how to store cut cherry wood

[nick1854]

Andrew, the saw:

 

 

Closer:

 

 

Well worth having one, and not alot to go wrong. Good cardio-vascular exercise too.

[Scottie]

Hi Nick. The table looks good. I have had a length of bird cherry similar to the size you planked up yourself, ripped by Alec, agg221. The table you built is something I think I will be able to do once I get the rest of the cherry lengths back, milled by Alec.

 

This discussion has been very informative and I know now how to store my wood.

[ucoulddoit]

Thanks for the saw photoes Nick and apologies for taking so long to get back to you. Been away for the weekend. Must have been very hard work to halve the cherry trunk. The saw teeth look as though it is a cross cut saw rather than a rip saw. I was given a two handled saw about 6 feet long a few years ago which now hangs on my workshop wall. Not sure if it would have been used to rip logs into planks or just cross cutting for firewood logs. Anyone any opinions? Pictures below.

[ucoulddoit]

Re the original question about what to do with a cherry log, I thought I would post a few pictures of small logs which I successfully seasoned to show that small stuff can yield some good timber.

 

I remembered I had a cherry log about 10 inches diameter and 44 inches long which I'd quartered a few years ago before air drying. The picture below shows how it was cut and it has dried with minimal degrade. Incidently the stack of planks in the background are 2 1/2 inch thick ash which I milled using an Alaskan Small Log mill and a Mini Mill with a chainsaw with a 20 inch bar. The log was in a garden and was 30 inches diameter tapering to 24 inches by 6 feet long. Took a full day to mill it, but lovely timber with some good colouring in the heart. The chainsaw and milling attachments have been an excellent investment.

 

Next picture is a small apple log, 12 inches diameter and 14 inches long which was air dried undercover for two years then brought into the workshop for year and now down to a moisture content of about 10%. The ends were well sealed with PVA within a day of the tree being felled and there is no end cracking at all so although the log was very short, all of it can be used. It was a tree from a garden given by my sister, so I'll turn it into a set of building blocks for her to have at home for when her grand children are over.

 

The last pictures are burr apple from a branch. The small quartered piece has dried with minimal degrade apart from a few cracks which inevitably happen in burr. But they are quite deformed which would have split the log badly if it hadn't been quartered. The inch thick 'planks' have distorted quite significantly, but there will be some useable pieces, perhaps to make a small box or something.

[nick1854]

Andrew

 

Your saw looks like the type that was used for cross-cutting timber. I have a similar one on the wall in my shed (decorative purposes only!).

 

My saw is definately a ripsaw, but over the years of sharpening the teeth angle has changed. Also some of them are different sizes. Despite this it works really well. I was surprised how well it cut, biting into the timber using the weight of the blade. It wasn't as difficult as you may think...

 

I like your collection of "home-sawed" timber. You will have stuff there that you can't buy. It is really satisfying seeing the whole process from tree to item through. Nakashima (japanese carpenter) on a small scale.

 

You did well breaking down a 30" diameter log. Does the mini-mill allow you to cut vertically so you can remove planks that aren't the full width of the log? What are your plans for this wood, I really like ash and it can be just as beautiful as oak and elm.

[ucoulddoit]

Nick

 

The sketch below shows the sequence of cuts I used on the ash log. Numbers 2 and 9 were done with the Mini Mill, the others with the small log mill. The horizontal cuts overlapped slightly in the middle of the log and it was difficult to keep them at exactly the same level. So the faces of each plank are not as flat as cutting through with a larger bar and mill which is why I cut them to 2 1/2 inches with the aim of having finished planks 2 inches thick. It was hard work and I'd agreed with the house owner that we would divide the planks 50/50 between us - with me doing all the work and providing the petrol, oil, etc! They want to make a kitchen table. I've no plans for the wood yet, just keen to be getting practice using the milling attachments in different situations. With hindsight I should have kept more of the planks, but I'll know next time. Just as well that it is hobby!

 

 

 

Andrew

[nick1854]

OK that makes sense now. Lots of nice stable quarter-sawn planks there....great for a chunky table top and laminated legs...

 

I get the hindsight thing as I recently finished a fire-place mantle and hugely under-estimated my time and the final cost. I think I have learnt from that, I hope.