous, which is why wooden barrels were only made of white oak, which is not. I ask the kids to wet the back of their hand, then put it at the end of my piece of wood while I blow through. When they then feel the air hitting their hand most can't believe I'm blowing THROUGH that wood. They think it's a trick.


----------



## IchWarriorMkII (Oct 29, 2006)

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

I knew there was some vauge ness about the hard and soft wood classification... but beyond that I was in the dark.


----------



## Ianab (Oct 29, 2006)

CaseyForrest said:


> Hardwood comes deciduous trees, softwood comes from Evergreens, technically speaking.



Thats a good rule of thumb for your part of the world but not completely true  
Here in NZ the native hardwood (broadleaf) trees keep their leaves all year round i.e. they are evergreen. And bald cypress looses it's leaves, even though it's a softwood  I know cypress is sold as a hardwood (probably because it looses it's leaves) but it's a conifer (softwood).

Then you can throw Ginkgo into the equation, it's not a hardwood or related to any of the softwoods either.

Easy to get confused when you start looking at the 'exotic' and tropical species.

Cheers

Ian


----------



## CaseyForrest (Oct 29, 2006)

Ian, my definition came from the Lumber Assosciation of America, At least I think thats what its called.

Bald Cypress drops its foliage here in MI too.


----------



## woodshop (Oct 29, 2006)

There are exceptions to almost every "rule" in nature, including classifying trees. I know Ginkgo is somewhat of a fossil, an ancient tree leftover from who knows when, and is in a class by itself from a dendrology standpoint. btw, bald Cyprus here on the east coast is correctly sold as a softwood (conifer), not a hardwood. Larch is another softwood tree that drops its foilage in the winter here on the east coast.


----------



## IchWarriorMkII (Oct 30, 2006)

Here is a pic of the wood in question, to double check its the Russian Olive everyone is thinking about.







I've found the Alaskan Mill, but havent found the home owner mini mill yet? I need to surf Bailey's a little harder I guess.


----------



## CaseyForrest (Oct 30, 2006)

IchWarriorMkII said:


> Here is a pic of the wood in question, to double check its the Russian Olive everyone is thinking about.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Here ya go.....Nice looking wood too!

http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/scan/arg=%22/fi=products/st=db/tf=sortorder%2cdescription/co=yes/sf=category/se=204/op=eq/ml=5.html


----------



## woodshop (Oct 30, 2006)

IchWarriorMkII said:


> Here is a pic of the wood in question, to double check its the Russian Olive everyone is thinking about.


Well the greenish heartwood looks like the Russian Olive here on east coast, but the bark is not as stringy as that, maybe the western version is a little different?


----------



## IchWarriorMkII (Oct 30, 2006)

I hate to be a bother, but Im looking at this :

http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/494?mv_session_id=zVVhbVok&product_sku=46776

With a maximum cut of 20", do I need the 20" bar, or a 24" bar that cuts 20"?


Also, how exactly does the squaring up process start, I can see how having one side squared up, its easy from there, but how to do you get the first side done?

My brain cant form the mental picture


----------



## CaseyForrest (Oct 30, 2006)

I believe you need 24" bar to get 20" cut with that mill. I get 22" cut with a 28" bar in my mill.

As for the slabbing rails, lots of great ideas here....here is what I use....


----------



## buzz sawyer (Oct 30, 2006)

woodshop said:


> There are exceptions to almost every "rule" in nature, including classifying trees. I know Ginkgo is somewhat of a fossil, an ancient tree leftover from who knows when, and is in a class by itself from a dendrology standpoint. btw, bald Cyprus here on the east coast is correctly sold as a softwood (conifer), not a hardwood. Larch is another softwood tree that drops its foilage in the winter here on the east coast.



Woodshop, I read somewhere that the ginkgo is a survivor of the coal age. In other words, it was around when the coal we have today was still living vegetation.


----------



## aquan8tor (Oct 30, 2006)

IchWarriorMkII said:


> Here is a pic of the wood in question, to double check its the Russian Olive everyone is thinking about.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Do you have a foliage pic?? I know we have a HUGE amount of russian olive here in virginia, but I've never seen anything more than the size of a large bush. In fact, many, many, many bushes. you can see the somewhat silvery gray leafy bushes covering vast expanses of pasture along I64 and I81 through central virginia. Pain in the butt for sure. I read an article about it in National Geographic.


----------

