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!!
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!
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 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 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 $80 per hour to mill it. It’s not bad but the thing about the city trees having metal is one of the bigger concerns. I do know that one can buy logs from loggers in Michigan though and that can save a bit of money.
Very informative, thank you. I’d also be interested in a video on milling on your own. The different setups and methods of milling lumber in your own woodshop.
This feels scripted in a good way! It shows a level of consideration for my time that similar videos from other channels don't. Seriously, im gonna bookmark this for future reference.
I have what I believe to be a white oak that is dead in the top two-thirds, the bottom, which is about 15' would be what i'd like to get milled up. The diameter, measured at four feet above the ground is 22" . I'm considering getting the tree cut down but do you think this type of tree would have any millable wood or should I just have it all hauled away?
I've never heard of 2 to 3$ per bd ft for kiln drying lumber? That's a high price from what we used to pay, notice I said used to pay? A 100,000 bd ft kiln a friend owned would cost him $4,000 to fire it up and dry the loaded kiln. It might take him several months to get that much lumber in it though, this was 2008 when he went bankrupt. He said once all the wood was dried, his profit was $8,000. He would try to collect 12,000 each time the kiln was empty. But a customer would often not pay and he wound up with a huge building, his shipping shed filled with a lot of beautiful species, then he would charge a storage fee after 30 days. Lot of times the lumber was never picked up, he was never paid for any of his work and would then simply start selling it. The real expensive lumber would almost always be paid for and picked up. So if he could've charged 2$ a bd ft he'd a received 200,000 dollars? He'd be a millionaire many times over. He also had a planer mill and would f4s the lumber if the customer paid for that. I seen huge load of South America hardwoods come into this place. Mahogany boards over 24" wide3" thick over 20' long. They wouldn't fit through the door and he'd cut the ends off I have one of them drops that's 30" wide from the end of a board! It was chocolatey brown colored genuine
I have lumber from around 50 trees in my garage attempting to air dry them. I dropped all the trees. I moved them all uphill to one spot in my yard. I've moved all the slabs 3 times. They still aren't dry enough probably 6 years later now. If they ever do dry enough, flattening them is going to take ages and they still might warp. It's definitely not worth it.
White Oak (NOT Red Oak) has solid water resistant properties (enough to build boats from) and is a quality hardwood. Also takes stain well if you want the walnut look. Cedar is not a hardwood but is readily available (and cheaper), has a natural reddish-brown color, easy to work, and is almost impervious to water damage. For something like a mailbox that won't see a ton of abuse, it could be fine.
@Ashitaka1110 never even thought about the walnut outside thing. I just happen to have a bunch. Not sure cedar would be great for dovetail though? I'll maybe look for some white oak. I needed some anyways
My sawyer charges .50 a yard and also 75$ if you break his blade due to nails or what not. I’m finding out, dude is magical because other sawyers aren’t anywhere near his prices. I got several pallets of white oak 12 quarter, red oak, walnut, ash, maple, alder. I’d like some cherry, but can’t get it for some reason. Personally, NOT worth it doing your own. I mean you want to figure out flat sawn, quarter sawn, gutting metal, blades whipping around, all that? Nah. Lol
Thanks for the “compliment”, but I don’t think we need to qualify the statement with a gender. Woodworking is an art that most women AND men aren’t educated on.
His livelihood depends on trees, it’s about effective management of them, not saving each individual tree. The same way that a hunter can harvest individual deer and still be a stout conservationist, which many are
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This just confirms that pallet wood is the reigning champion
😂
Lol 😂😂
I just wish they made walnut pallets.....
Going from the tree to usable lumber is a fascinating world unto its self.
It's always great to see Matt in a video. Very useful information too.
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!!
Thank you for understanding the sentimental value of a tree!
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!
I knew M2 would be in this video before I clicked! He’s milled some white oak for me in the past. Top notch!
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.
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.
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.
You guys do a great job with these videos 👍
Great video, anything sawmill related is fascinating
Great video. Followup video: challenges and considerations when milling your own sinker logs from rivers, swamps and lakes. 😊
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 $80 per hour to mill it. It’s not bad but the thing about the city trees having metal is one of the bigger concerns. I do know that one can buy logs from loggers in Michigan though and that can save a bit of money.
Very informative, thank you. I’d also be interested in a video on milling on your own. The different setups and methods of milling lumber in your own woodshop.
I was just debating this for a bunch of white oak projects in a new home build. What about some of the DIY chainsaw mills out there?
