# need opions cutting hickorey with band saw mill



## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

i know it is a very hard wood to cut. ive been cutting this hickorey at 3/4 thicks x 8 wide and 9 ft long my first 2 logs cut fine ive put new blades on as they have become dull it was taking one blade per log. now i put a new blade on and using smaller logs ill get about 6 cuts and it starts diving has anyone had this problem if so any suggestions? thanks


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Hi Jeff,
Hickory is no harder than Oak. The problem is the sugary sap in hickory tends to build up gum around the blade. I don't have a mill but cut a lot of hickory with a chainsaw and this is what I have noticed. It gums up and crystallize on your blade. Not sure if you are using oil on the band saw, but may want try soap water instead.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Hickory is easy compared to bodock (osage orange).
When I get into wood that gums up the saw I mix kerosene with my chain oil; about 50/50.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Hickory is one of the few woods that I swore off cutting on my sawmill. Hickory is the DEVIL. I don't want to argue with you, mrjinx007, but hickory is harder than oak, even white oak.

Hickory is THE DEVIL.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

I haven't cut hickory with my mill yet, but if its dry I can see it being a problem. I agree its a lot harder than white oak. And the bark is a killer.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

yes ive done quiet a bit of oak, and never have a problem i dont go thro as many blades cutting oak. im usings diesel as a lube right now. but ive read on a few other websites of people who swear by pinesol and water mixed with a lil mean green. that and tighting the heck out of the blades. but id rather not have to replace the bearings on my mill at the same time. just thought maybe somebody else has gone thro this and could point me the right way


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

these logs i cut down about two weeks ago they are still wet


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

but yeah WDHLT15 im seriously giving it thoughts of not doin anymore myself. not worth my time. its starting to look better as fire wood


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

if its green I wouldn't think it would be that bad, but WDHLT15 would know better than me. I'll bet it has more to do with the bark than the wood, but, I won't know until I try. It does make good firewood though.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

yeah don my first couple logs went fine had change blades bout every log. i think im gonna try the pinesol and water idea in the morning . i know hickory has a lot of stress on it but i wonder if the smaller logs has more stress than the larger logs?


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

WDHLT15, I must agree with you, it is harder than red oak, white oak, maybe similar to it; but oak doesn't have all that sugary sap hickory has. If you tap the hickory at a certain time in early spring or mid- Fall, it makes an excellent substitute for maple syrup. So does birch. Let's hope he find a good solution to his problem. Any idea on how to keep your chain saw from clogging up with hickory sap?


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

crank49, I'll use your suggestion.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

yeah illl try anything i have another thousand bd ft to get done ive made it this far not gonna give up


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## Randy_ATX (Sep 18, 2011)

Curious what you're planning with the hickory lumber.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Danny, I have cut quite a bit of standing dead pecan and it seems to cut well. Is hickory a lot harder? I've read the posts on the Forestry Forum about how hard hickory/pecan are to dry without warping/twisting. Does this hold true for standing dead as well as green.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

gfadvm,

I have found that drying quality is directly related to log quality. Nice straight, clear logs are the key. Any sweep in hickory, and the tension in the log will be very bad. Orchard pecan trees that go up about 6 feet then branch do not dry well. I cut one pecan that was growing in the woods next to a field where the rain runoff carried fertilizer to the tree, and this one dried very nicely. It had a 16 foot straight log in the butt that was 30" in diameter. The lumber from this pecan was mostly clear. In pecan, at any big knot, the board will kink.

Here is a pic of that pecan log.










My friend Jake Dean and I cut some orchard pecan, and the results were inconsistent. Some nice straight lumber, and many that dried with kinks and crooks at the knots, even though these were large trees.

Here are some more pecan orchard logs. Nice load.










We could hardly get this one in the truck!










I have not cut dry hickory. I bet that it is tougher than wet hickory for sure. My problem with it was that I could not consistently cut straight lumber without waves. Very frustrating.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Thanks Danny. Those are some serious pecan logs! I am a newbie at this sawmill stuff (but I'm sure having a lot of fun!) Most of what I saw is standing dead but my closest neighbor has started bringing me some green logs (he does property maintainance).

