Lumber Making #3: Maple in the works...

Sounds interesting, Dorje. Keep us posted on your progress.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I can feel your excitement!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

What a find! Maybe you could rent a bigger saw for an afternoon? I’m excited for you.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

ahh, nothing like the sound of free lumber in the morning!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Grate grab Dorje, Hope it doesn’t become a nightmare.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Wow. I’m excited for you. Should be a fun adventure.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Dorje,
i think Douglas had a great idea with the saw rental idea. you can probably get a pretty large stihl for less than $50 a day, that would do the trick, more than likely.

-- Isaac, "It's no coincidence that Jesus was a lumberjock too"

Ahhhh! Right guys! I wasn’t thinking of renting a large saw myself, but that’s a really good idea., The only hitch/question is: would the rental outfits have the milling attachment? I’m guessing not, but I could call around. I’ve actually thought that my little mill might actually work okay on a bigger saw, just would be as safe with the nose of the bar sticking out beyond the mill – but my hunch is that I could get a way with it fairly safely.

I was only thinking that I should try to track down a sawyer for hire with the right equipment – but I really want to do this on my own (or with a friend of course!)...so appreciate the suggestion of rentng a saw.

Also, after this post I recalled that a friend has a 36” set-up -that hasn’t been run in a few years to my knowledge – and I’m not sure he’d want to loan it to me, but won’t hurt to ask.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

This would be a great think to start a blog on, the whole milling/drying process. Could you start a series on it and include lots of pictures to document the journey? Once in a while a prized tree falls near my place and I have never known what to do about it. Let us know what you learn.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Dorje, I’m not one-hundred percent sure of your mechanical capabilities (except that I’m sure they exceed my own).
Perhaps you could help your buddy fire his saw up and tune it a bit (I hope he drained it/used Stabil) in exchange for a loan of it’s use. Just an angle… I know I am eternally grateful to my Good neighbor Tom (of my box post) for getting my little Homelite running again.

Can’t wait to see the outcome here. I had to stop the truck on the way to work to look at the roadside log sections I saw the other day. Those boogers are heavy, not so sure they are Cottonwood anymore. Now they are quietly driving me crazy.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I agree with Blake. I hope you blog this adventure.

Blake, also check out this blog

http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Tikka/blog/series/150

Ron also mills his own lumber and is in Northern CA.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/1632

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Could you find someone in your area that has a portable band saw sawmill that could come to your sight and saw the wood for you. You might find someone in the yellow pages under “sawmills”. My 2 cents.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Go for it, Dorje! Can’t ya just see some great projects in that chunk of wood ;^D

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Dorje: Call Woodmiser. They sometimes have and give out phone numbers of their customers who custom saw lumber. Having some who is knowledgeable might give you more wood to work with.

Around here is about $60.00 per hour. Plus any blades if they hit metal.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Wow! Lucky you… Good luck with it if I was closer I would help you just so you could get it.

-- Just another day in paradise.

Lot’s of good suggestions everyone – I think I want to try to tackle this myself – somehow.

The location of the logs prevents getting a bandsaw mill to them and the size of the logs would make it really tricky to move them via ground. I called all the hardwood dealers around re: sawyers, and of course, no references. There was one fellow in the yellow pages who runs a band saw mill – we’ve exchanged some messages; I’d like to find out his take on what you do when the wood is up stairs and behind a house with not much room on either side. I think this particular job really calls for the versatility/portability of a chainsaw mill.

I called around and found that I can rent a saw with a 36” bar for $70/day. Seems okay, considering how much wood will be yielded (if all goes relatively well). The kicker is – no mill. That won’t work. But I figure that the worst case scenario is use my 20” saw and see what happens. Second, use the 36” saw with my little milling attachment and see what happens.

Also, I called the friend that I know has the equipment – what it is for sure, who knows.

So, best case scenario at this point is: Friend lets me use his saw and mill, which I know is certainly larger than my own set-up!

Now, another factor is that the tree is coming down on my next door neighbor’s (NDN) property, but the tree is owned by the neighbor two houses away. He’s the fellow that told me I could have the wood. I spoke with my NDN this eve, who said that she is fine with it, and if it takes a few weeks, no big deal. We’ll work it out. Can’t underestimate the power of good neighbors!

Looking forward to Friday and this weekend. However, I have plans to do something about the table that is still in the shop unfinished, go to a woodworking show for a couple hours, and hopefully go get some walnut for an upcoming project…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

If the tree was damaged, necessitating it’s removal I’ll bet there is spalt. I’m gettin’ goosebumps…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Well…

There are two main trunks from the ground. One of them has had major damage, it apparently has had two major limbs removed from the crotch. It only had one live limb, which was taken down on Monday. This section of trunk has ripples in it and because there was damage I was thinking there would be lots of spalt in it too. However, the arborist said that it was just rotten to its core and that I shouldn’t think about wasting my time on it, but that I should focus on the healthier trunk, up to its crotch and beyond. Then my neighbor pointed out that the trunk with damage had been filled with concrete at one point to try to avoid further rot and decay…well, that sealed the deal…I wasn’t gonna touch that trunk! It’s too bad though, cause I really would have liked to see what’s in there. I might get to/try to rescue a couple bowl blanks of the outer part of the trunk with obvious figure. I may not get to if he takes it away before I can get to it. So, I’m focused on the healthier trunk at this point!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Fight the good fight and let us know…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Will do…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Dorje,
Just posted a major curbside find. Wish I could get some of this to you. More than enough for everyone of the turning ilk. Scoore!!!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I’m gonna track it down to check it out!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA