Why can't I comment? The input field isn't there... to be clear obviously I can reply to comments I cannot make a comment though. [EDIT: apparently I have to reply to a comment before I can make a comment... hmmm UA-cam algorithm be doing some screwy things these days.]
Milling my own lumber was the best thing I ever did as a new woodworker. I took down a big white oak in the yard, cut the trunk into sections, and had a local Amish mill cut the tree into quarter sawn rough lumber. I dried it for a few years, and made heirloom furniture for me and my family. A huge desk, a trestle dining table and a headboard. It was a great experience and taught me the entire process from tree to table.
in 2020 I had a mobile sawmill come out and slab up 4 white oak logs ranging from 6' - 10' long and 20-33" wide. They charged $350 to come out and for the first 3 hours. After that it was $100/hour I think. $30 per damaged blade. They damaged 3 blades. So out the door for $440 I got tons of slabs. I used my own tractor to handle the slabs as they milled them. Air dried 3 years before use. Already just about made my money back selling spare slabs plus I've made a number of tables and desks for personal use. I made my own router sled leveling table to flatten them. Overall it's been a pretty worthwhile endeavor I feel like. Definitely a lot of work and not for everyone though. One thing I wish I had known about was sealing the ends of the logs to reduce cracking. I'm having to do a lot more epoxy and bowties than I probably would have if I had sealed the ends. Epoxy/bowties look cool at least.
My Woodland Mills HM126 cost me about $2600 5 years ago and I love the freedom it brings. I was pricing hardwood floors and tongue-and-groove boards for the ceiling of a cabin I was finishing. With the boards for the walls, it was going to cost about $2500. Then a tree service gave me 8 logs (I only asked for one or two) of spalted sweetgum and hickory from trees that blew down in a hurricane two years prior. We decided to spend the money on a sawmill instead and did all the work ourselves. The project turned out amazing. We have a floor and ceiling that is beautiful and unique, and that couldn't have been bought. Plus, instead of that money going to a lumber mill, I still have a sawmill, which I use for other projects. So my advice is this: If you have the interest (and space on your property and no HOA issues), and maybe have specific projects in mind or just lost a tree or two, I recommend getting one yourself.
Love the video! - Also worth noting, if you're a woodturner doing bowls, you're almost guaranteed to be more cost effective milling it up yourself because all you need is a decent chainsaw and possibly a pick-up truck to move the stuff (assuming where you're getting it from is OK with you cutting it up where it sits). Lumber yards generally don't carry the sort of large thicknesses we're interested in due to it's long drying time (which we bypass some of by rough-turning while it's still green), so anything they do have is usually more expensive.
True! However...some mills might have a bunch of smaller log cutoffs which would be great for making bowl or turning blanks from! Thats what we do with our nice hardwoods, leave them in a pile and when a turner calls looking for material, we sell them a whole tiny log for a great deal!
Excellent video. A few things I would add after milling my own lumber for two years: 1. The 140F temperature cited for sterilization is the internal temperature. External temperature will need to be much higher. 2. Always debark your logs before milling them. This helps keep the blade sharp and helps with drying. 3. Always coat the ends of the logs to reduce checking and splitting. 4. A chainsaw mill is a great way to see whether you want to get into milling, and if you have a chainsaw it's very affordable. And my pet peeve, when you're using a chainsaw, like in the video, always wear chaps. Chainsaw leg injuries are ugly.
Chainsaws leave nasty scars on legs indeed. Learned that the hard way. Good reflexes _and_ good wound care have kept it limited to just scars though. If you ever get a serious chainsaw cut and need to get stitches, make sure you emphasize that there is skin missing. If you don't, they'll just pull it shut which will lead to a lumpy ugly scar that may stay painful or sore for life. In my case, the actual muscle damage was very limited, making me decide to _not_ get stitches at all. It takes a little longer to heal, but with no chance of encapsulated infection and a smooth scar without lumps.
1. Agreed 100%, this is what "Steady State Temperature" Implies. We usually set our kiln to 160 deg F 2. Also true, we have a debarker so we usually dont bother because it takes care of this for us while milling. Also, debarking can help extend the life of a log by slowing down the fungal rot process. 3. If you do coat the ends, only use a WAX coating, do NOT use Paint. So many people paint the ends of logs, and most conventional paints use clay as a thickening agent, and clay is basically ground up rocks which is terrible for saw blades.
Excellent video. As a sawmill operator and a woodworker I can really appreciate the info you are trying to relate to people. What a customer considers a great saw log often times is not.
I have been using an Alaska chainsaw mill with a big Stihl, 28" bar and ripping chain. it can handle a 24" log. I can haul it out to the remote parts of my woods on a sled and make lumber from trees I couldn't access any other way. chainsaw was bought on ebay and refurbished for a couple hundred dollars . I use a ladder for a guide to get true cuts. The whole rig has paid for itself many times over and I have a great supply of ash, hickory, maple, cherry and white pine.
I used to run a Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic portable sawmill. Great machine. There is so many logistics in sawmill, but I really enjoyed it. To pick up logs we modified a small trailer with a loading arc using a winch, great DIY way to pick up logs. Moving logs was certainly the most time consuming, labor intensive, and logistics intense part of the job.
Very helpful guys! Only important thing I don’t think you touched on in my experience is your personal time/energy expenditure for this task. I tried doing this once and I found it very frustrating dealing with a couple potential sawyers as pricing wasn’t straightforward nor was the timeline, when the boards would get sawn, go into the kiln, so on and so forth. They just don’t make their money dealing with homeowners with fallen yard trees so I felt like they were mostly just annoyed I was asking so many questions. So I feel like this was even a bit too encouraging for people who have a relatively small fallen cherry or walnut tree in their yard. Not to mention if your yard gets trashed by having to get it hauled away in one piece, which is dependent on access to the area. Unless you have something truly huge, straight, and premium species, I’d advise against it. Awesome video and very informative and entertaining.
I nearly got sucked into the home lumber milling black hole a few years ago. Fortunately, I did enough research to realize that as a guy who builds furniture part time, milling my own lumber was going to take a LOT of money and a LOT of time that would detract from making furniture, so I skipped the costly lesson. Anybody can buy a cheap mill and saw a random log into planks, but many of the trees people want to have turned into lumber are utter crap after sawing. Milling good lumber requires skill and knowledge, and it takes time to gain that knowledge and experience. You have to do a lot of milling to get good at it! I know several sawyers within 200 miles of my home who have that kind of skill, and I can buy usable lumber and slabs from them at a very decent price without falling down the home-lumber-mill rabbit hole. Yes, you might eventually save some money, but the investment in decent equipment and your valuable time typically takes years to recover. The MOST IMPORTANT detail about milling your own lumber that most people gloss over is that it will take at least a year after milling your tree into boards before you can start building with it.
Sometimes it isn't about saving money, it's doing things yourself and taking pride in it. I built our home myself, it's 4000sqft living and 3400 sqft shop. Four years before starting the house build I purchased a woodmizer lt-35 and started milling my own trees on the ranch. When it was time to build cabinetry and furniture the lumber was dried,planed/surfaced and sanded into beautiful lumber. A lot of it has figure which you will never see sold in a store.Today I am still felling mesquite, pecan and oak trees and making lumber for my own lumber. Anyone can go buy lumber at mill or box store but very few do it with sweat equity.
