permaculture

[Mikal Jakubal <mjakubal@asis.com>]

Kimberley,

Definitely make use of the log, if you can. To do so properly, there's lots
of things you'll need to know: sawing, stacking, air drying, kiln drying,
storing, use, avoiding insect damage, and so on. Screw up any one of these
things, and you could end up ruining the wood or spending a lot of money
for nothing. My advice--if you're new to all this--is to seek out local
fine wood workers and get their help. Look for the ones who make custom
solid wood furniture. Talk to a few people until you either find someone
helpful and trustworthy or until you get so many conflicting opinions that
it drives you nuts. If you don't need all the wood yourself, you may be
able to work out some trade. Often wood workers will have their own small
mills (such as a chainsaw mill) and can cut the wood for you. Or, they can
point you to someone with a mobile mill who can do it for you. Depending on
the size of the logs, this may not be cheap. But be careful of people who
saw wood for 50% of the lumber. Normally, this is a perfectly fine trade.
But with, say, clear quarter-sawn black walnut or other very valuable wood,
you're way better off just paying for the sawyer's time and selling some of
the wood to pay for the cutting cost. I also say be careful, because there
are unscrupulous sawyers who would leave you with the lousy half. That's
what having a knowledgeable woodworker around is good for. I'd recommend
sawing 1-1/4" (aka "5/4"  or "five quarter") out of the lower-grade parts
of the log, and 2" ("8/4" or "eight quarter") out of the higher grades.
This leaves the option of resawing the top quality wood for veneers or
book-matched cabinet panels, or making thicker things like chair legs out
of it. You can't make a chair leg out of a piece with a big knot in the
middle. Your friendly neighborhood wood worker can tell you all this.

I've been operating a portable bandsaw mill and selling hardwood lumber for
eight years. If anyone has any questions about the subject, you can write
me off- (or on-) list and I'll try and find time to answer them. (If you
were wondering, I only do salvage and exotic wood--no clearcut logs--and am
now selling almost exclusively Certified ecologically harvested local woods.)

Hope this helps,

Mikal      

>