Quarter sawn white oak

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snkahn

New User
sarah
I'm new to this forum and am not a woodworker- but I'm having trouble finding information and was hoping someone might be able to help! I have 3 large white oak trees on my property that need to come down due to being too close to the house. We have a neighbor with a portable mill who says the wood would be valuable, but he can only mill it for us, not sell it. How does one go about selling quartersawn white oak in the Raleigh area? Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Alternatively, would it be better to leave it in larger pieces than quartersawn? One of the logs will be 4ft diameter and about 10ft long, the others will be about 3ft diameter and 10ft long.

Thanks in advance!
 

batk30msu

New User
brent
I am not a sawyer, but here are a few things to consider:

I would assume there must be metal in those trees if they are that close to a residence.

You will get more money for QS oak but less BF per log.

Is it a close friend who is going to mill it? What are they charging per hour? Be careful if you are spending money, as you may not be able to re-coup it. Will you be able to dry it? Air dried you need to wait about one year per inch thick. It also will not be worth as much if it is air dried vs. kiln dried. In my experience when I buy lumber from a "random" person and not a mill, I expect to pay about 1/2 price.

Just a few things to think about.
 

scsmith42

New User
Scott Smith
How does one go about selling quartersawn white oak in the Raleigh area?

Alternatively, would it be better to leave it in larger pieces than quartersawn?

Re question 1, post it on Craigslist. Have your miller provide a quote for milling, stacking and stickering the lumber, with them providing DRY stickers.

Re question 2, most likely you will have more market for the quartersawn than the flat sawn.
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
You will get more money for QS oak but less BF per log.

Brent that's partly right... this is a pretty common misconception, so don't fell bad... Actually the the BF yield for a log that's a quarter sawn candidate is equal to or greater than flat sawn lumber from the same log. The reason being is when you quarter sawn you can actually be very selective on how you edge the board (both wane and pith) when flat sawing one can not be nearly as selective (cant and go). The main reason sawyers flat saw is it's a quick way to turn a log into a pile of lumber - 4 cuts to cant and one cut per board basically. But what you get is lumber that is fair less stable (cupping - twisting - splitting - etc...) than quarter sawn lumber. When a log is quarter sawn there are at least two cuts per board, one for the bark, one to peel the board off the log and maybe a third to edge the pith out of some of the boards - time is money so they say.

I actually have done some real life comparisons of board foot yield and different milling techniques. There are so many ways to get lumber out of a log, in no way do I profess to be right about this - I just know from personal experience the results I have achieved. Based on the log I have really settled on just a few milling techniques. Sometime back I put together a presentation that touches on this subject, you can find it here if your interested ---> Logs to Lumber I would also be more than happy to field any questions you may have.
 

batk30msu

New User
brent
I'll take you word for it Jeff, as I have never turned a log into lumber. I remembering reading that somewhere but I guess that is exactly how misconceptions stick around.

So I guess you are just paying a higher price due to the higher cost of the labor. Makes sense to me!
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
I'll take you word for it Jeff, as I have never turned a log into lumber. I remembering reading that somewhere but I guess that is exactly how misconceptions stick around.

So I guess you are just paying a higher price due to the higher cost of the labor. Makes sense to me!

that and more machine time
 

snkahn

New User
sarah
thanks for the advice, everyone. The cost of milling would come out to roughly $.50 per board foot. We don't believe there's any metal in the trees (although there's no way to tell until they come down). Our friend says if we stack and air dry the wood he expects we could get about $2.00 per board foot. Does that seem realistic? We do have the space to stack and dry it, although we'd prefer to get it out of the way sooner than later.
 

wwidmer

New User
Bill
Since you want the be rid of it sooner than later, I would be put an add on Craigslist before you mill it listing it as green wood with dimensions and that you are willing to mill to specification (provided your mill has the capability) - you might get someone looking for beams or thicker planks & willing to take green wood (priced accordingly) and do the drying themselves. Otherwise or if no response then go ahead an mill as planned & advertise again as green wood (priced accordingly). I wouldn't think that it would be hard to get rid of white oak. Keep it and dry it only if you have no choice. Sounds like you should get some nice boards out of what you describe. Wish I were closer. Good luck.

- Bill
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
You may have to have someone make those into quarters with a chainsaw before you will be able to put them on the mill, something like this ---> http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=49157&p=448248&viewfull=1#post448248 . If there is tramp steel chances are high the chainsaw will find it... Also another way to tell when the trees are fallen, look at the butt cut (both bucked ends) if there is tramp steel in the tree you'll see black in the rings then it's time to consider busting it up for firewood.
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
We don't believe there's any metal in the trees (although there's no way to tell until they come down).

Sure there is - use a metal detector. The hand-held wands such as the Lumber Wizard can find metal down to a few inches, so if all cuts are off the surface, you may be able to find it BEFORE the sawblade does. That may slow down the milling process a bit...but it could save you more $$$ than it costs. Those blades are not cheap.
 
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