# Milling Lumber (grudgingly)



## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*What would you do?*

It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Be careful with the hangups. I use a winch to pull them down before I ever take a saw to them. Also be very careful of the root ball. When you cut the log free, the root ball can/will fall back in the hole and the end of the stump shoot up with great force.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Thanks for the advice. I've never cut off a "fresh" root ball. Frankly, I probably won't attempt this myself.


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## gpastor (Jan 10, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Looks like a big bunch of unfinished furniture to me!!!

This is what I did…step by step
From tree to lasting memory

http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24342
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24355
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24364
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24427
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24452
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24481
http://lumberjocks.com/gpastor/blog/24518


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## gpastor (Jan 10, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Do not do this !!!


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## SSMDad (Apr 17, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Sounds like a good opportunity for wood to me. I still don't understand why there is such an aversion to red oak on this board?!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


not a big fan of red oak, but I know many are. if it was me I'd probably go for Quarter Sawing this if you don't care much for it to at least have some good stable stock.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


If you were not so far from Montana, I would offer to take a few of those logs off your hands, but looking
at those long straight logs, you should have some real nice wood ready for use after a lot of hard work. The
only problem is the work necessary to handle all those trees at once. Out here there are many loggers with
plenty of experience cutting trees and logs, hopefully you will have one or two out there that will be able to
help you with your problem. Thank you for sharing.


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Get a hold of your local WoodMizer dealer and other portable mill dealers, ask if there is anybody local that has one of their rigs.

You can do a lot with oak, things you make with it tends to give it "countyr" look. That is not a bad thing.


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## rustfever (May 3, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


You can just call me. I will come from California with my saw, loader, and truck/trailer and just take it off your hands. I DO LOVE RED OAK.
When I get done with it. much of it will go to a local high school wood shop, thus supporting the Wood Working Dept of that school.
Ira


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Yes, I will need some way to cut those leaners and haul the logs out of the woods into the open. Then I'll be looking for someone with a portable mill. I've been reading up on quarter sawing red oak. Seems like that's what's wanted most for furniture.


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## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Nice problem to have. Please let me know if you need any help with the project. Would be willing to help for some red oak. Down here, that stuff is pricey.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


Well, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But this used to be a beautiful forested area with a canopy - so you felt sort of closed in and shady. Now the canopy is gone and all that's left are the scrub trees - mostly holly. It's very sad. I am heart broken.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


I suppose it is a regional thing. I live in SW Oklahoma and it is the wood of choice here. I bought some furniture from a local store around 20 years ago and the owner told us he was the #1 seller of the oak design we bought from Keller. Of course now Keller has gone out of business because of the foreign market. It is really popular here.


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## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *What would you do?*
> 
> It is interesting that the storm knocked over almost exclusively the red oaks. I lost 6-10 large (60-80 yr old) trees, 18-24" in diameter. So the question is, what do you do with vast quantities of red oak? It's not the most popular wood, but it has some good qualities. These are just a few of the trees I lost. It's a mess in there.


From what I have experienced, an even mix of flat and QS is ideal. QS oak can split fairly easily if not careful where flat sawn wood will not.

In some applications, the grain patterns in flat sawn will actually look better. Either way, if the piece is of a large size, to much of the same thing may not be the best thing.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*Inventory*

I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…

In order to estimate how much it will take to gather the logs and mill them I needed to take some kind of inventory. So I took some blue field marking paint and went out and labeled trees showing where I wanted them cut, and also giving each log a number. I recorded the diameter of each log at about the center point.









There are 10 trees down that are probably worth milling. All are greater than 12" diameter at the middle of the first log. Most of the trees were in the 16" to 18" range, but 2 were over 20" in diameter. I measured logs in 8 1/2 foot lengths, numbered them and took a diameter measurement at the middle of each log. Why 8 1/2 feet? It's an arbitrary number, but, only an exceptional jointer can joint a board longer than 8 feet. I would like to have boards about 8 feet for people who want to do projects like beds, or tall bookshelves, but I don't think very many will really want anything longer. Also, it's a little more precise to mill shorter lengths, although more efficient to mill longer lengths.









