New to milling

[oakandmaple]

Hi,

 

I am looking at trying milling for the first time on this oak which fell about 9 months back. I have a friend with a mill who offered to lend it and help.
Putting a tape round it, it’s about 2’ diameter average with bark.

Before I borrow and buy the bits I need, I just wanted to ask if it looks like a decent prospect to plank or are we obviously wasting our time? 
 

Thanks for any views and sorry the pictures aren’t great! 

[trigger_andy]

31 minutes ago, oakandmaple said:

Putting a tape round it, it’s about 2’ diameter average with bark.

Just a regular tape measure or an OD tape?

[oakandmaple]

I just wrapped my regular Oregon tape measure round it.

It was 172cm round a couple of feet below the first big union, and 208cm three feet up from the base which work out around 55 / 65cm

[Muddy42]

I'm guessing you held up the tape measure and eye-balled the diameter as 2 foot?

 

I really like that type of 'pippy' oak, the grain is really attractive, plus the trunk looks relatively straight.  In my experience that is an ideal diameter to mill as a beginner.  With the odd lump and some of the bar getting used up by the mill, you'll probably be OK with a 3 foot bar which is a common and handy size. A vertical mill might help too.  

 

Have a think about what you want to use the wood for and don't be too ambitious.  10x2footx3 inches of oak is too heavy to manhandle, 4 or 5 ft is plenty ! Do you have mechanical help?

 

There is a lot of wood there.  Good luck.

[trigger_andy]

2 minutes ago, oakandmaple said:

I just wrapped my regular Oregon tape measure round it.

It was 172cm round a couple of feet below the first big union, and 208cm three feet up from the base which work out around 55 / 65cm

Thats gotta be worth milling then. You're gonna have to start somewhere and that sounds like an ideal size to get you up and running. Less weight in the slabs for hand-balling out too. 

[Muddy42]

Yes ideal.  If you can get a manitou or tractor in there is makes a huge difference to how much fun you'll have.  A quad and trailer is OK, but I quickly reach capacity on the trailer. With a loader you can move round sections of trunk into the best position and basically tip the finished slabs straight onto a pallet

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, oakandmaple said:

Hi,

 

I am looking at trying milling for the first time on this oak which fell about 9 months back. I have a friend with a mill who offered to lend it and help.
Putting a tape round it, it’s about 2’ diameter average with bark.

Before I borrow and buy the bits I need, I just wanted to ask if it looks like a decent prospect to plank or are we obviously wasting our time? 
 

Thanks for any views and sorry the pictures aren’t great! 

Definitely worth it, as an example the pics are of a fireplace surround a neighbour made out of some pippy oak i milled up, shame you couldn’t get it onto a bandsaw as the options for what you can get out of it might be a tad better. Looks like it would give some decent beams. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Johnsond

[Squaredy]

3 hours ago, oakandmaple said:

Hi,

 

I am looking at trying milling for the first time on this oak which fell about 9 months back. I have a friend with a mill who offered to lend it and help.
Putting a tape round it, it’s about 2’ diameter average with bark.

Before I borrow and buy the bits I need, I just wanted to ask if it looks like a decent prospect to plank or are we obviously wasting our time? 
 

Thanks for any views and sorry the pictures aren’t great! 

Yeah agree with the other comments - good log to start on.  Should be some nice timber in there, and hopefully nothing else, as it is clearly growing in a wood.  Also good straight piece, but as has been said think about the length - if you don’t need it long mill it in sections - it will be so much easier to handle.

[AJStrees]

Could be good to mill. I would say cut it into sections 8-10’ long, you could do a range of board sizes. If you want to make posts out of some of it, you could do some a little over 4” thick and then saw it to size later or even thicker.

 

should get quite a few slabs out of that. 

[oakandmaple]

Many thanks for all the helpful comments. 

I've ordered a bar and chain set, as recommended by Rob @ chainsawbars (very helpful too), and I'm looking forward to getting going!

 

To begin we want some 3' planks to use in maintaining the paths in the wood - start relatively easy.

Beyond that, lots of ideas, but want to see some of it before deciding.

Stiles, kissing gates and narrow footbridges in all directions prevent vehicles, so nothing huge and I guess we'll probably want to get a mill that cuts at 90 degrees at some stage (the one we're borrowing initially doesn't). 

 

Could we plank it up over a few years or will it likely deteriorate or harden up much?

With a bit over 40 feet to the first union, I suspect we wont get it all done this year.

 

That fireplace is beautiful and inspiring. Appreciate you sharing. 

 

Thanks again for sharing all your wisdom.