milling slash pine

[weisyboy]

i milled up a short lenght of slash pine this moring.

i packed up all my gear and jumped in the ute and drove over to the log.

set up my slabing rails and layed out all my gear for eficient use.

grabed my saw nad filled her with fuel and oil and then had a look at the chain and boy was she blunt.

had a look threw my gear and realised id forgoten my electric sharpener but thats alright cos ive always got a couple of files in the tool box so went and had a look in the ute .

after turning it upside down twice i finaly realised that i had forgotten them to.

so i decided to mill witht he chain blunt.

i set up the log and made the first (slab) cut removing the top fletch.
i was expecting to be be standing there for adges and pusshing like shet. but boy was i surprised it flew threw it like a knife threw butter.

i cut it into a 9" cant and then int 2 X 2" boards 2 X 3" boards and a 1 1/2" board to be resawn latter on.

i cant weight to go back tomorow with a sharp saw and see how it cuts then.

i thaught slash pine would be verry resinous and hard to cut but have now be proven rong.

i have acces to a 40 year old plantation of these trees and i can take as many as i want.

i also have acced to a fair amount of hoop pine and would like to know how well these mill.

[Brickie]

Try using Firefox, it has a built in spool chequer, its much bitter than IE. :2tsup:

[Calm]

Try using Firefox, it has a built in spool chequer, its much bitter than IE. :2tsup:

I wouldnt worry about Weisyboy's spelling he has done over 890 posts and all have used the same dictionary. It is not how he says it but what he says that counts.

He is one bloke who's thoughts are usually pretty reliable. Keep up the good work Carl:2tsup::2tsup::D

[funkychicken]

I heard that slash pine was rubbishy timber:?

[weisyboy]

spel checker what in gods name would i use that for im an ausie bloke i dont need the bludy queens english i speek australian(how the hel i feel like it).

now dose anyone have info on hoop pine.

as i have said previously i would not use it for woodworking but i will use it for building benches and a small shed and all the rest of that crap that i wouldn't waste my good hardwood on.

[Exador]

Hoop pine is good timber, grown widely for commercial sale, used in many applications but has a few problems for small millers. Firstly, it's very resinous, although not as bad as radiata. Secondly, it's VERY prone to bluestain, both in the log and in the board. Third, it takes a long time to air dry, which means it's nearly impossible to keep blue stain out whilst drying and it also warps a fair amount whilst drying. Oh yeah, depending on the age of the tree and where/how it was grown, there'll be a lot of knots as well.

OTOH, it's a lot harder, heavier and stronger than radiata and a lot nicer to work, so I do as you're suggesting and use it for all my "hidden" structures.

In short, provided you're not after an "appearance", it's good stuff.

[charlsie]

weisyboy if you can find any bunya bunya i know a guitar maker who,ll take as much as you can get hold of .he's just very picky on the quality. as for hoop and slash pine wasn't it widely used in furniture over the years? exador is part of the reason you get alot of blue stain due to where you are? what i mean is there a high level of humidity in brisbane?
if i leave any type of pine log in the yard for too long (6 months) it will stain especially during winter.but 3 months in summer is fine very little stain if any.

[Exador]

weisyboy if you can find any bunya bunya i know a guitar maker who,ll take as much as you can get hold of .he's just very picky on the quality. as for hoop and slash pine wasn't it widely used in furniture over the years? exador is part of the reason you get alot of blue stain due to where you are? what i mean is there a high level of humidity in brisbane?
if i leave any type of pine log in the yard for too long (6 months) it will stain especially during winter.but 3 months in summer is fine very little stain if any.

It could be due to the humidity, but if I leave a hoop log for more than a couple of weeks it'll be stained. I've even cut it, stickered it and covered it and had the stain get in anyway. As you say, it's been used in furniture, but it's not easy to find clear lengths and the stain makes me wary of bothering.

[flynnsart]

They had a lot of hoop pine at the tafe I went to in Kingaroy and I made a few things out of it. They bought it green. Didnt see much in the way of blue stain in it. But generally not a lot of humidity here, (except for this summer!) I loved working with it was wonderful. Made a cabinet, some magazine racks, a couple of boxes etc. Really regret staining it, but you gotta learn on something i expect.

Donna

Donna

[jmaxwell]

blue stain is caused by a fungal attack when the timber has a high moisture content . as it dries it is not prone to attack. trick is to cut it straight away then spray with a anti fungal spray the formula is in bootles wood in Australia. if any one needs it i will find it and post
Charlsie cut a bunya up in November nice timber made a work bench
still have a pile on the floor in the shed let me know what size he needs .

[Exador]

blue stain is caused by a fungal attack when the timber has a high moisture content . as it dries it is not prone to attack.


I beg to differ.

[weisyboy]

what is that anti fungi stuff called?

it may or maynot be the cause but id like to give it a try anyway.:2tsup:

[charlsie]

craig i'm with jmax on this. as far as i know blue stain is fungal. i get the same with blackwood if i leave it in the shed without out sufficeint air flow.the fungus (i believe) lives in the tree ,but doesn't affect the timber until sawn. Jmaxwell dont worry about posting something out of bootle just tell me where i can find a copy or if you are a great bloke send me yours:wink: the guitar maker has one and he calls it his bible. next . sizes for bunya are as follows (these are minimum) 520mm x 250mm by any thickness be it 50mm 75mm or 100mm but the trick is it has to be properly quarter sawn without defect no knots, no stain no heart wood, no anything but beautiful qtr sawn timber .my prob is the lucas cant cut 250mm on the swing saw. next i cant find to many bunya bunya trees in victoria that are over 800mm wide at the but. so far in the last 5 years i've found two .the client who had them was willing to sell the qtr sawn slabs at $1800 a cube wet but there wasn't that many.

[jmaxwell]

any book store can order it Keith R Bootle Wood in Australia second edition . will look in the shed to see what size is there
wisey yuo ready sodium pentachlophenate and borax dissolved in water.

[Exador]

craig i'm with jmax on this. as far as i know blue stain is fungal. i get the same with blackwood if i leave it in the shed without out sufficeint air flow.the fungus (i believe) lives in the tree ,but doesn't affect the timber until sawn.

Yep, it's fungal and it affects timber both in the log and in the board, At least in hoop, it gets in regardless of how it's stacked in my experience, to the point that I'd reckon the only way to deal with it is to cut it immediately on felling and stick it into a kiln with a high temp immediately. I don't dispute that it's treatable with chemicals - even simple borax will help, but for low-value timber like hoop I can't see any point in the effort, especially as I can't recall ever selling a single piece and I don't treat any other timber to stop it staining - no need. Mind you, the stain doesn't weaken the timber as far as I know and once you put it in a wall or some other frame it doesn't matter. Still, I'd rather have a decent piece of timber to show at the end of the day's milling. Funnily enough, Norfolk pine, which is very closely related to hoop, seems much less prone to the stain.

[charlsie]

thanks jmax i'll chase it up

[Sigidi]

Ex, I agree with you on blue stain not being an issue for structure, so I've used hoop in our house frames, as well as slash. They both seem to be holding th eroof up quite fine for the moment....

[weisyboy]

i will be milling more slash today and may get tto some hoop if i get time. iv also been given ome blue gum (forest redgum).



Sigidi- did you post in every thread on teh forum of just the ones i'm part of?

[Sigidi]

Weisyboy - I have to come clean, I guess my plan for total domination of the milling forum was a bit transparent then - you caught me in the first round:(

I guess you got a few notification replies this morning?

I've been here for a while, but haven't come in lately, I've got a bit of a house to build.

[weisyboy]

my subscribed threads section was chockers this smorning