# Cedar



## Zodiac45 (May 20, 2008)

Found myself a nice cedar log yesterday that was up on a hillside where the powerline crew had cleared about a month or so ago. I'd had my eye on it and yesterday just stopped and muscled it off the two tiered hill an into my pickup. It's about 17" diameter average and was 16'8" long. It was way to heavy for me as is so I sliced it into two 8'4" halves. Then with my pulp hook and some grunt tipped both off the tiers down too the road. I was just able too hold up the butt end while hooking and shoving the end of the log onto the tailgate! Whew! These two will be my first milling tries. Over the next couple of years, I'd like to get enough for a cedar deck to replace the deck I need to tear off my porch roof. What would you guys go for out of these? 6/4s or thicker for decking and stringers?


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## deeker (May 20, 2008)

Don't mill them!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will make you eat sawdust. Bad for your health!
It will offend a tree hugger. Make your eyes sore from the dust too. The best solution would be to, ship 'em to me!!! Nice logs!!! I would cut them 5/4 or 6/4 and make table tops.

Kevin Davis
Ruff Cutts


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## retoid (May 20, 2008)

Cedar is by far my favorite wood type.
Smells great, withstands all weather, doesn't rot and prepares a mean salmon.

I just got my hands on several nice sized white cedar for the first time. All free.
It does not smell as good as our normal NW Red but it looks nice.


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## aquan8tor (May 20, 2008)

If you've got a shop bandsaw, I'd say cut them 8/4 or even thicker for your stringers and everything; weight them down to keep them from warping too much & resaw them later. I figure its easier to resaw boards later than to have to glue stock together to get a thick board.
Waiting for woodshop to chime in here.....


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## woodshop (May 20, 2008)

Zodiac45 said:


> ... These two will be my first milling tries. Over the next couple of years, I'd like to get enough for a cedar deck to replace the deck I need to tear off my porch roof. What would you guys go for out of these? 6/4s or thicker for decking and stringers?



Is it redcedar or white cedar? White cedar is less resistant than redcedar. That siad, you CAN make the whole deck out of this beautiful stuff, but around here large redcedar logs like that are somewhat hard to come by, so I'd not want to "waste" that much on stringers. If it were me I'd use regular treated lumber for the stringers you don't see, and cover the deck/sides/rails with the cedar. btw, as rot resistant as redcedar is, it is not as resistant as regular treated lumber (standard copper salts treated stuff you get at the big box). It is also way less rot resistant than black locust, catalpa and of course nothing grown in north America is as rot resistant as the king of the hill, osage orange (hedge apple). They used to use redcedar in So MD a lot for making tobacco barns, made the WHOLE bard with it, timbers, beams, siding, even roof. When I was a logger down there, we ran into many an old redcedar barn that had rotted away over the years. Took a while, but depending on how much moisture and ground contact, redcedar gets a brown punky kind of rot eventually. 

Anyway, I'd mill them 5/4 if you want decking... or even 6/4 if you have that much to spare. All the redcedar I have ever milled here dried fairly strait with little care, and quickly, like in less than two months for 5/4.


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## Zodiac45 (May 20, 2008)

Thanks for thre replies guys. I believe it is Northern white or possibly Atlantic white cedar Woodshop. They are similar and we don't get much red this far north. This type cedar is generally used for singles, clapboards, boats, poles and posts and even railroad ties. It's lightweight but has a pretty durable heartwood. I totally agree with you about the stringers. Makes allot of sense and you can't see them anyways. The little lady wants some for lining the closet and for inside a chest as it's quite aromatic unfinished. I'll see how these go milling and will go for 5/4s minimum for the decking. 

PS: I remember those tobacco barns well. I used to have a small tobacco property in Hatfield, Ma. on the Conn. river. That was all Consolidated Cigar turf back then and we had a cedar barn on the prop. Whole area would smell like tea when they'd open the slats.


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## Upnorth4 (May 20, 2008)

*Little help with terminology...*

When Y'all say 5/4, or 6/4 what exactally are you referring to...
Still looking for a good definition or "quarter sawn" with a few pics to help...


