milling roof shingles from pine using alaskan

[offgridchris]

ive been busy milling the timber for our green timber extension, using an alaskan. ive nearly finished and im now thinking about the roof. i want wood shingles/shakes. the problems is i dont want to buy them. has anybody sawn their own using an alaskan. i know half will be lost in cutting. producing the taper? can you fit a small narrow ripping chain on my ms880?

 

also as the title mentions i want to use pine as that's what ive got plenty of. so to preserve them i was thinking to charring them or linseed oil? the roof pitch is 50 degrees which helps and i plan to leave a large space under the shingles for good air flow. the problem is we live in wales, so plenty of rain.

 

thanks in advance.

[Gray git]

you can run .325 chain on a 088 by changing the bar tip and the sproket on the saw this will give you a narrower cut so less wastage than standard 404 chain. I got my bits to do this from D S Bennet in trvistock.

[Justme]

I dont think that "pine" & "shingle" should be in the sentence.

 

Get some WRC. How big is the roof?

[Treegeek]

Be intrested in this thread have plans to built log stores roofed with shingles have seen sweet chestnut oak and of course cedar but never pines what pine was you thinking of using some thing more resinus might be ok

[morten]

Be intrested in this thread have plans to built log stores roofed with shingles have seen sweet chestnut oak and of course cedar but never pines what pine was you thinking of using some thing more resinus might be ok

 

Pine has been used for roof shingles in Sweden during most of the 1800's

 

But in my opinion the shingles should not be sawn, but rather split using a froe (see attached image), to avoid severing fibres and leaving a rough surface for fungus etc to bind to. Split shingles last longer than cut/milled equivalents.

When using the froe, you should alternate between cutting from top and bottom since the shingles will tend to split in such a way that the bottom part is thinner than the top (initial) thickness.

 

See this article for more information Preservation Brief 19: The Repair and Replacement of Historic Wooden Shingle Roofs

[offgridchris]

thanks for the replies. i was thinking of scots pine or corsican. ive just found out Leylandii is very durable. we have a number of these in the forest opposite us. they are only around 8" in diameter. the new extension roof is 16m2 and the main roof is 60m2.

[offgridchris]

if i use WRC any idea how much it costs for the wood in 1' rounds? i live in mid wales.

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

I have used Larch/Oak/Western Red Cedar on firewood/log store sheds. I would not use Pine as Wales in much wetter than Sweden in wintertime.

[Peter]

Sweet chestnut is the mutt's, and split is the way to go whichever wood you choose. The diameter of the logs needs to be about 3 x the desired width of the finished shingle.

 

[offgridchris]

i would love to use all these durable timbers, but i want to use what ive got. the Leylandii looks the best but would have to be sawn because of the knots. has anybody used it as a timber? also any ideas on sawing with a chainsaw mill. cleaving with a froe would be my preferred method but again it has to be the right timber.