a good place to start?

[william127]

I finaly got these 2 lumps into th e barn today, they are about 3 meters long by about 50 cm diameter oak. I am planning on buying an alaskan mill and milling them up with the view to getting 2inch boards and planks suitable for making benches. Whats the best way of going about it? Thanks.

[agg221]

For fairly rustic benches for outdoor use, I would simply through-and-through saw them.

 

It depends a bit on the design - I would work this out first so you know, for example, whether you need any 3" or 4" sections for legs, and if so how long you need them. You can then plan your cutting accordingly.

 

If you do need thicker sections, cut these from the outer parts of the tree. This is because thin boards cut from the outside will be prone to cupping, whereas a 4"x4" won't.

 

Also bear in mind that if this is for outdoor use, the sapwood will rot off very quickly. With that in mind, decide whether you are going for a crisp, clean edge, in which case you will need to remove all the sapwood, or a more rustic look, in which case you can leave it in on corners and edges and let it rot away naturally or skim it off with a drawknife.

 

As an example, imagine you work out that with what you want to make you are going for a slightly rustic look and you need 4 lengths of 4"x4", the rest in 2".

 

You would start by fixing your rail to the top, then measure down to the point where the heartwood is close to 8" wide, at each end. Take the greater depth and set the mill to that depth, less the thickness of the bar (the mill setting is the depth to the top of the bar, not the bottom). You would then skim off the top at this setting, leaving a flat face with the heartwood about 8" wide. You also want to measure up to the equivalent point at the bottom of the log, so that you know where you need to stop.

 

Set the mill to 4" and take a slice. You will then need to rip this in half width-ways and then rip it to 4" widths. If you don't have access to a mini-mill or a big circular saw or bandsaw, the first cut is best made full depth with the biggest circular saw you have, then finished with a panel saw. The cuts to get 4" widths out can then be run with the circular saw with the fence on, from both sides, which will complete the cut. It will be a bit rough but can be dressed off.

 

You can then set the mill to 2" and take your boards off, keeping an eye on when you only have 4" to go to the bottom mark. Once you are at that point, take the last slab off at 4" and rip to width again as before (note: in reality you would do all the milling first, then all the ripping to width of the 4"x4").

 

This will then be fine for seasoning, or use if you are making the benches green.

 

btw, the reason for ripping the 4"x4" down green is that a) the board is liable to cupping which makes it hard to get a cut square to the face once dry and b) a 4" thick slab is extremely heavy and much easier to handle once ripped down.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Alec