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 20, 2008)

Upnorth4 said:


> When Y'all say 5/4, or 6/4 what exactally are you referring to...
> Still looking for a good definition or "quarter sawn" with a few pics to help...



That's the nominal thickness in 1/4" increments. 5/4 = 1 1/4", 6/4 = 1 1/2", etc.

Quarter sawn is when the growth rings are between 90 and 60 degrees to the surface of the board.






Here's some sketches of what the ends of the boards would look like.


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## MJR (May 20, 2008)

I did some white cedar this spring.

Good stuff. 

Whats left after milling will help start some fires in that cook stove of yours. 

Good luck.


http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u54/MJR007/IMG_1055.jpg


http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u54/MJR007/IMG_1068.jpg


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## Backwoods (May 21, 2008)

I milled some red cedar that had been standing dead for 50 years since a fire burned the hillside. When it was logged, they took out the snags because it was just to dangerous to leave them standing. The outer growth layer of it rotted but when cut under that layer it made good dry barn siding. I also milled a large deck of 15-year-old Port Orford cedar (white Cedar) that was the same way. We have quite a bit of cedar here, about 1/3 of what I mill is cedar.


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## deeker (May 21, 2008)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> That's the nominal thickness in 1/4" increments. 5/4 = 1 1/4", 6/4 = 1 1/2", etc.
> 
> Quarter sawn is when the growth rings are between 90 and 60 degrees to the surface of the board.
> 
> ...



For not being a BYU fan you do have great posts......


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## Zodiac45 (May 21, 2008)

MJR said:


> I did some white cedar this spring.
> 
> Good stuff.
> 
> ...



Yep definately. I've always gone on a cedar run once a year for that purpose. It's unbeatable for kindling. Burns hot and fast. I've got a stall in the barn with my rainy day chopping block, axe and a chair. :greenchainsaw:


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## Sawyer Rob (May 21, 2008)

aquan8tor said:


> If you've got a shop bandsaw, I'd say cut them 8/4 or even thicker for your stringers and everything; weight them down to keep them from warping too much & resaw them later. I figure its easier to resaw boards later than to have to glue stock together to get a thick board.
> Waiting for woodshop to chime in here.....




I use to lust for a big industrial shop bandsaw to go with my smaller one. But, my Lumbermate band mill does such a great job of resawing, i don't need a big shop bandsaw.

I use the same band i mill logs with and get after it...

Rob


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## Hugenpoet (May 22, 2008)

Zodiac45 said:


> Found myself a nice cedar log yesterday that was up on a hillside where the powerline crew had cleared about a month or so ago. I'd had my eye on it and yesterday just stopped and muscled it off the two tiered hill an into my pickup. It's about 17" diameter average and was 16'8" long. It was way to heavy for me as is so I sliced it into two 8'4" halves. Then with my pulp hook and some grunt tipped both off the tiers down too the road. I was just able too hold up the butt end while hooking and shoving the end of the log onto the tailgate! Whew! These two will be my first milling tries. Over the next couple of years, I'd like to get enough for a cedar deck to replace the deck I need to tear off my porch roof. What would you guys go for out of these? 6/4s or thicker for decking and stringers?



VERY NICE, STEVE. Good job getting those onto your truck.


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## dallasm1 (May 22, 2008)

*More Cedars*

Here is my pile of cedar that I have to get through soon. I don't have a band mill yet, so should I just csmill them into cants or should I slab them out?


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## Zodiac45 (May 23, 2008)

Dallas,

Looks like you've got some nice ones in there! A band mill would be super but like you I don't have one (yet). I'm going to break my maiden using an alaskan style mill with my Dolmar 143mx and 24" bar I have for it. We've had nothing but rain lately but I've managed to grind up a 10/60 chain to try out on it. The beauty of cedar is that it's a soft relatively easy cutting wood, and should be perfect for getting the hang of milling this way.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 23, 2008)

dallasm1 said:


> Here is my pile of cedar that I have to get through soon. I don't have a band mill yet, so should I just csmill them into cants or should I slab them out?