My best friend in Ark has some big hickory he has volunteered so I'll probably try some. They should make good stove wood if not lumber!

He gave me a 20" hedge log which had been dead for several years and I was amazed at how well the LT15 went through it with a new 10 degree blade.

I always appreciate your input!


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

That is one helve pecan guys. Would love to have a slab of it.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Around here, middle Tennessee, hickory is fairly common and is often used for firewood.
We have two varieties. One is called shag bark hickory, the other is called tight bark hickory.
The tight bark version is also some times called pig nut hickory.
The shag bark is the most common and the bark is extremely hard and looks like it is scaling off in sheets.
The only local wood that is better for firewood is oak.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

```
randy its not for me its for a customer he is using it for his walls in his cabin he just bought he had a add on that was done in sheetrock and the rest of house in hickory.
```
 WDHLT15 that could be my problem the last few logs had a small sweep in them . my first couple logs was straight. only way i have found so far is just to correct it is to replace the blades to new ones.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Yeah, hickory is tough on blades, and as noted, especially the bark. There are quite a few hickories. The true hickories include shagbark, shellbark, mockernut, and pignut. The Pecan hickories include bitternut, water hickory, and pecan. The difference is the number of leaflets and the shape of the nut.

They are all HARD.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

ok well i sure appericate the info


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

i beleave this is it for me and the hickory. of course ill prolly eat my words later down the line but if i do ill be on the hunt for some really straight hickory


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## bowtie (Dec 23, 2011)

I have cut a few hickory logs, shagbark and mockernut and have had good luck by taking a sufficiently deep first cut so when turning the cant the blade enters clean wood after the first cut. The shagbark is HARD.
My little mill is manually pushed and I go SLOW with a LOT of a blend of water, pinesol, and a shot of bleach.
My problem is drying hickory without a lot of degradation.
Next time I am going to buy some harborfreight rachet straps and bind my lumber after stickering.
What hickory I've been successful drying is BEAUTIFUL.


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## bannerpond1 (Mar 15, 2013)

I hauled a big hickory log, the first one above the stump, to mill for sawing. I've had no problem with wood movement. The log was on the ground for over a year and had some fantastic spaltiing. I had it sawn to 8/4 boards and then I resaw it as necessary. The spalted boards make terrific boxes, or lids on boxes of cherry. I caught the wood before much of it got punky, so the loss was minimal. The sawyer didn't hesitate at all to cut the hickory. The one wavy board I got seemed to me to be caused by a loosely tuned blade, but I could be wrong. Any way, I'm a big fan of hickory. The spalting is just fantastic.

Just my opinion, but I'd never have anything sawn to 3/4. What can you use if for after you plane it? I have all my wood, mostly cherry and sycamore, sawn to 5/4. That allows me to get a full 1 inch board after planing, or enough to resaw for boxes or panels.

Here's some crotch of the spalted hickory. It's going to be a box lid inset.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

@ bannerpond1 the customer useing it for his walls in his cabin he is not gonna plane it


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

I was visiting with a local, well 68 miles away sawyer whom I deal with here and there. He said that this is the newest fad; to cover the interior of a cabin with hickory, white oak, red oak etc. like all fads this shall pass as well; so the good business person should be thinking, "what is the next fad? And go from there… Maybe create the next fad as these people are ADHD, ADD, or whatever will be whatever you make it interesting to them. So, get ready, set, GO!!!!!


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

Its the sweep that was in my logs causing the diving. so i grabed another straight tree. and back to normal. not having problems with waves


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Not sure what kind of hickory we have. Definitely NOT shag bark. The nuts look like big, fat pecans with the husk on, then look almost like an English walnut with the husk off.


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## jeffarchie (Feb 6, 2014)

Is it a pignut? They have the pecan looking nuts


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Pignut has a smaller nut. Mockernut nuts can be almost golf ball size with the husk on. In mockernut, the husk dehisces (splits along a seam) all the open, but in pignut, the husk only dehisces about 2/3rds of the way down.

A man has to know his hickories so as to know what to watch out for!!


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Mine fit Danny's description of "Mockernuts". But I'll have to ask my buddy about the ones in Arkansas.


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