Sweet chestnut posts

[alex_w]

Hi all,

 

I am new to milling, although do a lot of tree work on the estate where I work. I have a sawmill coming in to mill some sweet chesnut trunks from derelict coppice 10-18" diameter to produce fence posts for the estate, and wondered whether the longevity of milled SC is as good and cleft stakes. i was thinking of maybe 4x3", as we use 3-4" pressure treated softwood round stakes at the moment. Does this sound about right? Also have ordered an Alaskan small log milling unit to go on my MS390 for some of the other bits and pieces, so very excited to get started

[tommer9]

Cleft is always the best, as it tends to cut across very few of the grains, leaving little to no end grain. however due to the durability that SC has anyway, i wouldnt get too concerned. It dooes split readily though, and looks awesome when cleft.

[alex_w]

Thank you very much. Looking forward to the mill coming. Shame some of the bigger trunks have got some shake as we are on sandy soil, bu the smaller ones are still good. Will post some pics when we are done

[agg221]

I know this is the milling forum, but have you tried cleaving it? It still cleaves well when it gets bigger - you just have to split it with wedges first. Does depend on whether you want a sawn or cleaved surface look though.

 

Alec

[alex_w]

Hi,

 

I did try a bit of cleaving...it's easy to start with but gets harder the smaller they get. Ideally i'd like a sawn surface or 2, and we need several hundred posts. I'll put some picks on when the mill comes,

 

Alex

[Brushcutter]

I mill a lot of SC posts. from 4x4 to 12x12s They last very well post on the estate that have been in the ground 30 years, which is about their max life.

 

Just be careful about milling 10-18" coppice stuff. It springs all over the shop you won't get a straight post out of any of it. Cleaving might be the best way.

[alex_w]

oh no, you've me worried. i've noticed some of the trunks have cracks in them already. I suppose they have been under tension leaning out from the stool and when felled the fibres are freed. I thought of doing 4x3 posts but maybe 4x4 will be stronger. I have some 6ft long sections I could practice on with cleaving. What size trunks do you mill for you 4x4's?

 

Alex

[agg221]

Hi Alex, not sure if this helps, but I've just spent the week off work making bits for our extension - milled featheredge oak boards and cleft SC tile batten and ceiling lath. I wouldn't worry too much about cracks starting - assuming they're radial from the centre, it's to be expected if the ends aren't sealed. So long as you get on with milling/cleaving pretty soon they shouldn't be too deep. If you mill posts box-heart you will always get cracks as the stresses are released, but they won't warp. You will only get one post per log though.

 

If you cleave the logs into quarters though, you will get four posts per log (on a good day) and release the stresses, so less likelihood of further cracking. If they stay straight then they will sit really well on the mill, and you can pretty much get away with only two cuts per post to square them up. If they don't, you can see whether there is enough left to cut along the cleft face and create a straight line. If not, they're scrap, but at least they're scrap before you waste time on the mill. If you do go down this route, consider knocking up a cleaving brake and using a drawknife to smooth the cleft faces off if you don't want them to look cleft - it's very quick, much quicker than trying to set it up on the mill to make fiddly little cuts and it looks pretty smooth and even with a little practice. I reckon I could take a cleave a SC wedge from a 6ft length of 8-10in dia log of the right size to make a 2x1 batten, square up the back edge, take the thin bit off the inside of the wedge and trim down the excess off one face so it's square to the other, all in about 5mins. If I just had to split out a quarter and dress the two cleft faces, I reckon it could be done in about the same time (takes me longer to cleave quarters if I have to use wedges than if I can get a froe in).

 

Hope this helps!

 

Alec

[Brushcutter]

SC is always a bit shaky. If its ring shake then your more than likely useless. Star shake is a bit different but in SC it's still a pain but you can do more when cutting it.

 

This is a bit of SC felled a few weeks back for milling. Ring shake at the butt end. Be chasing it back till its gone. Most of the SC i fell is 18"-48" for the mill found the younger stuff moves around a lot on the saw. I do mean a lot i've had 3" set on the band saw guide but the tension in the log pulled it round so one end was down to about an inch.

 

You can get a 4x4 out of a 5" log if you don't have a bandsaw and don't mind a bit of wane on the edges of the post.

[alex_w]

Thank you both for all the information. some of the trunks have cracks from the centre, only a couple have ring cracks, which sadly are the bigger ones. I put on the felling license 80m3 but there is a lot more I think. I have felled about 12 trunks giving 36 3.6m lengths for this year, and i will do more in November. the shorter bits and bobs I will try in the next few days and try some cleaving, and look for a draw knife. Any ideas on a good place to buy one near guildford or online? My plan is to get the sawmill to mill posts for the farm, and whilst there plank some oak, yew and cedar to try and sell.

 

I'll take some pics tommorrow