Tom wrote:
> I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
I haven't tried using limbs for project wood, but from what I've read,
it's far from ideal because limbs are a mix of compression wood (bottom
of branch) and tension wood (top of branch). When this mix of wood is
ripped into boards, these two types of wood will almost definitely not
dry evenly, but instead will cause the board to warp, twist, bend, cup,
crack, etc.
I have had experience with a 2x4 from a tree that must have been
leaning - when I ripped it into 2x2s on the bandsaw, it went from a
straight board to 2 wildly curved boards. Crazy - I'm glad I wasn't
using a TS where it could have grabbed the blade and bound up.
I'm not sure how this type of wood affects turning - hopefully someone
else will contribute to that question.
Check out the following article for more info:
http://www.woodzone.com/articles/reaction_wood.htm
Sorry to spoil your great idea - is there any wood left from a straight
trunk of that english walnut?
Andy
You could make a kiln. A lot depends on the conditions under which you
store the wood, too. Proper stickering(allows airflow around all
sides)can help. These are pretty small pieces to begin with, and
allowing for checking, splitting, movement, etc., may eat up a lot of
your stock. Perhaps others here can advise, too. Tom
Tom wrote:
> I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
> that was recently cut down.
> My brother in law is going to cut them down into boards. He said to let
> them dry for a couple years before I use them. How do I do this? Is
> there a quicker way?
tom wrote:
> You could make a kiln. A lot depends on the conditions under which you
> store the wood, too. Proper stickering(allows airflow around all
> sides)can help. These are pretty small pieces to begin with, and
> allowing for checking, splitting, movement, etc., may eat up a lot of
> your stock. Perhaps others here can advise, too. Tom
> Tom wrote:
> > I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
> > that was recently cut down.
> > My brother in law is going to cut them down into boards. He said to let
> > them dry for a couple years before I use them. How do I do this? Is
> > there a quicker way?
1" thick lumber stickered and kept in a hot attic for one summer should
be useable that winter.
Wood frokm tree limbs (DAGS "reaction wood") is reported to have
poor stablity so one might keep that in mind when planning
the project.
--
FF
Andy wrote:
> Tom wrote:
> > I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
>
> I haven't tried using limbs for project wood, but from what I've read,
> it's far from ideal because limbs are a mix of compression wood (bottom
> of branch) and tension wood (top of branch). When this mix of wood is
> ripped into boards, these two types of wood will almost definitely not
> dry evenly, but instead will cause the board to warp, twist, bend, cup,
> crack, etc.
>
Not only that, but even if you managed to get the boards small enough
to straighten and flatten in the beginning, the normal seasonal changes
would be exaggerated by the compression/tension issue such that you
would have boards that squiggled around like a frightened python.
As for turning the wood, I can't say. But I imagine the same issues
would come into play with seasonal changes.
On the other hand, you would have absolutely deLIGHTful firewood...
Prometheus wrote:
> On 1 Jun 2006 10:44:08 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >
> >Andy wrote:
> >> Tom wrote:
> >> > I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
> >>
>
> >As for turning the wood, I can't say. But I imagine the same issues
> >would come into play with seasonal changes.
>
> It's great for turning, but don't ask how to dry it if you value your
> sanity- anything from dishsoap to burying it out in the yard wrapped
> in cheesecloth while performing Voodoo rituals is fair game in that
> context.
Good to know...thanks. One of these days I'm going to take the plunge
and get a lathe. The only reason I don't have one now is that, if I
did, I really wouldn't leave the house at all anymore.
BTW, if you go the Voodoo route, should the feet be from a right-tilt
or a left-tilt chicken? :-)
On 1 Jun 2006 10:44:08 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
>Andy wrote:
>> Tom wrote:
>> > I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
>>
>As for turning the wood, I can't say. But I imagine the same issues
>would come into play with seasonal changes.
