Thickness to cut?

[Anson]

I have a friend that had three large Laurel Oaks fall over in a typical Florida storm about three months ago. I will be plain sawing it with a chainsaw and a guide that runs along a 2x4. My question is what would be the best thickness to saw it at. Also I know plain sawing is less wasteful but would quarter sawing really be worth the extra work and waste? He does have a band saw that has a 10" capacity would it be best to cut wide eight inch boards and the resaw them on the band saw to say 4/4 so they can be used as 3/4 stock once dry? I don't know if I will ever need stock thicker than 3/4 I should probably have some on hand though if I ever need it. Also can I get good wood from the straighter branches or should I bother?

[Beechwood Chip]

If you air dry the wood, plan on 1 year per inch of thickness. On the other hand, you can resaw or plane down a thick board, and a thick crooked board has room to be planed down.

Do you have any idea what you'll be making?

I wouldn't bother with the branches. I've heard that since the wood was fighting gravity while it was growing, it will go all crooked every time you rip it.

[Bombarde16]

Quartering a log involves a lot of moving, rotating, repositioning, etc. where slabbing is just pulling off one board after another until the log is gone. Quartering also takes a fair bit of skill and experience to ensure that you actually produce boards with good flecking. I'd probably plain saw things and be done with it.

Branches typically have a lot of internal tension and generally produce wood with a tendency to twist into a pretzel. If you're setting up to slab the trunk, I suppose it doesn't hurt to slab some of the larger branches. Just keep that wood separate and don't set your expectations too high for it.

As for thickness, go with what you think will be most useful to you. What do the local suppliers have in spades and what are they somewhat thin on? Do you have a specific project in mind for this? Do any of these trees seem promising enough to produce thick timbers, say in the 12/4 range for a set of bed posts?

[Anson]

Each tree is about 4 to 5 foot diameter and 60 foot till you get to the crown. Very large trees old growth. Most of this will likely be used for making night stands dressers desks typical furniture. I wouldn't think I would need to much of it to be more than 1" thick. Since I have so much to get I was thinking of doing some of larger sizes just in case. I can always make it smaller later.

[duckkisser]

can you afford to sit on it for 5-6 years for it to dry to that thick ness? do you have enough lumber siting around that you can work on other stuff in the mean time while it dries? what do you usualy make is it small boxes types or giant russsian cabinets? will you be upgradeing to biger stuff in a few years? thats the question you got to figure out then make the wood that your going to need in a few years.

[TimV]

I've used that kind of guide in the past and it is difficult to maintain such a steady cut for a consistent thickness. The guide acts like a pivot point so a little movement of the motor creates a lot of movement at the bar tip. If you want to end up with 3/4 board thickness after planing, do not set the guide any closer than a 1-1/4" cut. I had one whole tree that ended up as 1/2" boards when I moved each cut 1". I would even go wider, to 1-1/2 to be safe especially if you have a long bar. Mine is only 16". It is hard work cutting with that guide. You really have to pay attention because the saw is not trapped as the guide slides along the 2x4. It can still kick and you can pivot too far and have the bar go through the bottom of the tree. If the log isn't supported, you'll be in the ground. If the log is raised, your foot could be under there. You really have to watch what you're doing. It will not work running it horizontal. There is nothing to keep the saw on the 2x4 guide other than your muscle. That will work for about a foot then you'll realize no way.

Pass on the branches. Only use the straighter sections of the trunk. If the trunks are that large, you will get more wood out of that that you know what to do with. As BC said, there are internal stresses in the branches because they are resisting gravity. The analogy I like: remember when you were a kid and someone asked you to stand in a doorway and press the back side of your hands hard against the door jambs for several minutes. Then step away. Your arms will raise on their own. This is because you have conditioned your muscles to be resisting the staying force of the jamb. Once you remove the staying force, your arms move. Once you start cutting the branches, your release the tension and the boards move. You will see how difficult it will be to manage those boards.

I think you're going to have a heck of a time resawing on a 10" bandsaw. It just isn't going to have enough power to rip through wide, wet boards.

[Roger T]

For that much possible lumber, I would seriously consider hiring a guy with a Bandsaw Mill. It may cost you a couple hundred dollars, but the cost would far outweigh what you will spend in wear and tear on your body and chainsaw. And you will get a much more consistant cut using a regular sawmill. You can contact woodmizer. WWW.woodmizer.com and they will tell you if there is someone in your area with a mill. Thing thats nice about this is, the mill comes to the wood, rather than trying to get the wood to the mill.

Hope this helps.

Roger

[Anson]

Tim Thanks for all the great advice it was exactly what I was seeking. As far as the band saw goes its not a 10" band saw he just said it would cut boards up to 10" thick or 10" tall with no problems. I think I will cut with the guide about 8" and resaw from there.

Roger I would love to hire someone to do the work but when you live off of social security $1600 a month with a wife and kid to feed and take care of you cant afford a couple hundred dollars to have someone cut up a tree. I know its a lot of work and its gonna take me a while and its gonna hurt but I have my little brother to help me.

[Screamer777]

I agree with Rob and Tim. Quartering a log is time and labor intensive. It is wasteful too. But on the other hand you do get stable timber with quarter sawing a log. And if you should get ray flecks for all your trouble.

Forget the branches. They are NOT stable timber, and have a tendency to bend severely as they dry. The branches are under stress. It is also know as reaction wood. And as Tim said "You will see how difficult it will be to manage those boards." And I think it can be outright dangerous too if you work with it on your table saw. (Pinching....kickback...ouch!!!!)

[Roger T]

Anson,

I wish you luck with cutting that behemoth up! I just hope you have enough saw for the job. And know how to file a chainsaw chain. I got a feeling you'll be doing a bunch of that. I would love to see pictures of that monster tree. Quite impressive I'm sure!

Roger

[duckkisser]

you might be able to trade off the trees to a miller for a stack of finsihed lumber for instance the guy near by has more ash then he can sell the market has sold out a bit and he has hard maple coming in but he does not have room for the boards. so now he needs to unload some ash to start drying out the clear maple that he has a standing order for. the guy selling at a much lower price even told me he would trade me ash or hickory for hard maple trees.

[Dan S]

Laurel is a red oak isn't it?

If it is, I wood slab the tree, and then just make the slabs thicker when the grain starts looking rift sawn. Rift sawn is the best for legs, but for some reason no one ever cuts thick rift sawn boards.

[duckkisser]

expensive and time consuming. more cost effect to do flat sawn lumber

[mrbutton]

You might also check if someone in your area does have a woodmizer mill, ask if he would saw it for some of the lumber. My brother does that with his.

[GNiessen]

Slabbing the tree and keeping the slabs in order can net you some very valuable wood. A big tree like that can produce many pieces that when matched can be used to make larger tables or a full suite with matching color and grain. Don't cut larger then 2". It takes too long to dry and is too heavy to resaw on standing bandsaw. If it is cut on a sawmill bandsaw you only loose a 1/4" or so on planing. But on a chainsaw setup you might loose a 1/2" or more getting it flat for an 8' board. And if you have matched slabs, you can glue them together later for thicker legs or turning. You can also check if a local dealer will kiln dry your boards for you. But they need to air dry for a while first. And You don't want to have to wait for a 4" beam to air dry (~7+ years).