From logs to veneers - processing wood

[DanielB89]

I recently purchased a saw mill and have a good friend who builds bows.  I want to process some wood for him and don't know exactly how to do it.  I google searched a good bit but couldn't find anything other than self bow information.

Does anyone here have any experience and insight on how I should process a log to be able to use it for bow veneers? 

[mmattockx]

I have never gone from a log all the way to veneers but this is the basic process.

1) Cut slabs/planks out of your log and let them dry. Sealing the end grain helps prevent splitting. Stacking them with sticks to separate the planks helps keep them from twisting.

2) Cut thin slices off your slabs with a bandsaw. Properly set up you can cut pieces 1.5"-2" wide at well under 1/8" thick with little trouble.

3) Reduce the thin slices to final veneer thickness using a thickness sander.


Mark

[garyschuler]

I agree, I had a mill before. Will need Bandsaw, thickness sander, Jointer, Planer and possibly a Table saw.
 I’m working on these now.

[DanielB89]

Thank you two for the replies!  A couple questions come to mind.

1) How thick would you cut your slabs to allow for drying? 

2) Do you allow them to dry any before you slice them? 

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

I have had a mill for about 3 months. If it is for risers, going to need to be about 8/4  minimum for a 1 1/2 riser.  For limbs and veneers, 4/4 or even 5/4.  Pay attention to what you want out of the log. Quarter sawn or flat sawn? Sycamore gets quarter sawn for the really cool grain.

Sticker it and seal the ends with a good sealer. When you fell the tree, seal it. Some woods crack pretty quick

[Bowjunkie]

I've done it with logs from small diameter yew to big osage, hickory, walnut, sassafras, etc.

I cut the trees and my buddy has a band mill and a circle mill. I take the big ones over and tell him how to cut them to get the ring orientation I want depending on my needs. I do the smaller ones myself at home.

For use under clear glass, I like to use flat sawn laminations because they're more appealing. Usually there is some wood that results as quarter or rift sawn, and that's ok because I use it for the lams inside that can't be seen.

Initially I cut the boards/planks 2" or more thick and as close to perfectly flat sawn or quartersawn as possible. I then store the planks in an unheated part of my garage to dry slowly for several months.

Bow lams are less than 2" wide, so with nice thick planks, if the plank itself is flatsawn, you can take quartersawn slices off of its edge. And the converse is true... with a plank that is quartersawn, you can slice flatsawn pieces from the edge. This allows for options you generally won't have with rift sawn wood.

When resawing, you can adjust the angle that you cut through the growth rings to make the lams more appealing, if they're lacking appeal of their own.

[Kirkll]

If you have never gone through the whole process before i think i would spend some time researching air drying wood first.... The most critical part is getting green lumber in the 30% MC level down below 20% without warping and splitting badly.... There is a ton of info on the process... 

 I would rough cut thickness to 8/4 if you want to finish mill it to 7/4 or 1.75" , Then haul a batch to a shop that has a big band saw and thickness planer... Have it milled to S2S before stacking it up to dry, and wait to straight line it until your MC levels get down below 15 % .... You'll save a lot of heart achce doing that.

If you get over 60% from rough cut to finished usable lumber. You are doing very good..... I've done Curly Maple, Myrtle wood, black walnut, Yew, and tons of Doug fir & cedar.   It's quite a process and takes a lot of time and care to air dry it properly and different methods are used depending on time of year and your climate. In hot weather you need both air flow and moisture.... In colder wet weather you can have mold stains to deal with.... There is a lot to it....    Kirk

Kiln drying is a whole different thing that i've never attempted.
 

[mmattockx]

Thank you two for the replies!  A couple questions come to mind.

1) How thick would you cut your slabs to allow for drying? 

2) Do you allow them to dry any before you slice them?

There are lots of good answers now, and as Kirk pointed out, air drying lumber is a skill unto itself. You need to do more research on that before anything else.

For my uses:

1) I like cutting the slabs thick enough that I can cut bow width slices off the edge. Since I make all wood bows that equates to 2+" thick. Fibreglass bows are typically 1.5"-1.75" wide, so you can probably get away with 2" thick. This is the same as the 8/4 that AH uses. The 8/4 is the common woodworking nomenclature for board thickness, where thickness is given in 1/4" increments. 8/4 is pronounced eight quarter.

2) Yes, I let them air dry for a year at least before cutting my lams. For veneers you may be able to do it sooner but I have not tried that. The general rule of thumb for drying lumber is 1" per year, so a 2" thick board that is left with air circulation all around it will dry in ~1 year.


Mark

[KenH]

If you haven't already, one thing you'll need to study up on is how to slice a log to get the maximum combination of quarter-sawn and rift-sawn planks.  It's not as simple as sawing from one edge to the other...