larch cladding from small(ish) logs

[Welshfred]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Stack the stickers 12-18" apart,

helps reduce cupping.

put a balanced heavy load on top of the stack/ use ratchet straps.

Good advice, thanks.

[muttley9050]

Cutting 30mm boards from trees that size it should only be one or two boards that has a bad heart fault. If it looks bad discard it.

[Big J]

25mm larch will dry in about 6 weeks in a windy location. No need to worry about cutting it yet. 

 

What you will struggle with (assuming you are cutting it with a bandmill) is getting accurate boards. Small larch logs are riddled with tension and the log with squirm and wiggle as you take boards off, resulting in inaccuracies. I hate larch quite passionately, but if I have to cut it into cladding I am lucky to have a frame saw which cuts the whole log on one pass, meaning all tension is simultaneously released.

[Welshfred]

On 08/17/2017 at 08:31, Big J said:

(assuming you are cutting it with a bandmill)

Actually, with a chainsaw mill... I use the ladder for every pass to avoid cumulative errors. The larch is very slow grown, planted in '56, any thoughts on whether that affects stability? Instinct says better stability...???   cheers

 

 

[Big J]

Cutting cladding with a chainsaw mill just isn't economically viable. It's too time consuming and too wasteful (both in terms of wood and fuel used). 

 

You'd get a far better recovery rate and actually save money (assuming you have a reasonable amount to do) if you hired in a mobile band mill. You have to remember that even the narrowest saw chains will have a 7mm kerf. A bandmill has 2mm, which means that for every 4 boards you cut with a chainsaw, you'd have 5 from the bandmill. 

 

Regarding stability, slower grown is usually better, but also you have to consider site stresses (poor soil, prevailing wind and exposure to that wind).

 

I just hate larch!