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7th January 2015, 01:53 PM #1Member
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Chainsaw milling some Cedrus deodar or Himalayan cedar
I have a Cedrus deodar or Himalayan cedar log to mill in the Dandies. I cut a few lengths the other day. It looks mostly sound apart from some radial cracks of a few cm length. The tree was standing dead for a few years and fell over a year or so ago. It's a reasonable size. Over 60cm diameter. As with many conifers that haven't had any silvicultural management, the tree was heavily branched.
It would be nice to sell some of the wood for use by woodies. As some earlier threads on Woodwork Forums have mentioned, it's a very aromatic wood. It has been used for making storage chests for clothing, wardrobes and similar as the aroma is said to deter moths.
So what should I aim to mill to produce something useful for the woodies? I have a Logosol chainsaw mill that does a good job - particularly in a softwood like deodar - other than the tendency to have an increased thickness in the board at the end of the board on the side away from the saw. I milled some Norfolk Pine a while ago that was fine once passed through a thicknesser.
Should I cut slabs of, say, 10cm? Some bowl blanks? Boards at 30mm to allow some wastage down to 25mm? Grateful for suggestions.
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7th January 2015, 06:56 PM #2.
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As with many conifers that haven't had any silvicultural management, the tree was heavily branched.
Turners may be interested in the odd piece of knotty stuff.
Unless it is quarter sawn, 10mm is too thin especially with all those knots it will tend to warp thin slabs.
Best to slab and dry it at ~50 mm and the resaw it after it has dried.
I have a Logosol chainsaw mill that does a good job - particularly in a softwood like deodar - other than the tendency to have an increased thickness in the board at the end of the board on the side away from the saw.
Mills that hold the bar at both ends can tolerate differences better.
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7th January 2015, 07:30 PM #3
I have nil experience with this type of tree
but wonder whether some of the knottier bits might be of interest to turnersregards
Nick
veni, vidi, tornavi
Without wood it's just ...
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7th January 2015, 07:47 PM #4Member
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7th January 2015, 07:48 PM #5.
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I cut a small one up back in 2008.
It had around 2.2m between knots so some decent bits of straight grain.
I ended up turning too much of it into sawdust, I wish I had access to the BS mill back then.
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7th January 2015, 08:11 PM #6Member
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Thanks, Bob. I wonder if there would be interest in boards/slabs/posts straight off the mill for making a rustic looking chest? Not sure how large the deodar rustic chest market is in Melbourne but I'm there to supply what there is of it with enthusiasm and a helpful demeanour.
I've been supplying lumps of blackwood, cypress, spruce and assorted eucalypts to my neigbour who loves knocking out rustic pieces of furniture like stools, small tables etc. He's started getting a few commissions so there's a bit of a market at least for what he's doing. The deodar wouldn't be well suited to what he makes but could be useful for chests etc This reduces some of the effort needed for dressing and hence knots are less of a problem in that regard.
I shouldn't have mixed measurement units in my original post. I had in mind 100mm for slabs. I should have said 100mm rather than 10cm.
I've attached a picture of the tree before I bucked it.IMG_2507.jpg
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8th January 2015, 09:44 AM #7
not sure there is a common bowl blank
but anything above 50mm thick (prob better at 80mm or more) and 200 mm square or bigger
it's common to turn norfolk bowls through the knots so they are spaced around the rim/sides. Don't know if this would work with this Himalayan cedar. If I was down Melbourne way I might give it a try
not a common practice to turn with knots except pens and maybe(?) salt and pepper grindersregards
Nick
veni, vidi, tornavi
Without wood it's just ...
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8th January 2015, 03:00 PM #8
Looks pretty knotty. Bit hard to turn a spindle that would hold up a table. But maybe lamp bases. Which is what I'm after Is there room for 180 or 200 mm thick spindle blanks around the heart wood? Maybe 400 -500mm long?
Half logs would be very fun big bowl blanks. A bit of a challenge with the grain directions around the knots.anne-maria.
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12th January 2015, 11:21 AM #9Member
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Using the waste from deodar
We went up to the deodar site yesterday afternoon to do some milling. First priority was to cut some slabs that the block owners have commissioned a cabinet maker to make some table legs from. They're using a redgum slab as the table top. It's a nice aspect of micro-milling salvage logs that people with a tree with some sentimental value - the grandfather of one of the block owners planted the tree 80 or so years ago - can have something made to preserve the link.
We cut those initial slabs avoiding the radial cracks:
11012015(003).jpg
then we did a a bit more before knocking off to visit a friend of the guy working with me yesterday. He has a home-made mill. (Visible in the background of one shot.) He's made a mirror frame using what would otherwise be the waste from squaring off a deodar log he milled some years ago.
11012015(001).jpgCloseup of mirror frame.jpg
My phone photos don't do the frame justice but it's a nice piece of work using what what would othewise have been kindling. He says that in his experience the deodar is very stable.
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14th January 2015, 12:31 PM #10Member
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Some milling shots of the deodar
The property owner took a load of photos.
IDR_3685.JPGIDR_3677.JPGIDR_3684.JPGIDR_3687.JPGIDR_3727.JPGIDR_3732.JPGIDR_3740.JPG
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14th January 2015, 04:21 PM #11.
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Looks like a pretty smokey saw, what mix ratio is being run?
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14th January 2015, 06:06 PM #12Member
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Glad you noticed that, Bob. I was going to ask if you had any suggestions. I noticed smoke being produced right at the end of the cut. No visible smoke before then. At the end of the cut is where the bar is being pinched the most. We were using wedges. I couldn't see any burn marks on the slab faces. I wondered if it was the saw laboring under the weight of the slab or if the very fine powdery sawdust - ripping a dry softwood log with a narrow kerf chain - was partly combusting.
The saw is running 50:1 mix using fresh petrol and Stihl 2 stroke oil. As I mentioned, no smoke visible until right at the end of the cut.
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14th January 2015, 08:32 PM #13.
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Not really - I remember my old 076 going through that stuff like warm fragrant butter.
I can't imagine the weight of the slab being a problem as, being the face cut from the top of the log, it's a very small slab.
Forget to put enough the bar oil in?
I've done that a couple of times (I can see the powerhead temp go up if something like this happens) but the aux oiler allowed me to keep going.
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14th January 2015, 11:28 PM #14Member
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That was probably it. I filled up the chain oil tank at the end of that cut. It did look a bit dry ...
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