Milling Wood Rounds

Ryan Keats · Feb 23, 2018

Hey guys,
I have never milled wood before, but want to get into it. I have been doing some research on what I need to get myself started. I'm going to start off fairly small and work up from there.
I am getting married in April and my fiance wants me to cut up a bunch of wood rounds (12-16" diameter) to use as bases for centerpieces. I was thinking of buying a mill and trying my had on the rounds. I'm not sure if they will be too small for the mill. Would it be better to just eyeball it?
Thanks!

Windwalker · Feb 23, 2018

I have a Timberking 1600 mill and make and sell a bunch of cookies for exactly your same purpose. I keep a bunch of different sizes in stock at all times, and a few different species. It pays much better than firewood. I just sold 30 to a couple last week. The guy said he tried cutting them with a chainsaw, didn't work out real well. Buying a $28k mill just to cut cookies is probably not a good investment. I've seen guys that make a pivot for a chainsaw mounted to a saw buck. They get much better than freehand, but not as nice as the bandmill. If you're just doing a few that would be a much more economical solution.

Tom Dunlap · Feb 24, 2018

Plan for radial cracking. It's going to happen

Soaking in glycol isn't really practical especially on short notice

Windwalker · Feb 24, 2018

Tom Dunlap said:
Plan for radial cracking. It's going to happen

Soaking in glycol isn't really practical especially on short notice

I have tried different soakings, but gave up due to cost, time and ineffectiveness. Most people just accept the fact, so I just sell as green or somewhat air dried. My smaller cookies I cut from firewood rounds that have been sitting for a few years, the checking is only on the ends and what you cut from the middle doesn't check. I have also thought about putting larger diameter logs say 2' in length in the kiln and dry them before cutting to see if that would work on larger cookies. But again, seems like a lot of effort and time when most people don't seem to care. They probably get tossed out after the wedding anyhow. ;-)

flyingsquirrel25 · Feb 24, 2018

Another more economical option might be to try a portable band saw
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...APxQ3AHet4xLc1YLx3cGG8g25gmlDnixoCq_QQAvD_BwE
Get a quality somewhere between a mill and a chainsaw.

Jackjcc · Feb 24, 2018

I did the same for my wedding. I have access to a bandsaw mill but making cookies with a saw can work fine too. I’d recommend using a green log and cutting it the day before or morning of. Depending on the wood actually determines when you want to cut it. Tight bark vs furrowed bark changes how long and how tough it is to break the bark away.

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Ryan Keats · Feb 25, 2018

I've left the wood to dry for about a year now. I'll try it on the dried stuff (some has cracked, some hasn't) first and then use green if I have to.
I was thinking of buying an Alaskan Mill from Granberg.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20127&cat=1,41131

TrimALimb · Feb 25, 2018

Ryan Keats said:
I've left the wood to dry for about a year now. I'll try it on the dried stuff (some has cracked, some hasn't) first and then use green if I have to.
I was thinking of buying an Alaskan Mill from Granberg.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20127&cat=1,41131

I would recommend building a a chainsaw chop saw. (Pictures are for reference). I built one to cut rounds for my sisters wedding and now sell centerpiece slabs, coasters, ring boxes etc. locally. You can buy a timber tuff beam cutter which will accept any chainsaw bar. And then I built basically a solid saw horse utilizing a 4x4 frame with 1/2 plywood covering it. I attached the beam cutter to the 4x4 and built an adjustable fence I could push the wood up to making repeatable cuts from 1 to 9". Works sweet an the slabs are consistent.

TrimALimb · Feb 25, 2018

TrimALimb said:
View attachment 49839 View attachment 49840 I would recommend building a a chainsaw chop saw. (Pictures are for reference). I built one to cut rounds for my sisters wedding and now sell centerpiece slabs, coasters, ring boxes etc. locally. You can buy a timber tuff beam cutter which will accept any chainsaw bar. And then I built basically a solid saw horse utilizing a 4x4 frame with 1/2 plywood covering it. I attached the beam cutter to the 4x4 and built an adjustable fence I could push the wood up to making repeatable cuts from 1 to 9". Works sweet an the slabs are consistent.

I use a 12 inch sliding compound miter saw with a 100 tooth blade and a homemade jig to cut the 4" and smaller stuff. No sanding required.

Tom Dunlap · Feb 25, 2018

Be super careful if you use a chop saw or miter saw

I've made up a larger version of a drill press vise. Because of the bumps and curves on logs the blade can climb over the log causing kickback or jamming