I'd recommend slabbing them. The few logs I squared out to be milled later checked badly on the surfaces and I lost a board on all four sides. Slabbing them allows for free cross grain shrinkage and they always can be resawn.


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## dallasm1 (May 23, 2008)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> I'd recommend slabbing them. The few logs I squared out to be milled later checked badly on the surfaces and I lost a board on all four sides. Slabbing them allows for free cross grain shrinkage and they always can be resawn.


Assuming I have no specific purpose yet for the wood (probably decking and shed construction) what would be the best thickness for a slabs?


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## aggiewoodbutchr (May 23, 2008)

dallasm1 said:


> Assuming I have no specific purpose yet for the wood (probably decking and shed construction) what would be the best thickness for a slabs?



For construction lumber I'd go with 2" slabs. You can cut 2x's directly from them or resaw (with a bandsaw) 1x decking.


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## Zodiac45 (Jun 10, 2008)

Ok Guys, 
Finally got my mill going and milled the top log of those two cedah in the pix on my truck. Went pretty well and I got some nice 6/4 slabs out of it. Was gonna go 8/4 but this log was drier than I thought. These boards are almost good to go right now! Here's the pix.


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## gink595 (Jun 10, 2008)

Very nice Steve! I'm jealous, I didn't know you were into milling, I might have to get with later for some questions. That old Ranger is a trooper for sure. Nice setup as always.


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## Hugenpoet (Jun 10, 2008)

Great job milling that Cedar, really looks like it is cuttin' well for you. Thanks for the pictures.


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## dustytools (Jun 10, 2008)

Nice looking Cedar!! How did I get stuck digging footings in a hot factory today while you were out milling Cedar, LOL!? Thanks for sharing the pictures.


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## Haywire Haywood (Jun 10, 2008)

Now Dusty... don't fib... you're the super... you WATCHED some guys dig footings in a hot factory... LOL

Nice pics, that must not be the cedar I'm familiar with... eastern red.

Ian


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## dustytools (Jun 10, 2008)

Haywire Haywood said:


> Now Dusty... don't fib... you're the super... you WATCHED some guys dig footings in a hot factory... LOL
> 
> Nice pics, that must not be the cedar I'm familiar with... eastern red.
> 
> Ian



Yea.... Well.... It was still hot in there. Its a tough job trying to watch with sweat in your eyes.:greenchainsaw:


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## Backwoods (Jun 11, 2008)

Which breed of cedar are you milling?
I was milling some Port Orford cedar today, this stuff smells like turpentine. 
With snow on the mountain, 





Nice straight log




The rest of the logs for today




The mud saw clearing a path for the band




These boards are as white as can be.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Jun 11, 2008)

Is that mud saw a factory option or after market add-on?


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## Zodiac45 (Jun 11, 2008)

Backwoods,

This is Northern White Cedar. Used for siding and shingles, decking round these parts. It has a really nice smell of....err....cedar! Anyways this is a 10" cant I cut out of the butt log and sliced off 2x"s. These will be used for a stair treads for a couple of outdoor sets I need to redo.


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## Backwoods (Jun 11, 2008)

We have several cedars breeds out here, Portorford and Incense are both white cedars, the predominate breed is Western Red Cedar. When milling reclaimed wood we come across some Alaska yellow, and in the coastal bogs, we find Western Cyprus . 
Those planks will make good out door stair treads for sure, wide and thick is always good. The differences in the all the cedars sure is interesting. Not only the color variations, but the smells as well.

The mud saw is a poorly designed factory add on. It works but has a tendency to bind up as it is pushed ahead of the saw. The baker mills have one that is pulled rather then pushed down the log and dose a much better job of staying in contact with the log and not binding up. I replaced the slow electric motor that moves it in and out with a hydraulic cylinder and that helps get it out of the way faster which prevents some of the binding and when it dose bind up The hydraulics are strong enough to pull it out of the bind where the electric was not. They call it a debarker but I only use it on dirty logs.


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## Backwoods (Jun 12, 2008)

Today I pulled out three of these Western Red Cedar logs to be mill up tomorrow.


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