Making Cottonwood Slabs and Lumber

This past week we got a couple of nice days before storms came rolling in - just enough time to mill an old cottonwood that I cut down a few years ago before putting up our garden fence. With my father-in-law in town, the co-owner of this mill, I thought it would be a great time to work together to finally cut this tree up! Check out what we found inside!
If you want to see how I put up the garden fence, check that video out here!
• Fencing In Our New Gar...
Or watch my whole sawmilling playlist here!
• Sawmilling!

[@nugget5103]

Thanks for sharing

[@petep7227]

I’ve been chainsaw milling cottonwood for shed siding. Takes on a nice cream color when it dries.

[@marker113]

Thanks for sharing, inspirational:)

[@HonestHomesteading]

Thanks for watching!

[@boomer3150]

Nice pieces; nice spalting. This is an underrated wood, at least by these who either have no experience with it or who are childishly biased against the tree.

[@juneshollow1569]

Enjoyed the video! Loading logs is always a challenge, doing it however you can make it work is always the best on a manual mill. We have almost the same setup, except we have the norwood mill (loading logs is always the hardest part). Try putting a wedge under the log so the pith of the tree is level across the mill and you will have straighter lumber that does not warp/twist/bow/etc. as much. Believe me, I have learned that one the hard way. I have had boards that go all sorts of wonky directions!

[@HonestHomesteading]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I've evened up some logs using the toe board I bought from Woodland Mills to ensure I've got the log set up in a stable way, but I haven't done that as a rule to go with the pith. I'll have to try that out specifically and compare as well!

[@gordonfrank]

How have these dried out for you?