milling oak

[carpenter1]

i am new to this, never milled anything

 

i have just felled an oak, not big,

 

dia of 18'', length 6' dead stright.

 

do i seanson it first?

or mill and season after,

 

advice needed thanks

 

i also have some sweet chestnut, beech, ash, are they worth milling?

[Big J]

Hi there,

 

Nice to hear that you are getting into the milling. A worthwhile and very interesting endeavour.

 

Definitely cut first and then season. Oak can sit in the round for a few years without too much degrade, but it will retain almost all of it's moisture and there is no real reason to do it.

 

I wouldn't cut the Oak yet though - wait until November when the weather is cooler and you will have a far lower chance of suffering with surface checking and splits.

 

Sweet chestnut, beech and ash are all well worth milling. Whilst they aren't as sensitive to warm weather as Oak, they are still best cut in winter.

 

Ensure that when you cut the boards that they are well stacked (neat stacks with exactly lined up stickers between the boards) and out of the weather and direct sun light.

 

Other than that, it's just a waiting game! Your first boards should be about ready to use at the end of next year assuming you cut them in November.

 

Jonathan

[carpenter1]

hows it best to store them?

inside barn or out side on a pallet and cover with a sheet of tin?

[muttley9050]

Outside in wind but not sun, covering with tin is good. Sweet chesnut is awesome for garden furniture.

[Big J]

Inside a barn, provided there is good air flow. Stack off the ground, with an air gap between the stack and the walls. You are far better stacking in large stacks than small - the more weight you have the flatter it will stay.

 

This is what an example of how I construct my stacks:

 

 

Jonathan

[carpenter1]

have you got a few pics of what sweet chestnut, ash beech and oak could turn out to be like.

i under stand every tree is different, and how and where it was grown

[muttley9050]

The two book matched boards above are oak.

[Rhob the Log]

Sweet chestnut has lovely coffee-coloured grain alternating with a light yellow. As it dries down it can go quite orangey too. Can be very striking but when milling it misbehaves a lot. It has a helical growth structure so there's a lot of tension in the wood, often causing it to bend away from the mill as soon as it's cut. They will dry flat provided you put a lot of weight on top of your stack and cross your fingers. Here's a pic. Enjoy milling!

[Dorset Treeman]

Hi, where do you get the stickers from and does it matter what species they are made from in relation to the species you are milling?

 

Also, somebody told me to paint the end of any logs in the round as soon as they are cut with any paint you have lying around, so that it is harder for fungus to get in. Is there any truth in this?

[Big J]

The main reason to paint the ends of the logs is to slow down the drying of the log in the round. I've not heard it being done to inhibit fungal growth.

 

I cut my own stickers, usually from spruce or poplar.