Wood gloat (with pictures).

[Wood Monkey]

I see so many good tool gloats in these pages I thought I'd get my own back with a wood gloat. Is this a first?

Some weeks ago you may recall me seeking recommendations for a mobile bandsaw mill to convert 6 oak trunks I'd been given. Here's a little freshener..

Today we got round to milling them after a few cold weather and snow delays. Following information provided by JasonB I contacted Richard Maynard at Trees2Timber and today he showed up towing this.

And in no time at all it had the first log on it. And this was also the same moment I first muttered the words "wow, those logs didn't look so big when they were stacked in the corner"..

Anyone who hasn't been up close to a Wood Mizer in action, like me, would likely be shocked by the scale of it all. The weight and size of the logs and the noise and flying sawdust initially take your breath away.

In no time at all the first log, one of the smaller ones, was converted to this.

And then this.

After a full day of milling and a spot of lunch we ended up with a big pile of sawdust.

And an even bigger pile of freshly sawn Oak.

Richard provides an excellent service. He's very knowledgeable and I enjoyed watching him fling the logs around on the Mizer bed. I didn't really have a cutting list so I let Richard guide me and the result is a much bigger pile of planks than I initially expected and a lovely array of 28mm, 38mm and 50mm boards plus some great leg blanks of various sizes. Richard spotted some interesting grain so I ended up with some nice book matched planks also.

I wasn't expecting so much wood. My planned drying location is going to need a rethink...!

Jon

 

[Blister]

OK OK yes thats a GLOAT =D> =D>

Nice one :mrgreen:

 

[MickCheese]

Wow, that's an impressive haul. I would never have guessed that much wood would come from those trunks.

Now we will need to wait a while before you can show us what you made from them.

Mick

 

[hammer n nails]

fantastic haul sure could use some of that

 

[andersonec]

What were his fees?

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

What were his fees?

I was also pondering if you don't mind?

 

[Wood Monkey]

Hi Guys

Yes, the yield certainly surprised me. Through my association with the land owners I have access to another 20-30 trunks, a mix of Oak and Beech, plus a currently unknown pile of Scotts Pine. I'm trying to work out some commercial arrangements to benefit the owners which will hopefully include building a drying shed on site. I'm not benefitting commercially, I just get some wood

Anyway. The mill can be hired on a day rate or various other arrangements. I hired for a day which cost £320 + mileage (60p/mile). It worked out cost effective for me as Trees2Timber is less than 20 miles away. It was a full day and Richard would have kept going if there had been more logs. We estimated the final haul is about 3-4 cubic meters sawn and we cut out a lot of sap wood as maximising the quality was my preference over yield.

I have a dry store at the back of my workshop which I estimate can take half this yield (all of it if I remove my 4 linked water butts). It's well ventilated, dry and sheltered from the sun so I expect I'll sort the best pieces and store them in there for a few years and seek some other solution for the rest. I may well let some go purely to recover my costs so watch this space.

Jon

 

[AndyT]

Brilliant!

There must be so much wood that goes to waste because it's 'just a few odd trees' and not part of a plantation. But a WoodMizer makes them into an economic source of home-grown timber. Everybody wins!

 

[Benchwayze]

Nice gerloat Jon. Wish I had the space to store so much!

But that pile of sawdust really brings home the amount of timber that never sees the inside of a wood-shop!

The words omelette and eggs come to mind...

 

[jimi43]

Very interesting thread Jon and thanks for sharing.

One of those threads you store away for future reference! :wink:

Jim