It's great for turning, but don't ask how to dry it if you value your
sanity- anything from dishsoap to burying it out in the yard wrapped
in cheesecloth while performing Voodoo rituals is fair game in that
context.
how thick are they cut? figure 1 year dry time for every inch of
thickness for normal air drying on stick spacers called stickers. to dry
quicker add heat but not to much as it will lead to problems . depending
on the part of the country your in and relative humidity, i would
suggest after air drying for a couple 3-4 weeks take it up to about 112
degrees with air circulation with relative humidity lower than the
moisture content of the wood and it will dry much faster.
look up kiln drying on the web.
ross
Do not even think of trying to use a lumber maker of any make or model
on short pieces of tree branches.
My friend, I have an attachment to cut lumber using my chain saw. I can
tell you that they work. But you should know this: Every one of them
needs a guide plank to guide the saw. The Beam machine uses a 2 X 4,
mine and I believe the one you are looking at uses at least a 2 X 6 or a
2 X 8 about 10 feet long. The absolute shortest beam would have to be 4
feet long. And it would scare me to attempt to cut one that short. The
guide beam has to be nailed down to the tree trunk you are cutting, at
least to make the first couple of cuts, after that they guide on a
previous cut. I have cut up very many trees into lumber with it, and the
cuts are very rough which needs a lot of planing down to get it smooth.
Now having given you that information, Let me tell you that I would
NEVER, NEVER, attempt to use such a lumber cutter on a short piece of
Branch, regardless of the thickness of the branch. That would be almost
like looking into the muzzle of a gun to see if the bullet will come out
while you pull the trigger. It would be an accident waiting to happen.
If you can't resaw it on a band saw, forget it, unless you plan on
resawing it with a hand saw. Remember that small pieces like that bounce
around very easily, for they have no weight to hold them down.
Zap
Bob Moos wrote:
> Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote:
>
>>Nothing but high-tech massive macho machinery for me. I whacked off
>>the bark with a hand axe and then cut the logs on my Grizzly 14"
>>bandsaw and sanded them on a belt sander. Eventually I bought a DeWalt
>>thickness planer and now use that to finish the stuff off.
>
>
> I've been toying with the idea of how to do something similar. I
> could get a tool to do the debarking and I just got a planer, but I
> don't have a bandsaw though.
>
> After a recent trip to Woodcraft I got a copy of thier current
> catalog, inside is this thing called a Haddon Lumbermaker[1].
> There's not a lot of details about it in either the catalog or the
> web site, but it looks like it's an accessory that can be hooked
> to a chainsaw.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone has one of these devices and how well it might
> (or might not) work? If this thing does a reasonable job, that seems
> like a relatively inexpensive way to create some rough timbers.
>
> [1]: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=3037
"Andy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Tom wrote:
>> I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
>
> I haven't tried using limbs for project wood, but from what I've read,
> it's far from ideal because limbs are a mix of compression wood (bottom
> of branch) and tension wood (top of branch). When this mix of wood is
> ripped into boards, these two types of wood will almost definitely not
> dry evenly, but instead will cause the board to warp, twist, bend, cup,
> crack, etc.
> I have had experience with a 2x4 from a tree that must have been
> leaning - when I ripped it into 2x2s on the bandsaw, it went from a
> straight board to 2 wildly curved boards. Crazy - I'm glad I wasn't
> using a TS where it could have grabbed the blade and bound up.
> I'm not sure how this type of wood affects turning - hopefully someone
> else will contribute to that question.
All of the above is true, and turnings are generally spun oversize, left to
dry and contort, then re-turned for circular. Don't need straight boards
for that.
All you ever wanted to know about drying and wood at
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm
Right price, too.
I'd saw five or six quarter hoping for useable four.
On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 09:12:22 -0500, "Bob Moos"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote:
>> Nothing but high-tech massive macho machinery for me. I whacked off
>> the bark with a hand axe and then cut the logs on my Grizzly 14"
>> bandsaw and sanded them on a belt sander. Eventually I bought a DeWalt
>> thickness planer and now use that to finish the stuff off.
>
>I've been toying with the idea of how to do something similar.
