# Anyone mill aspen yet?



## wdchuck (Feb 7, 2008)

A guy has some 50 aspens, 12-18" dia, that he'll cut and bring to a convenient landing site on his property, so I just have to get them, okay, that's the easy part.

How does it mill?
What's the most stable board form, flat, rift, quarter?
What kind of drying characteristics?
Best uses for this type of wood?

Any info would be appreciated, especially if you've worked it before.

Thanks.


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## BIG JAKE (Feb 7, 2008)

Nope-ain't milled any. Best use(or one): Tongue and groove. A friend of mine up in Creede T&G'd his ceiling with aspen he said-looked good. It ought to mill like butter, soft as it is. I've cut into big aspen here for firewood. On the big trees some of the heartwood is red inside and would make for nice contrast. 
When I was passing thru northeast Minnesota up into Canada a few years ago I noticed the aspen up there. Didn't believe what I was seeing so I bought a tree guide and sure enough, you have the same aspen we have down here-ranges all the way up there and east a ways. Was neat to see the different birch types too. Sorry for ramblin'-keep us posted on how it goes.


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## woodshop (Feb 7, 2008)

Have never milled any, but have worked with aspen in my woodshop, and from that I would guess it mills pretty easily. As far as stability, I would assume like most wood, in general quartersaw/riftsawn will be more stable than flatsawn (less wood movement as the humidity changes). What to make with aspen? I've been to a few shows out in Colorado when visiting friends there, and was amazed as what some craftsmen do with relatively soft, relatively indistinct aspen. Rustic bedroom suites... some furniture. No it ain't maple oak or cherry, but in the right hands, stained and designed with the properties of aspen in mind, it can be made to look beautiful.


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## wdchuck (Feb 7, 2008)

THanks guys.

I'll have to revisit some other threads on chain type as well, my .404 would waste alot, and on this type of wood the 460 would probably do just fine, but I only have 3/8 full chisel for that.


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## zopi (Feb 7, 2008)

nahh...but you oughta airmail me a couple of logs..then i could thoroughly 
evaluate it on the bandmill... 

I bet it feels better milling than it does skiing into...Don't ask me why I know.


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## woodshop (Feb 7, 2008)

wdchuck said:


> THanks guys.
> 
> I'll have to revisit some other threads on chain type as well, my .404 would waste alot, and on this type of wood the 460 would probably do just fine, but I only have 3/8 full chisel for that.



I'm assuming you're not talking about square chisel, but round ground chisel like Oregon 72/73/75 series chain. Unless you're real concerned with how rough your milled board surfaces are, just use that. It won't be as smooth as milling chain for sure, but it will mill a bit faster, and I'm halfway convinced that it even stays sharp longer. It's all I use now on my csm, but I use the skip tooth version of it (75JG) on the 36 inch .375/.063 bar. 

IMHO, there is little use for .404 chain in anything less than a mechanical tree harvester where the chain really takes a beating and big beefy chain that can take that stress is needed.


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## redprospector (Feb 7, 2008)

I don't know if it's the same type of aspen we have in the Rocky's, but I've milled quite a bit of it with a band mill. It mills really nice, and will dry fast. Like woodshop said, the most stable board's are quarter & rift sawn. 
The best use IMO is T&G panneling. I've built some rustic furniture with aspen poles, and board's. The stud mill here used to slip in some aspen once in a while too, gotta watch that "white wood" in the lumber yards.

Andy


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## wdchuck (Feb 7, 2008)

Stihl full chisel, leaves quite an un-uniformally rough finish, some of that could be my novice technique also. Planing off up to 1/4" per side to get rid of gouges is too wasteful in my opinion. The full chisel, full comp, is plenty fast in a rip cut, but the gouging has to go.

I've run semi-chisel, and that seems to be a good compromise, as far as finish is concerned, and is still useful in firewood cutting. 

