Dealing with freshly felled timber

[Jeremy Nako]

A colleague has offered me a number of freshly-felled Beech trunks of approx 42cm diameter and 62cm lengths.

I realise that it'll be years before this is useable, but I'm thinking of having them cut up and storing in my workshop for future use.

So.. my thoughts are to ask a local tree surgeon to cut them into 5cm / 2 inch slices which would be workable for me and offer the quickest drying time (a couple of years ?)

Is this feasible or am I pipe-dreaming ?

 

[Fitzroy]

Slices, as in rounds or lengths? Wood air drying is 1yr per inch thickness, rule of thumb. It would be quicker in a warm workshop, but drying at speed carries more risk of defects, splits twists.

My attempts at air drying boards have been hit and miss with c. 50% wastage. I'd be trying to workout my final usable wood cost, ie (timber cost + cutting cost) / (wastage * cubic feet of timber) and compare this to bought timber prices. Unless it's a huge saving I'd give it a miss. 62cm lenght boards are also not super useful for much.

Alternatively if you're doing it for a bit of fun, the wood is free and your mate will chop it up for you then there is not much harm squirreling away a few of the prime planks with some hope for fun in the future.

 

[alex robinson]

It is always a shame people cut them into such short lengths! If you are into turning, rough turning bowls and then drying before returning is a good way of getting large pieces without paying a fortune.

Planking timber with a chainsaw is doable and great fun, but you need a fairly powerful saw (my 65cc is right at the bottom end of what is satisfactory) and a milling attachment such as an Alaskan mill or cheap knock off equivalent. It is also slow going.

Cutting into rounds can be fun, but only really makes one thing - those slice / cookie tables. End grain dries far faster than planks, but is certain to split. This is a piece of horse chestnut I did for a side table a while ago. Flattened with a router sled and filled with epoxy.

 

[Jeremy Nako]

Slices, as in rounds or lengths? Wood air drying is 1yr per inch thickness, rule of thumb. It would be quicker in a warm workshop, but drying at speed carries more risk of defects, splits twists.

My attempts at air drying boards have been hit and miss with c. 50% wastage. I'd be trying to workout my final usable wood cost, ie (timber cost + cutting cost) / (wastage * cubic feet of timber) and compare this to bought timber prices. Unless it's a huge saving I'd give it a miss. 62cm lenght boards are also not super useful for much.

Alternatively if you're doing it for a bit of fun, the wood is free and your mate will chop it up for you then there is not much harm squirreling away a few of the prime planks with some hope for fun in the future.

No these would be rounds, like Alex has shown in his photo below.

So I'd get around 10 or so rounds out of a 60cm ish trunk, 3 large trunks.
Having spent over £500 with my hardwood supplier for what appears to be a miserly amount of wood now its in my workshop last weekend and having seen the prices of large 'slices' like this I'm prepared to wait and allow for a decent wastage.. as long as I get something at the end.

 

[alex robinson]

No these would be rounds, like Alex has shown in his photo below.

So I'd get around 10 or so rounds out of a 60cm ish trunk, 3 large trunks.
Having spent over £500 with my hardwood supplier for what appears to be a miserly amount of wood now its in my workshop last weekend and having seen the prices of large 'slices' like this I'm prepared to wait and allow for a decent wastage.. as long as I get something at the end.

Waiting is the least of your problems - end grain dries fast. Leave it somewhere warm (it is going to split whatever you do) and you could be making stuff by Christmas. 2 inch is a bit on the thin side to aim to cut at. Rounds you see for sale at that thickness will have been cut with a chainsaw mill or bandmill. Freehand I would allow a bit extra. Also bear in mind that end grain slices are very fragile - tables need to be quite thick and I have never seen anyone using them for any conventional cabinet making. I know purists hate them, but I think slices are quite pretty and a nice way of using trees that would otherwise just be firewood.

Get yourself a 1/2 inch router and as big a bit as you dare. I have a 2 1/2 inch one of these and it has been great:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sinoprotools-Spoilboard-Surfacing-Flattening-Rabbeting/dp/B0B1TRX3JV?th=1It can kick like hell if it digs in (smashed a cutter recently which meant fun digging the shards out of the nearly finished slice), so be prepared for that, but you can take quite deep passes. I would also roughly flatten when the timber is wet as it will be a lot softer. With luck it won't warp when drying (just split!).

Don't ever be tempted to try putting something like this through a thicknesser or the like - very bad things will happen. I have a home made router sled out of scrap and different height construction timber for the rails, but if you are feeling flush with cash, you can buy much nicer ones. Make sure they are firmly held down when you start flattening. I like using silicone sealant for bathrooms as it gives a good hold, but can be cut away easily. Finally be prepared - router sleds are slow, noisy and will throw more sawdust over everything than you could imagine!

 

[Owd Jockey]

If they were my lengths and I intended to turn them, then my first job would be to remove the pith, which would reduce the stress and tension the wood is under, thus greatly reducing the chances of radial cracking. Depending on the concentricity of your pieces, you could simply chainsaw down length ways through the pith (or a few cm on both sides of the pith to create an unwanted slab) which would then give you potentially 4 nice bowl blanks. If you did cut down the centre through the pith, then you could turn the pith away on the lathe, but I would not wait too long to do that.

Many years ago I turned this small Bowl from green English Oak and deliberately left the pith in. It did'nt take long for the cracks to develop.

Depending on how many lengths you have, you could go for a number of solutions i.e eggs not all in one basket. Creating those rounds, will certainly limit you to certain uses as Alex says.