Tips for milling and air-drying white oak?

[JonasBailer]

We have several logs from fallen chestnut oak, willow oak, and white oak trees I plan to have milled around the end of August. I've never had a sawyer mill lumber from my trees before, so this is a bit new to me. I was planning on cutting the trees to 8/4 and then air drying outside stacked & stickered with some metal roofing for rain protection and shade cloth for sun protection. I know this will take a year or two to air dry and I'll likely have to finish off with a kiln at some point too. What other tips/suggestions would you have for me? I have no idea what I'm going to use the wood for, so is 8/4 silly? Should I go slightly smaller at 6/4 or 5/4 instead? I do have a bandsaw with 14" resaw capacity, but the idea of putting 8-10' long lumber through it is a bit intimidating.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Since most of the wood I use is in the 3/4 - 1" range (finished), I have most of my wood cut to 5/4. By the time it's dry it's down to about 1 - 1 1/8", and planes down to 3/4 - 7/8". I would keep maybe 15 - 20% at 8/4, but the rest at 5/4.

 

[JonasBailer]

Since most of the wood I use is in the 3/4 - 1" range (finished), I have most of my wood cut to 5/4. By the time it's dry it's down to about 1 - 1 1/8", and planes down to 3/4 - 7/8". I would keep maybe 15 - 20% at 8/4, but the rest at 5/4.

Thanks. That's kind of what I was thinking. I'd like to keep a handful of thicker pieces for bench seats or other outdoor projects but figured the rest could be thinner.

 

[blackhawk]

I agree with Bill. Like Bill, I end up finishing most of my lumber to 3/4". For finished 3/4" lumber, everyone in my area rough saws at 1-1/8" thick. This will count as 4/4 lumber, which helps you if your sawyer charges by the board foot. I've never had a 3/4" board not clean up if it was rough sawn at 1-1/8". Probably 50% would clean up at a finished 7/8" depending on species. This is assuming that your sawyer cuts straight without any blade diving. That's the one big thing to watch for with portable bandsaw mills.

 

[Gofor]

A little late for your purposes, but with oak and walnut, its best to get the logs off the ground (up on concrete blocks or on asphalt/pavement) when waiting for slabbing. If on blocks, spray around the blocks and keep leaves/debris from building up around them. This will slow down or eliminate the Betsy Beetles from laying their eggs under the bark. Once they get going, it doesn't take them long to start burrowing 1/8" diameter tunnels into the sap wood. If you have loose bark, odds are they have already been at work for some time.

Cutting the slabs at 5/4 is fine, but you may want to cut some 12/4 if you plan on wanting some for table legs, etc. Cutting those where they will be rift sawn will give the most even grain pattern on all four sides.

As for the spray to use, insect spray works, but if you are into more bio-friendly, use boric acid (Roach Pruf) and throw down some diatomaceous earth. It will wash away when it rains, so will have to be reapplied. Used motor oil or transmission fluid painted on the blocks will also discourage insects from crawling over them.

 

[JonasBailer]

Interesting. Should I be de-barking the logs while I wait? They're on the ground, and without a big tractor there's not much chance of me moving them before the sawyer comes unfortunately.

 

[Rwe2156]

Depending on how long they’ve been down, beetles could already be doing their thing. Look closely at the bark for evidence of fresh sawdust. You’ll know more when you open up the logs. Be aware it is not easy to spot the little borer holes in rough cut lumber, so look carefully, especially in the sapwood.

While sawing if there is evidence of recent borer activity (dust residue in crevices of bark) it will most likely be in the sapwood, so be sure to cut that off.

Sweep all the loose sawdust off the boards and spray with either BoraCare or TimBor. They are termite treatments but they work on powder post beetles, too. I wouldn’t let the sawn lumber lay around too long, as PPB’s can lay eggs, hatch and start munching in short order in the summer.

I may seem overly concerned but I’ve had too much lumber ruined over the years b/c I either was ignorant or didn’t think about it.

The borate treatments really do work.

 

[Gofor]

Interesting. Should I be de-barking the logs while I wait? They're on the ground, and without a big tractor there's not much chance of me moving them before the sawyer comes unfortunately.

Debarking is a double-edged sword. Pulling off the bark will better expose the larva, but it also will result in the outer wood drying much faster than the deeper wood. This will end up as cracking, which could be severe. The larva that have already tunneled into the sap wood will just keep on munching.

