milling roof shingles from pine using alaskan

[Cracker]

cracker it looks like sweet chestnut it is. any idea on what i should pay for lengths/ rounds. ive only ever milled my own timber. or anybody in mid wales with access to some chestnut.

i already have the froe.

 

I've paid as much as £10/hoppus for some really nice stuff I used for a job. It was such a dream to split that nothing was wasted and I was that much quicker, so it was well worth the extra expense.

[wills-mill]

If you can get over the border, it might be worth talking to Aly and Toby

 

Herefordshire Cleft Chestnut Fencing

 

They know their stuff when it comes to Sweet Chestnut

[canoehead]

in a similar situation. am milling the timber for a post and beam timber frame house i'm building here on the side of a mountain in the middle of a forest, in the centre of portugal, and i would dearly like to use shingles or shakes for the roof. i have a logosl M5 and am trying to find out if they do an attachment for milling shingles (anyone?) bizzarely, even living in a forest doesn't give you many options of different species of wood to use. if i can get chestnut at an affordable price i will use it. even though i've felled a lot of maritime pine for the general construction, i would think twice about putting it on a roof, even tarred. i want to be able to make my own roofing components, and not just use slate like everyone else here, or teracotta tiles. and finally here's my question. how many trees and of what diameter do you think you will need? right now i'm only guessing i'll need a few to cut 3 and a half thousand shingles (maybe more).

[Cracker]

in a similar situation. am milling the timber for a post and beam timber frame house i'm building here on the side of a mountain in the middle of a forest, in the centre of portugal, and i would dearly like to use shingles or shakes for the roof. i have a logosl M5 and am trying to find out if they do an attachment for milling shingles (anyone?) bizzarely, even living in a forest doesn't give you many options of different species of wood to use. if i can get chestnut at an affordable price i will use it. even though i've felled a lot of maritime pine for the general construction, i would think twice about putting it on a roof, even tarred. i want to be able to make my own roofing components, and not just use slate like everyone else here, or teracotta tiles. and finally here's my question. how many trees and of what diameter do you think you will need? right now i'm only guessing i'll need a few to cut 3 and a half thousand shingles (maybe more).

 

Are you not worried about fire using shingles in Portugal? If it were me I go with clay tiles.

[canoehead]

yeah fire is a consideration out here, there were a number of forest fires in the general region last year, but none in our immediate area, fortunately it's not quite that dry. however, we are right in the middle of a forest, and if there is a fire, well the whole house could go. it is a hazard of the area. it's freaky when your whole valley is smoke filled from forest fire. price you pay i guess.

[offgridchris]

canoehead,

 

i think i posted that ive decided to use sweet chestnut and split them. i know what you mean about being surrounded my trees and timber, but not the right sort. i did see a home made shingle "rack" on a web page i now cant find. he was using pine. although it was for a barn. the big difference is that he had a band saw mill. so a lot less waste. the rack was made from wood a looked like the steel ones used on bigger bandsaw mills. it just needs a mechanism to lift each block up to create a taper. i think the size of the shingle can be any size. there are some great pictures in the book shelter, by lloyd kahn.