I still have cherry wood left over from my mother-in-law's house. She had a F1 tornado pass a few hundred feet from her house. It dropped 3 good sized cherry trees. A lot of the wood went to a couple of BBQ guys. I still use pieces on my grill. And I had a friend of hers mill the wood. Hard part was moving everything. My backhoe buddy moved the logs and fixed her yard. I dry stacked it. The one thing I did make is a electric guitar body. It turned out great. One friend plain it down and another did the final guitar set up. It turned out great. I call it my Tornadocaster.
We had 12 Large (85'+) White Pines on our property cut. We saved 20 pieces - all straight - that averaged 11' long by 23" in diameter. I just had them milled by a Sawyer with a portable mill with whom I have worked before. They were milled within 3 weeks of being dropped and the result was @ 5,700 bd ft of white pine milled into 5/4 (flat sawn) and 8/4 (quarter & rift sawn). The cost for the milling was @ $0.50 per board foot, and the resulting lumber is undercover in a shed to dry. Local hardwood dealers are offering white pine (already dried, of course) @ $5.00 bd. ft. I think I did pretty well!
Drying those boards in a shed will take a long time to dry naturally. Notice he said 20% moisture content. This is for construction grade lumber. If you want something for fine woodworking, you want to get down to 6 to 8%. This will take up to 10 years to dry naturally. Might never happen outside depending on your climate. And they may warp in the humid environment. It might be worth looking into how to dry them faster and more reliably.
What a great video and so timely! I was just walking around our neighborhood looking at all the piles of hurricane debris and wondering about this. I knew it required milling and drying and it wasn't just a matter of sawing it up with a chain saw but had no idea of the finer details. Thank you!!
Very timely video - thanks! I’m considering renovating a cabin in the woods and using some trees from the property for flooring and interior paneling. Getting some wood milled from the property has some appeal and a nice story, but seems like a lot more work than just buying it from a lumber mill. If every board needs to be planed and jointed prior to using in the floor - that’s a lot..
Ideed it is! Some mills and places can still process this for you for relatively low price, but again it does depend on the wood whether it is "worth it" or not.
I think everyone should try to process a log at least once, just to appreciate what goes into the lumber you buy. I've split red oak (8', 30" dia) & made furniture from it. I enjoy the whole process despite the time and energy it took. There can be lots of waste but you learn from that too.
I prefer logs that sat too long because of the beautiful colors and character it gives to the wood. This wood is harder on the sawmill because it holds a lot less moisture but it also dries so much faster. I can use my slabs in months. I air dry my wood outside to 15% and then bring it into the finish drying room until its ready to use.
Ellen’s confident and hope-filled “yeah” along with the “can’t ya just use some wood glue and a vise….” With the hands had me laughing until my head hurt 😂😂😂😂hilarious
Very informative, thank you. I’d also be interested in a video on milling on your own. The different setups and methods of milling lumber in your own woodshop.
Been thinking about buying a sawmill for a while. Pop up on marketplace from time to time, some for a couple grand. Doesn't need to be perfect in my mind, something I feel like I could work on or add bells/whistles; I can weld, rebuild an engine... But not knowing a whole lot about them, would a $8k mill used selling for $3k be useful at all or just a bunch of headaches? I've got cherry, walnut, white oak out the wazoo that's been drying for a about a year and a beech and giant maple that's going to need to come down soon. Seems like a crime against trees to not at least try lol.
I can attest to the quality of M2 lumber! I just built my daughter’s crib from ash I got from M2. Great video overview for someone looking to do some milling and drying.
What a great, informative video. I have had to learn everything explained in this video one lesson at a time. Wish I had see a video like this many years ago , it would have saved some expensive mistakes.
Hello Sir, how are you? I am a regular viewer of your UA-cam channel. I came here to say that- "I always learn something new from your channel-so valuable!" Good Luck to You
Had a friend want to sell me her cherry log. Aftet looking at it, it had rot in ghe center so i acquired it for free. Spent a fee hundred bucks getting it milled and had one hell of a time moving it. A few years later and im using that log, but i would never do it again. I can buy cherry from the mill thats graded and kiln dried for relatively cheap.
I live in south Florida and every time I see a video like this I drool over how inexpensive lumber is around the country. The nearest "lumber yard" to me is around 70 mi in the heart of downtown Miami, if you can believe it. For me that's a four hour trip, and they have a limited supply of lumber choices. Great video though.
I was just talking to my local lumber mill about this. RSL in Kalamazoo will pick up the lumber, $100-$120 within up to about 20-25 min of the yard, and then $80 per hour to mill it. It’s not bad but the thing about the city trees having metal is one of the bigger concerns. I do know that one can buy logs from loggers in Michigan though and that can save a bit of money.
I think about the number of ash trees going down where I live and how almost all of these giant trees are just being put straight into the chipper. I know you'd want to kiln dry them immediately to prevent the ash borer from spreading, but what is your thoughts on using those beetle killed trees? Are there special constraints that is keeping us from having a boom in ash lumber?
I have a small sawmill that was a COVID project lol. I'm just starting to see stuff that I milled back then be useful for my hobby projects. key word being Hobby. maybe by the time I'm retiring from my day job this will be a positive return on investment. But probably not lol. Its just really fun to do on the weekends.
5:00 it might be worth looking around for a mobile milling operation. I had my timber milled on site, so there was no screwing around with getting it to and from the mill.
You've come a long way, Jon. From stopping in the middle of the road to pick up pallet wood to milling your own lumber video :) Not bad for "just a dumb ass in a garage" 🤣 What a great video that was!
Interesting video for someone living in Europe, explains some unusual (to me) choices of woodworking YT creators. I grew up in a remote rural area where traditional wood working was still practiced quite a bit in my youth (not as much nowadays unfortunately), so I know some techniques most young folks never seen before, like splitting logs with mauls and wedges or hand carving slabs with carpentry axes, plus alternate ways of drying and treating wood at home. These work slower and require more effort, but can save you a lot of money on smaller home projects when you have a free log at hand. You can also mix in some modern techniques to speed up the more tedious steps along the way without spending a fortune on heavy duty woodworking machines.
to give a good example of the economies of having lumber milled from your trees. my parents had trees removed to build a new house. after the transactions passed through the feller, the log truck driver, and the mill operator, they were able to make a deal for the trees to go away at no cost to them. moral of the story is, if you're not one of the people involved in some phase of the handling of the process, you're probably going to pay more than the value of the resultant lumber.
How much would it cost to have the land cleared and trees removed though? $25-$30k maybe? Maybe more... The issue maybe is that people involved in construction and clearing are charging too much, probably not the mill....
I had 1.5 logging truck loads of fir here that I cut down for my shop. The goal was to use the trees for lumber to build my house. Had the mill here already. 2 years went by and by the time I got to milling found the fungus had got into the logs. All those nice fir logs went into firewood. Lesson learned the hard way. Very annoyed no one mentions the fungus problem. I thought I was doing the right thing letting the logs sit and dry those 2 years. Next time I had 6 really nice logs available from more land clearing here. Had no immediate use for lumber so just milled them into 14 inch square cants 16ft long. Then they sat under a tarp for 2 years. Came time to mill some lumber all of the cants had split so badly the lumber was not usable. Again lesson learned the hard way. Very annoyed no one mentions this splitting with stored cants. I thought I was doing the right thing to cut into cants for future use. Also the dried fir became rock hard was only getting perhaps 300bf out of a blade. So both times I have tried to mill lumber here, both times has been a disaster.
