Hardwood is harder than softwood

[difflock]

Or so I conclude. Only Ash too. But I notice a wile difference.

And the chain is sharp enough.

P.S. 

A big stump for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nepia]

Usually!  But there are many exceptions; compare willow to a mature yew for example.  But that will have been fairly hard, yes.  Luvverly firewood

[Conor Wright]

Poplar vs macrocarpa?

But yeah, generally speaking you're right.

Now get them ash to the mill before they start to season! its much easier cut them wet ime. I left a couple of stems in the yard for about 3 years and they were a bastard to mill.

[Unframed Dave]

Isn't Balsa a hardwood? 

[openspaceman]

8 hours ago, difflock said:

Or so I conclude. Only Ash too. But I notice a wile difference.

I've mentioned this before but I was always surprised how harsh the fell cut felt when felling ash and douglas whereas beech and hornbeam though harder woods cut more easily.

[Stubby]

46 minutes ago, Unframed Dave said:

Isn't Balsa a hardwood? 

Yes . Even though  its very soft and not very dense .

[difflock]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

I've mentioned this before but I was always surprised how harsh the fell cut felt when felling ash and douglas whereas beech and hornbeam though harder woods cut more easily.

I was really surprised at how hard I was having to work the saw(and I will be fettling the chain, despite the my eye telling me the teeth were all  undamaged and the  ball of my thumb telling me the teeth were still plenty sharp) to make progress.

But in conscience I am used to cutting shitty Sitka Spruce.

P S.

What is the min dia/size of Ash to be worth milling?

And what thickness to mill at?

A pity some of the better bits were dropped in 4 and 5 foot lengths.

But since not for structural use, no real odds?

Cheers all,

Marcus

[Squaredy]

50 minutes ago, difflock said:

I was really surprised at how hard I was having to work the saw(and I will be fettling the chain, despite the my eye telling me the teeth were all  undamaged and the  ball of my thumb telling me the teeth were still plenty sharp) to make progress.

But in conscience I am used to cutting shitty Sitka Spruce.

P S.

What is the min dia/size of Ash to be worth milling?

And what thickness to mill at?

A pity some of the better bits were dropped in 4 and 5 foot lengths.

But since not for structural use, no real odds?

Cheers all,

Marcus

Yeah four and five foot boards are very useful.  Suggest 25mm, 32mm, 38mm thickness.  The challenge is always finding your customers, but that is the case with all species.

 

I generally find the UK hardwoods are easy to mill, softwoods more difficult.  Having said that when I mill softwoods it is Douglas Fir or Larch usually.  Also I generally use a bandmill not a chainsaw.

[topchippyles]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

Yeah four and five foot boards are very useful.  Suggest 25mm, 32mm, 38mm thickness.  The challenge is always finding your customers, but that is the case with all species.

 

I generally find the UK hardwoods are easy to mill, softwoods more difficult.  Having said that when I mill softwoods it is Douglas Fir or Larch usually.  Also I generally use a bandmill not a chainsaw.

I took the motorbike out for a spin yesterday gav and ended up going down to crickhowell and came back via talybont-on-usk - pontsticill. Love that area and the guys were cutting larch and douglas fir like Big J does. Neat and so clean no impact on the ground. Stunning views.

Edited March 21, 2022 by topchippyles

[Conor Wright]

1 hour ago, difflock said:

I was really surprised at how hard I was having to work the saw(and I will be fettling the chain, despite the my eye telling me the teeth were all  undamaged and the  ball of my thumb telling me the teeth were still plenty sharp) to make progress.

But in conscience I am used to cutting shitty Sitka Spruce.

P S.

What is the min dia/size of Ash to be worth milling?

And what thickness to mill at?

A pity some of the better bits were dropped in 4 and 5 foot lengths.

But since not for structural use, no real odds?

Cheers all,

Marcus

You'd be surprised how many uses a 4 or 5 ft board can have, table, shelf, island unit, bench etc.  You could knock a few smaller pieces like platters, clocks etc from it. I've found smaller pieces sell better, not many out there that have space for a 1.2x4.5 mtr table top! I've had people come for two or three handy pieces for their DIY projects that only had the boot of the car and a garden shed. They don't want or need huge slabs. Plenty of turners around looking square stock for bowls too.