To quarter saw or not?
- Thread starter BigOakAdot
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If you plan to CSM the logs in place, I would very strongly recommend that you flitch saw. It is by far the easiest, fastest and most economical method of sawing. It will also give you the best variety of a qs, rift and flat / cathedral grains, and the most wide boards. If you can get the logs transported to where you could have portable bandmill come in, or to a local mill, then you can choose between flitch, cant, grade or quarter sawing. Again, I recommend flitch or cant for the best variety of grain patterns and most economical milling, unless you absolutely have a plan that requires qs.
P.S. it's gonna take a long time, a lot of gas and a lot of wear and tear on your 660 to CSM those logs. Probably wind up cheaper ($150-250) and faster (2-3 hrs. depending on setup and experience of the sawyer) if you can get a portable bandmiller out there. Might be able to help you skid the logs too for a small fee.
BigOakAdot
ArboristSite newb
Yeah maybe I should look into that. I'm not familiar with those other kinds of milling techniques. The pic above I would assume is an example of quarter sawn... What in the world is "flitch sawing"?
Flitch sawing just means cutting through the log bark-to-bark with parallel
cuts.http://www.horizonevolutions.com/specialty-lumber/horizon-cutting-techniques.html
cuts.http://www.horizonevolutions.com/specialty-lumber/horizon-cutting-techniques.html
You will definitely get the most useable lumber by flat sawing them...
Do you guys paint the ends of the boards before you stack them? I've always been told to do it to keep the ends from drying to quickly and checking.
Do you guys paint the ends of the boards before you stack them? I've always been told to do it to keep the ends from drying to quickly and checking.
BigOakAdot
ArboristSite newb
Yeah I'm sticking to flat sawing for nkw since I have nothing but man power. And yes I paint all of my green logs with layex based paint... Seems to help with the cracking.
Dave Boyt
ArboristSite Guru
I think Anchorseal is definitely worth the price, especially on more expensive wood, like cherry & walnut. I end coat the log before milling-- as soon after felling as possible, as the drying through the end of the log starts as soon as the wood fibers are exposed. Cgraham1, that drying illustration is great! Did you draw that?
My stacks look very similar to the sketches above with 2 differences. 1. I put more weight on top, especially over the ENDS of the boards. 2. I go ahead and put corrugated plastic roofing sheets over the top with a 8-12" overhang to keep the sun and rain off, also if it's too warm and dry, I can wrap the stack in burlap.
P.S. All ends are anchor sealed. It dries clear.
P.S. All ends are anchor sealed. It dries clear.
BigOakAdot
ArboristSite newb
Stack looks great. I just realized you're the same person who was looking to sell white oak that you had milled. What did it cost you to mill all that freaking wood? Oh, and what part of PA are you from?
BigOakAdot
ArboristSite newb
What do you guys use for stickers? I have pallets and scrap wood that I cut with the circular saw but do you guys buy wood that's pre cut? I know 1x1 is a good size...
Sawyer Rob
Addicted to ArboristSite
Just so you guys know, cement blocks are a LOT stronger if you turn them the way they are ment to be built with... Then, you can use less of them in your stacks and end up the same strength.
As for stickers, I mill them out of low grade top logs, it's fast and I can turn out a couple hundred in a fairly short time,
Then I stack them for drying, as you should ALWAYS use DRY stickers,
Lastly, i've found that Anchorseal easily beats out paint in my test, I no longer waste any time/money on paint... Melted candle wax works good too, if you only have a log or two...
SR
As for stickers, I mill them out of low grade top logs, it's fast and I can turn out a couple hundred in a fairly short time,
Then I stack them for drying, as you should ALWAYS use DRY stickers,
Lastly, i've found that Anchorseal easily beats out paint in my test, I no longer waste any time/money on paint... Melted candle wax works good too, if you only have a log or two...
SR
BigOakAdot
ArboristSite newb
Looks perfect but unfortunately I don't have that option because I only own a cs mill. I don't even own a band saw or table saw lol 
I will be looking to get into getting a table saw and stuff but as of now SOL
I will be looking to get into getting a table saw and stuff but as of now SOLNo. I just saw that somewhere and thought it was cool.
Thanks for the info on the blocks.Just so you guys know, cement blocks are a LOT stronger if you turn them the way they are ment to be built with... Then, you can use less of them in your stacks and end up the same strength.
As for stickers, I mill them out of low grade top logs, it's fast and I can turn out a couple hundred in a fairly short time,
Then I stack them for drying, as you should ALWAYS use DRY stickers,
Lastly, i've found that Anchorseal easily beats out paint in my test, I no longer waste any time/money on paint... Melted candle wax works good too, if youly have a log or two...
SR
I don't own any kind of mill, so I get 1"x3"x8' lathe, split it down the middle into 3/4"x1 1/4" and cut in half to 4' lengths. Goes pretty quick on my bandsaw. I learned this from Groff&Groff Lumber down in Quarryville.
I'm in Palmyra PA 17078
It cost me about $225 to get the oak milled quartersawn. It would have easily been less than $150 flatsawn.
More fun milling and drying pictures. 2 Red oaks, 1250 bd-ft of 4/4. About 1K of it became about 850 sq-ft of flooring in our house.
P.S. The blocks didn't crush with >6 tons of green lumber on them. However, I will use them the "right" way next time.
P.S. The blocks didn't crush with >6 tons of green lumber on them. However, I will use them the "right" way next time.