I know a guy who owns a commercial sawmill. He will cut logs into whatever I want if I can get them on a trailer and take them to him. Otherwise I mill them with an Alaskan Mill and put them in my solar kiln to dry before I process them. I've been able to make my own cabinets with solid oak face frames, drawer fronts and solid oak raised panel doors. The solar kiln works pretty well, especially in the summer.
@@m2lumber that’s why I have to be strategic about it. I’ll put wood in to air dry, but wait until the summer heat gets the temps high before using the wood. I use a marker to put dates in the ends of boards. It’s a lot of work. I may not be paying money out of pocket, but I’m paying a lot in hours, sweat, and sore muscles. I have mostly red oak and hickory, so if I want anything else I have to buy it. And I have to cull out quite a bit of the wood I mill because of defects. I doubt sawmills give you a discount on boards that have defects.
We had a large, healthy white oak come down in a storm several years ago. For half the cost of having it removed and wasted, I had the tree turned into fine lumber, which I have since brought into the house as fine furniture. Having a whole tree to work with is wonderful. Make sure you number the boards in your flitch and have the sawyer cut as much quarter sawn as possible.
I had 3 trees milled after the last 2 hurricanes. All were decent sized about 2 ft wide at least. 2 laurel oaks and one maple. The maple turned out to be extremely figured so I lucked out.
Bought my own mill. Woodland mills hm130. Been milling maple for my new kitchen, and hemlock for my timber frame barn. I’ve already saved money even though I’ve got 7k into my mill.
I stored some black walnut, i had milled, in my basement. Which has a nice dehumidifier in it. Due to its where i had room to store it. I was surprised at how well the boards are drying in there. Any thoughts on this?
All jokes aside, there is nothing wrong with that. Id watch out for mold growth and powdery mildew. Depending on the area you live in and the time of the year, some basements can have too much moisture. The DH will help, but id still keep an eye on it. Again though, the second reason to KD wood is to kill bugs, walnut is bad about bugs in the sapwood, especially powder post beetles, so id still probably consider kiln drying it if I were going to use it for furniture. Look out for little sawdust pyramids on the edge of the stacked lumber!
For hobbyists whose idea of along board is 36 inches and a very wide board is 6 inches, milling is “easy”. The first tool is an electric chainsaw to rip the log/branch down the middle length wise. Next a tool to take the bark off. Next a scrub plane to partially flatten the mistakes made when ripping the log length wise. Next a thickness planer to get some flat parallel surfaces on each side of the half log. Next a table saw cut off boards. For these boards add at least 3/16s to your desired thickness. If your desired thickness is more than 1”, more than 3/16s will be necessary. Drying the boards will reduce the thickness of the board, and when ready to use in a project, a final pass or two through the thickness planer will be needed. I have done all of this with both types of oak, maple and cherry. I dry the boards in my garage attic using strips between each layer of boards. Since I am retired, my time is free. Usually you can get the logs for free, just contact your local tree service people or approach them when they are in your neighborhood.
And a sawmill could probably process that same log in about 30 mins or less (in our case around $40)...So i guess it just depends on how you "Value your time". But yes, doing something yourself vs paying someone else is almost always going to cost less.
Just sawed two dozen logs of cherry for a guy. If they were mine, most would have gone into the wood stove for heat, but he was happy with the lumber and has a place to dry the stickered boards for a couple years. Because of the small size of the logs, I charged based on the hour, not the board foot, as the yield for the amount of time spent was going to be (and was) small. I bought the mill as a retirement hobby (TK1600, probably $30K at the time), and between money I've made and money I've saved with lumber I have used for projects it has paid for itself. I'll probably keep it for another 5 years or so, then sell it and move into the less physical hobby of woodworking - I'll have thousands of bf of cherry, white and red oak, and maple to play with, which should last the rest of my life.
I am an amateur timberframer, a few years ago an acquaintance connected me with one of their acquaintances who had their favorite tree cut down but they were not certain what type of tree, and after a couple texts and one phone call, after I told them that I would not charge them for milling their tree and I would donate a couple boards for them and I would keep the rest for my time and much effort, they refused to further any other discussion. Conclusion: they seemed to think that I WOULD PAY THEM!! lol
I have what I believe to be a white oak that is dead in the top two-thirds, the bottom, which is about 15' would be what i'd like to get milled up. The diameter, measured at four feet above the ground is 22" . I'm considering getting the tree cut down but do you think this type of tree would have any millable wood or should I just have it all hauled away?
great vid. hoping to get my lucas mill up soon and start milling. been looking at idry then found the plans for a solar kiln. curious to know what y'all think the advantages/disadvantages are between the two with regards to the finished products coming out of the kilns. further, which one has has the faster return investment.
Lol, no...I know it looks that way though. That wood is already kiln dried and waiting on customer to pickup. Once it is thoroughly dried its not necessary to sticker anymore. For VERY long term storage, you might still want to, but for a short term it is ok.
I had a 70+ year old cherry tree taken down about 8 years ago. I had it cut into 2½ slab then wrestled it into my shed in the back yard for a planned 3 years. Check the boards after a about 6 months, they were twisted terribly. Ended up giving them away for firewood.
I thought this was about actually milling it yourself, as it says in the title - not about having it milled. Very informative, though. And yes, transport is the killer. Getting a log onto a trailer is the first hurdle, and often the biggest. Last year I bumped into a guy who was slabbing a Sequoia on the spot with a chainsaw mill, loading the short slabs he made onto a small trailer. He was there for at least two days, but he said it was worth his time: he has a small business selling rare species of wood. (Sequoia is very rare here in Germany)
Any suggestions on cutting rounds and how they should be dried? I have a +30" ash that I'd like to make round coffee tables but not sure how thick the initial cuts should be or how long they should dry before flattening, sanding, and putting a sealer on them.
Don't seal them because you will have a hard time getting that off when you go to finish them later! I would cut them at least 2.5-3" thick to ensure they dont fall apart. They will likely split and crack while drying and this is not really preventable. Air drying will take around 6 months but could kiln dry in just a week or two if you have access to one.
But is it worth it to buy my own mill? Even just a chainsaw mill? Since I’m in the area, which woods are local here that would be good for outdoor projects? I would like to know what to look for on my land to mill wood for animal fencing/pens and general outdoor pole barns. Lastly, the open air storage shown in the vid doesn’t seem to have more than just a roof, how much of an issue is when rain comes into play? Are there tarp walls to keep direct water from the wood, and how much does just general moisture in the air affect the wood drying or quality?
Depends on how you value your time....Chainsaw mills are a cheap invest for equipment...but they are SLOW. Not to mention milling dimensional lumber is really tough for those types. If you aren't concerned about the value of your time, id say go for it....if you do value your time, id pay someone else first.
Theres also the possibility of making rough slabs yourself, using the chainsaw (if you know how to). Depending on the size requirements of the project, you'll be able to have parts you can transport yourself, with your car. About the drying process, for some wood species, if you have acess to a creek, for example, let the slabs underwater for about two to three months, then remove it and let it dry indoors. Another two months and it'll be dry enough for woodworking.