When they have been gathered I will have 30 logs. 3 poplar, 5 willow oak, 3 white oak and the rest red oak. 
The plan is to have a guy with an excavator cut and pull all the logs out of the forest and stage them in an open area. Then I will bring in a guy with a portable Woodmizer to mill them. I'll invite over a couple of friends to help stack and sticker so that the mill stays busy.

I'm thinking that the large (>20") logs should be quarter sawn, and the others simply flat sawn.

How does this plan sound to you?


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Inventory*
> 
> I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…
> 
> ...


Here's a bunch of log calculators in one place that should help your planning.

http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSCalculators.html

Take a tape measure and measure the butt and at the each 8 1/2" length where you marked the logs, then the formula you use to find diameter is: (diameter = circumference / PI) - (PI=3.1416) Then use the diameter of the little end of each log section to find how many board/ft of lumber you should get. The doyle scale is most often used in my area. It's very friendly to sawmills and allows for a 1/4" kerf, the International scale is closer to the yield a bandmill will get from a log. Next you can use the log weight calculator to see what each section will weigh and last you can get an estimate of what the lumber will weigh when cut. I'd use 60% for that estimate. It helps know how much weight each piece of equipment has to deal with. At least you have some small logs to work with for your first adventure.

Do you have a marketing plan to sell your lumber and a place to sell it? Or, will you use it yourself?


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Inventory*
> 
> I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…
> 
> ...


@Hal
Using the International 1/4 rule, I'm coming up with 2445 bf. How many stickered stacks will I need?
http://woodworkersjournal.com/woodworking_blog/index.php/how-much-lumber-is-in-a-log/

It would be nice to recover the cost of all this work, machinery and fuel. But I don't have a plan yet. My initial intent was to beat the bugs to the wood - i.e. not it go to waste. Do you think there is a market for this?


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Inventory*
> 
> I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…
> 
> ...


I cut most of my logs to 12' lengths and make my stacks 48" wide. It makes it easy to calculate how much wood is in a stack. Each layer is 48 bf. 20 layers of wood equals 1000 bft. The rough estimate is a 4' wide stack, that's 4' high (with stickers) and 12' long is 1000 bft. When I was working with a tree service and had the use of a skidsteer that would lift and move a full 1000 bft in one lift, I made this my standard size. Now that I have to do everything by hand, I make them 500 bft stacks.

There is a market somewhere for almost every board. The slabs can be used for firewood if you slap together an X shapped box to lay them in and cut them to 18" lengths for firewood. Each log I cut will have a few boards that need to be edged to remove the bark. I usually cut those into 1" X 1 1/2" strips to use as stickers. Rough sawn green lumber around here goes for $0.55 to 0.75 per board ft. Air dried hardwood of most species goes for $1.00 a bft. Kiln dried lumber that's surfaced two sides is much higher. I've got about 1000 bft of red oak that I quartersawed. I'm going to kiln dry all 1000 bft and put them on Ebay in 25bft lots to see how they sell. If they don't sell for enough, I'll just keep them. I need 3200 bft of quartersawn red oak to make flooring for the two story farmhouse I live in. A good way to see what anything is worth, is to go to ebay and search for whatever you want to sell. Like "Quartersawn red oak" and see what the asking or starting price is. Then go to the ad and click on the number beside the sellers name. It's their feedback score and you'll get a list of completed sales and for the last 30 days you'll see what items they've sold and the price it brought. You can also go to the advance search using the keywords to bring up items similar to what you want to sell and click on "completed sales" and the items with red prices didn't sell. The ones with green prices did sell. The sawyer you hire to cut your wood will know what the prices are for wood in your area.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Inventory*
> 
> I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…
> 
> ...


Hal -
Wow! Evidently, while you are not shaping a beautiful gun stock, or sailing, you are a very busy guy indeed. You've got some great ideas there. Interesting - my previous sawyer always recommended that I mill to 5/4. It does make nice stable boards that don't warp or twist while drying. But it appears you are sawing to 4/4, right? I've tried to use some of the 4/4 boards he cut by accident and if there's any warp it's sometimes hard to get a full 3/4 finished thickness. What's your take on 4/4 vs. 5/4?

