From an early age I have enjoyed working with my hands. I appreciate items that have been hand crafted rather than manufactured. This page is a location where my random milling and woodworking adventures are shared. I by no means know what I know today from myself. My milling and woodworking journey is the result of reading and listening to others that have shared their experiences and knowledge about the craft. I have found that people who enjoy working with their hands for the most part enjoy sharing their knowledge so that others can learn from their mistakes and lessons learned. This is the goal of the blogging stump, to share what I have learned and some of the projects I have enjoyed.
Patience is a virtue!
One of the questions I get most often is why and how long do I have to wait before I can use my lumber in a project?
This is a loaded question that I will try to answer briefly. There are a lot of factors that determine how long you will need to wait. Species, thickness, when the tree was cut, and relative humidity are just a few of the variables that come into play. It all comes down to moisture content in the wood. Lumber cut from a log is full of moisture. For most applications, dry lumber is required before the wood can be used with predicable results. The whole goal of this waiting period is to allow water to leave the log in a predictable and stable (stacked and stickered) environment.
The rule of thumb for air drying lumber has always been one year per inch of lumber thickness. This rule can easily be broken depending on where you are in the country. Drier, less humid climates tend to remove wood moisture quicker and areas with high humidity. Wood is like a sponge. When the board is first cut from the log it will be fully saturated with water and the heaviest it will ever be in its life. The cell walls are filled to the brim with moisture. After the board (sponge) begins to dry out, water towards the ends and the tops and sides will leave it first through evaporation. When the moisture leaves the lumber, the space it once occupied in the cell wall becomes smaller resulting in the lumber shrinking. (see shrinkage for more information) This differential in moisture change is why it is critical to properly stack and sticker your lumber for drying. When lumber is not stacked properly there is a high likelihood that tension in the wood may induce warping or cupping in the board. The only way to remove this induced tension after the lumber is dry is through machining the wood using a jointer and planer which results in less usable product and more sawdust than if the lumber was flat to begin with.
Once the lumber has lost all of the moisture by means of air drying it will reach a point where it will not lose any more moisture without mechanical means. When all of the moisture has left a board through air drying it will reach what is called “equilibrium” moisture level or EMC. This level is reached when the relative humidity and temperature that the wood is stored at no longer changes with its surrounding environment. Think of the EMC as the lowest possible moisture content the board will ever reach naturally if left alone. The EMC is variable and depends on geographic location as well as time of year, among other factors . For Pennsylvania, the EMC moisture content hovers right around 12%. Once the lumber reaches the EMC it is considered complete in the air drying process. If you want to build a project intended for indoor use, the climate control of the home is lower yet (approx. 3-6% MC) than the 12% EMC. The only way to reduce the moisture in the lumber further is to use a kiln. A kiln accomplishes two major things by reducing the moisture content and killing any insects that may be present in the lumber. The important thing to remember is the sponge analogy mentioned before. Even if wood is dried to a low relative moisture content in a kiln, wood will always seek the EMC of the environment it will be in.
My personal experience with woodworking is that I much prefer air dried lumber to kiln dried. Kiln drying lumber is a science and if done improperly can lead to many issues hidden inside such as honey-combing and case hardening. It is difficult to notice these defects until you are actually cutting into the wood in the shop and by that time it’s too late. Improperly kiln dried lumber can contain internal stresses that were not present after the air drying process. I do not say this to sway people away from kiln dried lumber. In fact erring on the side of caution, using kiln dried lumber is always a safer bet once it is incorporated into the final project. It is just the struggle and disappointment sometimes on how much loss from a board can happen once it is opened up in the shop from an improperly kiln dried piece of lumber in comparison to an air dried piece of the same species.
Because of the gentle and slow process of air drying the lumber tends to maintain a soft predictable and more forgiving texture when worked. Some species such as walnut tend to lose the rich and vibrant colors in the lumber when kiln dried. There are some people that would argue differently but in my experience air dried lumber is just fine to use on indoor applications if the lumber has reached the EMC of the location it will be used or incorporated. Another tip is allowing any lumber air dried or kiln dried to acclimate for a couple of days in your shop before milling it to its final dimension. By allowing this additional time, any moisture variance will reach the EMC of your shop and behave better when worked with your machines.
The final take away would be patience, patience and more patience. It is hard to see freshly milled lumber come off the mill without having ideas and dreams of where each piece will be used in a project or table top but the best thing to do is to properly stack and store the lumber and forget about the gem for a while until it is ready to be sanded down and revealed again at a later date. You can never have too much lumber in rotation and it is always a treat to plane a board you had milled a year ago only to realize you had forgotten about the treasure hidden under its grey surface!
One of the questions I get most often is why and how long do I have to wait before I can use my lumber in a project?
