Are Small Logs Worth Sawing into Lumber?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
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Thanks Again I am know the family will be grateful to make use of wood that came their family homestead we will let you know what we are able to make from this wood. Thank you 😊
What species was this tree? The finish wood is beautiful!
What did you end up using the boards for?
@@rjrotermund I will be check moisturize levels in nexts couple weeks ti be sure it dry not sure if family has decided what to do with the wood yet
well, considering that at the moment I have to do my milling on a 10" table saw, Man, those are BIG LOGS!
It’s all relative 😄
Same!
As a wood turner, I would give my eye teeth for bowl blanks especially the crotch sections. Don’t underestimate the value of those ‘little’ logs. You could make a pile of dough by providing blanks.
😹😹I was thinking the same thing trunks great for boards but branches on the other hand are fantastic for wood turning. I loved what I did see of the grain as for the parts that kept tossing with live edge much of that can be used for making bobbins or pen blanks for me the bobbins would be plus for all of my embroidery threads I still have around 500 skeins to be placed onto plastic cards😜😜🙈 but alas I have to wait until have more shop room for a wood turning machine that I have my eye one😹😹😹😹 one day 😹😹😹
Matt’s looking for a piece of scrap wood for an auxiliary fence. Grabs 8/4 cherry. Yeah this will do.
Me. I wish I had a nice board for a project. Hey I could use what Matt throws away. 🥺
I'm glad you used the term 'sentimental wood.' That's exactly what makes it worth the effort. Small cutting boards or jewelry boxes for my kids that they climbed when they were little....that they'll take to their own homes when they grow up.
Your comment reminds me of the giving tree by Shel Silverstein
Thanks for showing this. Even if somewhat counterproductive, im sure your friend was happy
Hi Matt as a old Sawyer as a commercial prospect your right small stuff is just firewood. But as you partially pointed out it's what it's worth to the individual. I on occasion although didn't enjoy doing it. (In some ways). I did custom sawing on my free time for people but I didn't charge by board foot as you demonstrate not many board feet for time it takes. I charged by hour for custom sawing that covered my time for labor and the mill. Just as I would charge for dozer work. But the customer had to choose if it was worth it to them for what they got and I never got any complaints. But often the customers were tickled to get something out of their what we considered junk. For me that was a easy way to make extra money on the side and a satisfaction of making someone happy.
looking at this wood brought some interesting memories back. I had two complete mills set up for trees no bigger than eighteen inches in diameter.. lots of quarter in thick in it and the colors are wow
That was great info. I am gearing up to resaw 8 to 20 inch limbs and your video did a great job of explaining what to expect. Thank you
Awesome!
Nice of you to do this Matt. I'm sure the family is grateful! :)
just a personal experience. a sawyer i have worked with many years back said he coud saw anything even if all he got was a line of saw dust and two slabs. great videos Dave
You should have used a solo cup to toss water on the small logs.
whats water do?
Shane Steele he normally throws a bucket of water on the large slabs. You should watch some of his other slabing videos. It allows you to see the wood grain better.
@@jocofi5852 yeah sweet as mate ,cheers
That would have been hilarious!
10/10 for sharing your rusty apprentice mark story
Matt, I applaud your generosity and kindness toward the family that asked you to preserve the wood from their tree. The tree, although small, must have given them much pleasure over the years, and I can appreciate the sentiment attached to such a treasured backyard companion. The wood will no doubt be transformed into something just as beautiful and treasured as the tree itself, and be in the family for generations. Well done Matt. Well done.
Thank you!
You know your logs are too small if you can throw them...or if they fall through the frame of your saw. Fun video to watch
"Tools are made to be used"!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thats why my tools are baaaaanged up and not so clean. Including the Festool collection.
Kudos for the perseverance it took to generate that huge stack, Matt. I liked the comment regarding leaving wet wood shavings in the shop, and yes, we've all found that out the hard way! The comment about cutting cookies on the band saw was spot on, I found out about that the hard way many years ago. One of the scariest experiences I've had in the shop, by far.
I’m not stranger to learning the hard way haha thanks Bill!