Even if you debark, any wood laying on the ground or covered with debris will still be wet and soft enough for the larva to keep on. My observations lead me to believe the first larva tunnel through the bark and start with eating the cambria layer, ultimately separating the bark. Their frass and the loose bark allows more moisture to soften the wood underneath, making it more palatable. I have also found adult beetles under the loose bark, leading me to believe that they keep on laying eggs, repeating the process as the outer wood gets deteriorated.

I would follow DrBob's advise above, and leave the bark on until ready to go on the mill. At that time, pull off any loose bark that may case problems during the slabbing. As he said, the holes may be hard to spot. Not only will the tunnel behind the larvae be filled with frass, it will also have sawdust in it from the slabbing.

 

[Barry W]

JonasBailer, Thanks much for posing this query. I am having timber cut and have been pleasently surprised at the amount of white oak we have. I have asked the crew cutting to have a couple of logs quarter-sawn for my use. Your post has answered a number of questions I didn't know to ask.

 

[jfynyson]

Any reason why not get these cut into full width 8/4 slabs other than tougher to handle moving the pile if you do not want the one on top (and if you specifically want quarter or rift sawn sections thicker than 8/4) ? Seems like it would be much cheaper/faster for milling then you could cut the sections you want for specific projects. Maybe risk more warping due to the widths and specifially the piecews with the pith but in the end you'd be cutting around those parts anyhow. I've noticed at lumber stores the full width slabs cost much more but they admit it's cheaper to make.

 

[Barry W]

I was thinking that thicker would take longer to dry. It's simply that I like the look of quarter-sawn and my only expense is the sawyer. However, 8/4 sounds interesting. (are we stealing JonasBailer's thread?).

 

[blackhawk]

Any reason why not get these cut into full width 8/4 slabs other than tougher to handle moving the pile if you do not want the one on top (and if you specifically want quarter or rift sawn sections thicker than 8/4) ? Seems like it would be much cheaper/faster for milling then you could cut the sections you want for specific projects. Maybe risk more warping due to the widths and specifially the piecews with the pith but in the end you'd be cutting around those parts anyhow. I've noticed at lumber stores the full width slabs cost much more but they admit it's cheaper to make.

Sound like a good idea, but in my experience doing it this way has a lot of drawbacks.
1) takes twice as long to dry at 4/4
2) if the sawyer charges by the bf, you are paying the same for one big slab as you would for several smaller boards
3) slabs are incredibly heavy. I've sawn some that are well over 400 lbs wet.
4) if you saw at 8/4, you probably won't get 2 finished 3/4" boards after re-sawing. Plus the pain of re-sawing.
5) handling slabs on your table saw is not fun, dealing with the live edge, weight, etc.

 

[jfynyson]

I was thinking that thicker would take longer to dry. It's simply that I like the look of quarter-sawn and my only expense is the sawyer. However, 8/4 sounds interesting. (are we stealing JonasBailer's thread?).

I thought about if this was hijacking the thread before I posted....I think this side conversation was still at the heart of the OP as it relates to discussing thickness ideas, log sizes, resawing etc. Gives him some good things to consider I believe

 

[JonasBailer]

My sawyer charges by the hour, not by the board foot. So fewer cuts would be cheaper for me, but like you said it would just translate into longer drying time and more labor on my table saw / band saw.

 

[jfynyson]

My sawyer charges by the hour, not by the board foot. So fewer cuts would be cheaper for me, but like you said it would just translate into longer drying time and more labor on my table saw / band saw.

Cutting down the slabs using a circular saw or even a jigsaw is easier/safer/quicker to get into manageable pieces before milling to final dimensions. But if going with 8/4 thickness for 3/4 finished then anything thicker than 6/4 as mentioned above is more waste and if you want 3/4 from 8/4 stock then you likely won't get it after milling. Could get 6/4 slabs but then the only concern is material handling. I would think 5/4 or less would result in increased warpage risk but I could be wrong as I've never dealt with this.

 

[Rwe2156]

My sawyer charges by the hour, not by the board foot. So fewer cuts would be cheaper for me, but like you said it would just translate into longer drying time and more labor on my table saw / band saw.

I've never heard of that. But, sawing 8/4 lumber has all the drawbacks @blackhawk cited above.

Unless you have a specific need for 8/4, its best to mill at 4/4 or 5/4. For example if I were doing a table top and wanted a finished thickness of 1" I would have it milled at 6/4.

If its nice straight logs, personally I would get as much quartersawn as I could, waste be darned.