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Sawing 2x4s

Started by Qweaver, March 27, 2006, 11:27:15 AM

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Qweaver

So far I have usually made 2x4s only when I could not get  bigger 2xs out of the log and that method was enough to meet my building needs.   I once tried sawing the cant into 4" wide  pieces and then turning those and sawing the whole stack into the 2x4s and i got a lot of really warped boards especially where I had sawed thru the heart.  Duh ::) But that log may have just had a lot of stress.  Now I have several hundred 2x4s to make and I'm wondering about the best method to saw them.  I have several 24"+ dia  poplar logs that I want to use for this and I thinking that I'd slab off 4 sides and then saw the whole cant into 2" boards, restack on the saw and saw to 4".  Will sawing wider boards, stacking and drying and then resawing to width as I need them work?
Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

footer

I think, unless you are going to use them right off the mill, saw the 2" slabs, dry them, then resaw them later to width.

beenthere

Like 'footer' said, but also if the grain is kept balanced in the 2x4, that will help too. Sawing parallel to the bark for straight grain and avoiding crooked and spiral grain logs too. Leaning trees and certain tree species have tension stress that also cause this warping. Sometimes real hard to avoid.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

woodmills1

if you want nice factory like 2x4 try this.  Cut them 1 5/8" by 3 3/4" then dry.  After drying plane the faces lightly to 1 1/2" then put them on the mill 6 or 8 at a time, take a pass that just cleans them up, then flip and cut at 3 1/2".  This makes real nice construction lumber but is time consuming.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

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