Milling burr oak

[ucoulddoit]

I've a burr oak butt which I'll be getting milled soon and have been wondering how much the through and through cut planks are likely to 'cup' as they dry. The largest planks will be about 6 feet long by 3 feet wide and it looks as though it will be solid burr over virtually the whole area. Does solid burr like this tend to cup less than plain oak? I wondered if the twisted grain might tend to resist the cupping? I've laid some concrete foundations and constructed a frame so that the sticks will be less than a foot apart and am proposing to mill it into mainly 50mm and 35mm planks plus some thicker pieces.

 

It is for my own future use and current thoughts are to use the planks for at least one dining table, a desk, large cupboard, in other words, items where large areas of solid burr should look good. If it does cup appeciably, I'll cut the planks into narrower pieces and use book matched pairs, but it would be good if single through and through planks would work.

 

Andrew

[Big J]

I think everything that you are planning to do is correct. The only issue I can foresee is that it's getting a little late in the year for oak milling. That said, I've still got oak I have to mill and I've not got the logs to the yard yet.

 

Would love to see some photos when it's cut.

 

Jonathan

[ucoulddoit]

Hi Jonathan

 

I realised it's getting a bit late/risk of warm weather, but there has been a bit of a delay getting it milled. It will be done on a large static Stenner mill able to cut the full width planks to minimise the kerf/sawdust. I'll be stacking it on the north side of our house with ply covering the top and ends, so hopefully it will be fine. I'll post some pictures in due course.

 

Andrew

[nick1854]

Andrew

 

I have no experience of drying solid oak burr but like Jonathan would love to see some pictures. Bet you can't wait to see inside the log...Are you planning a dining table with a solid burr top?

[Rob D]

I think your plan sounds like a good one.

 

 

I milled one I'd had in the yard (for 2 years ) the other day - some nice timber but also a lot of shake...

[Timmy C]

Hi Andrew,

 

This isn't by any chance the butt I sold you?

 

Looking forward to seeing some pics and hope it yields some lovely timber!

 

Tim

[slackbladder]

Hi

Would you put some pics up when you finish milling

[Copford sawmill sussex]

With burr you will get the best planks off the outside, I would skim it all round to see the best bits then take planks accordingly once you have taken planks off all sides you can turn the rest I to any joinery you may need for legs etc.

Personal exp only qtr sawn stay flat ish all planks will warp bit with burr you have got to accept as you said you can then cut down and plain once dry to regain some beautifull burrs

 

 

http://Www.Copfordsawmill.co.uk

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[ucoulddoit]

Thanks for all the comments and yes Tim, it is the butt I bought from you.

 

I know the general advice with 'burry' timber is to cut planks off the outside and rotate it after each cut, but I'm hoping this one will be almost solid burr to the centre over at least half the circumference, so I'll take a chance and cut it through and through on this half of the butt. My priority is to get really wide planks, at least one of which will hopefully be a solid burr oak dining table top. The other half has a bit less burr, so I'll rotate it 90 degrees to get some 50mm quarter sawn planks and some thicker pieces on the outside.

 

Andrew

[Copford sawmill sussex]

The burr can diminish quite rapidly (usually) but have fun and post some photos up!

 

 

http://Www.Copfordsawmill.co.uk

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