This is a loaded question that I will try to answer briefly. There are a lot of factors that determine how long you will need to wait. Species, thickness, when the tree was cut, and relative humidity are just a few of the variables that come into play. It all comes down to moisture content in the wood. Lumber cut from a log is full of moisture. For most applications, dry lumber is required before the wood can be used with predicable results. The whole goal of this waiting period is to allow water to leave the log in a predictable and stable (stacked and stickered) environment.
The rule of thumb for air drying lumber has always been one year per inch of lumber thickness. This rule can easily be broken depending on where you are in the country. Drier, less humid climates tend to remove wood moisture quicker and areas with high humidity. Wood is like a sponge. When the board is first cut from the log it will be fully saturated with water and the heaviest it will ever be in its life. The cell walls are filled to the brim with moisture. After the board (sponge) begins to dry out, water towards the ends and the tops and sides will leave it first through evaporation. When the moisture leaves the lumber, the space it once occupied in the cell wall becomes smaller resulting in the lumber shrinking. (see shrinkage for more information) This differential in moisture change is why it is critical to properly stack and sticker your lumber for drying. When lumber is not stacked properly there is a high likelihood that tension in the wood may induce warping or cupping in the board. The only way to remove this induced tension after the lumber is dry is through machining the wood using a jointer and planer which results in less usable product and more sawdust than if the lumber was flat to begin with.
Once the lumber has lost all of the moisture by means of air drying it will reach a point where it will not lose any more moisture without mechanical means. When all of the moisture has left a board through air drying it will reach what is called “equilibrium” moisture level or EMC. This level is reached when the relative humidity and temperature that the wood is stored at no longer changes with its surrounding environment. Think of the EMC as the lowest possible moisture content the board will ever reach naturally if left alone. The EMC is variable and depends on geographic location as well as time of year, among other factors . For Pennsylvania, the EMC moisture content hovers right around 12%. Once the lumber reaches the EMC it is considered complete in the air drying process. If you want to build a project intended for indoor use, the climate control of the home is lower yet (approx. 3-6% MC) than the 12% EMC. The only way to reduce the moisture in the lumber further is to use a kiln. A kiln accomplishes two major things by reducing the moisture content and killing any insects that may be present in the lumber. The important thing to remember is the sponge analogy mentioned before. Even if wood is dried to a low relative moisture content in a kiln, wood will always seek the EMC of the environment it will be in.
My personal experience with woodworking is that I much prefer air dried lumber to kiln dried. Kiln drying lumber is a science and if done improperly can lead to many issues hidden inside such as honey-combing and case hardening. It is difficult to notice these defects until you are actually cutting into the wood in the shop and by that time it’s too late. Improperly kiln dried lumber can contain internal stresses that were not present after the air drying process. I do not say this to sway people away from kiln dried lumber. In fact erring on the side of caution, using kiln dried lumber is always a safer bet once it is incorporated into the final project. It is just the struggle and disappointment sometimes on how much loss from a board can happen once it is opened up in the shop from an improperly kiln dried piece of lumber in comparison to an air dried piece of the same species.
Because of the gentle and slow process of air drying the lumber tends to maintain a soft predictable and more forgiving texture when worked. Some species such as walnut tend to lose the rich and vibrant colors in the lumber when kiln dried. There are some people that would argue differently but in my experience air dried lumber is just fine to use on indoor applications if the lumber has reached the EMC of the location it will be used or incorporated. Another tip is allowing any lumber air dried or kiln dried to acclimate for a couple of days in your shop before milling it to its final dimension. By allowing this additional time, any moisture variance will reach the EMC of your shop and behave better when worked with your machines.
The final take away would be patience, patience and more patience. It is hard to see freshly milled lumber come off the mill without having ideas and dreams of where each piece will be used in a project or table top but the best thing to do is to properly stack and store the lumber and forget about the gem for a while until it is ready to be sanded down and revealed again at a later date. You can never have too much lumber in rotation and it is always a treat to plane a board you had milled a year ago only to realize you had forgotten about the treasure hidden under its grey surface!
From mill to lumber drying to final project.....The patience is worth the wait!
Walnut Bar Stools
This article is about the making of two bar stools for my family’s home. When my wife and I bought our home it came with a kitchen that had an overhanging counter top. Not sure if the previous owners had stools to fill this void but none the less we did not. I always like projects that are necessitated by a need because I feel less guilty about the time it takes to make them. This was one of those projects!