Just an opinion, but if I have a choice, and I do, of making wood or
making stuff with the wood, I'd rather spend my time doing the latter
...and I do, and get a lot more done that way. I have dealt with the
odd piece, but would not buy the tools for mass production unless I
was mass producing ...which takes us back to the beginning. I had a
mess of rough lumber [oak, maple, cherry , walnut] given to me. I
took it to the mill and had it planed for $85Can. They had to scrub
it again before planing, even after I'd wire-brushed it, so the cost
was almost all labour. Now I'm making stuff.
Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote:
> Nothing but high-tech massive macho machinery for me. I whacked off
> the bark with a hand axe and then cut the logs on my Grizzly 14"
> bandsaw and sanded them on a belt sander. Eventually I bought a DeWalt
> thickness planer and now use that to finish the stuff off.
I've been toying with the idea of how to do something similar. I
could get a tool to do the debarking and I just got a planer, but I
don't have a bandsaw though.
After a recent trip to Woodcraft I got a copy of thier current
catalog, inside is this thing called a Haddon Lumbermaker[1].
There's not a lot of details about it in either the catalog or the
web site, but it looks like it's an accessory that can be hooked
to a chainsaw.
I'm wondering if anyone has one of these devices and how well it might
(or might not) work? If this thing does a reasonable job, that seems
like a relatively inexpensive way to create some rough timbers.
[1]: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=3037
[email protected] wrote:
>
> BTW, if you go the Voodoo route, should the feet be from a right-tilt
> or a left-tilt chicken? :-)
>
>
Depends on the phase of the Moon.
Tom wrote:
> I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
> that was recently cut down.
> My brother in law is going to cut them down into boards. He said to
> let them dry for a couple years before I use them. How do I do this?
> Is there a quicker way?
Buy a kiln if you want quick. Or - if the dimensions you stated are
correct - use your oven.
--
dadiOH
____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
Hi Tom,
Each one who has responded to your question is right. Indeed they are.
but what have you got to loose except some time? I wouldn't bother with
a Kiln myself, not for those few small pieces. I would only air dry. I
do like that idea of putting those small pieces in the attic during the
summer. I never thought of that. The heat up there would really drive
that water out.
Who knows how it will turn out. At that size, even if they twist and
warp badly, you may be able to match two pieces which are twisted or
warped into a nice shelf. Imagine the two upright sides each twisted in
the opposite direction and placed between two shelves so that a smaller
shelf was at the top, and a larger shelf at the bottom, with the sides
twisted out to make that bottom shelf a curved shelf. What an Eye
catcher it would be. How many would ask you how you managed to do that?
The key is always to make use of what you have available to you. There
is always a way to either fix, or to make use of some flaw in a piece of
wood. I have seen many beautiful item made which was greatly enhanced by
a flaw in the piece.
Yes, each answer is right and correct. Each has a valid point which only
you can evaluate. I know that I have made things out of some woods
which others said should have been firewood, but they came out as
beautiful pieces.
Note the even if a piece twists, bends, and cracks very badly, you can
always cut it down even smaller to make things like pens, handles,
candle holder, and such. It does not have to be kept as large pieces.
Gentlemen, I than each of you for your answers, they bring back many
memories of the times when I cut down trees, cut into lumber myself with
a chainsaw, air dried, and then built with, and used for many projects.
Yes even some for the firewood for my wood burning furnace. Even the
bark could go into the furnace.
Zap
Tom wrote:
> I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
> that was recently cut down.
> My brother in law is going to cut them down into boards. He said to let
> them dry for a couple years before I use them. How do I do this? Is
> there a quicker way?
>
Not being an expert like most here, I did cut up some walnut a friend
had stacked up for firewood outside. I don't know if that made a
difference - it wasn't protected from rain/snow etc so it went from
wet to dry and back again.
I made several boards about 3/8" thick by about 18-20" long and maybe
5-6" wide. II've used them for a lot of little projects as trim and
handles and even box lids and they haven't given me any grief after a
couple of years glued together.
On 1 Jun 2006 09:23:04 -0700, "Tom" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I have a few 6" diameter by 15" long English Walnut limbs of a tree
>that was recently cut down.
>My brother in law is going to cut them down into boards. He said to let
>them dry for a couple years before I use them. How do I do this? Is
>there a quicker way?
Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote:
> Not being an expert like most here, I did cut up some walnut a friend
> had stacked up for firewood outside.
[...]
> I made several boards about 3/8" thick by about 18-20" long and maybe
> 5-6" wide.
I'm guessing you didn't have one of those fancy and expensive
portable saw mills like a Wood-Mizer[1]. How did you go about
making the boards?
[1]: http://www.woodmizer.com/
On 1 Jun 2006 18:26:51 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>> It's great for turning, but don't ask how to dry it if you value your
>> sanity- anything from dishsoap to burying it out in the yard wrapped
>> in cheesecloth while performing Voodoo rituals is fair game in that
>> context.
>
>Good to know...thanks. One of these days I'm going to take the plunge
>and get a lathe. The only reason I don't have one now is that, if I
>did, I really wouldn't leave the house at all anymore.
>
>BTW, if you go the Voodoo route, should the feet be from a right-tilt
>or a left-tilt chicken? :-)
Left tilt, though some say a right-tilt is ok when the moon is full.
But in any case, you have to soak yourself in alcohol for a bit, wash
your hands with dishsoap, put on a mask of PEG, let the wood sit for a
while on the cool floor, then stick it up on a high shelf in a paper
bag and rotate 3.7 degrees on it's axis every second Tuesday for
several years, microwave it, boil it- and then do the aforementioned
ritual.
Of course, sometimes they still crack even then. :)
Lathes are fun, but they really are an odd little world unto
themselves.
Nothing but high-tech massive macho machinery for me. I whacked off
the bark with a hand axe and then cut the logs on my Grizzly 14"
bandsaw and sanded them on a belt sander. Eventually I bought a DeWalt
thickness planer and now use that to finish the stuff off.
On Fri, 2 Jun 2006 10:09:07 -0500, "Bob Moos"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Jim K <jkajpust@###ameritech.net> wrote:
>> Not being an expert like most here, I did cut up some walnut a friend
>> had stacked up for firewood outside.
>[...]
>> I made several boards about 3/8" thick by about 18-20" long and maybe
>> 5-6" wide.
>
>I'm guessing you didn't have one of those fancy and expensive
>portable saw mills like a Wood-Mizer[1]. How did you go about
>making the boards?
>
>[1]: http://www.woodmizer.com/
zap <[email protected]> wrote:
> Do not even think of trying to use a lumber maker of any make or model
> on short pieces of tree branches.
Thanks, that's good to know.
> My friend, I have an attachment to cut lumber using my chain saw. I can
> tell you that they work. But you should know this: Every one of them
> needs a guide plank to guide the saw.
I was wondering how things would get started with one of these
devices. I found the web site for the device[1] you mentioned. That
site explains a lot about how rough beams and planks can be made with a
chainsaw. That certainly looks to be something that's within my
budget and I'd be able to do.
> Now having given you that information, Let me tell you that I would
> NEVER, NEVER, attempt to use such a lumber cutter on a short piece of
> Branch, regardless of the thickness of the branch.
Good advice. Although not the subject of this thread, I was mostly
interested in this type of device for doing tree trunks.
Thanks!
[1]: http://www.beammachine.com/
Guess who <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just an opinion, but if I have a choice, and I do, of making wood or
> making stuff with the wood, I'd rather spend my time doing the latter
> ...and I do, and get a lot more done that way. I have dealt with the
> odd piece, but would not buy the tools for mass production unless I
> was mass producing ...
Agreed. I have no intention of being a sawyer. :) It's just
something I'd like to know how to do, so if I do happen to come across
a nice tree being taken down, I can do something with the trunk.
> . . . which takes us back to the beginning. I had a mess of rough
> lumber [oak, maple, cherry , walnut] given to me. I took it to the
> mill and had it planed for $85Can.
Ideally, I'd like to find a mill in my area where I could just take
the odd tree trunk to and have it cut for me. But I haven't found
that yet. The local hardwood dealer will only do sawyer work for
very large volumes, and thus it's neither cost effective for them
or me.