# Milling Maple Flooring



## dnhll (Mar 3, 2007)

I am thinking about milling some maple logs to create flooring for my house. Flooring is so expensive, I own a woodlot with quite a bit of maple and I love to have native floors in my house. I am thinking of using an alaskan mill for the initial milling, but would love to hear ppl's thoughts. Do I need to kiln dry the wood, etc... thanks in advance.


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## kevinj (Mar 3, 2007)

I'm considering the same thing myself.
Sealing the ends.
Drying time.
Thickness.
Good Question.


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## dustytools (Mar 3, 2007)

dnhll said:


> I am thinking about milling some maple logs to create flooring for my house. Flooring is so expensive, I own a woodlot with quite a bit of maple and I love to have native floors in my house. I am thinking of using an alaskan mill for the initial milling, but would love to hear ppl's thoughts. Do I need to kiln dry the wood, etc... thanks in advance.



If you have the time to mill it yourself then I would say yes to the CSM. It has a wider kerf and is somewhat slower than using a bandmill but the Csm is also more portable. Milling your own wood from your own lot for your own use is very satisfying. I personally would check into kiln-drying it since it will be for flooring. Search the web for the proper MC for wood flooring and check around your area for pricing from local kilns. Air-drying usually takes about a year per inch thickness to dry and then it still needs some further form of drying such as a kiln or interior environment to bring the MC on down to where you need it. Good luck.


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## dutch (Mar 3, 2007)

i dryed mine in a cheap solar kiln i built off net, today it was + 5 C & KILIN WAS 160 F


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## infomet (Mar 3, 2007)

Been there, done that, oak and hickory.
I don't think I could stand that much chainsaw roar, but hiring a portable bandmill is fast and the work is not too hard. Get your logs yarded right by where the mill will sit and have a plan for transport to the kiln, which you really must do to keep the floor tight. I got mi hardwood for about $1/SF, including drying and having it dimensioned in a mill. It's a lot of hauling and loading, so you really have to want to do it. If you want rustic floors, of course, you can square and plane with lots less work than tongue and groove. The pro mill can do all four sides and the T&G in one pass, though, so it makes sense to go for the finished look and be done with it. Most of my milling was charged by the linear foot, so it paid me to use wide boards. My widest are 8". Wide means lots of cupping though, so you have to plan to deal with that. Then you'll lay it (need the nailer thingy), sand it, and varnish, and sand, and varnish, etc. If you are careful, you can get a $7-8/SF floor for about $1.50/sf.


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## smitty12 (Mar 9, 2007)

infomet just curious...when milling the original planks for flooring with a CSM. How thick should you be cutting them??

Thanks,

Smitty


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## stonykill (Mar 9, 2007)

dnhll said:


> I am thinking about milling some maple logs to create flooring for my house. Flooring is so expensive, I own a woodlot with quite a bit of maple and I love to have native floors in my house. I am thinking of using an alaskan mill for the initial milling, but would love to hear ppl's thoughts. Do I need to kiln dry the wood, etc... thanks in advance.



I'm thinking of doing the same except in birch. I've milled an awful lot of birch with my alaskan, and some maple. To me its gratifying, where helping someone run their bandmill, to me is just work. If you love your chainsaws, like to mill a lot, and have the trees, go for it. Its hard work, but its gratifying and worth it to say, its my trees, my labor, all mine. That is a feeling that can't be beat. Get your self a moisture meter, search the net for solor kiln plans, and you'll have flooring in a short time. If you have the time and space, air drying outdoors, undercover, then after the boards have dried more than 1/2 way, move them indoors. Fine furniture builders crave wood dried this way. Most of all enjoy!:greenchainsaw:


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## stonykill (Mar 9, 2007)

smitty12 said:


> infomet just curious...when milling the original planks for flooring with a CSM. How thick should you be cutting them??
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Smitty




while the question wasn't asked of me....... If I want 1 inch finished thickness I start at either 1- 1/4 or 1- 1/2. With the birch I mill, it drys so nice, its 1-1/4. If I'm not sure how flat a wood will dry, and I want a 1 inch finished thickness, I mill them 1-1/2. Hope this helps.


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## infomet (Mar 9, 2007)

I have never used a CSM, can't imagine the noise and trouble (for me). I hire a portable band, and operator, for $35/hr...seems a good deal, especially when I'm well prepared and don't spend time dragging logs to the mill. It's hard work, but very rewarding to me. I do the offbearing and stack the boards on a 16' flatbed to go to the stack area.

Thickness of the green boards is always a tradeoff between getting good finished boards and waste at milliing time. I usually go for 1 to 11/8" and accept that I won't get a full surface on the occasional board. Often a missed place can be put in the back of something and not be visible, like on a floor or inside cabinetry. I do it all the time.


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## IndyIan (Mar 9, 2007)

Normally hardwood flooring is 3/4" thick when finished, but I would find a guy that can plane and mill the tongue and groove first and ask him what he likes to work with. Also you can decide what width you want too, no point in making 5" boards if you want 3.25" wide flooring. 
I also don't recommend sawing up logs that should've been firewood, straight grain has a better chance of making straight boards.
Ian


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## infomet (Mar 9, 2007)

My milling has been charged by the linear foot, so you want the boards as wide as possible without causing cupping problems. My oak and hickory go up to 8". GET the wood DRY before milling. use a four sided milling machine if available...does everything in one pass and is very consistent. 

Decide at the sawing stage what widths you want and edge everything off an inch or so wider than the widths you choose. I used 4,6,and 8". There's no need to make a lot of chips at the milling plant.

Below 4", I use the wood for cabinetry (rails and stiles).


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## Forest Steward (Mar 10, 2007)

One other consideration with milling flooring is thinking about making the lumber quarter sawn. If you have a big enough log, you can get a few wider boards out of it too and it'll help reduce the cupping as it dries. Granted, you don't get the nice grain patterning out of it, but it'll be an overall more stable floor. Getting the most out of a log this way can be tricky, but if done right, the benefits are worth it. We did a bunch of this for a guy last summer and it was all milled out to 5/4. That gave him plenty of room to work with when he finished it.


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## treemendous (Mar 13, 2007)

*flooring*

I still don't have pics on my computer.
anyway, I've milled about 30000 bdft of flooring maple, alder and birch. I use my woodmizer bandsaw and mill 5/4 =1 1/4 thick and aim for 7" wide. Wood goes to a kiln then to the flooring mill, all four sides, t&g, v-joint. Finished product is 3/4" thick and 6" wide. Beautiful rustic floors and installed in homes nicer than I'll ever sleep in. Anyway, Chainsaw milling only if there is no access or time is so not an issue. Like they said, deck the logs in one area with good access and plan for moving the wood ie hiab truck, flatdeck etc. Totally worth it for the finished product.


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