The Seat- I choose to use black walnut for the construction of the stools and the joints would be mortise and tennon for strength. I started by preparing the rough cut lumber I had sawn from a log I had gotten off of craigslist and had sawn on the sawmill. The lumber was air dried in an old tobacco barn for about two years. I prefer air dried wood to kiln dried because of its easy workability and in walnut, rich color retention. The seat stock was 8/4 lumber that was squared on a custom planer sled (my jointer is only 8’’ wide). I find this works well for smaller stock and produces good results. The sled is nothing more than flat MDF stock with a stop at the back to prevent the work piece from coming off the MDF by the feed rollers. Another method for thinner stock is to use double sided tape to secure the work piece. Once the seat stock was surfaced on the top the side was jointed and the remaining side trimmed square on the table saw. A center line was then scribed using a marking gauge. The board was then sawn on the shop bandsaw producing a book match set that would eventually become the seat.
The seat was joined using biscuits and glue. Once the seat blank was dry, I created a computer paper template I could trace and transfer to the seat for my layout lines for sculpting the seat. I used a French curve for creating a flowing yet manageable contour to carve. I did not want any sharp curves that would create an issue for my grinder to access. Prior to carving the seat blank I had found a couple of alternative methods for methodically creating the seat relief using a homemade jig and a table saw. I eventually decided that the time made creating the jig and learning how to use it was not time prohibitive seeing as I was only creating two stools. If I were to create more, I would have most likely spent the time to create the jig. For my seats I choose to use a 4.5’’ angle grinder with a sanding flapper disk. This became a very dusty proposition and I realized the importance of wearing my respirator and completing most of the carving outdoors. To hog out most of the waste before carving, I used a large forstner bit with a limited depth stop to create the basic outline for the flapper disc to follow. The seat creating took place over several sessions until I was happy with the final result. Once one seat was finished I needed to create the same results in the second. Overall both seats came out very similar and are astatically organic and natural looking.
Creating the legs-
The legs were created out of 8/4 walnut stock just like the seat blank. I very much prefer to saw my boards destined for furniture to at least 8/4 dimension as I can have a very predictable color match and book match the board in a project for more visual interest. Building a project from a single tree or board ensures this color and grain continuity. I began by tracing the legs using the cardboard template onto the rough stock. This not only gives you a picture of how much material you will need but also provides a visual picture of grain and color. The legs were selected from stock near the sapwood of the board. The reason for this was to achieve a strait vertical grain pattern in the legs giving me essentially quarter or rift sawn material for dimension stability as well. The leg material was sawn oversized to allow room to machine the material to final size. A bevel gauge was used to transfer the angle for the splayed legs and was cut using a miter saw. Once the legs were cut to length it was time to mark the outline for the mortises. Each leg would receive a total of four mortises. Keeping the orientation and layout is critical to prevent making a mistake at this point. To do this after the four legs were cut to length for each chair I orient them how they will be displayed in the final stool. I then draw a circle on the tops of the leg blanks and draw a RF (right front), RL, BR and BL accordingly to on each leg to designate its position in the final project. The mortise outlines can now be laid out for each leg. The front and back receive a rail at a comfortable height to rest ones feet. The sides get a lower rail to ensure structural integrity and a solid feel. The mortises were cut using a hollow mortise chisel on my drill press. I have a dedicated drill press for this application so I do not need to change the setup of my machine.
The Rails and Aprons (tennon time)-
The aprons (to use table terminology) were relatively straightforward to make. After stock was ripped to final width and machined to the dimensions I wanted I used my table saw sled with a stop block to make my initial cheek and face cuts for the tennons. The tennons were machined to stock using several passes of my router with a ¾’’ strait bit slowing working up to the finished cut produced earlier in the process by the table saw. This has become my preferred method for cutting tennons. I have a Delta table saw tennoning jig but I find the setup and adjustments are more difficult for me than simply using my crosscut sled with a stop block. Another method for clearing out the waste of the cheek and face cuts would be using a dado stack on the table saw. The front and the back sets of rails are angled at account for the splayed legs. This is all about setup. Once you find the angle you want, I find it is best to run all of the angled cuts while the setup is in place. This becomes a repetitive step in the process and it is important to have all the pieces marked ahead of time as this can feel somewhat mindless at times. My mind wanders onto the next step or something else in the project during steps like this. It is important to refocus your mind to complete the task at hand and not make a potentially dangerous mistake of forgetting that there is a carbide toothed saw blade spinning right beside your hand.
Attaching the top to the bottom…..
This is the part of the project where I came to a halt. My first thought was to attach the seat top to the bottom leg assembly using standard offset metal tabs you would use to attach a table top to a leg assembly. I have used this method successfully in the past with table tops but never with a chair or stool. Using the metal fasteners allows the top (or seat in this case) to expand and contract freely. I normally use a biscuit jointer to cut a slot where the metal tab and have room to move with the seasons. I initially used this method but through trial and error discovered that stools take more abuse than a table top that is not moved around all the time. With the continual movement the seat would eventually work loose of the slotted holes and the top would turn and come loose from the bottom.
