Milling

[Mike Black]

Beech and Sycamore milled last week.

[westphalian]

I’m milling a sycamore for the first time next week. I only do softwood and make garden furniture etc. It will only be a one off stem and I’m wondering what sort of project I could use it on. 2ftDBH

[openspaceman]

8 hours ago, Mike Black said:

 

Beech and Sycamore milled last week.

 

The "queue de vache" in those pictures show why it's best to mill sycamore the day it is felled. The saying was "fell on  Christmas day mill by boxing day. Brush off sawdust and initially stack boards vertically

[se7enthdevil]

2 hours ago, westphalian said:

I’m milling a sycamore for the first time next week. I only do softwood and make garden furniture etc. It will only be a one off stem and I’m wondering what sort of project I could use it on. 2ftDBH

if you don't want to keep the timber i may be interested.

 

is it a straight log? how long is it?

[westphalian]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

The "queue de vache" in those pictures show why it's best to mill sycamore the day it is felled. The saying was "fell on  Christmas day mill by boxing day. Brush off sawdust and initially stack boards vertically

cheers, what's that mean "who the cow?" the branches are off and I will be felling it next week

[westphalian]

37 minutes ago, se7enthdevil said:

if you don't want to keep the timber i may be interested.

 

is it a straight log? how long is it?

its looks to be exactly the same size of the one above. keeping it mate. I want to do something with it rather than my rough and ready work with the softwood. any ideas welcome

[AHPP]

If you’ve got sixty ish inches of very straight grain, canoe paddles? I’d have thought it’ll be a challenge to keep it from warping and keep edges straight, symmetrical etc.

[AHPP]

Or kitchen stuff. I’ve heard sycamore is a naturally very clean and hygienic wood.

[ucoulddoit]

2 hours ago, westphalian said:

cheers, what's that mean "who the cow?" the branches are off and I will be felling it next week

Not sure about 'who the cow' but sycamore is very easily stained during the early stages of drying and the usual approach is to stand the boards upright (end reared) with gaps between them and a sticker at the top to keep them apart. Once the board faces have dried, it's safe to stack and sticker them as normal. Winter felled and milled while the sap is low is best if you can. Based on my limited experience of seasoning a few sycamore logs the planks have a low tendency to distortion compared to other timbers such as oak.

 

Andrew

[westphalian]

L Googled it. Means cows tail. Still none the wiser

So far, a frig load of chopping boards is on the cards