Based on what you're saying, I should probably make my stacks 8' x 4'. So each layer will be just shy of 32 bf. And if I stack 4' high (24 layers of wood, and 24 layers of stickers) that puts about 768 bf in a stack. So according to my calculations I will need 3.2 stacks. Then there's the issue of separating the white oak, red oak, and poplar. Hmmm, I'm gonna need a 4th stack!

Also, that allows me to set the stack on a base made of 2 length-ways 8' 4×4 pt, and 4 4' 4×4 pt cross-ways about every 2'. Then cover the stack with a 6' x 8' plastic tarp held down by a couple of slabs. I've found that makes a nice neat stack that air drys well.

So now, on to the marketing plan. If I know anything about marketing, it's that the price on eBay is the commodity price, and marketing is all about making a commodity into something special - that's worth more than the eBay price in the eye of the buyer. (e.g. Florida OJ is better than the stuff they import from goodness knows where)


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Inventory*
> 
> I got a lot of good advice - most of which I'm taking in one way or another - from the first in this series. Thanks to all who put in their two cents. Now, on to the next task…
> 
> ...


So far I've not had very much trouble with warping. Most of my wood is used for gunstocks. The nicest wood goes on the outsdie and if I cut it 5/4, it just gets carved away. The interior pieces are made by resawing the 4/4 boards and planing them down to whatever thickness I need, from 1/2" to 1/8". I try to end up with a 3" blank for varmint/benchrest type stocks and 2.5" for blanks to carve sporter stocks. Most of the oak, poplar and pine have been sold as rough sawn, green lumber for building barns and outbuildings. Stacked and stickered with stickers every 2' it's dried just fine. I did have one hackberry log that had beautiful grain that after a few weeks looked like a nest of snakes. It made a nice fire one fall evening. I also cut a lot of logs into 2" slabs and sometimes thicker for benches and table tops. You'll also want to box the heart of some of your logs and make 4X6 beams. They make great supports for your lumber stack and you'll find lots of other uses for them.

Sounds like you had marketing 101 in college. Good luck with your project.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*The work begins - buck and stage the logs*

With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.










At the end of day one, we have this. I've painted the ends of the logs with white exterior primer to prevent checking.
I expect the number of logs to double before we are done!










On Wednesday we continued, pulling some more huge logs (here are 2 of 11) from the woods.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *The work begins - buck and stage the logs*
> 
> With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.
> 
> ...


looks like a good start!


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *The work begins - buck and stage the logs*
> 
> With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.
> 
> ...


You've got a great looking stack of logs. It's a lot of work but the results will be worth it.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *The work begins - buck and stage the logs*
> 
> With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.
> 
> ...


Hal - Sometime this winter I'm thinking to build a solar kiln - like the Virginia Tech one you built. How is that working? Have you got any "kiln-dry lumber" from it yet?


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *The work begins - buck and stage the logs*
> 
> With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.
> 
> ...


Looks like a good start!


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## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *The work begins - buck and stage the logs*
> 
> With the inventory complete I engaged the services of a local excavator. To keep cost low all he's doing is cutting the logs from the trees and placing them in a staging area for the miller. All the branches and collateral damage trees will just be left in the woods for me to cut up later. My goal then will simply be to get the stuff on the ground so it will rot. Pretty bad, huh? But you can't mill branches I'm told - they contain too much residual stress and will warp and twist when milled. We started on Monday.
> 
> ...


The projects you build from this lumber will have an extra special value to you and the recipients, keep going, you'll love having your own lumber.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*Gathering Downed Trees*

I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.










At the end of two and half days I have 36 logs. More red oak than I thought and less other. I have painted all the ends with an exterior primer to seal them. I'm planning to paint each species a different color. So the red oak will be white, white oak probably orange (because I got a gallon of "oops" for $7), and I'm thinking I'll color code any quarter-sawn logs specially. The problem is, the wood will probably end up mixed once it's stickered and stacked. So by color-coding the ends I'll be able to find what I need later. Maybe.










But today is sawmill day! More on that in the next post.


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## Chipy (Apr 20, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


Drool,Drool,Drool,Drool,Drip…...Drip…........... Drool!!!!!!!