I had to figure out another, more secure method to attach the top to the legs. After searching the internet (a great place for ideas) I came upon a fastener called a figure eight fastener. This fastener would prove to be a much better match for this particular application. To install a small indent using a forstner bit into the top of the leg apron assembly allows the fastener to the be secured using screw to the seat bottom. This proved to work perfectly, while still allowing the seat to move independently from the bottom with seasonal changes.
Finish time-
Many woodworkers they to separate themselves from the finishing process and do not find enjoyment in this step. While I do not claim to be a Bob Flexner of finishing I do enjoy this step. This step comes after all of the other countless steps in the process. The tree was cut down, stacked and stickered for several years until it reached an equilibrium moisture level. The lumber was then brought into the shop to acclimate and parts were drawn onto the rough stock in preparation for cutting them out. Once the parts were cut to rough dimension they were squared and dimensioned to final width and thickness. Careful planning was put into the layout and design of the joinery and the final result is what is now sitting in front of you ready for a finish worthy of protecting it for generations. While no finish is perfect and each finish has its unique niche of application I have found some of my favorite finishes over time are simple wipe on finishes. They are simple to apply and depending on how thick or thin they are and you can quickly see results that will enhance and protect your project.
For the stools I chose to use a wipe on polyurethane for protection. You can use standard polyurethane and get good results by thinning it with mineral spirits. This creates nothing more than a wipe on poly from a can but saves you on money by mixing your own. By thinning the poly, the finish does not build to a protective film finish quickly but it penetrates the wood fibers by soaking in deep and drying quickly after the solvent evaporates. Once the wood is essentially seal coated, thicker (less mineral spirits) coats of finish can be applied for more of a film finish build. This is what will ultimately protect the wood. I should note that I filled the grain using a TimberMate walnut grain filler prior to applying a finish. Walnut is a medium pored wood which really does not need to be filled but is more of a persona preference. By filling the grain prior to finishing the finish will sit flat on the surface of the wood and create less of a rough texture and more of a smooth to the touch smooth satin feel.
Final result-
The stools both came out as good as I could have planned them too. They both had constancy and proved to be functional as well as beautiful. If I could have done anything differently it would have been to incorporate more of a flare or curve to the legs themselves instead of the square boxy legs that they are. The power sculpted seat creates an organic feel juxtaposition to the geometric feel of the boxy legs. I would also have skipped strait to the figure eight fasteners to attach the seat to the leg assembly. Overall, I am happy with the results and have learned lessons to take with me into future woodworking projects!
The Seat- I choose to use black walnut for the construction of the stools and the joints would be mortise and tennon for strength. I started by preparing the rough cut lumber I had sawn from a log I had gotten off of craigslist and had sawn on the sawmill. The lumber was air dried in an old tobacco barn for about two years. I prefer air dried wood to kiln dried because of its easy workability and in walnut, rich color retention. The seat stock was 8/4 lumber that was squared on a custom planer sled (my jointer is only 8’’ wide). I find this works well for smaller stock and produces good results. The sled is nothing more than flat MDF stock with a stop at the back to prevent the work piece from coming off the MDF by the feed rollers. Another method for thinner stock is to use double sided tape to secure the work piece. Once the seat stock was surfaced on the top the side was jointed and the remaining side trimmed square on the table saw. A center line was then scribed using a marking gauge. The board was then sawn on the shop bandsaw producing a book match set that would eventually become the seat.
The seat was joined using biscuits and glue. Once the seat blank was dry, I created a computer paper template I could trace and transfer to the seat for my layout lines for sculpting the seat. I used a French curve for creating a flowing yet manageable contour to carve. I did not want any sharp curves that would create an issue for my grinder to access. Prior to carving the seat blank I had found a couple of alternative methods for methodically creating the seat relief using a homemade jig and a table saw. I eventually decided that the time made creating the jig and learning how to use it was not time prohibitive seeing as I was only creating two stools. If I were to create more, I would have most likely spent the time to create the jig. For my seats I choose to use a 4.5’’ angle grinder with a sanding flapper disk. This became a very dusty proposition and I realized the importance of wearing my respirator and completing most of the carving outdoors. To hog out most of the waste before carving, I used a large forstner bit with a limited depth stop to create the basic outline for the flapper disc to follow. The seat creating took place over several sessions until I was happy with the final result. Once one seat was finished I needed to create the same results in the second. Overall both seats came out very similar and are astatically organic and natural looking.