Very helpful video. I cut down a black walnut tree from my yard here in St Louis Park last March and had it milled. It’s been in my garage since then. I gave away many of the limbs for firewood but I could not bear to throw the rest away. Wasn’t sure if they would be useful or not. Now I know. There are walnut cutting boards in my future. Thanks.
It so much depends upon your needs ;) I'm throwing together a dozen or so timber frame sawhorses for laying out and cutting the frame for our house. This means I need lots of 3x3 to 4x4 stock no more than 30 inches long. I could waste good sized saw logs with potential for other lumber, or I can go after small logs that can give me what I need but would generally be worthless ;) Right now, I have a good reason to do some rough milling of small logs.
Perhaps the goodwill you generated makes it all worth it. I had an uncle in Eureka, CA. with a mill that gave me a few "leftovers" I was grateful for. Still making things from them.
Thank you for sharing. Your video was very informative and what can be cut on the big saw and what needs to be cut in the shop.
Not a single bucket of water, I'm disappointed
Must have been a long hard winter.
Good in the hood Matthew you are a mess man but I love it all. That was fun. Thanks for sharing God bless you all the Family.
I missed if you said the species you cut up in this video. Glad to see your technique for cutting a log on the band saw. Thanks.
Cherry
Just imagine Matt making this massive saw and only cutting logs like this😅
hahahaha
Bub ,we understand you make your living from TH-cam. Don't show your old stuff. That someone actually paid you to do.
Some really great info, Matt. Always wondered why more people didn't use limb wood. Good stuff.
Sweet! I'm bringing up a sentimental pine tree for you next! :P Great tips on the smaller bandsaw resawing though! I've got a Mulberry tree we're likely taking down and I might save some of the "bigger" pieces to cut up on my saw.
This is stuff I'd run on my bandsaw in the woodshop after setting up some feed tables and jigging up a sled. I've done it before, and I'm pretty sure it's easier than what you had to go through here and it works great. Cutting woods like Mesquite, Crepe Myrtle or Palm? It's all gonna be this size. You just start the harvest knowing that you're going after detail pieces that you can't otherwise get, and that makes it all worth your while and changes your whole perspective on what you're getting, and also how you cut it.
Very useful video!
Are they worth it?
If they mean something to someone, you are being compensated somehow for your effort and machine use then yes they are worth it.
IMO
Also, if you can get it at a significantly lower price. The main logs can be thousands of dollars where I live while branches are sold as cheap firewood. Considering I don't have a monster sized mill, the firewood branches are just fine for smaller project or mozaic type countertops.
I enjoyed this video a lot. It was very entertaining.
thanks!
I was waiting for the splish splash! At least a dunk in the bucket. All kidding aside I learn something new every time I watch one of your videos. Thanks for putting out good content Matt!
anther good use of smaller logs is turning squares for spindles. You can get a lot of turning squares out of a 9" log.
Small "logs" can still produce timber that, while being "goofy," still is usable for amazing projects /furniture
I Love your channel and subscribe to it. Some of the crotch wood if cut 3 or4" thick can be made into Brest hook. Any one building wooden boats prize this wood. Some of the logs with long sweeps are used for gun wale on the edge of boats, I have seen wood that looked like garbage put in a boat and were beautiful. Good example of this is in a video by Tips from a shipwright (Episode 27). Keep up the great videos Thank you.
I lost it at, "let's bump up the sketch factor"! LOL You need some merch with this on it!
When you have nothing else to do, it is totally worth it❗
Visitor: “Man! That’s a big saw. What are you cutting with it?”
Matthew: “Toothpicks.”
If the tree is sentimental, a tooth pic patters
Check out the video of him helping April Wilkerson building her saw mill, his is a mini mill.
lol. .
That mill handles small logs better than my hobby mill
Great video! Def learned some from this one...but after u did the satirical measuring with the massive 8in diameter I expected more satire with a bucket of water being splashed on the boards lol
Welcome to my world Matt. The logs I process for guitars and instruments are not much wider than 8" when mature. 10"- 12" would be rare. These are Rosewood (dalbergia species). You can barley get 3" - 4" of quarter-sawn material if your pith is not destroyed. You need at least 7 1/2" in width for a book-matched guitar back. I can make a fretboard from 1/4" x 4" x 18". A piece like that sells for $45 - $75. So for me, it's all worth saving.
