[BMLEE]

I thought some might enjoy my latest venture. This white oak came down in a storm this spring and I have spent the last several months milling it and a few of the very large branches into slabs.

 

[WoodfanIM]

Wow! That is a big log. I would love to have the equipment to do this very thing. I hate to see good ol trees get chopped up as firewood or something useless
Hopefully some of them slabs turn out to be nice tables

 

[Unknowncraftsman]

Awesome looking wood hope you can get it dry without too much cracking and splits or twist.
I like the big feather going up the middle

 

[Oregon Woodworker]

Nice job on the milling! I do a lot of milling also with an Alaskan sawmill (I posted on the different woods I have milled a couple of weeks ago). What model is your saw, and how long is your bar?

Here in Oregon we have Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) and I will milling some large trees within the next year.

I really like quarter sawn oak for furniture building. It is more wasteful and you can not cut as wide of slabs, but I plan on quarter sawing most of the oak that I will mill. Have you quarter sawn any of yours?

Don't forget to paint the ends of your stacked and stickered slabs!

 

[BMLEE]

Thanks for all of the comments.

I am planning on letting it air dry for a year or two and then possibly taking it to a vacuum kiln not far from me. I haven’t decided yet. I work mostly with all hand tools and usually prefer air dried lumber. I sealed all of the ends of the logs before milling shortly after cutting the tree into sections. Hopefully that will help.

I have a Stihl 881 on a custom build mill with 72” and a 96” cannon bars. Unfortunately I am slammed with constant overtime at work and also have another little one on the way (fortunately) so will probably end up selling the mill out of a lack of time to use it.

 

[Brawler]

I was told "branch wood" was not good to use as lumber because of all the stresses branches grow under. They will warp terribly. I don't know this as fact, but it does make sense to me. I was always under the impression that Trunk = lumber, Branches = firewood.

 

[Oregon Woodworker]

Thanks for all of the comments.

I am planning on letting it air dry for a year or two and then possibly taking it to a vacuum kiln not far from me. I haven’t decided yet. I work mostly with all hand tools and usually prefer air dried lumber. I sealed all of the ends of the logs before milling shortly after cutting the tree into sections. Hopefully that will help.

I have a Stihl 881 on a custom build mill with 72” and a 96” cannon bars. Unfortunately I am slammed with constant overtime at work and also have another little one on the way (fortunately) so will probably end up selling the mill out of a lack of time to use it.

That is quite the chainsaw mill set up! What state are you in?

 

[Jim55]

What brand Alskan Mill do you use and where did you get it?

 

[Oregon Woodworker]

What brand Alskan Mill do you use and where did you get it?

What brand Alskan Mill do you use and where did you get it?

Mine is the original Alaska chainsaw mill by Granberg. Google "Granberg International chainsaw mill" and you will find their site where I ordered mine. If you scroll down a way on this forum you will find my post from a couple of weeks ago where I put much more information about milling with an Alaska sawmill.

You may also be interested to see two projects (inlayed coffee table and inlayed fireplace mantle) that I posted in the Projects section. Both projects were built with wood that I milled with the Alaska chainsaw mill.

 

[BMLEE]

I built the sawmill frame from some Granberg parts and some aluminum and stainless. I am in North Carolina.

I have heard the same thing about branches. However, the branch sections I milled were all over 24” across, one over 36”, so I figured I would take the chance on them warping badly. They’re small trunks basically.

 

[Lazyman]

I have heard the same thing about branches. However, the branch sections I milled were all over 24” across, one over 36”, so I figured I would take the chance on them warping badly. They’re small trunks basically.

It is generally true that branches are more likely to warp. A good indicator is how off center the the middle or pith of the branch is. One that is way off center will indicate significant reaction wood (compression and tension wood) that may cause it to warp after milling into lumber. My understanding is that it is best not to mix compression wood and tension wood in the same board to minimize warping, which usually means smaller dimensions.

BTW, reaction wood can form in the main trunk of tree that are growing on steep slopes or leaning. Any time you see a pith that is off center, reaction wood is a risk.

 

[BMLEE]

That makes sense. All of these limbs had centrally located piths.