Creating the legs-
The legs were created out of 8/4 walnut stock just like the seat blank. I very much prefer to saw my boards destined for furniture to at least 8/4 dimension as I can have a very predictable color match and book match the board in a project for more visual interest. Building a project from a single tree or board ensures this color and grain continuity. I began by tracing the legs using the cardboard template onto the rough stock. This not only gives you a picture of how much material you will need but also provides a visual picture of grain and color. The legs were selected from stock near the sapwood of the board. The reason for this was to achieve a strait vertical grain pattern in the legs giving me essentially quarter or rift sawn material for dimension stability as well. The leg material was sawn oversized to allow room to machine the material to final size. A bevel gauge was used to transfer the angle for the splayed legs and was cut using a miter saw. Once the legs were cut to length it was time to mark the outline for the mortises. Each leg would receive a total of four mortises. Keeping the orientation and layout is critical to prevent making a mistake at this point. To do this after the four legs were cut to length for each chair I orient them how they will be displayed in the final stool. I then draw a circle on the tops of the leg blanks and draw a RF (right front), RL, BR and BL accordingly to on each leg to designate its position in the final project. The mortise outlines can now be laid out for each leg. The front and back receive a rail at a comfortable height to rest ones feet. The sides get a lower rail to ensure structural integrity and a solid feel. The mortises were cut using a hollow mortise chisel on my drill press. I have a dedicated drill press for this application so I do not need to change the setup of my machine.
The Rails and Aprons (tennon time)-
The aprons (to use table terminology) were relatively straightforward to make. After stock was ripped to final width and machined to the dimensions I wanted I used my table saw sled with a stop block to make my initial cheek and face cuts for the tennons. The tennons were machined to stock using several passes of my router with a ¾’’ strait bit slowing working up to the finished cut produced earlier in the process by the table saw. This has become my preferred method for cutting tennons. I have a Delta table saw tennoning jig but I find the setup and adjustments are more difficult for me than simply using my crosscut sled with a stop block. Another method for clearing out the waste of the cheek and face cuts would be using a dado stack on the table saw. The front and the back sets of rails are angled at account for the splayed legs. This is all about setup. Once you find the angle you want, I find it is best to run all of the angled cuts while the setup is in place. This becomes a repetitive step in the process and it is important to have all the pieces marked ahead of time as this can feel somewhat mindless at times. My mind wanders onto the next step or something else in the project during steps like this. It is important to refocus your mind to complete the task at hand and not make a potentially dangerous mistake of forgetting that there is a carbide toothed saw blade spinning right beside your hand.
Attaching the top to the bottom…..
This is the part of the project where I came to a halt. My first thought was to attach the seat top to the bottom leg assembly using standard offset metal tabs you would use to attach a table top to a leg assembly. I have used this method successfully in the past with table tops but never with a chair or stool. Using the metal fasteners allows the top (or seat in this case) to expand and contract freely. I normally use a biscuit jointer to cut a slot where the metal tab and have room to move with the seasons. I initially used this method but through trial and error discovered that stools take more abuse than a table top that is not moved around all the time. With the continual movement the seat would eventually work loose of the slotted holes and the top would turn and come loose from the bottom.
I had to figure out another, more secure method to attach the top to the legs. After searching the internet (a great place for ideas) I came upon a fastener called a figure eight fastener. This fastener would prove to be a much better match for this particular application. To install a small indent using a forstner bit into the top of the leg apron assembly allows the fastener to the be secured using screw to the seat bottom. This proved to work perfectly, while still allowing the seat to move independently from the bottom with seasonal changes.
Finish time-
Many woodworkers they to separate themselves from the finishing process and do not find enjoyment in this step. While I do not claim to be a Bob Flexner of finishing I do enjoy this step. This step comes after all of the other countless steps in the process. The tree was cut down, stacked and stickered for several years until it reached an equilibrium moisture level. The lumber was then brought into the shop to acclimate and parts were drawn onto the rough stock in preparation for cutting them out. Once the parts were cut to rough dimension they were squared and dimensioned to final width and thickness. Careful planning was put into the layout and design of the joinery and the final result is what is now sitting in front of you ready for a finish worthy of protecting it for generations. While no finish is perfect and each finish has its unique niche of application I have found some of my favorite finishes over time are simple wipe on finishes. They are simple to apply and depending on how thick or thin they are and you can quickly see results that will enhance and protect your project.
For the stools I chose to use a wipe on polyurethane for protection. You can use standard polyurethane and get good results by thinning it with mineral spirits. This creates nothing more than a wipe on poly from a can but saves you on money by mixing your own. By thinning the poly, the finish does not build to a protective film finish quickly but it penetrates the wood fibers by soaking in deep and drying quickly after the solvent evaporates. Once the wood is essentially seal coated, thicker (less mineral spirits) coats of finish can be applied for more of a film finish build. This is what will ultimately protect the wood. I should note that I filled the grain using a TimberMate walnut grain filler prior to applying a finish. Walnut is a medium pored wood which really does not need to be filled but is more of a persona preference. By filling the grain prior to finishing the finish will sit flat on the surface of the wood and create less of a rough texture and more of a smooth to the touch smooth satin feel.
