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(Photos added!) Log milling noob w/ big cherry

(Photos added!) Log milling noob w/ big cherry (post #169298)

rkinsm03 on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 09:57 (updated 12/01/11 - 12:43)

Wood and Materials

My father in law recently had a fairly substantial cherry fall and nearly take out his garage (storm damage w/ recent New England hurricane). I have yet to see the tree, but he and my cousin took it upon themselves to locate and purchase a small/medium band mill, because by their estimates the tree is sound and has a relatively straight trunk in the 24-36" range at the base.

My question is, if you have a fairly substantial cherry, how much of what sorts of cuts would generate the most desirable yeild? I have no projects on the table currently, but I know if we flitch sawed the entire lot, I'd probably be pissed off about the lack of quarter sawn stock. And if we quartered everything I'd probably be sick with the amount of waste.

Is there a general rule of thumb re: most desireable thicknesses and grain orientations when approaching a log of good qualitying potential? 4/4 stock agitates me, so I think I'd be inclined to stick to 5/4, 6/4, and some 8/4 thrown in for good measure.

Will be milling weekend or two before Thanksgiving. Will come back w/ photos! Thansk!

I would skip the 4/4 unless (post #169298, reply #1 of 4)

by Troy in reply to rkinsm03 [original] on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 16:36

I would skip the 4/4 unless your making a lot of face frame cabinets. You might want to get a book on drying your own lumber you don't want to ruin a lot of nice wood. Instead of 8/4 you might want to do 10/4. Good luck and post some pictures after you have the lumber milled.

Now a spoiled noob . . . (post #169298, reply #2 of 4)

by rkinsm03 in reply to Troy [original] on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 16:14

So big turned out to be really big . . . and so accordingly I've provided some big photos! I felt it was appropriate to include a photo of the stump, because I don't endorse cutting down trees just for the fun of it. This cherry was downed by Irene.

Troy we unfortunately didn't read your post until after we had gotten through one of the bigger logs, so I did end up with a bit of 4/4 stock. But what 4/4 stock it is! 8 boards with up to 15.5" heart, some figure, 95" long. I'm a younger woodworker, and enjoy chest-work like sea chests, blanket chests, and other obvious displays of great wide stock, so I don't think it'll go to waste.

2 large secondary logs yeilded flitch sawn 5/4 w/ crotch and some figure, 18 boards total.

And the butt log put out a bit more than 140 bdft along in 8/4 and 12/4 stock, some up to 15" wide!

My father in law and cousin haven't had much experience with the mill, or hardwood, so I'm not sure how long the logs sat out without the ends painted, but we did get to the boards with a heavy coat of oil based primer before careful stacking. A nearby weather-downed fir generated enough 2x and 1x stock to build a nice cover for the stack to keep the snow and rain off for the next 2 years or so.

Enjoy the photos!

Bob.

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Looks like you got some great (post #169298, reply #3 of 4)

by Troy in reply to rkinsm03 [original] on Thu, 12/01/2011 - 11:21

Looks like you got some great wood, thanks for posting the pictures and when you get something built post thoses as well.

Wood drying (post #169298, reply #4 of 4)

by Artagain in reply to rkinsm03 [original] on Wed, 12/07/2011 - 14:07

-Nice yield. Helps to have a newer blade - looks like that milling machine was brand new. I had a maple milled last month. Downed from the hurricane as well. If I might make a suggestion. This is going to hurt but you really should move that stack and start fresh. Put down a sheet of plywood onto the 6x6's then lay heavy mill plastic on top of the plywood. Then start your stickers and stack up. From the pictures, it appears the stack is just sitting over the ground. Lot's of moisture coming up and during rainy periods, mold growth.