I live about 25 miles from where Jon is located. Luckily I didn't lose any large trees during Helene but I have been able to get my hands on a lot of wood from where the power company were cleaning things up. Unfortunately they didn't cut things up in proper lengths, however I can't stand to see this stuff go to waste. So my question is what's the best way to get this milled? I have some white oak that is about 10" in diameter, but only 3' long. Smaller stuff, I'm cutting into bowl blanks with the chainsaw and my bandsaw. Any suggestions on how to handle the large stuff is greatly appreciated.
If you’re also a wood turner, then you’ll probably always want to mill your own stuff for desired thickness. As long as it’s stored properly, you’ll probably get your worth pretty easily. At least I always have. I work with American Beech, Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar, Black Walnut, and Cherry primarily. I like to cut the tree into about 3’ sections, then split it for bowl blanks. I’ll seal it and just leave it on a covered porch off the ground until it’s ready. The smaller branches I’ll seal and leave in longer 6’ sections for spindle turning. It’s not a perfect system, but it beats going to woodcraft for every blank. Yards here usually don’t carry much above 2-3” thickness. So they’re great for flat work, but turners usually want thicker pieces.
This feels scripted in a good way! It shows a level of consideration for my time that similar videos from other channels don't. Seriously, im gonna bookmark this for future reference.
Valid point...but I would argue that it depends...if you're assuming you have a chainsaw and equipment already then yes, it could be the cheapest option. But if you dont, and need to buy a good setup for that you could easily spend $1000. Not to mention it depends on how you value your time and what type of lumber you want (chainsaw mills are very slow for dimensional lumber and really only good for slabs). To get wood milled around $0.50 per bdft would be very tough with a chainsaw mill --> we can typically get 200-300 bdft per hour on our sawmill and that would be hard to do on a chainsaw mill. Case Study: We milled 850 bdft of white oak for a customer just last week that took us 4 hrs (had some few smaller logs which are slower); he paid little over $400. To get the same wood milled into dimensional boards with a chainsaw mill would be days of work, no question. I guess "affordable" can mean something different to everyone. But if you are just wanting some logs milled once, Id choose $400 out of pocket vs same cost or more for a chainsaw mill plus time and effort any day.
Milling your own trees also takes a toll on your body. I did it for 5 years at my place of employment (5 total employees). It wears you out pretty quickly.
I live in a part of Canada where black walnut trees are basically a weed. It's hard for me to imagine that it can be so expensive elsewhere -- although I admit it sure can look nice when it's planed and/or sanded smooth.
Great video John. I have a chainsaw mill for some stuff and great relationships with local tree swecices and Sawyer's so usually pretty good. And the whole board foot scale mental work in mm cm or m simple 😂🏴👍
That was a very interesting video. I am in Australia and we love our eucalyptus woods here. They are very hard and dense. Is your course in metric as well as imperial?
Great video. Thanks! Question: would a mill pay for logs I have delivered there but have no interest in the wood? I'm curious for certain trees if maybe the value of the milled wood can offset the cost of the tree service. Had a friend lose a maybe 20 inch super tall pecan once and she didn't want to pay for the tree service. She ended up having a bunch of friends show up with chainsaws and axes and let them keep the firewood they chopped. Always wondered if a sawmill would have paid her for the logs to offset the cost of clearing the tree from her property.
They absolutely might! Call and ask them, but yes all logs have value...it just might not be enough to make it worth the effort at times, but each sawmill operation is different so definitely call and ask them
As a general rule, I do not think so. It can be expensive to drop a tree in a way that preserves lumber. City trees come with a higher metal risk. I saw a video on that topic and the opinion of that sawyer was that he was only interested in the rare tree that he couldn't live without.
Wish this video came out 2 years ago when a dead ash took out my cherry tree. Delayed a bit to long to gegoenough good boards to make a mill worth. Still got some usable stuff from my alaskan mill but that kerf took a good board worth of material when all said and done
@Lincolnstww If you think it's really weird to get a BDFT, no, you have no idea what it is in Argentina, at least, where we use the metric system BUT in carpentry we mix it up a lot with your system of inches and feet. Here to get a "pie cuadrado" (or "pie tablar" which is more similar to your board foot) we use various formulas (each little teacher with his own little book) but the most scientific or mathematically correct one is width in inches by thickness in inches by length in meters by a multiplicative factor which is 0.2734. So it would be: F² = L(in) X THICKNESS(in) X WIDTH(m) X 0.2734 0.2734 seems to me to be the volume in foot of a 1 inch by 1 inch wooden strip and 1 meter long.
I borrowed a used $1500 harbor freight saw from a friend for three years while he wasn’t using it. I maintained it, keep it covered and running good. Buy new blades. I’ve cut thousands of dollars in wood myself.
You guys should always have the first and last set of stickers as close to the ends of the boards as possible. The spacing of the sets of stickers can vary. 18" spacing is best.
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Why can't I comment? The input field isn't there... to be clear obviously I can reply to comments I cannot make a comment though.
[EDIT: apparently I have to reply to a comment before I can make a comment... hmmm UA-cam algorithm be doing some screwy things these days.]
@@binaryglitch64 screen name seems appropriate
@@Lincolnstww lol, thx.
I have no tools. I have yet to build anything in my life when it comes to wood working. And yet, now I want to go cut down a tree.
Milling my own lumber was the best thing I ever did as a new woodworker. I took down a big white oak in the yard, cut the trunk into sections, and had a local Amish mill cut the tree into quarter sawn rough lumber. I dried it for a few years, and made heirloom furniture for me and my family. A huge desk, a trestle dining table and a headboard. It was a great experience and taught me the entire process from tree to table.
Agreed. I only use my own air dried lumber. While I understand it's not for every woodworker, I wouldn't do it any other way🙂
same - if you have a wooded property it's a great investment.
I did something very similar. A trestle table is definitely on the list of things our white oak will become. So far I made a rocking chair.
in 2020 I had a mobile sawmill come out and slab up 4 white oak logs ranging from 6' - 10' long and 20-33" wide. They charged $350 to come out and for the first 3 hours. After that it was $100/hour I think. $30 per damaged blade. They damaged 3 blades. So out the door for $440 I got tons of slabs. I used my own tractor to handle the slabs as they milled them. Air dried 3 years before use. Already just about made my money back selling spare slabs plus I've made a number of tables and desks for personal use. I made my own router sled leveling table to flatten them. Overall it's been a pretty worthwhile endeavor I feel like. Definitely a lot of work and not for everyone though. One thing I wish I had known about was sealing the ends of the logs to reduce cracking. I'm having to do a lot more epoxy and bowties than I probably would have if I had sealed the ends. Epoxy/bowties look cool at least.
That's actually a fantastic price for as many slabs as you certainly got.
Slabs are crazy expensive.
@@davidgraham2673 What the Amish lack in safety precautions and child labor concerns they make up for in timely and cheap job completion!
I failed to seal my ends too. Really wish I would have.
My Woodland Mills HM126 cost me about $2600 5 years ago and I love the freedom it brings. I was pricing hardwood floors and tongue-and-groove boards for the ceiling of a cabin I was finishing. With the boards for the walls, it was going to cost about $2500. Then a tree service gave me 8 logs (I only asked for one or two) of spalted sweetgum and hickory from trees that blew down in a hurricane two years prior. We decided to spend the money on a sawmill instead and did all the work ourselves. The project turned out amazing. We have a floor and ceiling that is beautiful and unique, and that couldn't have been bought. Plus, instead of that money going to a lumber mill, I still have a sawmill, which I use for other projects.