Final result-
The stools both came out as good as I could have planned them too. They both had constancy and proved to be functional as well as beautiful. If I could have done anything differently it would have been to incorporate more of a flare or curve to the legs themselves instead of the square boxy legs that they are. The power sculpted seat creates an organic feel juxtaposition to the geometric feel of the boxy legs. I would also have skipped strait to the figure eight fasteners to attach the seat to the leg assembly. Overall, I am happy with the results and have learned lessons to take with me into future woodworking projects!
Shrinkage………How thick should I have my lumber sawn?
Wood in a log form is wet. There is a lot of bound moisture locked inside of the cell walls from when the tree was alive and growing. Every piece of lumber will shrink but different species dry/shrink at different rates. There are three types of wood movement that can occur as lumber dries, or for that matter, reabsorbs water after it has been dried. The first movement is called tangential (across the width of the board). You can expect the wood to shrink in volume anywhere from 6-10% in this dimension. The second type of shrinking that occurs is radially (thickness of board). This is the actual thickness of the board and loss can vary from 2-5% depending on species. The last type of shrinkage that will occur is called longitudinal (length of the board). Wood will move the least amount lengthwise as it loses moisture. You should always oversize any piece of lumber to account for some checking (cracks in the end of the board) as the lumber dries but overall, this is the most stable dimension of wood movement and accounts for 0.1%-0 .2% change.
This excess moisture is what makes the lumber so heavy right off of the mill.
As the lumber dries it will be become lighter and smaller. (Side track moment……When I was in college I can remember when I ran out of venison. I went to the grocery store and was shocked at the price of meat. Unfortunately being on a tight budget I purchased a 10 lb. pack of hamburgers for not much more than 10 bucks. While I didn’t have much expectation in the way of taste I do remember being very disappointed when my 1/2 pound burger went on the grill a ½ pounder but came off looking more like a slider on an appetizer tray. The burger was mostly fat and cooked off leaving me with something ½ the size of its former glory. While the burger example is a little extreme wood will do the same thing as it dries.) Planning for and accounting for this loss ahead of time when your lumber is being processed on the mill will ensure that you are not disappointed as I was with my burger.
Traditionally when lumber was cut from a circle sawmill if you wanted to end up with ¾” final material in your project you would have your lumber processed to slightly over 1’’ in thickness. This accounted for the amount of material you would need to remove by machining to account for the waviness of the saw blade as it wobbled in the cut and the shrinkage of the lumber as the moisture left. While the shrinkage will still occur, our band saw mill produces a high quality finish in comparison to a circle mills cut. I normally advise to mill the log into true 1” boards if they want to end up with 3/4’’ material in the end. As long as there is not a cup or twist in the dried board, it is not too difficult to end up with ¾’’ material in the end. A band saw mill results in more lumber and less waste than a traditional circle mill.
Wood in a log form is wet. There is a lot of bound moisture locked inside of the cell walls from when the tree was alive and growing. Every piece of lumber will shrink but different species dry/shrink at different rates. There are three types of wood movement that can occur as lumber dries, or for that matter, reabsorbs water after it has been dried. The first movement is called tangential (across the width of the board). You can expect the wood to shrink in volume anywhere from 6-10% in this dimension. The second type of shrinking that occurs is radially (thickness of board). This is the actual thickness of the board and loss can vary from 2-5% depending on species. The last type of shrinkage that will occur is called longitudinal (length of the board). Wood will move the least amount lengthwise as it loses moisture. You should always oversize any piece of lumber to account for some checking (cracks in the end of the board) as the lumber dries but overall, this is the most stable dimension of wood movement and accounts for 0.1%-0 .2% change.
This excess moisture is what makes the lumber so heavy right off of the mill.
As the lumber dries it will be become lighter and smaller. (Side track moment……When I was in college I can remember when I ran out of venison. I went to the grocery store and was shocked at the price of meat. Unfortunately being on a tight budget I purchased a 10 lb. pack of hamburgers for not much more than 10 bucks. While I didn’t have much expectation in the way of taste I do remember being very disappointed when my 1/2 pound burger went on the grill a ½ pounder but came off looking more like a slider on an appetizer tray. The burger was mostly fat and cooked off leaving me with something ½ the size of its former glory. While the burger example is a little extreme wood will do the same thing as it dries.) Planning for and accounting for this loss ahead of time when your lumber is being processed on the mill will ensure that you are not disappointed as I was with my burger.
Traditionally when lumber was cut from a circle sawmill if you wanted to end up with ¾” final material in your project you would have your lumber processed to slightly over 1’’ in thickness. This accounted for the amount of material you would need to remove by machining to account for the waviness of the saw blade as it wobbled in the cut and the shrinkage of the lumber as the moisture left. While the shrinkage will still occur, our band saw mill produces a high quality finish in comparison to a circle mills cut. I normally advise to mill the log into true 1” boards if they want to end up with 3/4’’ material in the end. As long as there is not a cup or twist in the dried board, it is not too difficult to end up with ¾’’ material in the end. A band saw mill results in more lumber and less waste than a traditional circle mill.
