milling thread

I know cedar doesn't warp too much but evidently mesquite doesn't either .I wouldn't know because my knowledge of same does not extend much past the charcoal . Which I might add does give grilled meats a nice flavor .

At any rate if a person hung a slab of green oak that large for a mantle it could warp and split in 40 directions . Besides that you would need a small crane to lift it .
 
I got a few pics of the mill operation today. Split a big sycamore so I could get it on the mill. Was 44"x39" 10 feet long. It's a lot of work to quarter saw the big logs, you get a lot of flat sawn, which in this case is very plain, but the results are worth it, as you can see in the last pic.:D That's a 13"x 1 3/16" x 10" dead clear board. Got a few of those.
 

Attachments

  • thsycamore.jpg
    thsycamore.jpg
    158.4 KB · Views: 60
  • thmill.jpg
    thmill.jpg
    88.8 KB · Views: 59
  • thsycamore2.jpg
    thsycamore2.jpg
    113 KB · Views: 59
Awesome thread.

We mill at work a bit with an alaskan mill.
It's the largest size, we run an 88 on it.

Right now we need something like 40 log benches, bit of milling coming up.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #60
Looks real similar to the mill that did my log. Very nice machine!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #63
A little less than I thought, just under 400 board feet. Mostly 3 bys, 3 4 bys and some 1 and 2 bys. Stickered and waiting for a buyer.:)
 

Attachments

  • milling 022.jpg
    milling 022.jpg
    248.5 KB · Views: 57
  • milling 023.jpg
    milling 023.jpg
    176 KB · Views: 55
  • milling 024.jpg
    milling 024.jpg
    180.2 KB · Views: 56
My log buyer is a real good score for me. I also sold him a couple maple logs when he picked up the rest of the black walnut. No big money like the walnut but it sure as hell made it worthwhile bringing them home.;)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #69
Heck yeah, about $2 B/F! Nothin like your walnut log but hey....
 
I get real good prices for sure. 3 bills for 4 maple shorts as straight up logs. And the guy wants basically any wood I can get in lengths. I don't think I'll be milling anything myself in the forseeable future.
 
We have a friend in the bay area who does some wood working and he came to visit last weekend. I gave him a slab cut from a black walnut stump that I cleaned up from the neighbor's place. He said that a chunk of wood like that retail is $500. It was just a round slab, 12" in dia and 4" thick.
 
What species of walnut is grown for the nut crops in your area? Is it popular for wood workers? Sounds like you might have a niche market opportunity.
 
I've thought of that. Most walnut trees (60%+-)in this area are english walnut grafted onto a black walnut, the balance are english grafted onto paradox root stock (cross between english and black). Anything planted in the last fifty years or so has the graft about a foot high, so there's not much black walnut wood.
 
Steve, you mention black walnut as root stock, but isn't Claro Walnut more prevalent in your area? Big demand for that amongst gun stock and furniture makers. I heard that years ago, there was little market for the walnut, so the farmers culling the less productive trees every year, ended up burning it. The graft area grain can be very nice as well.

It seems that a lot of wood will come out of a big orchard every year.
 
I have never heard the term Claro before. I looked it up and it is the same wood as Paradox. Black walnut is a little more prevalent but not by much. Is the english walnut wood good also?
 
Back
Top