Very doable...but backbreaking slow work! I would gladly pay someone else to save the effort lol.\
This feels scripted in a good way! It shows a level of consideration for my time that similar videos from other channels don't. Seriously, im gonna bookmark this for future reference.
Thanks! I appreciate that comment
I have what I believe to be a white oak that is dead in the top two-thirds, the bottom, which is about 15' would be what i'd like to get milled up. The diameter, measured at four feet above the ground is 22" . I'm considering getting the tree cut down but do you think this type of tree would have any millable wood or should I just have it all hauled away?
If its solid in the bottom i would say so, as long as you have the time to wait for it!
I've never heard of 2 to 3$ per bd ft for kiln drying lumber? That's a high price from what we used to pay, notice I said used to pay?
A 100,000 bd ft kiln a friend owned would cost him $4,000 to fire it up and dry the loaded kiln. It might take him several months to get that much lumber in it though, this was 2008 when he went bankrupt. He said once all the wood was dried, his profit was $8,000. He would try to collect 12,000 each time the kiln was empty. But a customer would often not pay and he wound up with a huge building, his shipping shed filled with a lot of beautiful species, then he would charge a storage fee after 30 days. Lot of times the lumber was never picked up, he was never paid for any of his work and would then simply start selling it. The real expensive lumber would almost always be paid for and picked up. So if he could've charged 2$ a bd ft he'd a received 200,000 dollars? He'd be a millionaire many times over. He also had a planer mill and would f4s the lumber if the customer paid for that. I seen huge load of South America hardwoods come into this place. Mahogany boards over 24" wide3" thick over 20' long. They wouldn't fit through the door and he'd cut the ends off I have one of them drops that's 30" wide from the end of a board! It was chocolatey brown colored genuine
To you can mill it your self with chainsaw and a kit for doing it just need one of the powerful chainsaws that can handle the 30-60 inch blades.
I have lumber from around 50 trees in my garage attempting to air dry them. I dropped all the trees. I moved them all uphill to one spot in my yard. I've moved all the slabs 3 times. They still aren't dry enough probably 6 years later now. If they ever do dry enough, flattening them is going to take ages and they still might warp. It's definitely not worth it.
First Lincoln
Fyi the sawmill app in your description says its for older model phones.
Hazaa!!!
Is board feet calculated by the advertised dimensions or the actual dimensions?
its actual dimensions
So walnut would be bad for a dovetail exterior wall mounted mailbox? Whatd be better for a covered, but still exterior mailbox.
White Oak (NOT Red Oak) has solid water resistant properties (enough to build boats from) and is a quality hardwood. Also takes stain well if you want the walnut look. Cedar is not a hardwood but is readily available (and cheaper), has a natural reddish-brown color, easy to work, and is almost impervious to water damage. For something like a mailbox that won't see a ton of abuse, it could be fine.
@Ashitaka1110 never even thought about the walnut outside thing. I just happen to have a bunch. Not sure cedar would be great for dovetail though? I'll maybe look for some white oak. I needed some anyways
Great video! This was very educational - and eye opening. Well done, sir! 🫡
My sawyer charges .50 a yard and also 75$ if you break his blade due to nails or what not. I’m finding out, dude is magical because other sawyers aren’t anywhere near his prices. I got several pallets of white oak 12 quarter, red oak, walnut, ash, maple, alder. I’d like some cherry, but can’t get it for some reason.
Personally, NOT worth it doing your own. I mean you want to figure out flat sawn, quarter sawn, gutting metal, blades whipping around, all that? Nah. Lol
isn't "Dead Edge", just "Straight Edge" ?
The only problem with air dried wood is heat treatment it to get rid of bugs
Will you ever post a video that isn't snarky or negative?
The answer is no...
go touch some grass.
To be fair: “wood glue, a vise…. and squeeze them together”
is not bad for a woman.
Thanks for the “compliment”, but I don’t think we need to qualify the statement with a gender. Woodworking is an art that most women AND men aren’t educated on.
You had to know I wasn’t talking to you, sweetie.
A tree slaughterer wearing a 'save the trees' t-shirt just feels wrong somehow....?
Were more like morticians...we dont actually do the slaughtering :)
His livelihood depends on trees, it’s about effective management of them, not saving each individual tree. The same way that a hunter can harvest individual deer and still be a stout conservationist, which many are
People that harvest resources often advocate for their sustainable use and care.