There are threads discussing the benefits of .325 also, due to a narrower kerf, also more efficient use of saw power, but that gets into different bars, sprockets, and such. 
I'd prefer to stay with my current chain sizes, 3/8, but get a better finish.


A note about the .404 milling chain, it came with my 075, and a 42" bar. When that chain is used up, I'll convert the saw over to 3/8.


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## wdchuck (Feb 7, 2008)

redprospector said:


> I don't know if it's the same type of aspen we have in the Rocky's, but I've milled quite a bit of it with a band mill. It mills really nice, and will dry fast. Like woodshop said, the most stable board's are quarter & rift sawn.
> The best use IMO is T&G panneling. I've built some rustic furniture with aspen poles, and board's. The stud mill here used to slip in some aspen once in a while too, gotta watch that "white wood" in the lumber yards.
> 
> Andy




Does aspen have enough strength to frame out an outbuilding?, 
I also have a number of poplar logs coming, and was intending to make up a pile of 3x8, 3x10, to frame with. I'd welcome feedback on these ideas.


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## redprospector (Feb 7, 2008)

wdchuck said:


> Does aspen have enough strength to frame out an outbuilding?,
> I also have a number of poplar logs coming, and was intending to make up a pile of 3x8, 3x10, to frame with. I'd welcome feedback on these ideas.



The stud mill here must have thought it did. 
It may have, but I'd use the poplar if it was me.

Andy


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## wdchuck (Feb 7, 2008)

Sounds good Red, it's a project that will rely on using free or recycled materials, mainly for keeping stuff out of the weather.


Aspen is the wifes favorite wood, she likes the sublty of the grain, poplar too.


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## Sawyer Rob (Feb 7, 2008)

I mill it all the time, and i like to saw it... It makes very good studs, just keep it dry as it rots fairly easy...

Also, i "over build" when using it, that way i don't have to worry about grade or defects so much... That's really no big deal, as fast as my bandsaw turns out lumber, and Aspen is dirt cheep to FREE!

Rob


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## spencerhenry (Feb 8, 2008)

i have milled a fair amount of aspen, it mills easily. keep it dry or it will warp in the stack. aspen does rot fairly quickly, so keep it inside. a plain wood, but i think it stains nicely. i have used it for studs, and just miscellaneous around the place wood. one mill around here only cuts aspen, for t&g.


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## wdchuck (Feb 8, 2008)

*T&g*

Frequent mention of T&G regarding the aspen, is that to maintain stability or for using it as a wall covering, ceiling and such.

Thanks for the info so far guys. I'm looking forward to this.


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## Festus Haggen (Feb 8, 2008)

I've used poplar quite a bit for projects that will have a painted finish. Most people don't like the funky green color that poplar has, but the paint takes care of that. As long as it's not outside, it will last like any other wood. As somebody said, it dries quick, but it also reabsorbs moisture like a dry sponge. Sealing is critical to keep the wood from cycling. This may or may not apply to aspen, if they're not the same.


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## redprospector (Feb 8, 2008)

wdchuck said:


> Frequent mention of T&G regarding the aspen, is that to maintain stability or for using it as a wall covering, ceiling and such.
> 
> Thanks for the info so far guys. I'm looking forward to this.



I use the v-groove T&G for wall panneling or ceiling. Here's a pic of some. The wall with the opening is covered with Aspen that was milled a year or two ago and left sticker stacked in the weather (not a good idea, I got lucky). It was milled from log's I had decked in the yard for 6 year's (I got lucky again).







Andy


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## EPA (Feb 13, 2008)

Here In New England the closest thing to Aspin is Poplar// Mills about like Pine, light and makes good trim stock//


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## wdchuck (Feb 13, 2008)

EPA said:


> Here In New England the closest thing to Aspin is Poplar// Mills about like Pine, light and makes good trim stock//



That's a nice little stack of lumber from those poplar logs, that really gets me looking forward to milling once the snow is gone. 




Redprospector, that aspen wall covering looks great, so many ideas, I won't even be able to go look at the aspen trees until the snow melts out,


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