1 minute ago, Stick486 said:

eastern red...

Match! Great job Stick!

Morning John,

I've got both ERC, and EWC and to these old eyes  it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. 

Just now, John Morris said:

Match! Great job Stick!

go look at the redwood pic...

you can see why I said what I did...

ERC is a rare commodity here...

Eastern Red Cedar is all that grows from Arkansas thru Georgia that I have seen

We have a lot of Eastern Red Cedar in Tn. but I have not built anything with it. I really like Western Cedar but it cost a pretty penny to buy it at HD. I sometimes buy the fence planks which are dirt cheap and plane them down.

18 hours ago, John Morris said:

John, in your experience, how long will it take until the cedar is ready to use?

Also, do you wrap your lumber with anything while it's drying or is it just stickered in your lumber storage structure? Thanks!

John the Cedar will be ready in a couple of months. It dries way faster than anything I have. 

 

We don’t wrap it, but it’s stored in a 60x80 metal building that acts like a kiln. We just sticker and stack it good so it get air flow through and around all the boards.

This summer when it’s been upper 90’s it was hot inside the building. It has eight roll up doors and I open them to get airflow. 

 

It it has worked for me.

 

17 hours ago, Stick486 said:

that sure looks like redwood..

Note it’s just pretty Cedar. This mill gets me some of the best in the area.

 

3 minutes ago, John Moody said:

We don’t wrap it, but it’s stored in a 60x80 metal building that acts like a kiln. We just sticker and stack it good so it get air flow through and around all the boards.

This summer when it’s been upper 90’s it was hot inside the building. It has eight roll up doors and I open them to get airflow. 

How about weights or anything like that, or do you just use the weight of each layer of lumber to press down on the lumber beneath each layer?

Just now, John Morris said:

How about weights or anything like that, or do you just use the weight of each layer of lumber to press down on the lumber beneath each layer?

Yep, just stack it and use the weight. I do try to go by a few weeks after I unload it and check the top few rows and I might rotate them if the need it.

 

Just now, John Moody said:

Yep, just stack it and use the weight. I do try to go by a few weeks after I unload it and check the top few rows and I might rotate them if the need it.

That just sounds too easy John. Why whenever you do something, it just seems too easy?

17 hours ago, Stick486 said:

go look at the redwood pic...

you can see why I said what I did...

ERC is a rare commodity here...

It’s Eastern Red Cedar. 

 

Just now, John Morris said:

That just sounds too easy John. Why whenever you do something, it just seems too easy?

We try to stay far enough ahead to allow it plenty of time to dry. Some I can use in a year. Some I’ve had stacked a couple of years. I’ve had some slabs cut and it takes them about 2 1/2 years to be dry enough to use.

 

 

This is the way I get logs. A lot was being cleared for a new house. They marked the trees to come down, called me and we picked the ones we wanted. They took them down, loaded them and I carried the to my sawer.

 

he then cuts it and loads it on my trailer if I’m bring it back right then.

but he cut me some poplar and stickered it for me till I pick it up.

over to the right of the poplar is some cherry I have stickered and stacked at the mill.

and the last two pictures he has stickered and stacked also. Some maple, cherry, Hickory, elm, and oak.

 

right now I have close to 10,000bf of lumber stored in three different places.

 

 

 

All of these pieces of furniture were built from air dried lumber that we took from the tree to the board to the piece.

 

 

 

 

 

The big advantage of getting your own trees and taking to the mill around here is price.

 

if I take the tree to them, it gets cut and loaded on my trailer for .20/bf no matter the species.

 

if the have the tree and cut it and call me to buy it, it cost me $1.00/bf no matter the species.

 

so if I take the trees and cut a 1000bf of lumber it cost me $200.00, where if they have the tree and I buy it it cost me $1000.00 for a 1000bf of lumber, no matter the species.

 

i like to get the trees!

6 hours ago, John Moody said:

some cherry I have stickered and stacked at the mill.

What wood do you use for your stickers John?

Random species cut-offs or a specific specie?

Size ~1"x 1"square or???

One time use or reuse until?

Great information! BTW, where did you say the drying barns were located?

Yo @John Moody,

 

Sweeeeet!!! 

8 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

What wood do you use for your stickers John?

Random species cut-offs or a specific specie?

Size ~1"x 1"square or???

One time use or reuse until?

Great information! BTW, where did you say the drying barns were located?

We try to reuse the stickers. The safer at the mill cut me a bunch when he was sawing of different species. I try to separate them and use the Cherry with the Cherry and maple with the maple and so on. 

 

@Ron Dudelston and @Allen Worsham have both been to the wood barn. They had to be blindfolded and ride a donkey to get back to the barn. 

2 hours ago, John Moody said:

We try to reuse the stickers. The safer at the mill cut me a bunch when he was sawing of different species. I try to separate them and use the Cherry with the Cherry and maple with the maple and so on.

Lots of good info and shared expertise. Thanks John

2 hours ago, John Moody said:

@Ron Dudelston and @Allen Worsham have both been to the wood barn. They had to be blindfolded and ride a donkey to get back to the barn. 

...donkeys must be well trained to get there blindfolded.