A nice banded lumber can be usefully
Sometimes I am looking for a small piece. It is a HUGE pain and waste to cut a small piece out of a large heavy slab. Almost everyone needs stickers as well or your big boards will not dry or stay dry right. I organize my wood to use the small pieces first and I do use the closest sized one routinely. I have tiny 6 x 1 1/2 inch shims aligning my door right now. I can make pegs out of small pieces with a sharpened pipe. Even a toothpick seems valuable when you need one.
Glad to see you finally used the jointer, because that's how I've done small logs and it worked out alright. Still have those 3" pieces of maple.
Should've stated all log diameters in mm to make them sound bigger. "and this log is a massive two hundred and three millimeters"
You should be my producer
@@mcremona I've got a pretty busy schedule of watching these kids and making dumb jokes on social media.
gizanked 2,030 micrometers!
A battery drill on the hand crank shaft would work great.
it does but for squirrelly logs like this, it's extra sketchy
I was so disappointed with this video. I waited and waited and waited but no! No Splish Splash takin' a bath. Truly, I have always thought one of the benefits of owning a mill would be the benefit of getting some useable stuff from smaller logs. Really did enjoy this video. Thanks for covering the topic.
!
Small logs vs crooked logs. Then there are small crooked logs. Someone with a small sawmill who just wants small pieces to work with may very well find value in small logs, even firewood pieces. Matt, you are a blast to watch. I'm 3 years late on this video, but it was still worth my time. You really cause a person to think in a good positive way. Thank you.
Looks like a Lotta good cutting board material 😂🤣
A huge a massive eight inches in diameter it's so tiny! Thats what she said?
Of course they are, perfect for small projects, table legs and secondary wood. I've made and sold hundreds of things from small logs.
Use a band-saw.
Matt is just spoiled on large logs. Look at most trim pieces, finger jointed from small logs and what Matt says isn't good enough. Why waste wood?
I see 20 -30 turned or tapered table legs in that pile, priced table legs or blanks lately?
A made the neighbor girl a wedding present out of limbs that came down on their property...it was just a compound angle tray, but she loved it because it came from where she grew up.
I saw little logs all the time. I make small animal sculptures and small logs yield enough material for my use that would otherwise have been burned on a fire of put into landfill.
Using small useless logs is very environmentally friendly.
Maybe mentioned before, but here it goes: why not saw the smaller stuff on the bandsaw (shop size!)? Would like to see what kind of jigs you would make for that.
I’ll just assume you didn’t make it to that part of the video
@@mcremona You assume right. It’s the corona that I blame (of course). : )
What type of wood was it? If you said it, sorry I missed it.
Cherry
I've turned logs much like that one into butcher block counter tops for my kitchen. Red and white oaks that a tornado blew over into my back yard. Talk smack about them all you want, they've turned out beautiful.
I had the Amish saw a trailer load of free Black Walnut the utility company cut from limbs. A lot of small, short stuff like you were sawing here. Although I didn't see the process, they told me they used an auxiliary bed (plywwod) and toenailed each log to the bed. Cost me $250, but I did get alot of slabs for epoxy pours and stuff. No dimensional lumber though. I enjoyed the video.
You look like Paul Bunyan tossing those logs around. 🤓 I could certainly make plenty with all of that.
Hi there, what made you do this ? Making a saw mill? Such a big saw mill for home? I don't understand "why"? And what does you "wife and neighbors think about it ?
wooden folk artists and model hobbyists would love small pieces like that ,as a timber mill boss told me once there's no such thing as an offcut ! ha great vid many thanks
You’re a good man for cutting up that small stuff. Even if you’re getting a good rate for the work, a lot of guys might pass up on the work.
Boxwood on the other hand, is valueable in any size! Not valueable in money but in usefullness
you could build several guitars and a chair with that wood. I'd say its worth it.
