Thread: Cutting up Silky Oak

You might try posting this in the Timber section of this forum, these guys know their stuff.
SB

rod the tree might be a bit small but qtr sawn is the way to go for grevilleas jump down to the sawmillers part and one of the boys should be able to help you out with the milling. if you want a 6 ft table cut the logs at 7 ft that will get 2 legs out of one length as well. if its grevillia robusta the sapwood in the tree will be very prone to lyctid borer and other nasties.someone might post a thread that shows how to prevent this happening.last quarter sawn oaks (silky,pin or english) are cut that way to show medelary (i wish i had spell check) rays in the timber.thats the pretty affect most people look for

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G'day Rod

Take a look at the pic. the difference between backsawn (bs) and quartersawn (qs) is the way the grain is in the finished piece of timber. Lucas mills can cut it both ways either qs or bs, depending upon what you the customer wants. Qs boards are more stable because of the way the grain is in the timber and for silky oak (SO) it also brings out terrific patterns in the grain.

Sizes for logs - it is a little on the small side, but at least you want to use it for something rather than chip it or burn it. Basically if you want a 6' project, cut your logs into 8' lengths, this gives you room for the ends to split a bit, any snipe when dressing the boards to thickness and squaring ends up etc.

Drying - whoever mills it will give you the best advice, to get a bit of a heads up take a look at the forum for some info, myself and others have posted a heap about drying, stacking, strapping, stickering etc. use these words to search for it.

Knowing what you want it for, your miller can then give you the best suggestions as to how to cut it and what sizes to use.

Where in Bris-Vegas are you Rod? and the log? is there space to mill it there?

If you need someone to mill it by all means, contact me via my website either via phone or email and we can go from there.

Hope it helps, if you have more q's feel free to post them we all love talking about making sawdust

a tree of that size will only produce very small quarter sawn boards. so flat sawing or back sawing is almost the only option.

siky is not that bad when drying i ave found it to be fairly stable but the logs will crack if let whole for long.

where abouts in qld are you?

Hi All,
Thanks for all your advise,I have been looking some old posts on drying ect and have some idea how to go about it ,I think I will cut it 8' long and get it sawn into slabs and stack them .
Or should I get them put throught a planer /thickness and then dry I will see what the bloke with the mill says.
I live about 450 km wet of Brisbane and do't have contact with other woodworkers..
I have a silky oak table and looking at the end I see the rings on one board are close together and nearly vertical and others more flatter ,I prefer the grain showing on the flatter sawn ones .
Thank you all and have a merry xmas and a good new year
Rod

Rod don't dress them until they are ready to be used, keep them rough sawn in your pak and ress then as needed, also give your self a ince 1/2" extra thickness spare to account for shrinkage, dressing and any warping etc. Good luck and post us some pics when she's done

yes pics are good

Firstly,because the log is so small,it will almost certainly have high internal tensions within it,making milling process a little trickier,particularly with a Lucas Mill.Keep log lengths short,as this will greatly reduce spring during the milling process.Try also to quarter cut as much as you can.Your boards wont be very wide but at least they will remain flat whilst they season. Regards Mapleman

If your out round Miles then I can come out and mill it for you. I can make a weekend out of it and visit my brother.

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Gday all, Got my silky log cut up last weekend I am pleased with result .after sap wood was cut off I ended up with 11 boards 8ft long by 6 to 8 wide all 30 mm thick.I have them stacked .will try to post a photo of them
thank you all for advice Rod

Good stack of silky there. Just one piece of advise, when you place the sticks between the boards to dry the timber, it is an highly recommended that each of the stick is directly above/below the next one. Reason being the weight of the stack will cause the timber to deform especially in fresh cut timber where the cells are loaded with moisture and still very supple.

Mark

Hi Mark,
Thanks for advice I thought that too, so I tried to get the spacers in line ,also should I put some thing like bricks on top or clamps to stop any twisting ?
Thanks Rod

Yer more weight the better, after the first 3 or 4 boards there is usually enough weight you hold the others flat, some guys, buy threaded rod from the hardware shop use a 3x3 on the floor a 3x3 on the top and drilling a hole into both pieces place the rod thru the holes, then using a nut and several washer on each end tighten up each week while the timber shrinks an drys -this keeps the pressure on the stack.
but for the extra cost I just rotate the top few boards every few months.. or use the half back (crescent shaped bit left at the end of the milling ) as the top bit (this has a fair bit of weight and if stacked outside also provides a bit of a "weather seal" stopping direct sun light and most rain