So my advice is this: If you have the interest (and space on your property and no HOA issues), and maybe have specific projects in mind or just lost a tree or two, I recommend getting one yourself.
Love the video! - Also worth noting, if you're a woodturner doing bowls, you're almost guaranteed to be more cost effective milling it up yourself because all you need is a decent chainsaw and possibly a pick-up truck to move the stuff (assuming where you're getting it from is OK with you cutting it up where it sits). Lumber yards generally don't carry the sort of large thicknesses we're interested in due to it's long drying time (which we bypass some of by rough-turning while it's still green), so anything they do have is usually more expensive.
True! However...some mills might have a bunch of smaller log cutoffs which would be great for making bowl or turning blanks from! Thats what we do with our nice hardwoods, leave them in a pile and when a turner calls looking for material, we sell them a whole tiny log for a great deal!
Excellent video. A few things I would add after milling my own lumber for two years:
1. The 140F temperature cited for sterilization is the internal temperature. External temperature will need to be much higher.
2. Always debark your logs before milling them. This helps keep the blade sharp and helps with drying.
3. Always coat the ends of the logs to reduce checking and splitting.
4. A chainsaw mill is a great way to see whether you want to get into milling, and if you have a chainsaw it's very affordable.
And my pet peeve, when you're using a chainsaw, like in the video, always wear chaps. Chainsaw leg injuries are ugly.
Chainsaws leave nasty scars on legs indeed. Learned that the hard way. Good reflexes _and_ good wound care have kept it limited to just scars though.
If you ever get a serious chainsaw cut and need to get stitches, make sure you emphasize that there is skin missing. If you don't, they'll just pull it shut which will lead to a lumpy ugly scar that may stay painful or sore for life. In my case, the actual muscle damage was very limited, making me decide to _not_ get stitches at all. It takes a little longer to heal, but with no chance of encapsulated infection and a smooth scar without lumps.
1. Agreed 100%, this is what "Steady State Temperature" Implies. We usually set our kiln to 160 deg F
2. Also true, we have a debarker so we usually dont bother because it takes care of this for us while milling. Also, debarking can help extend the life of a log by slowing down the fungal rot process.
3. If you do coat the ends, only use a WAX coating, do NOT use Paint. So many people paint the ends of logs, and most conventional paints use clay as a thickening agent, and clay is basically ground up rocks which is terrible for saw blades.
Excellent video. As a sawmill operator and a woodworker I can really appreciate the info you are trying to relate to people. What a customer considers a great saw log often times is not.
This just confirms that pallet wood is the reigning champion
😂
Lol 😂😂
I just wish they made walnut pallets.....
I would settle for cherry as well @@GreyMaulkin
@@GreyMaulkinBalsawood pallets would make my day ( :
I have been using an Alaska chainsaw mill with a big Stihl, 28" bar and ripping chain. it can handle a 24" log. I can haul it out to the remote parts of my woods on a sled and make lumber from trees I couldn't access any other way. chainsaw was bought on ebay and refurbished for a couple hundred dollars . I use a ladder for a guide to get true cuts. The whole rig has paid for itself many times over and I have a great supply of ash, hickory, maple, cherry and white pine.
I used to run a Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic portable sawmill. Great machine. There is so many logistics in sawmill, but I really enjoyed it. To pick up logs we modified a small trailer with a loading arc using a winch, great DIY way to pick up logs. Moving logs was certainly the most time consuming, labor intensive, and logistics intense part of the job.
Very helpful guys! Only important thing I don’t think you touched on in my experience is your personal time/energy expenditure for this task. I tried doing this once and I found it very frustrating dealing with a couple potential sawyers as pricing wasn’t straightforward nor was the timeline, when the boards would get sawn, go into the kiln, so on and so forth. They just don’t make their money dealing with homeowners with fallen yard trees so I felt like they were mostly just annoyed I was asking so many questions. So I feel like this was even a bit too encouraging for people who have a relatively small fallen cherry or walnut tree in their yard. Not to mention if your yard gets trashed by having to get it hauled away in one piece, which is dependent on access to the area. Unless you have something truly huge, straight, and premium species, I’d advise against it. Awesome video and very informative and entertaining.
Matt, man. Natural presenter! It takes most of us years to become that comfortable in front of a cold, silently disapproving camera lens.
Lol Thanks. You should buy one of those New, Positive-Affirmation camera lenses...def makes things a lot easier! :)
Going from the tree to usable lumber is a fascinating world unto its self.
I nearly got sucked into the home lumber milling black hole a few years ago. Fortunately, I did enough research to realize that as a guy who builds furniture part time, milling my own lumber was going to take a LOT of money and a LOT of time that would detract from making furniture, so I skipped the costly lesson. Anybody can buy a cheap mill and saw a random log into planks, but many of the trees people want to have turned into lumber are utter crap after sawing. Milling good lumber requires skill and knowledge, and it takes time to gain that knowledge and experience. You have to do a lot of milling to get good at it! I know several sawyers within 200 miles of my home who have that kind of skill, and I can buy usable lumber and slabs from them at a very decent price without falling down the home-lumber-mill rabbit hole.
Yes, you might eventually save some money, but the investment in decent equipment and your valuable time typically takes years to recover. The MOST IMPORTANT detail about milling your own lumber that most people gloss over is that it will take at least a year after milling your tree into boards before you can start building with it.
Sometimes it isn't about saving money, it's doing things yourself and taking pride in it.
I built our home myself, it's 4000sqft living and 3400 sqft shop. Four years before starting the house build I purchased a woodmizer lt-35 and started milling my own trees on the ranch. When it was time to build cabinetry and furniture the lumber was dried,planed/surfaced and sanded into beautiful lumber. A lot of it has figure which you will never see sold in a store.Today I am still felling mesquite, pecan and oak trees and making lumber for my own lumber.
Anyone can go buy lumber at mill or box store but very few do it with sweat equity.
Thank you for understanding the sentimental value of a tree!
It’s true, the roots retain lots of sediment.
I still have cherry wood left over from my mother-in-law's house. She had a F1 tornado pass a few hundred feet from her house. It dropped 3 good sized cherry trees. A lot of the wood went to a couple of BBQ guys. I still use pieces on my grill. And I had a friend of hers mill the wood. Hard part was moving everything. My backhoe buddy moved the logs and fixed her yard. I dry stacked it. The one thing I did make is a electric guitar body. It turned out great. One friend plain it down and another did the final guitar set up. It turned out great. I call it my Tornadocaster.
We had 12 Large (85'+) White Pines on our property cut. We saved 20 pieces - all straight - that averaged 11' long by 23" in diameter. I just had them milled by a Sawyer with a portable mill with whom I have worked before. They were milled within 3 weeks of being dropped and the result was @ 5,700 bd ft of white pine milled into 5/4 (flat sawn) and 8/4 (quarter & rift sawn). The cost for the milling was @ $0.50 per board foot, and the resulting lumber is undercover in a shed to dry. Local hardwood dealers are offering white pine (already dried, of course) @ $5.00 bd. ft. I think I did pretty well!
Heck yeah!
Drying those boards in a shed will take a long time to dry naturally. Notice he said 20% moisture content. This is for construction grade lumber. If you want something for fine woodworking, you want to get down to 6 to 8%. This will take up to 10 years to dry naturally. Might never happen outside depending on your climate. And they may warp in the humid environment. It might be worth looking into how to dry them faster and more reliably.
