ucoulddoit

Interesting thread and I think the last post suggesting a separate pile of half decent logs in case a buyer turns up is a good idea. I'm a'hobby' craftsman and have bought round timber this way for about 10 years. Always wondered what the 'going rate' should be. But I've found that the following has worked fine. Minimum £50 a ton for round logs which I then move in a hired tipper, but more (sometimes a lot more) for really good quality logs/hard to get species. Also, I aim to spend a minimum of £25 each visit, even if I only take away something small to reduce the risk of being viewed as a timewaster. I've found this approach has meant people are happy to get repeat business and I now get calls when suitable timber is available. Recently offered an oak with a girth of 15 feet and 45 feet to the first branch! Too big for me at the moment so it will go for logs. From my point of view the yew logs look terrific for milling and now that I have a couple of Alaskan mills, am just sorry that I'm too far away. But someone will want them if you can hang onto them for a while. Have you tried the Woodnet website? Andrew

Thanks for the encouragement Big J. The walnut is drying fine and I'm looking forward to using it. Attached pictures are the shelves I think you are referring to made using some small pieces of burr elm (from a 2 ton log I bought and had milled a few years ago). I've cut some of walnut in the same way and the thin sections have dried much quicker than waiting for a large block to dry before cutting out the curved sections. Just a bit awkward sticking small curved sections to let them dry. Andrew

Are you wanting to dry timber from green or already air dried? If drying small quantities of timber to a low moisture content (7 - 8% for use in a centrally heated house) is your priority rather than drying it quickly from freshly cut/green planks, then you can do this without a kiln. Planks can be air dried outdoors down to a moisture content of between 15% to 18% and the rule of thumb is a year per inch thickness. I run a dehumidifier in my small workshop and simply put a small stack of air dried timber in the corner which then slowly dries to the required moisture content. It takes a while to dry in this way, for instance I often leave two inch planks for about 6 months. But there is the advantage that the workshop is also kept dry so that machinery and tools don't rust and dried timber stored in the workshop stays dry and ready for instant use. I adjust the dehumidifier settings so that the air is not too dry to start with, to reduce the risk of causing splits/degrade, then steadily reduce the humidity settings over a period of weeks/months, monitoring the air humidity with a cheap hygrometer and the moisture content in the timber with a pin meter. There is a table available showing the relationship between the equilibrium moisture content in the timber against relative humidity in the air. I aim for a final relative humidity in the workshop of about 40%. Even the smallest dehumidifiers are more than big enough for a small workshop. I've been using this method for about 10 years and have been drying more timber than I can manage to use, albeit that I only make a few things a year in my spare time. I've seen the same idea done but with the stack covered with a plastic sheet which also covers the dehumidifier so this may work faster. Andrew andrewbriggsfurniture.co.uk

I'm keen to buy some plum, pear or walnut trunks for milling. I live in Glasgow but would travel up to 100 miles or so to collect suitable tree trunks or could pass on your details if you have stuff further south.