Lol, so sarcastic! "A massive 6 inches!"
Man, wish I had 6 inches.
Oh wait you were tqlking about something else. Never mind.
"You know I did that, don't you?"
Sad. My neighbor is going to cut down this large maple. There is no way I can touch the log. Got to be like 5-6 feet in diameter. But the limbs where it splits are like normal trees. Guessing like 18-20 inches in diameter. And LONG. But you are saying they will not stay flat? Bummer
A lot of burl is "tiny" and is well worth cutting! Maybe not on a big red band saw, but hey.
Hey Matt do you remember the pet rock? You could sell some of those small logs his pet logs! LOL
Hahahaha now that’s an idea!!
How much horse power do I need in a bandsaw to resaw wood and make boards like in this video? What kind of blades. Thanks.
Where is the bucket of water? Cmon MATT!
I'm slacking!
I used to cut little 3 inch limb sections on my table saw and as far as them twisting or cupping I never really noticed it since I was living in Texas at the time West Texas can pull the moisture out of a rock. Anyway I used them for picture frames mesquite native pecan live oak and I got my hands on a small limb of black cherry they were all nice wood but that cherry was my favorite. Safely I am no longer able to do any but the lightest of woodworking. I well I won't go into it here so instead I will just leave you with a thought. Never believe that you are invincible, never believe that something can't change your life forever and never take those you !ove and the people around you everyday for granted. You can be on top of the world one day and on the bottom looking up the next. Oh man I've gone on to long I hope you have a wonderful life.
Wow,. Matthew, I have never heard so much growling out of you since I started watching you. I was very amused, thank you. I love all of your videos. Keep up the great work Matthew.
hahaha thanks!
i can see a few hundred dollars worth of lumber there
YES!
I've tried cutting log on my Rikon. However, I assume your small logs are relatively dry? I run a 3/4 Woodslicer blade in mine and I tried cutting some walnut logs once that were about 10-12" diameter, about 24" long.. I cut fine for a few log sections and then the blade dulled. I contacted Highland and they told me those blades are not designed for green wood, which apparently the logs were still somewhat wet. Doh! I had no idea and didn't think to check the logs with my meter before cutting. Athought that's tricky anyway due to the sensor depth only going so far.
Concerning cupping of limb logs: … can the cupping be reduced or eliminated by face pressure across the cut lumber during a long, slow drying period, or does the stress not relax over time? Put another way perhaps, does the wood remember forever that it had a compression side and a tension side and high curvature growth rings?
Well, you're really fighting 2 problems. The center of the log, the pith, is usually so unstable that it's discarded out of larger lumber, but in small logs, it's almost impossible to cut around. If you look at the endgrain of a board and the growth rings, the smaller arcs, and especially the arcs that enter and exit on the same side of the board are a good indication where and how severely warping and cupping will occur. Some of this can be negated with pressure and long drying, but not totally eliminated.
Limb wood and compression/tension is a whole other problem. The fibers of the tree are grown under tension, and even when dry, when you cut them, they can release and cause a dry straight board to bend right in front of your eyes. If you've sawn a lot of lumber, you probably have seen pinching and movement with long rip cuts, probably caused because the tree had a lean. Limb wood is under even more internal stress and tension, so you can use it, but any cut or large modification can cause this internal tension release in unpredictable ways. It's kinda like pre-stressed concrete, it was made under stress and has internal forces fighting against each other, but on the outside it looks like a normal beam.
I've battled with pieces of lumber for years trying to get them straight enough to use. Precisely clamping and weighting and damping one side vs drying the other and my conclusion is save the headache.
Everyone knows you're not supposed to joint wood on a jointer
It is all good in the hood, well put.
With the use of resin these days, no wood scraps can go for waste. Glad you were able to save most of the tree for usable wood, which looks great for use in bench, table, or bar tops.
Put it on a pallet to make life easy
Wouldn't they be decent for legs or other large type ops?