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## woodzy (Jan 24, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


This picture will bring tears to any woodworkers eyes.
Im standing up right now and clapping for you.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


That's a ton of wood. Bring in the Woodmizer.


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## Racer2007 (Jan 13, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


That is several tons of wood from the looks of it. To bad about the damage to the forest, but at least your going to do something with remains instead of it going to a landfill and getting burned.


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## Arthouse (Feb 22, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


Having cut logs for years I hope you can find a kiln or make your own. Air dry never drys evenly . Even years later wood I have air dried still srinks after I mill it.


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## MadJester (Sep 30, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


Wow…just…wow….


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## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Gathering Downed Trees*
> 
> I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.
> 
> ...


Those are some great looking logs. We had massive wind damage last month and hope to end up with some lumber eventually, too. That track-hoe looks like it can make short work of moving those logs. We're hoping to convince a neighbor to exchange help with his larger tractor for some lumber.

Your idea for color-coding the logs sounds great. Once the lumber is dry and gets stacked together and not necessarily sorted correctly, it would be nice to know which board to pull. All too often I have dug through a stack of lumber, taken out a few boards, then gotten them into better lighting only to find some were white and some red oak. Your idea is a great solution.

Thanks for sharing. We look forward to seeing all that lumber.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*Milling Day(s)*

Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.










The miller came with a Woodmizer T40. Trust me, this is a fantastic machine. It has full hydraulics. You can lift the log, rotate it, and even level it so your cut is always parallel to the pith.










I also had a guy with a large loader. This turned out to be really useful. Initially I had planned on renting a skid-steer loader for the day. But this machine could pick through the stack of logs and select ones to mill first. We chose to mill the largest logs first - judging that a second day would be likely and if we could get the monsters done on Saturday, then we could roll the remaining logs to the mill with cant hooks. That turned out to be a wise decision.










Milling lumber is a labor intensive operation. I have not worked so hard for two full days in a very long time. I had some help and could not have completed the job without it.










By the end of the first day we had two nice stacks 4' x 8' x 5' high. About 700 bd ft each. And we had started a third stack. We did all the large logs and all the quarter sawing on the first day. Unfortunately, that was only 10 of the 32 logs, so we started day 2 with a long line of 22 logs lined up in front of the mill on slabs to make rolling easier.

By day 2, we had developed a pretty good routine. I bought more 4×4 pressure treated boards and set up 3-4 stacks in advance so we could sort as we stacked. 4/4 on one stack, 5/4 on another, and 8/4 on a third. I gave the mill operator instructions to use his judgement in selecting cuts and to give us some variety. That gave him freedom to maximize what he got from each log. It was all red oak except for a few poplar logs and one white oak, but the ends were painted, so we could just sort by size.










At the end of 2 days, I think we had cut close to 3000 bd ft. You can see all the different sizes. There is one small stack of pith cuts. Those are 4×4 and 5×5 centers of the tree where the wood is poorest quality. They will almost certainly develop surface checking and cracks. But I may be able to use them for structural applications that don't require high quality wood.

In my next post I'm going to give you a list of "lessons learned" and do's and don'ts. I learned a lot in the past two days. If you're planning something similar, I'm sure it will be useful.


----------



## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Awesome!


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Great looking stacks of lumber. Not as nice to look at as your original woods, but much better looking than a pile of firewood. I'm sure whatever is made from them will be both useful and beautiful.


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## JRL (Jun 14, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Looking forward to the lessons learned entry. Thanks for the great write-up.


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## JRL (Jun 14, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Too bad there's no market for sawdust!!


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Contact a chicken or pig farmer, they will take the sawdust.


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Man, am I jealous.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


that is an insane amount of lumber! way to go!

gotta love that mountain of sawdust from the woodmizer.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Could or would you estimate for the costs involved? Rentals, sawyer, helpers, gas, things like that? I am drooling over the lumber pile, but it looks like you are vested pretty heavily in cost and effort. No doubt worth every penny. What are your plans to dry it? Kiln or air, where are you going to store it all? Got your first project in mind yet?Thanks for sharing, that is an awesome stack of lumber. Sorry for all the questions.


