Logs to Lumber

[Skylar303]

Hey KFF and woodworkers,

I had the opportunity to grab some ash logs that were cut within the month. I already notice some checking on the ends if that's a factor in cutting them right away or drying.

Should I let then dry first? Or cut them down to around the size I want and let them dry? Or cut them into blocks and let them dry then cut to peices I want?

Thanks

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Paging @deltaplex ...

 

[MSicardCutlery]

Ideally they should be ripped before they dry.

 

[RonB]

If you can;t get them cut into slabs very soon, the ends should be sealed with Anchor Seal. That will help with the checking.

 

[tostadas]

Cut, slab and then anchor seal to prevent checking. Then set them aside to dry. If the wood is freshly cut, then it will probably be at least several years before you use them.

 

[deltaplex]

Hey KFF and woodworkers,

I had the opportunity to grab some ash logs that were cut within the month. I already notice some checking on the ends if that's a factor in cutting them right away or drying.

Should I let then dry first? Or cut them down to around the size I want and let them dry? Or cut them into blocks and let them dry then cut to peices I want?

Thanks

If your goal is checking prevention, then you want them slabbed, stacked with spacers to allow air flow, and the ends sealed up with something to reduce the accelerated moisture loss through the end grain: wax, latex paint, specific application sealing product, etc. It doesn't really make sense (to me) to cut them into smaller sizes until the slabs lose enough water.

How quickly green lumber will get down below the moisture % that you want for finish carpentry depends on far too many factors for me to speculate on how quickly you'll be able to use them. I'd invest in a moisture meter if I were milling logs with the goal of using it. I prefer the contactless ones, the probe ones are really only going to tell you what the moisture % is near the surface.

I'd be surprised if you would be able to use any of the lumber, worry free, in sooner than 24 months if it's from a freshly cut tree of any reasonable size.

 

[Skylar303]

Ideally they should be ripped before they dry.

Thanks, I don't know why I didn't recieve any notifications about replies to the thread...

So I did a bit of research before grabbing the logs and all the videos I saw were painted ends or already dried. And then of course after I grabbed them all the yt videos are of people doing it freshly...

 

[Skylar303]

If you can;t get them cut into slabs very soon, the ends should be sealed with Anchor Seal. That will help with the checking.

So I may have over did it a bit with the logs... I tweaked my back a bit lol.... didn't have any equipment but me ole arms...

As mentioned in the OP, these have been felled recently, but some have pretty bad checking already...

Should I just paint them as they are or should I cut the ends till it's clean wood then paint? I have a feeling I won't be able to get to all of this wood before expected cold weather and snow again in a few here.

Thanks

 

[Skylar303]

Cut, slab and then anchor seal to prevent checking. Then set them aside to dry. If the wood is freshly cut, then it will probably be at least several years before you use them.

Thanks for the input. Question, why is it better to slab out and dry instead of sealing ends and letting dry? If it would be years before the woods ready for use, it seems that keeping in log form they may dry fully by then?

Or is it because of the checking, etc they slab out then dry?

 

[Skylar303]

If your goal is checking prevention, then you want them slabbed, stacked with spacers to allow air flow, and the ends sealed up with something to reduce the accelerated moisture loss through the end grain: wax, latex paint, specific application sealing product, etc. It doesn't really make sense (to me) to cut them into smaller sizes until the slabs lose enough water.

How quickly green lumber will get down below the moisture % that you want for finish carpentry depends on far too many factors for me to speculate on how quickly you'll be able to use them. I'd invest in a moisture meter if I were milling logs with the goal of using it. I prefer the contactless ones, the probe ones are really only going to tell you what the moisture % is near the surface.

I'd be surprised if you would be able to use any of the lumber, worry free, in sooner than 24 months if it's from a freshly cut tree of any reasonable size.

Hey thanks again for the informative information. So my end goal is to be able to use the wood in projects. Which is the end, end goal. So I guess checking prevention is the main thing. Since I probably won't be able to mill all the logs I grabbed before they would naturally dry enough to start checking badly. (Really dry here)

Also, as mentioned in above replies (trying not to repeat and ask the same things in replies) Before I grabbed the fresh logs all the vids I saw were logs with sealed ends and when they went to mill it looks like pretty dry stuff. Now, everything is telling me to mill fresh lol... In your experience does it make any difference in the logs that have pretty deep checking already. Should I cut back the ends to clean wood? Then seal? Or does it not really matter once the main split has begun? As in it won't continue to spread down deeper once the main pressure is released? (Or checked) I definitely won't be able to get all this cut in the next day or 2. Should I paint the ones with the least checking and hope for the best? Or paint the checked ones and work the unchecked ones first?