Can you add a dehumidifier to the shed?
@@hondaservicecenter Planning to add 2 box fans and a dehumidifier (already have one - pretty lucky!
00:37 - I also over estimate the size of my -log- branch
Mine was over 12 inches, but I don't use it as a rule...
Sigh. Me too.
chances are you can't even see it.
Don’t feel bad you’re not alone.
She don't mine mine.
What a great video and so timely! I was just walking around our neighborhood looking at all the piles of hurricane debris and wondering about this. I knew it required milling and drying and it wasn't just a matter of sawing it up with a chain saw but had no idea of the finer details. Thank you!!
I knew M2 would be in this video before I clicked! He’s milled some white oak for me in the past. Top notch!
Totally agree with the overestimating the log size. Can’t tell you how many people say they have a huge log and show up with a twig. Great video.
Very timely video - thanks! I’m considering renovating a cabin in the woods and using some trees from the property for flooring and interior paneling. Getting some wood milled from the property has some appeal and a nice story, but seems like a lot more work than just buying it from a lumber mill. If every board needs to be planed and jointed prior to using in the floor - that’s a lot..
Ideed it is! Some mills and places can still process this for you for relatively low price, but again it does depend on the wood whether it is "worth it" or not.
Just built my wife a jewelry box from red oak. It was extra special because we milled the wood ourselves with a relative's antique saw mill.
I think everyone should try to process a log at least once, just to appreciate what goes into the lumber you buy. I've split red oak (8', 30" dia) & made furniture from it. I enjoy the whole process despite the time and energy it took. There can be lots of waste but you learn from that too.
I prefer logs that sat too long because of the beautiful colors and character it gives to the wood. This wood is harder on the sawmill because it holds a lot less moisture but it also dries so much faster. I can use my slabs in months. I air dry my wood outside to 15% and then bring it into the finish drying room until its ready to use.
I own a mill, totally worth it. Building a solar kiln so I have to wait as long, cause waiting a year or more is agonizing.
Ellen’s confident and hope-filled “yeah” along with the “can’t ya just use some wood glue and a vise….” With the hands had me laughing until my head hurt 😂😂😂😂hilarious
It's always great to see Matt in a video. Very useful information too.
Very informative, thank you. I’d also be interested in a video on milling on your own. The different setups and methods of milling lumber in your own woodshop.
Hey Matt, this is Chris, David V’s brother in Maine. Great video! It was fun to visit your mill when I was visiting in the spring.
I have a portable sawmill business down in the midlands of South Carolina. I love my Wood-Mizer lt40. Huge upgrade from my lt15
Been thinking about buying a sawmill for a while. Pop up on marketplace from time to time, some for a couple grand. Doesn't need to be perfect in my mind, something I feel like I could work on or add bells/whistles; I can weld, rebuild an engine... But not knowing a whole lot about them, would a $8k mill used selling for $3k be useful at all or just a bunch of headaches? I've got cherry, walnut, white oak out the wazoo that's been drying for a about a year and a beech and giant maple that's going to need to come down soon. Seems like a crime against trees to not at least try lol.
@@barcodenosebleed5485 what model is it? High the horse power the better to
I can attest to the quality of M2 lumber! I just built my daughter’s crib from ash I got from M2. Great video overview for someone looking to do some milling and drying.
What a great, informative video. I have had to learn everything explained in this video one lesson at a time. Wish I had see a video like this many years ago , it would have saved some expensive mistakes.
Hello Sir, how are you? I am a regular viewer of your UA-cam channel. I came here to say that- "I always learn something new from your channel-so valuable!" Good Luck to You
Had a friend want to sell me her cherry log. Aftet looking at it, it had rot in ghe center so i acquired it for free. Spent a fee hundred bucks getting it milled and had one hell of a time moving it. A few years later and im using that log, but i would never do it again. I can buy cherry from the mill thats graded and kiln dried for relatively cheap.
I live in south Florida and every time I see a video like this I drool over how inexpensive lumber is around the country. The nearest "lumber yard" to me is around 70 mi in the heart of downtown Miami, if you can believe it. For me that's a four hour trip, and they have a limited supply of lumber choices. Great video though.
I was just talking to my local lumber mill about this. RSL in Kalamazoo will pick up the lumber, $100-$120 within up to about 20-25 min of the yard, and then $80 per hour to mill it. It’s not bad but the thing about the city trees having metal is one of the bigger concerns. I do know that one can buy logs from loggers in Michigan though and that can save a bit of money.
Great video. Thanks for the no b.s. cost analysis. Very helpful (as expected from your channel).
Another great video, as always. Thanks for the knowledge.
I think about the number of ash trees going down where I live and how almost all of these giant trees are just being put straight into the chipper. I know you'd want to kiln dry them immediately to prevent the ash borer from spreading, but what is your thoughts on using those beetle killed trees? Are there special constraints that is keeping us from having a boom in ash lumber?
I have a small sawmill that was a COVID project lol. I'm just starting to see stuff that I milled back then be useful for my hobby projects. key word being Hobby. maybe by the time I'm retiring from my day job this will be a positive return on investment. But probably not lol. Its just really fun to do on the weekends.
5:00 it might be worth looking around for a mobile milling operation. I had my timber milled on site, so there was no screwing around with getting it to and from the mill.
You've come a long way, Jon. From stopping in the middle of the road to pick up pallet wood to milling your own lumber video :) Not bad for "just a dumb ass in a garage" 🤣 What a great video that was!
Interesting video for someone living in Europe, explains some unusual (to me) choices of woodworking YT creators.
I grew up in a remote rural area where traditional wood working was still practiced quite a bit in my youth (not as much nowadays unfortunately), so I know some techniques most young folks never seen before, like splitting logs with mauls and wedges or hand carving slabs with carpentry axes, plus alternate ways of drying and treating wood at home. These work slower and require more effort, but can save you a lot of money on smaller home projects when you have a free log at hand. You can also mix in some modern techniques to speed up the more tedious steps along the way without spending a fortune on heavy duty woodworking machines.
to give a good example of the economies of having lumber milled from your trees. my parents had trees removed to build a new house. after the transactions passed through the feller, the log truck driver, and the mill operator, they were able to make a deal for the trees to go away at no cost to them. moral of the story is, if you're not one of the people involved in some phase of the handling of the process, you're probably going to pay more than the value of the resultant lumber.
How much would it cost to have the land cleared and trees removed though? $25-$30k maybe? Maybe more...
The issue maybe is that people involved in construction and clearing are charging too much, probably not the mill....
I milled my own and built a cabin with it green and it worked just fine. Just good for thought
Understanding the importance of letting trees become fungal food is also very important when talking about soil health so I wouldn't ignore that.
Absolutely!
I had 1.5 logging truck loads of fir here that I cut down for my shop. The goal was to use the trees for lumber to build my house. Had the mill here already. 2 years went by and by the time I got to milling found the fungus had got into the logs. All those nice fir logs went into firewood. Lesson learned the hard way. Very annoyed no one mentions the fungus problem. I thought I was doing the right thing letting the logs sit and dry those 2 years.
Next time I had 6 really nice logs available from more land clearing here. Had no immediate use for lumber so just milled them into 14 inch square cants 16ft long. Then they sat under a tarp for 2 years. Came time to mill some lumber all of the cants had split so badly the lumber was not usable. Again lesson learned the hard way. Very annoyed no one mentions this splitting with stored cants. I thought I was doing the right thing to cut into cants for future use. Also the dried fir became rock hard was only getting perhaps 300bf out of a blade.