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## cdbridge39 (May 24, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Nice wood !!! I got some pecan wood but nothing like that.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


@ShaneA - You have some good and valid questions. I'm not sure I can answer them yet. In particular, I know that if I'm going to recover any of my costs (as you suggest, they are not insignificant!) I'm going to need to put together a marketing plan. Irene kinda sprang up on me, and I've been more concerned with beating the bugs to the logs for the past month. As to drying, I plan to build (at more cost) a solar kiln. This will enable me to sell both kiln-dried and air-dried lumber. Oddly, as I talk to folks, there seem to be two camps; one that will ONLY work with air-dried lumber and another that avoids it and prefers kiln-dried lumber. Go figure. The solar kiln is nice in that there is little risk of case hardening and the lumber is dried "gently", and you can get 8% MC in 1-3 months.
http://woodscience.vt.edu/about/extension/vtsolar_kiln/


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


BTW: Take a look at this!


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Milling Day(s)*
> 
> Finally the day has arrived. It's time to mill the fallen trees from hurricane Irene! I have 36 logs lined up although 4 are little short ones (about 4 ft). The other logs are all 8 1/2 feet in length. By design. More on that in the next post.
> 
> ...


Awesome, I love qs oak. Good luck, thanks again for sharing.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*Lessons Learned*

Lessons Learned - Milling Logs

Safety First. You will want to wear good leather gloves, eye protection, and steel toed shoes. If the shoes have a metatarsal guard they will be better. You probably WILL drop at least one board on your toes during the day. Also, I highly recommend wearing a respirator. The mill makes a lot of fine dust, and certain woods can be very irritating. I used a good quality paper respirator and it made a big difference. Don't wear really loose clothing that can get caught on wood or part of the mill.

Estimating the job. I used the "International ¼ Rule" to estimate how much wood I would get. My 32 logs added up to 2700 bd ft. At the end of two days we came within 5% of that. From that, you can estimate how much mill time you'll need and how many stacks you'll need. Assume several stacks will be only half full. For example, we only made a small stack of 8/4 boards.









Paint your log ends in advance. I suggest you paint them as soon as you get the logs cut, and use color coding to identify the species. I used an exterior grade white primer/sealer on all the logs and then came back and re-painted some of the logs, since my inventory was 90% red oak. You can get gallon cans of "oops" from some stores really cheap.

Cut all your logs to the same length. I used 8 ½ feet as my standard and it worked very well. Some will say that milling 10 1/2 foot logs is more efficient, but 8' boards are a little lighter to handle and can still be FAS graded. The extra 1/2 feet gives you 3" at each end for checking and leaves an 8' board. Also, I was able to build nice solid 4' x 8' bases for my stacks using 4×4 8' pressure treated boards, a common and cheap size.

Stacks. Make good bases for stacks and have enough material to make several in advance. You may want to sort as you mill and having multiple stacks allows you to cut 4/4, 5/4, and 8/4 from the same log. This gives your miller flexibility to maximize use of each log. I like to make 8' x 4' bases using two 8' 4×4 boards about 3 ½ feet apart and then a layer of 4 4' 4×4 boards cross-wise on top of that. This gives me 7-8" of free space under the stack so leaves are less likely to get caught. The higher the stack, the less likely it is to become a home for bugs or mice. On my recent job I used 28 8' PT 4×4's to make 7 stacks at a cost of $7 per board. ($200)









Location. Plan to mill in a flat area with the logs slightly uphill from the mill. In my area I can rent a skid-steer loader with a fork for about $350 per day (delivered to the job site). That will move all but the heaviest logs. It's best to line them up in front of the mill so you don't waste time fetching logs. Have a couple of cant hooks ready to help roll logs.

Labor. You will want plenty of help. I would suggest at least 3 helpers to stack, move logs, and operate the loader. I found it easy to talk people into 1 day for the novelty. The second day is much harder! Take breaks and have plenty of water for folks to drink. This is hard work and you will be exhausted at the end of the day.

Dust removal. We had a couple of stumps that we placed strategically in the stacking area to bang the boards against before stacking - you want to get as much dust off as possible. Extra dust encourages mold growth. You can use a gas-powered blower to blow dust out of the completed stacks when you are done.

