Thread: Milling boards from an almond tree

Like most fruit and nut trees it will love to crack. I'd cut and seal all the ends, then mill straight away, then get kiln dried if you can.

What he said. Especially sealing the ends asap. If you can use some of it with the bark on it is very rewarding. The bark sticks very well to the timber and when oiled it goes almost black with a little crimson fleck. Looks brilliant when highlighted in contrast to the timber. If you have any branches spare you might offer them to the woodturners as almond is also very rare.

Thank you for the posts, Len and dai (?)

I have made some inquiries about milling and kiln drying, but Canberra is small in that way and have had no luck so far, not even for the milling part let alone the drying part. I have a 14" band saw... maybe I can figure out a way of using that for at least some of the job? I can save the saw dust for smoking meats and fish (I've never done that either). And I don't really know what I'm talking about, but perhaps a plastic tent with a fan heater may serve well enough to dry the milled timber quickly?

I am not a wood turner, and have no interest in it but I would offer some of the timber at little or no cost (perhaps postage) for turners to use. A so I will take your advice about saving some for that purpose Len. There WILL be spare banches. I can't imagine that I will be making "Big Stuff" out of this and it is a substantial tree.

Will post an offer here somewhere when the time comes...

Thanks for talkin

Jorge

Do not try and dry the timber faster yourself, unless you have controlled conditions (ie kiln), you want to dry as slow as possible especially with Canberra's extremely dry heat. Cut as small as practical, leaving enough size for final thicknessing etc, then seal the end grain. Use end sealer of wax. Then stack with stickers to dry preferable under your house or some where shaded and cool.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Do not try and dry the timber faster yourself, unless you have controlled conditions (ie kiln), you want to dry as slow as possible especially with Canberra's extremely dry heat. Cut as small as practical, leaving enough size for final thicknessing etc, then seal the end grain. Use end sealer of wax. Then stack with stickers to dry preferable under your house or some where shaded and cool.

Thank you for the advice again - In fact I have been doing more searches on the internet, and typing "milling logs using a band saw" even yields great video footage of people doing just that! I am feeling confident of being able to mill a few 1 m long boards for a few projects... perhaps some narrower Quarter sawn material. I'll save some chunky bits for the woodturners... The videos advice to paint the ends and leave the wood to dry naturally as you have. (over a year they reckon!) I hope that I am more patient with wood than I am with wine!

Jorge

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

leave the wood to dry naturally as you have. (over a year they reckon!) I hope that I am more patient with wood than I am with wine!

Jorge

For air drying, textbooks say "one year per inch + one year" (to the centre of the board) so even if you bandsaw down to one inch thick boards, you will need to leave the boards to dry for one and a half years; two inch thick boards for two years! This is to Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) when any shrinkage should be finished.

I just realised that you mentioned lutherie projects in your post. Don't go too thin when breaking down your boards to get them to air dry quicker or you may get some unwanted splitting / warping.

Originally Posted by CAG

For air drying, textbooks say "one year per inch + one year" (to the centre of the board) so even if you bandsaw down to one inch thick boards, you will need to leave the boards to dry for one and a half years; two inch thick boards for two years! This is to Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) when any shrinkage should be finished.

I got it the millisecond you mentioned EMC. You paint the ends and mill straight away to slowvdrying down and encourage slow moisture loss through the side grain... I might even invest on a moisture meter or weigh the wood periodically to test the 1 year per inch plumbing year theory.... Don't wait up for the results, OK?

here's a link to a bandsaw sled that Vern (TTiT on the forums) cobbled up

if you want to pass on a couple of turning blanks, I'll queue up

link

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

here's a link to a bandsaw sled that Vern (TTiT on the forums) cobbled up

if you want to pass on a couple of turning blanks, I'll queue up

link

What are the requirements for turning blanks? I'm guessing cross cut log chunks - ends painted as described by "dai sensei"? I haven't applied for a felling permit yet and it does cost a bit of money to get someone in these days - so it will be a while...

I just realised that the maximum height from top of table to the top guide is 20 cm for my saw, so quarter sawn boards will be, at the most 80 - 90 mm wide. Maybe I'll invest in a band saw extension block - or cut a mix of 1/4 sawn and flat sawn and "booked marked" boards ...

I won't be hasty... there is a lot of timber in this tree, and at the moment I am keen not to see any significant amount of it be put into a chipper, but that will require some planning.

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

What are the requirements for turning blanks? I'm guessing cross cut log chunks - ends painted as described by "dai sensei"? ...

for bowls really just a squarish bit of wood eg 300 x 300 x 50 mm with ends sealed and grain running from one side to the other
can be any size

for spindle work would be long square bits with grain running from end to end eg 40 x 40 x 300 mm

this link might give you a bit of an idea

Limb wood makes for poor milling timber. The tensions in a limb are very different to those in a straight barrel log. Add to this the inherent problems drying some species, Almond being one, and you may well be wasting your time.

For clarity, what is the diameter of the trunk?

Originally Posted by rustynail

Limb wood makes for poor milling timber. The tensions in a limb are very different to those in a straight barrel log. Add to this the inherent problems drying some species, Almond being one, and you may well be wasting your time.

Well, if you are right then I may be up the proverbial without a whatsit... There is a short trunk which splits into two large branches (perhaps 200 mm in diameter each) very low off the ground, and these two branches are at about 60 degree angle with respect to the ground. I think that the tree was pruned this way to keep it away from the house. After that there are some straight(ish) 120-150 mm diameter branches, its all small stuff from there.

Anyway, I'm only committing to keeping the timber under my house for a few years. The alternative is chipping and firewood, so nothing lost if I mill a few branches and it doesn't work. I'll never know if I don't try it...