2treeornot2tree
Dont cry, just do it
Has anyone milled Sycamore? I milled some up some tonight for 4x6 cribbing. Has anyone used it for furniture?
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Sycamore Trees
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2treeornot2tree
Dont cry, just do it
Heres a pic. It has some nice grain. I had the cribbing cut in 6' lengths. I am planning on cutting them down to 3' long.
Dave Boyt
ArboristSite Guru
I've used it. Very easy to work with. I quarter saw as much as I can-- QS sycamore has beautiful ray flecks that furniture makers really like. It does discolor and decay pretty quickly, though. If you're going to use or sell it for furniture, get it in a kiln as soon as practical. Sometimes it spalts nicely, but that's chancy. Looks like you may have red sycamore in the stack of lumber. What did you use to mill it?
Daninvan
ArboristSite Operative
I second all of the above. I would go so far as to say that if it is not quartersawn, it really is not that attractive. The grain is quite faint, it's kind of a dull off-white colour.
BlueRider
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When it is quarter sawn it is one of the most spectacular furniture making woods and is someties mistakenly called lace wood. It move a lot during drying and is very prone to spalting, which I'm not overly fond of in sycamore. It is very hard but is not abusive to saw blades. it also takes a finish wel and polishes up nicely.
In my opinion it would be a waste to do anything with sycamore other than quarter saw for wide boards. As a furniture wood it is not as stable as walnut or chery but it is still just as desireable as those two solely because of its quarter sawn figure
More than any other wood I have milled sycamore is termite candy.
sachsmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
Sycamore SUCKS as firewood, interlocking grain makes it a real pain to split. Quarter sawn it has one of the most spectacular grains.
Lots of fleks and just very pretty grain. I can see why they call it lacewood, also heard it referred to as "snakewood".
Here's some that was standing dead, we noodled the big rounds and found this;
Lots of fleks and just very pretty grain. I can see why they call it lacewood, also heard it referred to as "snakewood".
Here's some that was standing dead, we noodled the big rounds and found this;
It sounds really interesting. I didn't know it had that type of grain.
More than any other wood I have milled sycamore is termite candy.[/QUOTE]
BlueRider - is it tough to keep the bugs out of it when its stacked and stickered or do you mean the downed wood in general?
Old Blue
More than any other wood I have milled sycamore is termite candy.[/QUOTE]
BlueRider - is it tough to keep the bugs out of it when its stacked and stickered or do you mean the downed wood in general?
Old Blue
Dave Boyt
ArboristSite Guru
If you air dry sycamore, cover it with tin (with air space under it), so that the wood doesn't get wet. Don't use a tarp over the sides, since that will just hold the moisture in. Regardless of thickness, I'd say two months is the maximum before it should go into a kiln. Much longer, and it will start to stain from fungus. In colder climates in the winter, that's not as critical. If you go to all the work of milling it up, you'll want to take care of it, especially since stycamore doesn't make good firewood.
2treee, what are you using for a sawmill? I've got a portable bandsaw mill that's working pretty well, but I use a chain saw on the big stuff.
Sachsmo, Nice rustic shelving. Be careful about bringing bugs in the house.
2treeornot2tree
Dont cry, just do it
I have a Amish buddy that has a Woodmizer 40 super hydraulic mill with accuset. He only charges me $50 a hour for him, his 2 boys to stack and the mill.
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