Slab top or squared lumber?
There are different ways to cut a log open and each method can produce different results. The two most common requests I get from customers is live edge lumber and the traditional squared or edged lumber found a lumber retailer. While there are other methods, in this article I will discuss the merits of these two lumber sawing request and the results they typically produce.
When a customer asks me to mill a log for them the conversation on the phone usually starts out with what type of log they have and how large in diameter it is. It is very common for the diameter to be underestimated, but we will work with you to do what we can within the limits of our equipment. The customer is usually excited to have the milling process completed and have the final product in their hands. When it comes time to actually mill the log I often get a blank stare when I ask them what thickness and type of lumber they want. The type of lumber is really easy to tell them, it’s whatever species the log is that is on the mill….Ha, I am talking about quarter, live edge, squared 2 sides, squared one side etc. This is my chance to educate the customer as to some of the options and various cutting techniques before we open the initial log face up. It really comes down to what the customer wants to do with the lumber and the equipment they have available to them at their own shop to further process the lumber. With the popularity of life edge (lumber with the bark sill on) incorporated into bar and table tops, a common request if for me to slab the log through and through. I will usually recommend 8/4 (2 inch) thick or more depending on the intended application.
The advantage of this method is there is less time spent processing the log on the mill resulting in less money the customer has to pay for milling. Another advantage is that slabs cut at 8/4 tend be forgiving during the drying process and will not warp or distort as 4/4 lumber can if not stacked properly. A couple of disadvantages are depending on the length of the slab, there is a considerable weight to it. You could look at it two ways. There is less lumber to move as individual boards but there is more lumber in each board/slab equating to more manual labor to stack and move the lumber. Another thing to consider is not all species will retain the natural bark edge equally well. Sometimes the bark will need to be reattached using glue in the final project. Another consideration if you are going to be making a book match set for a table top is the fact that there is no strait edge to join two consecutive boards together. This edge will need to be created using a band saw or a circular saw using a straight edge glide before using the jointer. I personally prefer to have my lumber in 8/4 slab form even if I am not making a table top. The reason for this is that I can lay out all of my project parts out on the slab using white chalk (I work with walnut mostly) and then cut each part out using the band saw. After each part is rough cut I then joint two sides square and then surface plane the third face before going back to the band saw and book match the part before ripping it to width on the table saw. This method ensures that I have color and grain continuity throughout my project. Another benefit is I can usually get my entire project out of one slab. Unless you are making a slab table top, this process will require additional machinery in the shop which is why I try to ask questions to the customer before recommending this cutting style.
The other cutting method is to remove the bark edge of the best face of the log and then rotate the log on the mill removing the other three slab sides until a square or rectangular beam called a cant is produced. This method of cutting is used when making dimensional lumber for buildings or for woodworkers not wanting to take the time or additional steps to remove the bark edge of a live edge board. A typical request is for fencing boards. To produce fencing material, the log will be squared into a cant. If the log is large enough to produce multiple smaller diameter cants from the same log I will then cut the cant into the largest multiple of what dimension lumber I need to produce. For example, a log that produces a 19 x 19 inch cant can be cut into three separate cants 6’’ wide. Once the three 6” cants are made, they are placed side by side on the mill to produce three 6’’ wide boards in one pass of the mill. This makes a better use of the mills capacity and results in less time manipulating the log to produce the desired cuts. Not all logs lend themselves to this type of cutting method. If there is considerable sweep (bend) in the log, in order to square the log on the mill the sweep will be cut out resulting in a lot of waste to get a uniformly square cant. The other disadvantage if the log is to be used structurally is there will be a lot of grain run out along the length of the lumber creating a week spot. If there is a lot of taper in the log, this method will result in additional loss of lumber created from removing the triangle shape wedge bark cuts during the squaring process. An advantage of cutting using this method is that the lumber will stack neatly for drying with little or no bark to fall off. The greatest advantage to most is that the lumber can be sawn to whatever dimension is desired and will not require cutting on the shop band saw to book match it. The lumber will also have a side that can be taken directly to the jointer for gluing multiple boards together. You can still achieve the grain continuity and book matching as long as two consecutive boards are joined together. After all, if you can get all of your lumber from one log you will still have the color and grain continuity throughout.
There is really no right or wrong way to saw your log. After all, it’s your log and you can do whatever you want with it! I would argue that there are some milling techniques that do more to accentuate the hidden figure in unique logs but ultimately we can have that conversation before I begin to open the log and you can change your mind at any point in the process. Ultimately knowing the final end use of the lumber produced and taking an honest look at the equipment you have available to process the lumber after it is dry will have a significant effect on how you should have your log processed.
