Ideas how to make use of oak timber for board/flooring etc ?

[robb]

I have very large (living) white oak 32" (inch) diameter and 60-70'(feet) tall that will need to come down soon as it is slowly becoming a hazard. It would be a shame if it were to go up a chimney or into some chipper unless that is all that is possible.

I was hoping I could salvage the wood somehow, possibly for making boards, oak flooring possibly ? any other ideas ?

How do i go about that ? who to call ? what to search for ?

I don't know the value of such an idea (how much board produced) nor who or what to search for. A more knowledgeable neighbor said a big mill usually won't touch any urban trees or they won't touch the first 12 feet due to contamination with nails, screws, etc . Additionally he suggested with larger mills the tree will just be added to a collection of trees with no guarantee any boards you get will come from that tree.

So I am looking for ideas and advice on what to do with such a large tree and how to go about it ?

Thanks for any helpful ideas, robb

[none]

Wood-Mizer has a network of private owners that will come to your location and slice wood ready for drying. The only thing I'm not sure about is who to hire or how to determine that your tree is healthy and solid, not rotted out on the inside. You might be able to determine that by getting someone local to cut is down and then examine the core.

[Ed Pawlowski]

It seems backwards, but it may be best to call the Wood-Mizer guy referred to you first. He may have a cousin that takes trees down or will give you a lead on a reasonably priced arborist.

Once the wood is cut, you will have to stack and dry it, but you mayh already know about that. It would be nice to do the floors or make furniture from the wood growing in your yard.

As for the comment about the nails and screws int he tree, I bought some cherry a while back and one of the boards had shotgun pellets embedded in it.

[woodchucker]

You will have to pay for any damage to a blade, about $60 for the small mill. So if there are nails or screws you pay for each lost blade. Small price to pay.

[Sonny]

You say it's in a hazardous position, so I assume you, yourself, won't be c utting it down. A tree service will likely charge you $2K-$3K to cut down that size tree... that pricing may include removing the wood and grinding t he stump. I would think, just to cut the tree down, they would charge $1K, at the least, in an urban setting.

Once the tree is down: A private miller, with portable mill, may charge $150-$200 just to mill (th rough-&-through cutting method) the lumber, itself, and charge an additiona l fee for his going to you, setup.... another $200 (i.e., $100/hr)?

Using a through-and-through cutting method (cheapest and have the natrual e dge on at least one edge of your boards), 1/3 of your lumber will be quarte r sawn and you'll get about 1200-1500 Square ft of lumber (boards milled to 1 1/4" thick).... or you'll get maybe 1500-1700 Square ft of lumber, if th e boards are milled to 1" thickness. *Lumber is usually milled to 1 1/4" t hick, to allow for subsequent planing to desired finished thickness.... ER Cedar may be, generally is, an exception to that.

Once your lumber is milled, kiln drying will cost you. If doing your own a ir drying, you will have about 5%-10% of your lumber warp or check, to the point that it may be waste, having to trim it for your flooring application .

Sonny

[dpb]

On 3/21/2014 10:44 AM, Sonny wrote: ...

...

Only quibble I have is that hardwoods are roughsawn and sold in bulk on "quarters" -- 4/4 and 5/4 are two very common thicknesses. If the intent is for flooring w/ 3/4" thickness there's no sense in sawing at

5/4 with a full 1/2 overage. If the sawyer is any good at all he'll be able to hit the mark spot-on.

If the purpose is general-purpose furniture/cabinet-making then there would be reason to saw several different thickness including some 6- and

8/4 for structural pieces as legs, cabinet bases, etc., ...

Much depends on what is found about the quality of the log and also whether we're talking a white oak or one of the reds--the white oak of that size if good log could be well worth cutting for the quarter-sawn features ensuing therefrom.

[Sonny]

"quarters" -- 4/4 and 5/4 are two very common thicknesses. If the intent is for flooring w/ 3/4" thickness there's no sense in sawing at 5/4 with a fu ll 1/2 overage. If the sawyer is any good at all he'll be able to hit the m ark spot-on. If the purpose is general-purpose furniture/cabinet-making the n there would be reason to saw several different thickness including some 6

- and 8/4 for structural pieces as legs, cabinet bases, etc., ... Much depe nds on what is found about the quality of the log and also whether we're ta lking a white oak or one of the reds--the white oak of that size if good lo g could be well worth cutting for the quarter-sawn features ensuing therefr om. --

Yep, I agree with all you say. I was thinking flooring, only.

I've been using a private miller for 20+ years and my price quoting was for my area, south Louisiana. I think I get a little discount, being buddies with the miller's Uncle, the original miller.

That walnut log I had milled 2 yrs ago, 1 1/4" thick for table tops, got ab out 400 bf of lumber and we hit 2 nails (2 blades), he charged me $120 tota l - $26 per blade, his cost, no mark up. I brought the log to him, also.

I'm hoping to have a 20"-24", 10' pecan log milled tomorrow. We'll see wha t the fee is for 1 1/2" - 2" slabs, for making some "George Nakashima" hea dboards.

Sonny

[hubops]

Like the others have posted - get a guy with a portable bandsaw mill.

If you can give him a full days work - and provide a couple good grunts to assist - you'd be surprised how quickly a pile of lumber appears ! Your oak tree might be only ~ 2 hours of sawing .. Good luck - let us all know how it works out. John T.

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[Morgans]

even better, get a nephew or neighbor of someone to shoot some video and post it somewhere.

[robb]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Great ideas that I was unaware. I am a little wiser now.

I am close to Atlanta and there are a number of hits on the Wood-Mizer within 45 minute drive.

The tree is a little bigger than i thought, it is 10 ft around 4 ft off the ground (so 36 inches) maybe taller too.

I will try to remember a video if I take that path.

If I didn't have a convenient place for stacking that much wood for drying would a large non-conditioned storage unit work ? maybe there is a timing or technical issue for not doing that.

thanks again to all for ideas and help , robb

[Sonny]

ng would a large non-conditioned storage unit work ?

Definitely, it will work. Lumber is air dried all the time. Dries about 1 " thickness per year. Sticker the lumber for air drying. Wash off (water hose) the saw dust, before stickering/stacking.... sometimes sawdust (and dirt dust) retains moisture long enough for it to mold and mildew on the bo ard's faces, causing blackening or other discoloring on your boards, so get the sawdust off before storing/drying.

I just had a log milled and this morning hosed the boards/sawdust off, see pics here:

Sonny

Sonny

[woodchucker]

That pecan looks nice... I have never worked with it, but I like the results when I have seen stuff made with it...

[clare]

A shipping contailer out in the sun with a vent at the one top corner and another on the oposite bottom corner wil "kiln dry" the wood in a couple weeks - not sure with the humidity in Atlanta though