milling gum?

[imagineero]

Hi All,
I took down a few trees today for a client and one of them was a nice looking gum. Had a bifurcated trunk which at the base was about 40" wide by 30" thick then where it split to codominant leaders had about 12' of 24" trunk. I don't know enough about gums to say what species it was, but very tough cutting. Had grey bark which was about 3/8" thick and easily pealed off.

The client kept all the wood, not to burn or anything, but just to save on the cost of removing it as they had a pretty large property. They wanted it cut up into manageable lengths. I was going to keep a 3' section to make some cutting boards out of but when I came back today to pick it up it had already started splitting. I ended up leaving it. I this just because it's spring (in aus)? It was very sappy to cut. If I was to pick some up in future, should I dry it first before milling? I can only air dry, any guesses how long you'd leave 24" x 3' gum before milling or would you mill straight away? I'm really only after one or two nice 20" x 2' boards out of the log.

Shaun

 

[BobL]

Hi All,
I took down a few trees today for a client and one of them was a nice looking gum. Had a bifurcated trunk which at the base was about 40" wide by 30" thick then where it split to codominant leaders had about 12' of 24" trunk. I don't know enough about gums to say what species it was, but very tough cutting. Had grey bark which was about 3/8" thick and easily pealed off.

The client kept all the wood, not to burn or anything, but just to save on the cost of removing it as they had a pretty large property. They wanted it cut up into manageable lengths. I was going to keep a 3' section to make some cutting boards out of but when I came back today to pick it up it had already started splitting. I ended up leaving it. I this just because it's spring (in aus)? It was very sappy to cut. If I was to pick some up in future, should I dry it first before milling? I can only air dry, any guesses how long you'd leave 24" x 3' gum before milling or would you mill straight away? I'm really only after one or two nice 20" x 2' boards out of the log.

Shaun

Cut it now before it goes rock hard.

Post some close up picks of the bark, leaves and flowers/nuts if it has any. I don't know a lot about the east coast gums but maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[imagineero]

Cut it now before it goes rock hard.

Post some close up picks of the bark, leaves and flowers/nuts if it has any. I don't know a lot about the east coast gums but maybe I'll get lucky.

is it worth cutting this up in spring when it's so wet? I guess I'm not losing much since I'm only going to cut a very small section so if it splits no big deal. If I cut out one board and trim the live edge off I'll end up with about 19"x2"x24", is this going to just split like crazy?

will get some pics and post them. I'd love to learn to identify more trees

Shaun

 

[derwoodii]

Bobs got some great knowledge & pictures even a wood id quizz, show em Bob.

 

[BobL]

is it worth cutting this up in spring when it's so wet?

Time of the year doesn't seem to make a lot of difference with Eucalypts.

I guess I'm not losing much since I'm only going to cut a very small section so if it splits no big deal. If I cut out one board and trim the live edge off I'll end up with about 19"x2"x24", is this going to just split like crazy?

Here's how I would do it (even to get one board) so that the chances of cracking are reduced
1) Fall the tree and bug the log oversize by at least 12 " at each end immediately seal the ends of the logs
2) Mill the whole log and if you create fresh end cuts paint these cuts (don't remove the live edge just yet)
3) Stack the boards on top of a level surface with the biggest ones at the bottom with appropriate size and spaced stickers
4) Add some weight to the top of the stack or strap it down and let it air dry out of the direct sunlight
If it has good air circ two full Aussie summers is what you will need so the shortest time it will take is 15 months.
5) Now remove the live edge
That way you will have a chance of getting a crack free slab.
If you cut just one board from the log and don't weigh it down there is an increased chance it will bow and twist.

will get some pics and post them.

OK

I'd love to learn to identify more trees

Yeah this is much harder than it seems for Aussie trees and you need quite a bit of basic botanical knowledge and understanding just to start. Serious arborists I know usually do a short course at a local technical college.

Bobs got some great knowledge & pictures even a wood id quizz, show em Bob.

Not really knowledge, I have access to a real good book about aussie trees, plus a couple of knowledgeable mates - but that's for West Aussie trees. There are about 800 species of known Eucalyptus species in Australia and ~700 of these are native to Western Australia. OK - most of them are scrappy shrub like plants but under the right conditions some are still big enough to mill.

 

[imagineero]

that post really put it into perspective for me bob....

I pretty much shot myself in the foot by mucking the whole thing down into 2' sections for the client to roll away, take 12" off each end and you can see you don't end up with much left ;-)

What I was chasing was probably a single board. about 3' long, 2' wide and ut 2" thick. All I was really chasing was just that board. I wouldn't mid losing the whole rest of the tree, but when I started to think about painting ends, stickering, stacking, weighting, 2 full summers.... I ended up just passing on it.

I suppose what I really need is a (very) small kiln for my occasional projects. I'm not really looking to do lumber because I already have an excellent and cheap supply of recycled old growth hardwoods at $3.50/metre for 4x2 which I use for all my building, and very dense old growth oregon at $2.50/metre. Milling is only worthwhile to me for the odd little sentimental board, or strangely shaped board. You just can't buy that kind of stuff.

Shaun

 

[BobL]

that post really put it into perspective for me bob....

I pretty much shot myself in the foot by mucking the whole thing down into 2' sections for the client to roll away, take 12" off each end and you can see you don't end up with much left ;-)

What I was chasing was probably a single board. about 3' long, 2' wide and ut 2" thick. All I was really chasing was just that board. I wouldn't mid losing the whole rest of the tree, but when I started to think about painting ends, stickering, stacking, weighting, 2 full summers.... I ended up just passing on it.

I suppose what I really need is a (very) small kiln for my occasional projects. I'm not really looking to do lumber because I already have an excellent and cheap supply of recycled old growth hardwoods at $3.50/metre for 4x2 which I use for all my building, and very dense old growth oregon at $2.50/metre. Milling is only worthwhile to me for the odd little sentimental board, or strangely shaped board. You just can't buy that kind of stuff.

Shaun

Too bad Shaun, obviously haven't quite got the milling bug yet. :biggrinbounce2: