Any ideas for milling hardwoods?

[Rob Stringer]

hello all, i have various pieces of oak,ash,beech and sweet chestnut timber (mostly 12-24" diameter) which I plan to mill with my m7 sawbench in the near future. The main use for the oak and chestnut will be slabs for outdoor furniture but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions/tips on potential uses/products for any of the different species (and guideline prices?). Particularly for the ash and beech as i've never milled these before and they're less suitable for outdoor use. Thanks, Rob S

[Rob D]

Very hard to advise - I would just mill it (taking photos as you go) stack it and dry it then put it on ebay.

 

I have a few bits of wood on ebay (I need to get more of a comprehensive listing on there) and have found it to bring in a lot of business.

[Rob Stringer]

probably a good idea, but i'd like to use some of it myself as well. Any ideas on good uses for ash or beech? Better to mill them into waney edge slabs or clean planks?

[timtree81]

sweet chesnut make nice fencing when split ,very nice indeed

[Rob Stringer]

I agree, i'm already splitting most of it, just milling the really big stuff that would be very hard work to split! Makes good outdoor furniture for the same reason as it is so durable (and the sapwood doesnt rot significantly like oak does).

[tommer9]

Beech is a nightmare- everyone thinks its really boring, and everything wants to eat it whilst its drying.

 

Ash has a million uses. Kitchen tables, framework for morris travellers, any decorative boards you care to think of (window ledges etc) hand tool handles etc etc