If you were to just square them up, they'll contain the pith and will end up splitting. Depending on the project, maybe that would be desirable
Here’s a challenge for you, use a Stihl MS 170 to Mill up those small logs and only use 2x4’s for your jig.
I could use small stuff like that in my small hobby shop.
There’s usually a board of “useable” lumber in small logs. I’ve sawn bigger logs than this on the “indoor” bandsaw. Maxed out my 18” laguna. So is it worth it? Meh. If you have time or the tree was sentimental. Usually it makes better firewood than lumber.
What's happening with the trailer? 😃
It's not the kind of work you would pay someone for, but if you have fun milling, and nothing pressing to do, it works.
I don't yet have a bandsaw of any sort, so starting with interesting looking logs from the firewood pile, I can make some pretty stock on the tablesaw - with the use of appropriate sleds and holdowns - tablesaws and rocking wood do NOT mix well.
It all ends up as suitable stock for boxes or inlays or other small stuff.
Great Vid Matt - Thanks
I've cut small stuff like this on my bandsaw a few times and it works out quite well for me. The small material is nice for cutting boards or aggravation boards.
What do you do with pieces that are unusable?
firewood
I would have left any curves in the "logs" and just worried about making them relatively flat. Then just slabed them all and cut them into square boards after drying.
When everything you have is 3-5' wide and 12/4 thick, small boards are a waste. When, like me, you're limited to expensive, uninteresting wood from a big box store or what you cut with a chainsaw from storm damage, small log lumber is exceptional!
Cut'em up for wood turners Matt, there would be some good turning timber to be had.
Matt: "This one's a massive .. 8 inches .... that's tiny ... hehehe"
Marc "That's what she said"
So if you sell loose weird board like this at the sidewalk by the pound what's an okay price? A A KD 2x4x8 (11 pounds) is now about $4.4 in CA so weigin each and figure waste by some req edging That about 40 cents a pound retail. But if you have better craft wood like: walnut maple cherry etc. Then that would be so fair. Good wood pieces at a wood crafter type store for making art stuff they want much bigger money> $5 a pound. Your oven on low can be a great kiln if you wish before you plane or begin work. Weigh 'em, put # no. on each piece and selle em & maybe a charity gets half. A lot of swap festivals can be created for a 1-2 day charity event if people were willing to share, showing up with thier surplus stuff. Anything they could bring, Lots of venues available for a non-profit.
What an outstanding video...thank you so much! We have a 30' black walnut that was just hit by lightning and I'm trying to figure out if it will yield enough material to make an 18"W x 48" coffee table. This video was extremely helpful
Don't step over dollars while you're chucking away dimes.
With the right wood the small chunks can be used for knifes, hand gun grips and pen blanks ? All im saying is I have a friend that has a set of custom 1911 grips made he made from a small chunk AZ mesquite.
Really helpful video thanks Matt!
Good to hear!
Probably the best use for such logs are bowl blanks.
I used a yard walnut to make cabriole legs for a pretty little desk. I left it 16/4 which I really can’t buy readily. I still have some of it in the lumber rack.
I have had boards roll on the bandsaw- very frightening
Frank
This video is the perfect allegory for experience over material gain. What's worth more, the scrap wood you will get out of that thing OR the memory of sitting around a campfire you and your family are warmed with by way of the burning of that log? Just saying it's a perfect allegory, or soliloquy, or whatever the hell it is. Cheers!
The sizes of those cants would be perfect for my situation. I use a 14" bandsaw in my basement and the bandsaw table is 5' high. So a log can't be too big or too heavy for me to lift. I'm 68 yo and no longer a spring chicken with tons of strength.
im no sawyer but ive dropped big trees and had them milled.....a big silky oay i had in the yard took a lightning hit and so i dropped her and i dont have a mill or much money,i dove in with an 18 inch ryobi ,burned her at full rpm for probably 9 to ten tanks to learn ....then i took it back said it was crap and got the 20 inch 50cc......man i would cut all that freehand with a chalk line and tape....small stuff good for garden and craft.you can cut straight lumber with the chainsaw ,crotches work good for shelf pionts...and it looks cool pulling boards the entire limb length...love your tutorials dude .