So both times I have tried to mill lumber here, both times has been a disaster.
I know a guy who owns a commercial sawmill. He will cut logs into whatever I want if I can get them on a trailer and take them to him. Otherwise I mill them with an Alaskan Mill and put them in my solar kiln to dry before I process them. I've been able to make my own cabinets with solid oak face frames, drawer fronts and solid oak raised panel doors. The solar kiln works pretty well, especially in the summer.
Solar kilns only work in the summer time for most geological locations…that is of course if you care about killing bugs.
@@m2lumber that’s why I have to be strategic about it. I’ll put wood in to air dry, but wait until the summer heat gets the temps high before using the wood. I use a marker to put dates in the ends of boards. It’s a lot of work. I may not be paying money out of pocket, but I’m paying a lot in hours, sweat, and sore muscles. I have mostly red oak and hickory, so if I want anything else I have to buy it. And I have to cull out quite a bit of the wood I mill because of defects. I doubt sawmills give you a discount on boards that have defects.
We had a large, healthy white oak come down in a storm several years ago. For half the cost of having it removed and wasted, I had the tree turned into fine lumber, which I have since brought into the house as fine furniture. Having a whole tree to work with is wonderful. Make sure you number the boards in your flitch and have the sawyer cut as much quarter sawn as possible.
I had 3 trees milled after the last 2 hurricanes. All were decent sized about 2 ft wide at least. 2 laurel oaks and one maple. The maple turned out to be extremely figured so I lucked out.
Bought my own mill. Woodland mills hm130.
Been milling maple for my new kitchen, and hemlock for my timber frame barn.
I’ve already saved money even though I’ve got 7k into my mill.
I bought my Woodland Mills HM126 about 5 years ago and it has paid for itself twice with the savings on my projects.
Great, GREAT job explaining it!!!!
Very Informative. Wish I could give you Two Thumbs Up.
I'll give one as well
Great video, anything sawmill related is fascinating
I stored some black walnut, i had milled, in my basement. Which has a nice dehumidifier in it. Due to its where i had room to store it. I was surprised at how well the boards are drying in there. Any thoughts on this?
All jokes aside, there is nothing wrong with that. Id watch out for mold growth and powdery mildew. Depending on the area you live in and the time of the year, some basements can have too much moisture. The DH will help, but id still keep an eye on it.
Again though, the second reason to KD wood is to kill bugs, walnut is bad about bugs in the sapwood, especially powder post beetles, so id still probably consider kiln drying it if I were going to use it for furniture. Look out for little sawdust pyramids on the edge of the stacked lumber!
Always a pleasure when similar senses of humor combine to dominate UA-cam.
i wish we had these sorts of facilities here in England. It is so hard to get hold of loads of species of wood here.
For hobbyists whose idea of along board is 36 inches and a very wide board is 6 inches, milling is “easy”. The first tool is an electric chainsaw to rip the log/branch down the middle length wise. Next a tool to take the bark off. Next a scrub plane to partially flatten the mistakes made when ripping the log length wise. Next a thickness planer to get some flat parallel surfaces on each side of the half log. Next a table saw cut off boards. For these boards add at least 3/16s to your desired thickness. If your desired thickness is more than 1”, more than 3/16s will be necessary. Drying the boards will reduce the thickness of the board, and when ready to use in a project, a final pass or two through the thickness planer will be needed. I have done all of this with both types of oak, maple and cherry. I dry the boards in my garage attic using strips between each layer of boards. Since I am retired, my time is free. Usually you can get the logs for free, just contact your local tree service people or approach them when they are in your neighborhood.
And a sawmill could probably process that same log in about 30 mins or less (in our case around $40)...So i guess it just depends on how you "Value your time". But yes, doing something yourself vs paying someone else is almost always going to cost less.
For the friend with the pecan tree, ask them if they want the entire thing made from that wood or if you can mix it with other available woods.
Good one, gained a lot of knowledge from this, thanks
Just sawed two dozen logs of cherry for a guy. If they were mine, most would have gone into the wood stove for heat, but he was happy with the lumber and has a place to dry the stickered boards for a couple years. Because of the small size of the logs, I charged based on the hour, not the board foot, as the yield for the amount of time spent was going to be (and was) small. I bought the mill as a retirement hobby (TK1600, probably $30K at the time), and between money I've made and money I've saved with lumber I have used for projects it has paid for itself. I'll probably keep it for another 5 years or so, then sell it and move into the less physical hobby of woodworking - I'll have thousands of bf of cherry, white and red oak, and maple to play with, which should last the rest of my life.
I am an amateur timberframer, a few years ago an acquaintance connected me with one of their acquaintances who had their favorite tree cut down but they were not certain what type of tree, and after a couple texts and one phone call, after I told them that I would not charge them for milling their tree and I would donate a couple boards for them and I would keep the rest for my time and much effort, they refused to further any other discussion. Conclusion: they seemed to think that I WOULD PAY THEM!! lol
I have what I believe to be a white oak that is dead in the top two-thirds, the bottom, which is about 15' would be what i'd like to get milled up. The diameter, measured at four feet above the ground is 22" . I'm considering getting the tree cut down but do you think this type of tree would have any millable wood or should I just have it all hauled away?
If its solid in the bottom i would say so, as long as you have the time to wait for it!
great vid. hoping to get my lucas mill up soon and start milling. been looking at idry then found the plans for a solar kiln. curious to know what y'all think the advantages/disadvantages are between the two with regards to the finished products coming out of the kilns. further, which one has has the faster return investment.
00:08:40 is that an oops in the red stack? 😢
Lol, no...I know it looks that way though. That wood is already kiln dried and waiting on customer to pickup. Once it is thoroughly dried its not necessary to sticker anymore. For VERY long term storage, you might still want to, but for a short term it is ok.
@@m2lumber The board next to your chin! 🥴
I had a 70+ year old cherry tree taken down about 8 years ago. I had it cut into 2½ slab then wrestled it into my shed in the back yard for a planned 3 years. Check the boards after a about 6 months, they were twisted terribly. Ended up giving them away for firewood.
You guys do a great job with these videos 👍
I was just debating this for a bunch of white oak projects in a new home build. What about some of the DIY chainsaw mills out there?
Very doable...but backbreaking slow work! I would gladly pay someone else to save the effort lol.\
I have to go see Matt soon
I thought this was about actually milling it yourself, as it says in the title - not about having it milled. Very informative, though.
And yes, transport is the killer. Getting a log onto a trailer is the first hurdle, and often the biggest. Last year I bumped into a guy who was slabbing a Sequoia on the spot with a chainsaw mill, loading the short slabs he made onto a small trailer. He was there for at least two days, but he said it was worth his time: he has a small business selling rare species of wood. (Sequoia is very rare here in Germany)
Any suggestions on cutting rounds and how they should be dried? I have a +30" ash that I'd like to make round coffee tables but not sure how thick the initial cuts should be or how long they should dry before flattening, sanding, and putting a sealer on them.
Don't seal them because you will have a hard time getting that off when you go to finish them later! I would cut them at least 2.5-3" thick to ensure they dont fall apart. They will likely split and crack while drying and this is not really preventable. Air drying will take around 6 months but could kiln dry in just a week or two if you have access to one.