Stickers. You'll want a chain saw handy to cut stickers in half. Your miller will know about making stickers from the sap wood. Since you are making stacks 4' wide, you'll want 4' stickers. Luckily, you are milling 8 ½ foot logs so you can just saw the stickers in half. You will need a LOT of stickers.









Scrap. Set aside an area for slabs and other waste. It needs to be close enough to the mill so you don't walk far, but far enough so it's out of the way. This will be a pretty large pile when you are done. You'll want to think about what to do with it. My plan is to rent a chipper and make wood chips for landscaping.









Efficiency. Keep the mill operating constantly if possible. In this area the going rate seems to be about $65/hour for mill time plus half that for travel, or $500 per day - operating or not. With a good mill you can make about 1500 bd ft in a 7 hour day. That comes to .30 per bd ft.

The mill. When you shop for a miller, get the one with the best mill. A mill like the Woodmizer T40 with full hydraulics will produce at a much higher rate than a T20 because the miller doesn't stop the mill each time to rotate the cant 90 degrees. The debarker makes blades last longer so you go longer between stops for blade changes. I think we went through 4-5 blades in 2 days - and we didn't encounter any metal. Also the T40 has a log leveler that allows you to always cut parallel with the pith. That will give you better quality wood. From my experience with both, I would estimate the T20 can only do 1000-1200 bd ft per day. If anyone quotes you higher they are assuming ideal conditions and unlimited labor to make it happen.


----------



## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


Great info, sounds like a lot of work and thought went into it. Thanks again for sharing.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


very good info, very interesting. thanks for sharing. all in all this sounds like a lot of expenses to mill your own lumber. looking back - did it pay off in terms of bottom line material cost for future projects?


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


This is the 3rd time I've done this. I must be an idiot. I have about 5000 bd ft stacked now - more than I could ever use in my lifetime. But I cannot bear to let the bugs eat good wood. Maybe I'll have an ad on Craigslist soon.

@PurpLev - I posted this so others who are thinking to do the same will know what's involved and if they still go forward they can make the most of it.


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## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


veyr very nice


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


I have taken my logs to several different people who do this. They all look like they earn thier pay….......


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## exelectrician (Oct 3, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


Very informative. Now I know how little I know about milling wood. Thank you for sharing.


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Lessons Learned*
> 
> Lessons Learned - Milling Logs
> 
> ...


Great blog posting with the most useful information I've seen in a long time.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*Now what?*

So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.

For the second part I need your help. I am looking for one or more pieces of equipment that are beefy enough to process large quantities of wood with a minimum number of passes. My little router table with the 3/4 hp router won't last long doing this kind of volume and I'm not so sure about my planer either.

So I looked at the Logosol product. $17k. Ouch! I'm looking into the woodmastertools machines too. Those, while pricey are at least in a range I might be able to justify.

So what would you recommend?


----------



## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


Why cant you just list it online, once dried, as planks for sale by the bf? It seems to me that unfinished oak floors sell for about $2 a sq foot at the big box. If you could get $1.25 to $1.50 for the unmilled fs oak. Seems like you may come out better. Get all the qs out, you should be able to sell that at a premium price. Good luck.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


That's a really good question. I think I can get quite a bit more than big-box pricing due to having wide boards (6" and larger) which you can't even get at big-box, and cost upwards of $5/sf at the flooring outlets. For someone looking for a high-end floor, I could boast long boards (8 ft), wide widths, and variable widths - having not all your planks the same width makes a really nice-looking floor. Plus, they'll be able to have it stained however they like.

Also, selling floorboards ready to install gives me a much larger group of buyers.

There's another option I'm also looking into and that's having a local mill shop do the work. There will be a cost, but maybe its less than buying expensive equipment.


----------



## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


If you go with wide/long planks, it would mean less milling. So that is good, it will be worth more, that is good. The only tough part will be getting close to 100% clear in that plank size across a large quantity. But if the wood is really clear, big planks make good sense. More $, less milling, its a win…win. Keep us updated.


