Cherry getting sawn

[jfynyson]

Had a cherry tree taken down and I've cut to rough lengths of several logs that'll give me 5-10ft straight lengths...range 8-14"dia logs. I painted the ends w/ latex paint (all I had) and I'll be getting some Tim-BOR to treat them once sawn. I'll be having to air dry these at least for a while soNeighbor says he has a friend with a sawmill that owes him a favor so not really sure what that means for cost to have these sawn but I'd like you take on a couple of things:

• Should I get these rift & quarter sawn only or being cherry w/ nice looking cathedral grain get some flat sawn as well ?
• Should I aim to get these 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 or 8/4 thickness or a blend thereof ? I have no specific build plans for this material yet and my old cheap restored bandsaw would not be too conducive for resawing

Thanks !

 

[DIYGUY]

Several points of consideration for you:

1. If your bandsaw is incapable of resawing, then you might limit your requested thicknesses of the sawyer to what your planer will comfortably handle. Keep in mind thickness planing to 3/4 (common final thickness) generates a lot of sawdust, will dull your planer knives quickly, and takes a lot of work.
2. Quartersawn is useful when shrinkage is a concern. Rift and plainsawn cuts should be well seasoned prior to use.
3. Air dried lumber, if properly stacked will result in a better product.
4. When resawing thicker boards it can occur that boards have stored tensions that upon release cause undesirable changes. Allow for that.
5. Consider asking that some of the output be book-matched.
6. Last, use your imagination to envision projects that you might take on and with which you could take advantage of your cache. This will give you some of the answers you seek.

Best of luck!

> Mark

 

[jfynyson]

Thanks Mark. My planer at this point is just hand plane but I'm planning on a huge shop build by the time this material will be air dried, also am planning on having a bandsaw for resawing. Sorry I failed to mention those details, which I'm guessing changes the suggested responses.

 

[jfynyson]

Sorry but I forgot another question. Does it matter what type of wood I make the stickers from to stack the boards for drying as long as the stickers are dry ? Ive heard some species do not like certain sticker woods if moisture gets between them from a rain event (staining can occur) but maybe that’s just a risk for lighter woods like maple ?

I also found this nice video for how this guy prefers cherry to be sawn (nothing about answering my questions exactly but fun to learn).

Thanks again !

 

[blackhawk]

With cherry, there is not a lot of aesthetic difference in the grain between rift, quarter and flat sawn. I would just get a mix. For thickness, it's always a guess if you don't have plans for the lumber. If you pick one thickness, my experience is that you'll always guess wrong. 4/4 is the most common thickness that most people will end up using. I would suggest sawing the 4/4 to 1-1/8" thickness. If you saw at 1", a lot of boards will not clean up to 3/4" after drying, flattening and planing.

For stickers, I've not had any trouble with any certain species causing stain. I generally use pine stickers that I cut out of 2x4s or old pallets. Don't use plywood, it will just end up disintegrating from the moisture.

Here is a video that I made on how I do my air dry platforms. I use 24" spacing in the video but that was because I was stacking 2-1/2" thick slabs. I use 18" spacing for everything else.

 

[jfynyson]

With cherry, there is not a lot of aesthetic difference in the grain between rift, quarter and flat sawn. I would just get a mix. For thickness, it's always a guess if you don't have plans for the lumber. If you pick one thickness, my experience is that you'll always guess wrong. 4/4 is the most common thickness that most people will end up using. I would suggest sawing the 4/4 to 1-1/8" thickness. If you saw at 1", a lot of boards will not clean up to 3/4" after drying, flattening and planing.

For stickers, I've not had any trouble with any certain species causing stain. I generally use pine stickers that I cut out of 2x4s or old pallets. Don't use plywood, it will just end up disintegrating from the moisture.

Here is a video that I made on how I do my air dry platforms. I use 24" spacing in the video but that was because I was stacking 2-1/2" thick slabs. I use 18" spacing for everything else.

Great feedback, many thanks !

 

[Ted P]

I have a few thousand board ft of a few different species and find that 1 1/8” is a bare minimum to get a consistent 3/4” finished board. I did not do the drying so maybe the sticking and drying was poorly done. But I would err on the thicker side than thinner.
And as mentioned, planing creates lots of shavings.

 

[jfynyson]

I have a few thousand board ft of a few different species and find that 1 1/8” is a bare minimum to get a consistent 3/4” finished board. I did not do the drying so maybe the sticking and drying was poorly done. But I would err on the thicker side than thinner.
And as mentioned, planing creates lots of shavings.
View attachment 220006View attachment 220007

Great insight. So, 5/4 at min it will be for me.

 

[MarkSmithB]

A few more comments.

I don't think anyone mentioned that you should certainly get some 8/4 or bigger. This is good for making legs, and sourcing this from the hardwood supplier tends to be more expensive.

Take care to have some small air movement through your pile of stickered boards. I air dried some sycamore in my garage, and end up with an awful lot of spalted boards.

I support the comments above about aiming for 1 1/8" for the 4/4.

 

[blackhawk]

Great insight. So, 5/4 at min it will be for me.

If the lumber is sawn, stacked, stickered, and dried properly 1-1/8" is plenty thick to plane down to 3/4". If you saw at 5/4, you spend a ton more time planing to get down to 3/4" and get fewer boards out of the log. Then you have the extra shavings to deal with.

 

[Mountain City Bill]

Are you taking the logs to the mill to be sawn? Ensure that the sawmill owner is aware of the diameter ( 8 -14") of the logs ahead of time.

Also let the sawyer know if this tree came from a yard. Those trees tend to have nails in them. You will be expected to pay a blade charge ( $35 +) for each blade that hits a nail.

 

[jfynyson]

It's my neighbor handling everything. I do not even know who the sawyer is....worries me that I'll end up with a bunch of potato chips. I've had zero time to follow up to ask more questions