milling osage

[chessieboy]

I posted this over on PA but knowing some of you guys use more lams than some of those guys I thought I would post here too. I'm going to get an Osage log milled. I have a couple questions I was thinking 3/4" ruff cut. What would you folks recomend? How do I keep the slats from checking after they're cut? Is it ok to have them cut right after felling or should I wait?

Thanks Bill

[kennym]

Paint the ends of the log with any paint when it hits the ground, prefer a couple coats. It will start checking from ends.

I would cut at least 7/8 if you want to get 5/8", even better a full 1" , there will be humps, bumps and crooks.

Stack with sticks between and keep out of sun and wind, but in open shed.

Mill em as soon as paint dries good on ends.

That is what my dry guy says, yer mileage may vary!  :D

[J.F. Miller]

kinda depends on what you intend to do with the stock. for grinding into lams for glass bows, I'm not sure what is best. when I take osage logs to the bandsaw mill it is always for use as slats to be backed with bamboo(or hickory or whatever). I have the logs slabbed into boards that are a heavy 5/8" and certainly not more than 3/4". cutting them any heavier for use as solid cores is just wasting wood. sticker and stack them as kennym says for a few months, at least.

as an aside, I put paint on stuff for a living, and I'm quite convinced that putting paint of any sort on the bleeding ends of a freshly cut osage log will not slow down checking one bit. use shellac. it sticks to everything, dries quickly, even on damp wood and is an excellent moisture barrier. better than any paint film.

[2treks]

I go at it a bit different. I do think the above will work just fine though.
I coat with "Anchor Seal" as fast as I can. not cheap but works very good for wet wood.
Then I get the cut HEAVY. Most of my stock is around 2"-2.5"  The band mills(or any mill) will give a ruff surface that is far from flat and true for the most part. So my thinking is this, Cut it fat and then put it to my good saw when I am ready to use it. I can then true everything up to my specs. 1.75"w X 5/8"t X 36"l is what I like to start with for my BBO glue ups.
Cutting so heavy to start with allows me to trim out any warping or checking that come into play. what comes off my bandsaw is a really clean and true slat.
The down side is that it takes alot longer to air dry. I leave mine at least 1yr/inch of thickness. Longer if I can. In the last year or so I have come to love the quality of well seasoned osage. 3-4yrs Minimum.
Another thing is that it takes some good,strong equipment to work that heavy wood down. My 1.5hp table saw and my 3hp bandsaw are a good start. A BIG planer would be nice for this type of work.
Proper stacking and stickering is  needed as well. Excess wind and sun can cause warping/checking due to faster dry out times.

Just the way I do it.

CTT

[chessieboy]

Thanks guys.  My big concern was weather I needed to seal the whole board after being cut to prevent checking along the length or the wood.

[Steve Kendrot]

I had a bunch of Osage sawn several years ago when I first got the bug. Didn't know much at the time, (and barely more han that now!), but quickly discovered that finding a good board with few runoffs was a challenge. To do it again I'd ask for it to be quarter sawn. It'll cost a bit more because they have to handle the wood more, but I suspect I would have gotten a lot more usable wood. I only have a few BBOs under my belt so I don't have a good idea of how much runoff bamboo can compensate for.  You might want to explain what it is you are doing with the wood. With a little planning, you might be able to minimize the amount of high dollar firewood you pay for. I got mine cut 3/4 and stacked it with spacers as recommended.