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## dpop24 (May 14, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


I thought that flooring was manufactured in consistent widths to make it easier to install. With variable widths I would think it would make it difficult as you'd always be searching for a piece to match the last one you laid down until you got to the end of a run.

How about ripping them to a predetermined mix of widths? I do like the look of wide plank flooring though as opposed to the standard 2 1/4" or whatever it is.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


@dpop24 - You're exactly right. Pre-determined fixed widths, say 4", 6" and 8" wide, is the way to go. Taking the regular-ness out of the floor makes it look so much better, but does make installation a bit more difficult. But this is something a small shop can do that the big shops cannot - they are driven by price, price, price and have to mill to 2 1/2 inches wide by 4' long to maximize yield and cater to the builder-grade installation companies.


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## blueoxtimbers (Jan 13, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *Now what?*
> 
> So now I have a fairly large quantity of red oak. Most of it is probably FAS equivalent. No knots, nice straight grain, and some is quarter-sawn with excellent ray flecking. I'll probably separate that out and set it aside for hobbyists - furniture. But the bulk of the wood seems like a good candidate for some flooring. If I were to sell it as flooring, I could unload large quantities, like 100-400 bf at a time. It wouldn't take too many of those to recover the cost of the wood - except for two things: 1) it needs to be dried to 8% MC, and 2) it needs to be milled into flooring shapes - I assume tongue and groove. For the first, I plan to build a solar kiln using the instructions provided by Virginia Tech.
> 
> ...


Hi Moshup Trail - as an LT40 mill owner I really thought that you did an awesome job in your #6 article. I even found some tips I'm gonna use ! I have grappled with the same dilemna you have, nice wood and lack of money for equipment. Most of the pro tools use power sources , like 3 phase, that I don't have access to so I buy T & G wholesale from the commercial planer mills. A few things to consider if you hire them to do the flooring : avoid small mills that don't have the capacity to plane the edges and will want to charge you for ripping the boards to take out any crooks. The problem is that if you're not there how do you manage any excessive waste ? This also greatly increases the cost. I found a local mill that has an 8 head planer. So like your LT20 vs LT40 mill, go with the guy with the most heads. Make sure the bottom side is relieved. Use the lumber grading standards (NLGA) profiles for T & G boards.

Theres another solar kiln design that has 2 doors on the front that open up so that you can use a forklift to load the kiln. Otherwise, you need rails that extend outside and retract into the kiln to avoid hand loading.


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

*When mistakes are made...*

There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:

Starting with 8 foot boards, I cut them down a bit hoping shorter lengths would increase the odds of getting a few good pieces.









As you can see these are some really nice quarter sawn pieces









How would you like a few boards like this?









I was able to plane these down to 3/4" thick with a minimal number of raw spots. If I get a project that can use 1/2" thickness and also calls for nice ray flecking I'll use these. Meanwhile, they go to the attic to dry a little faster.


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## deleteme (Apr 7, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


A bit of creativity meets ingenuity and a dash of creativity and you have yourself a project! I would love every piece of it because I've seen some amazing projects that have came from major oops'. I'll follow you on this one to see where it goes. Thanks for sharing!


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## MOJOE (Jun 13, 2009)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


Man….those were some wavy cuts…..hope your sawyer gave you a discount!


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## MoshupTrail (Aug 11, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


@MOJOE - if you read the earlier posts in this blog you'll see the enormity of the job. With just two boards like this I was not too concerned - too bad it was THESE two boards. I think the sawyer was actually embarrassed because he immediately shut down the mill and started a blade change. No need to say anything. He knew.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


Glad you got some good from it. 1/2" stock will be useful. They are some nice looking boards now.


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


Ouch, but good recovery


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## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

MoshupTrail said:


> *When mistakes are made...*
> 
> There was one mistake made. The miller was pushing a little too hard (milling too fast) and the blade was getting dull. When you do that, the blade will tend to wander resulting in a wavy cut. Unfortunately he was right in the middle of quarter sawing a beautiful piece of wood and the ruined boards would have been the best from that particular log. So recently, (the wood is still pretty wet) I thought I would see if I could get any useful wood from the two way boards. Take a look:
> 
> ...


I'm not a crybaby but that makes me want to cry and it's not even mine!

L/W


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