Thread: Milling an Olivewood log

You have a challenge there .looks quite dificult to get any long straight cuts . best of luck Bob

Best to try and find a band saw.

It is spiral grain as well so you will also get timber movement as it dries.

I'm thinking only really any good for pen or turning blanks.

yes get a bandsaw mill so you don't waste so much from the thickness of the chainsaw. Or have it milled, though I doubt any miller would touch it. And don't worry about quartering it, the grain is so convoluted that you would be better just getting the best slabs out that you can. Then its a matter of sealing the ends really well, stickering it and strapping it down with lots of weight and drying it slowly away from sun and wind. Beautiful timber, that piece will be stunning.

My guess is you don't have access to a bandsawmill but you might have access to a bandsaw?

If so, that is why you might consider quartering it with a Chainsaw mill so you end up with manageable pieces that can be put through a conventiional bandsaw.

You won't know what it's like until you open it up so I would cut it in half first and see if the middle is OK. If you want full width slabs I then cut a couple of slabs off each half and then cut up the remaining flitches using a bandsaw.

By the look of it, the trunk is such that you won't get many or any full length boards from it. Once you have opened it up you might find it better to less than full length boards.

A 28" bar will lose at least 4 or maybe 5" when placed into a conventional Alaskan mill and you will need a couple of extra/spare inches to mill this sort of wobbly log so your bar will not be long enough to mill the widest slabs. You can still mill it with teh 28" bar but you won't get the widest slabs.

What cc is your saw and what bar groove width do you have. If you can find it I would look at using pico chain since it makes the narrowest cut but it requires using 0.050" groove bar.

If my woodmizer could swim id do it for ya However the boys are right, no full length boards there so pick your lines for best recovery and dont think too much about it having to be on the quarter. Put plenty of weight on it to dry it as shes gonna move

I saw a dvd a little while ago where the mill operator/ farmer cut any log with a bend in it at the bend. This meant that he got two short straight logs out of which he milled boards. He said that this method increased their yield significantly.

He said this was a method that they developed because they had quite a few otherwise almost useless logs which when they were not processed seriously effected the profitability of their farm wood lots.

Since the log is relatively short would you get more straight boards (even though they are shorter) than if you went for long boards? If you would you can then join them up in a brick work patten that could turn out pretty good.

Having said all that bear in mind that the example I saw of this method in practice was of small diameter logs which where being turned into flooring and end matched. May not be appropriate for this log or your envisaged project.

Well - part one of the deed is done. I cut the log at the bend, quartered the short piece and halved the big. Now to weld up the mill and see what happens. Thanx for your advice all.

Originally Posted by Gidi

Well - part one of the deed is done. I cut the log at the bend, quartered the short piece and halved the big. Now to weld up the mill and see what happens. Thanx for your advice all.

There doesn't look like there are any decent width boards in those pieces so I wouldn't bother making a mill. Just keep breaking it up with your chain saw till you get pieces big enough to use on a bandsaw. Pity.

Weaver, I would say that is just common sense - docking a log at the bend, you don't have to be on a mill long before you realise you can get more from a straight log than a bent one. Wouldn't really think it was much of a method they had developed on the farmers side of things - just common sense.

Bob, I'm with you on that, doesn't look like she will yield very much, may as well break it down a bit more with that saw of his, then get into it with a bandsaw - pity...

Well that is the thing about common sense is that it seems pretty obvious and straight forward after its been pointed out or you have had the thought.

He made the point that most mills would reject the logs rather than cut and mill them. Most mills being concerned about the through put of quality logs where as the farmer/miller was looking to get as much out of what he had.

That olive logs might produce bits for turning but it does not look like you will get many if any boards.

Maybe this is just another woftam.

Seeing as I am a complete newbie to milling, I am going to play around as much as I can and do as much 1st hand learning as I can. Whether I get decent sized boards, or just blanks for turning - only one way to find out, I reckon.
Woftam? possibly, but when you work in front of a computer for a living - any chance to do something new really isn't a waste of time or money. I suppose for a professional woodie it might be, but then, I guess I'm just not that lucky

Originally Posted by Krunchie

Maybe this is just another woftam.

Disagree!!! Plenty of pen blanks. tool handles etc. in there.