# Buying a sawmill to cut my own boards?



## MassWood

I have a question. I bought a small cnc router and was thinking about buying a small portable sawmill to make my own boards. Can I just make my own boards and then use them on my cnc router table right away? Or do I have to cut the trees down and then wait for them to dry out before using them?
Thanks in advance for your responses


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## mojapitt

Drying is essential. If no kiln is available, then you may need to dry and couple years. Sawmills are awesome if you put in the work for the wood.

Welcome to Lumberjocks


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## HorizontalMike

+10 on Monte's comment about putting in the work (and time). Milling your own lumber requires:

Time
Lots of storage space
Endless patience
A free or nearly free source of fallen trees/lumber to mill
Adequate transportation to haul un-milled lumber (truck, trailer, and possibly a truck mounted hoist that can handle the excessive weight)

I am in my mid-sixties so the above IS NOT on my agenda, however if you are a young pup and full of energy then go for it.


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## MassWood

Thank you


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## Kirk650

It's better to find someone with the small sawmill than to buy your own. You'll want them to use a sharp new bandsaw type blade. Dull ones wander through the wood. And what Horizontalmike says is dead on.


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## HerbC

You do not leave the logs unmilled to allow them to "dry" or "season" because there will be very little drying when they are in log form. You mill the logs into lumber, then stack the lumber properly for drying, using stick for spacers between each layer of boards. The stack should be in an area that gets good airflow. Drying inside a closed building is not good. Drying under a roof such as a pole barn or open sided shed would be good. Air drying is generally a good process that takes some time, depending on your location and climate and the thickness of your lumber and many other factors. You can speed things up by using a kiln. You can build your own solar kiln or use a dehumidifier to remove the moisture. You can pay someone who has a commercial quality kiln to dry the lumber for you. Bottom line, there's a lot to learn to be successful converting trees to logs to lumber.

Good luck and …

Be Careful!

Herb


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## Ger21

If you have a bandsaw, you can cut smaller logs with that, but you'll still be waiting at least a year for boards to air dry. If they are thicker than 1", than it'll take even longer.


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## HorizontalMike

As Gerry states above about resawing with your bandsaw. You can make a small sled for resawing short boards less than 24" or so, because even at that length these short logs are really heavy. However, at this scale resawing is very doable and rewarding.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/100904


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## tomsteve

good to see ya lookin into it, but theres quite a bit to milling.
also gotta figure out how to move them logs- they aren't light.


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## mojapitt

I have access to a good- sized bobcat to move the big ones. All logs are brought in via logging truck.


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## tomsteve

yup, you need a mill!!! if ya decide youre getting a mill ya might want to head over to forestryforum.com and see what mills them folks are using and ya will probably get some suggestions,too. great group of folks there,too.


> I have access to a good- sized bobcat to move the big ones. All logs are brought in via logging truck.
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> - Monte Pittman


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## RobertsPlace

> yup, you need a mill!!! if ya decide youre getting a mill ya might want to head over to forestryforum.com and see what mills them folks are using and ya will probably get some suggestions,too. great group of folks there,too.
> 
> I have access to a good- sized bobcat to move the big ones. All logs are brought in via logging truck.
> - Monte Pittman
> 
> - tomsteve


I know a fella that bought a Harbor Freight mill and built his own timber framed home. It worked great. And the HF price point is also very good.


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## RobertsPlace

> As Gerry states above about resawing with your bandsaw. You can make a small sled for resawing short boards less than 24" or so, because even at that length these short logs are really heavy. However, at this scale resawing is very doable and rewarding.
> 
> - HorizontalMike


Very true, HorizontalMike. And it's much easier on the back.


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## Holbs

The Rocket Factory on YouTube gives a fantastic one man operation. If you see his series, he talks about real world application of time, money, vehicle, trailer, kiln, milling, etc. Definitely gives me inspiration to do the same in the coming years. Spent a number of hours watching all his videos a couple weekends ago.




View on YouTube


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