But is it worth it to buy my own mill? Even just a chainsaw mill? Since I’m in the area, which woods are local here that would be good for outdoor projects? I would like to know what to look for on my land to mill wood for animal fencing/pens and general outdoor pole barns. Lastly, the open air storage shown in the vid doesn’t seem to have more than just a roof, how much of an issue is when rain comes into play? Are there tarp walls to keep direct water from the wood, and how much does just general moisture in the air affect the wood drying or quality?
Depends on how you value your time....Chainsaw mills are a cheap invest for equipment...but they are SLOW. Not to mention milling dimensional lumber is really tough for those types. If you aren't concerned about the value of your time, id say go for it....if you do value your time, id pay someone else first.
Theres also the possibility of making rough slabs yourself, using the chainsaw (if you know how to). Depending on the size requirements of the project, you'll be able to have parts you can transport yourself, with your car. About the drying process, for some wood species, if you have acess to a creek, for example, let the slabs underwater for about two to three months, then remove it and let it dry indoors. Another two months and it'll be dry enough for woodworking.
Would you do a follow up on cost for different types of milling, flat sawn , rift sawn, quarter sawn, etc.?
2 10ft x 30 inch red oak logs I had milled by the amish. 30 bucks. 62 boards and a 4inx10in mantel peice. Pretty dirt cheap if u ask me.
Amish are definitely cheap! The benefits of not paying taxes and child labor :)
Wow! David shwimmer and Jim Carey woodworking? Cool!
Is it ok to plank a 10ft log a few days after cutting down a live tree or do you want to wait? If so how long would you typically wait?
Looking forward to seeing what they have for us to buy !!!
I live about 25 miles from where Jon is located. Luckily I didn't lose any large trees during Helene but I have been able to get my hands on a lot of wood from where the power company were cleaning things up. Unfortunately they didn't cut things up in proper lengths, however I can't stand to see this stuff go to waste. So my question is what's the best way to get this milled? I have some white oak that is about 10" in diameter, but only 3' long. Smaller stuff, I'm cutting into bowl blanks with the chainsaw and my bandsaw. Any suggestions on how to handle the large stuff is greatly appreciated.
If you’re also a wood turner, then you’ll probably always want to mill your own stuff for desired thickness. As long as it’s stored properly, you’ll probably get your worth pretty easily. At least I always have. I work with American Beech, Red Oak, White Oak, Poplar, Black Walnut, and Cherry primarily. I like to cut the tree into about 3’ sections, then split it for bowl blanks. I’ll seal it and just leave it on a covered porch off the ground until it’s ready. The smaller branches I’ll seal and leave in longer 6’ sections for spindle turning. It’s not a perfect system, but it beats going to woodcraft for every blank. Yards here usually don’t carry much above 2-3” thickness. So they’re great for flat work, but turners usually want thicker pieces.
This feels scripted in a good way! It shows a level of consideration for my time that similar videos from other channels don't. Seriously, im gonna bookmark this for future reference.
Thanks! I appreciate that comment
Good video. I agree with all the information, but you did forget to mention chainsaw milling, which is extremely affordable. You can do it yourself.
Valid point...but I would argue that it depends...if you're assuming you have a chainsaw and equipment already then yes, it could be the cheapest option. But if you dont, and need to buy a good setup for that you could easily spend $1000. Not to mention it depends on how you value your time and what type of lumber you want (chainsaw mills are very slow for dimensional lumber and really only good for slabs). To get wood milled around $0.50 per bdft would be very tough with a chainsaw mill --> we can typically get 200-300 bdft per hour on our sawmill and that would be hard to do on a chainsaw mill.
Case Study: We milled 850 bdft of white oak for a customer just last week that took us 4 hrs (had some few smaller logs which are slower); he paid little over $400. To get the same wood milled into dimensional boards with a chainsaw mill would be days of work, no question.
I guess "affordable" can mean something different to everyone. But if you are just wanting some logs milled once, Id choose $400 out of pocket vs same cost or more for a chainsaw mill plus time and effort any day.
You are so weird, in such a good way, love this, subbed!
Every year I think about getting a bandsaw mill, but I see how much work it is and the quality of my trees and I just head to the lumber yard again.
Great video. Ans great job Matt
Wow, great video. I never thought of doing this. Doubt I will (yard full of pine), but really good to know
Milling your own trees also takes a toll on your body. I did it for 5 years at my place of employment (5 total employees). It wears you out pretty quickly.
I live in a part of Canada where black walnut trees are basically a weed. It's hard for me to imagine that it can be so expensive elsewhere -- although I admit it sure can look nice when it's planed and/or sanded smooth.
Thanks Guys, very nice video! Great Content
Great video John. I have a chainsaw mill for some stuff and great relationships with local tree swecices and Sawyer's so usually pretty good. And the whole board foot scale mental work in mm cm or m simple 😂🏴👍
That was a very interesting video. I am in Australia and we love our eucalyptus woods here. They are very hard and dense. Is your course in metric as well as imperial?
Yes the projects are shown with metric and imperial dimensions
Walnut works great outdoors, if you're using green logs to build a log home or log storage shed.
Hard maple worth considering?
Yeah it’s likely around the break even mark if you can keep costs down.
Great video. Thanks!
Question: would a mill pay for logs I have delivered there but have no interest in the wood?
I'm curious for certain trees if maybe the value of the milled wood can offset the cost of the tree service. Had a friend lose a maybe 20 inch super tall pecan once and she didn't want to pay for the tree service. She ended up having a bunch of friends show up with chainsaws and axes and let them keep the firewood they chopped.
Always wondered if a sawmill would have paid her for the logs to offset the cost of clearing the tree from her property.
They absolutely might! Call and ask them, but yes all logs have value...it just might not be enough to make it worth the effort at times, but each sawmill operation is different so definitely call and ask them
As a general rule, I do not think so. It can be expensive to drop a tree in a way that preserves lumber. City trees come with a higher metal risk. I saw a video on that topic and the opinion of that sawyer was that he was only interested in the rare tree that he couldn't live without.
Wish this video came out 2 years ago when a dead ash took out my cherry tree. Delayed a bit to long to gegoenough good boards to make a mill worth.
Still got some usable stuff from my alaskan mill but that kerf took a good board worth of material when all said and done
it depends of what you have on hand.. and i happen to have a sawmill 😂. i made 30 plus slabs to work on this winter.
Where do you recommend getting lumbar?
@Lincolnstww If you think it's really weird to get a BDFT, no, you have no idea what it is in Argentina, at least, where we use the metric system BUT in carpentry we mix it up a lot with your system of inches and feet. Here to get a "pie cuadrado" (or "pie tablar" which is more similar to your board foot) we use various formulas (each little teacher with his own little book) but the most scientific or mathematically correct one is width in inches by thickness in inches by length in meters by a multiplicative factor which is 0.2734. So it would be:
F² = L(in) X THICKNESS(in) X WIDTH(m) X 0.2734
0.2734 seems to me to be the volume in foot of a 1 inch by 1 inch wooden strip and 1 meter long.
Great video!
I borrowed a used $1500 harbor freight saw from a friend for three years while he wasn’t using it. I maintained it, keep it covered and running good. Buy new blades. I’ve cut thousands of dollars in wood myself.
You guys should always have the first and last set of stickers as close to the ends of the boards as possible. The spacing of the sets of stickers can vary. 18" spacing is best.