This summer is really getting busy,adding two bedrooms on at the lake setting up a new router table at home. Had to cut down two trees for the addition,cut them up into 8 footers, 12 inch birch and a 12 inch pine, already had a maple drying. I know a guy in town nearby who has a ban saw. Now I haven't done this before. Cut into all 1" boards? Using the wood for heavy frames for my wife's rug hook pieces,book shelves. The maple for cutting boards maybe. For drying ,lath stacked? The guy in town charges 70 an hr, should be done with 7 logs in a hr.
Thanks Tom
7 logs in an hour would have to be a big mill with a lot of support equipment and manpower. Very often we cut this kind of wood at 1.25'' to allow a finished thickness around one inch, or 1/2'' if you split it with a bandsaw after a year or two drying.
Rob
I dry oak at least 10 months here in Georgia... I stack it outside under metal roofing....
I'm using material, now, that I got last May.....
One of my favorite parts of woodworking is running an ugly looking piece of red oak thru the planer, and see something beautiful emerge.....
Kurt, I'm in Georgia and am curious to the process you use in getting your Oak dry enough to use. What saw(s), how thick, how you use your stickers, cover, weights etc.
I was told that white birch should dry for 5 years before you use it. I have some that is probably 20 by now. I bought a King Canada 16" 2hp 240 volt planer to plane my rough lumber with. (The same planer is available as other brands for about $1000 -1200.) It's paid for itself several times over. I was a logger for many years so I could get wood almost for free, just had to pay sawing costs. I've put a few thousand feet through that planer and it'll take thousands more I think.
Drying wood varies by different parts of the country. Here in west Texas you can dry oak in 1 year in an roofed shed with all sides open. But we have plenty of heat and wind. Stickered and weighted they have good results. In Ohio you are looking at 3 years to dry the same oak lumber.
Thanks for the reply Kurt. By saws what I meant was what saw you used to cut to thickness but I imagine either bandsaw or chainsaw.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Router Forums
747K posts
128.2K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to router and woodworking professionals and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about different types of routing and routers, shop safety, finishing, woodworking related topics, styles, tools, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!