There are different ways to cut a log open and each method can produce different results. The two most common requests I get from customers is live edge lumber and the traditional squared or edged lumber found a lumber retailer. While there are other methods, in this article I will discuss the merits of these two lumber sawing request and the results they typically produce.
When a customer asks me to mill a log for them the conversation on the phone usually starts out with what type of log they have and how large in diameter it is. It is very common for the diameter to be underestimated, but we will work with you to do what we can within the limits of our equipment. The customer is usually excited to have the milling process completed and have the final product in their hands. When it comes time to actually mill the log I often get a blank stare when I ask them what thickness and type of lumber they want. The type of lumber is really easy to tell them, it’s whatever species the log is that is on the mill….Ha, I am talking about quarter, live edge, squared 2 sides, squared one side etc. This is my chance to educate the customer as to some of the options and various cutting techniques before we open the initial log face up. It really comes down to what the customer wants to do with the lumber and the equipment they have available to them at their own shop to further process the lumber. With the popularity of life edge (lumber with the bark sill on) incorporated into bar and table tops, a common request if for me to slab the log through and through. I will usually recommend 8/4 (2 inch) thick or more depending on the intended application.
The advantage of this method is there is less time spent processing the log on the mill resulting in less money the customer has to pay for milling. Another advantage is that slabs cut at 8/4 tend be forgiving during the drying process and will not warp or distort as 4/4 lumber can if not stacked properly. A couple of disadvantages are depending on the length of the slab, there is a considerable weight to it. You could look at it two ways. There is less lumber to move as individual boards but there is more lumber in each board/slab equating to more manual labor to stack and move the lumber. Another thing to consider is not all species will retain the natural bark edge equally well. Sometimes the bark will need to be reattached using glue in the final project. Another consideration if you are going to be making a book match set for a table top is the fact that there is no strait edge to join two consecutive boards together. This edge will need to be created using a band saw or a circular saw using a straight edge glide before using the jointer. I personally prefer to have my lumber in 8/4 slab form even if I am not making a table top. The reason for this is that I can lay out all of my project parts out on the slab using white chalk (I work with walnut mostly) and then cut each part out using the band saw. After each part is rough cut I then joint two sides square and then surface plane the third face before going back to the band saw and book match the part before ripping it to width on the table saw. This method ensures that I have color and grain continuity throughout my project. Another benefit is I can usually get my entire project out of one slab. Unless you are making a slab table top, this process will require additional machinery in the shop which is why I try to ask questions to the customer before recommending this cutting style.
The other cutting method is to remove the bark edge of the best face of the log and then rotate the log on the mill removing the other three slab sides until a square or rectangular beam called a cant is produced. This method of cutting is used when making dimensional lumber for buildings or for woodworkers not wanting to take the time or additional steps to remove the bark edge of a live edge board. A typical request is for fencing boards. To produce fencing material, the log will be squared into a cant. If the log is large enough to produce multiple smaller diameter cants from the same log I will then cut the cant into the largest multiple of what dimension lumber I need to produce. For example, a log that produces a 19 x 19 inch cant can be cut into three separate cants 6’’ wide. Once the three 6” cants are made, they are placed side by side on the mill to produce three 6’’ wide boards in one pass of the mill. This makes a better use of the mills capacity and results in less time manipulating the log to produce the desired cuts. Not all logs lend themselves to this type of cutting method. If there is considerable sweep (bend) in the log, in order to square the log on the mill the sweep will be cut out resulting in a lot of waste to get a uniformly square cant. The other disadvantage if the log is to be used structurally is there will be a lot of grain run out along the length of the lumber creating a week spot. If there is a lot of taper in the log, this method will result in additional loss of lumber created from removing the triangle shape wedge bark cuts during the squaring process. An advantage of cutting using this method is that the lumber will stack neatly for drying with little or no bark to fall off. The greatest advantage to most is that the lumber can be sawn to whatever dimension is desired and will not require cutting on the shop band saw to book match it. The lumber will also have a side that can be taken directly to the jointer for gluing multiple boards together. You can still achieve the grain continuity and book matching as long as two consecutive boards are joined together. After all, if you can get all of your lumber from one log you will still have the color and grain continuity throughout.
There is really no right or wrong way to saw your log. After all, it’s your log and you can do whatever you want with it! I would argue that there are some milling techniques that do more to accentuate the hidden figure in unique logs but ultimately we can have that conversation before I begin to open the log and you can change your mind at any point in the process. Ultimately knowing the final end use of the lumber produced and taking an honest look at the equipment you have available to process the lumber after it is dry will have a significant effect on how you should have your log processed.