What moisture content would you wait till before you slab? And reasons behind that? I assume less wood manipulation? (Warping, twisting, etc.) Unfortunately, the only moisture reader I have is a probe one, because they're cheap lol...

So my original plan was to get logs, paint ends, set them aside off ground to dry. Which doesn't seem like a solid plan now... lol. I may go back and grab smaller diameter logs tbh hah... Bc I'll have to chainsaw mill these or wedge them...

And I'm starting to ramble... sorry for the somewhat jumbled and confusing questions.

Thanks

 

[tostadas]

Thanks for the input. Question, why is it better to slab out and dry instead of sealing ends and letting dry? If it would be years before the woods ready for use, it seems that keeping in log form they may dry fully by then?

Or is it because of the checking, etc they slab out then dry?

The thicker the wood the longer it takes to dry.

 

[Skylar303]

The thicker the wood the longer it takes to dry.

Well yes lol.

I guess I may have underestimated the time it would take for a log to dry enough to mill.

 

[deltaplex]

Well yes lol.

I guess I may have underestimated the time it would take for a log to dry enough to mill.

There's that, yes, but it also decreases the number of axes that checking checking can occur in for those slabbed out sections. There's a lot that one can consider when deciding how best to make a large section of tree into the smaller end items you're hoping to make out of it, so you end up making a series of choices that align with what your priorities are for those smaller items. Straight whole slabbing sections is the least labor intensive way to ensure you're giving the wood a chance to cure consistently across it's volume and it eliminates only a few end item outcomes.

I personally feel like splitting (or 1/4 sawing) is the best route for me to get a log ready to be made into something handle, saya, or stone sized. That's because I already have a strong preference for what grain orientation I want for these kinds of things, I'm already splitting logs for the wood burner, and I don't have a dedicated log mill on the property. I do have some larger trees that came down at some point in the past year, for at least some of those I'm going to want big 'ol slabs from them, and I'll figure out if I'm loading and hauling them to a hobbyist mill or I'm calling a service with a mobile mill to come out (or I somehow figure out how to acquire a bandsaw mill that makes sense).

I wouldn't think about using a slab until it's under ~15% moisture content, and I don't use anything for a blank or a finished piece until it's under 10%

I wouldn't paint the cut ends of a whole log unless I was planning on turning the whole piece, and I was fine waiting like a decade for it. Everybody hates waste, but checking is relatively low on the list of things that are going to prevent you from using these logs to turn out whatever handles or other KKF related carpentry projects you're interested in. You'll have sections within the wood near the cut ends that will have cracks in it, so you either cut along those cracks, or you cut the ends off until they're gone, it just means you have more material to burn/mulch/whatever then you otherwise could have. There will still be well more than enough from what you've shown in pics to get a ton of suitable and interesting pieces to work with.

 

[mikejungle]

I read through half the thread then skipped the rest, but what are you planning on making?
deltaplex's suggestion of splitting is great, if you're going to be making smaller items like tool and knife handles, and not tabletops or benches.
If you are making larger pieces, then you will have to mill, whether it's by hand, using a chainsaw mill, or hiring someone else to do it for you. I bought a maebiki ooga for this exact purpose and have only used it once. Labor intensive.

And lastly, I wouldn't try to get rid of the ends first. Logs that have dried out whole will take forever to really lose all their moisture. I have a cookie (cross sectional piece) that's "only" several inches thick, and I don't expect it to fully dry out for at least 3 years, probably more. So again, as deltaplex mentioned, the checking might not go that deep.

Best of luck, and hopefully this was helpful, and not redundant information.

 

[thebradleycrew]

Another general rule of thumb for drying thicker/larger/through and through slabs is 1 year of drying per 1" of thickness. I have a 4" thick through and through walnut slab (40"w x 80"l) that I've been drying for 7 years and it still needs more time air drying. So the rule can vary, but no matter where you are, unless you are kiln drying it, assume 1 year per 1".