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urgent how to mill olive trees

Started by artenvielfalt, March 12, 2009, 12:44:18 PM

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artenvielfalt

hallo guys,
i have an option to cut up a whole valley of olive trees, i don´t know how many m³ but we want to have boards and very thick pieces for woodturning so my peterson is not the right one to work with.
now you bandsaw millers does anyone have experience with olive trees?
i saw a man cut up olive trees with a normal bandsaw and had a device for sliding the wood along the band, BUT he had to clean the band almost every cut because of the sap or oil in the tree, what do you know about that and what would be better a small band from woodmizer or the bigger one we have here in germany that mill is called serra mills.
can you tell me which band or mill is better for that use.  we will cut trees up to 80cm diameter and about up tp 5m long .
please thanks for a fast answer as my friend will only be a few more days in greece and we have to find out how to do the job before someone else is doing it.

9shooter

You might consider getting in contact with some of the exotic timber importers. They would probably buy the logs whole.
Earth First! We'll log the other planet's later!

Robert Long

I would guess you have to find an end user first.

This would answer many of your questions on what to do.

By the sizes you show, a Wood-Mizer will do but what blade to use is probably your biggest concern.

Experience is the most important thing, so get started and learn as you go.

Good luck on you endeavour!    It sure would be nice to get some of that olive wood out here! :)

Robert

Tom

These narrow kerf bandmills, like Woodmizer, Baker, Norwood, etc., make should handle the project with little problems.  Most of them are built to cut 20 feet long or have extensions that will make them cut 20 feet.   

The difference in a bandmill blade and most Shop saws is the width of the kerf, the width of the blade and the ability to run a band with "tooth per inch" of 3/4" to 2" (pitch). The smaller the pitch, the more heat is generated, the slower the blade cuts and the more gumming will usually occur.   The wider pitch, more tension and larger kerf (set) keeps a band mill blade running cooler and cuts faster.

The decision to use a mill that takes a 1 1/4" band over the Serra's 5" band would have to do more with the speed you want to cut and the money you want to spend.   Those wide bands are expensive.  The smaller ones (like Woodmizer) are quite affordable. 

You talk of a whole valley of trees.   I think that you will find that either mill would do the job, if you are comparing a Woodmizer LT70 to the Serra.   I've not seen a Serra, so have to make my comment based on the advertisement.

The Serra's electric motors might be a drawback if you want to be portable.  They sell diesel generators, but that is redundant power.

The wider bands may require hammering, whereas the narrower bands would not.  That might make a difference in band maintenance costs.




DanG

I'm thinking a Woodmizer LT40 or LT70, or equivilant would be ideal for the job.  There are a number of different blade configurations out there to experiment with, and the lube system built into most mills should handle the sap problem.  You might need to add a little Balsamic Vinegar to your lube, though. ;)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

MattJ

I have visited greece several times as my wife is greek.  I always tried to figure out a way to pick up some olive wood as it is everywhere but people are very reluctant to cut them down as they don't produce well until they are 30 years old and grow very slow.  An 80cm diameter olive is pretty old.  They also keep producing forever and a lot of trees they said were many hundreds of years old.  I think the tricky part for lumber is how they really don't grow very straight and they have a lot of hollows like eastern red cedar in the US.  The wood is also very hard so I would think thin kerf with a very good blade and using lubricant would be a good idea.  The idea of checking with end users is a good one.  The olive I did find was being cut into bowl blanks, utensil blanks for carving, etc.  Boards beyond 4' long were shocking, converting to somewhere around $10-15/bf even out in the small mills.  My cousin in law, who works in his Dad's cabinet shop suggested the last night we were there we could go sneak out and cut down an olive off his grandfathers farm and run it through his minimax bandsaw.  Would have loved the wood but I also enjoy being welcomed back to visit!

fishpharmer

Do you use olive oil as a blade lubricant when sawing olive wood?  ;)






Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

cleargrain

Olive wood is beautiful, but can be tricky to process to end up a large qunatity of usable wood - based on my one experience.

My sister in law lives in Spain.  They took out an olive tree and I asked them to cut me some boards from it.  They ripped the trunk with a chainsaw, put it up off the ground, and let it season in the shade for two years.  Then they took it to a local cabinet shop, where the owner cut the metric equivalent of some 5/4 x 4 boards.  Most were 3-4 feet long.   A year later, my father in law high graded these, cut them down a bit, and brought about 6 back in his suitcase.  Out of these 6, I was barely able to get enough wood for a 10 x 14 picture frame.  The wood was unstable and would warp/twist during the different wood working phases.  After the first warping/cussing session, I started cutting three of everything so I wouldn't have to keep resetting up the tools.

I'm sure there are tricks to efficiently milling/processing olive wood and would love to hear from others out there on this.

-Scott
AK mill powered by either an 066 or an 075, '79 MD 127, Allis Chalmers 655 tracked loader/backhoe

tyb525

The wood may very well still have been wet on the inside  :). Half logs may never dry completely through, therefore while you were milling it it may have been drying out.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Tom

QuoteThey ripped the trunk with a chainsaw, put it up off the ground, and let it season in the shade for two years.

There are a lot of people, mostly those who have not dealt with the processing of a log, who think that nothing is done to wood until it is dried.  That is why many custom sawyers cringe when they hear, " I want it sawed into boards.  It's been down and drying for 2 years, it should be ready." 

Wood dried in log form will check, retain growing stresses and even have induced stresses from uneven drying.

While you can't say that a dried log won't make good lumber, anymore than you can say that a child born in a rich house will grow up to be spoiled, the chances remain pretty good that the boards from the former will be inferior.  The shame of it all is that people act with the mindset that they know it all and consider asking for advice as a fault.  There are some people who will push a button without knowing what it does.  Little do they know, but they might have blown up a city of 100,000 on the other side of the world, or set off 100 lbs of dynamite beneath the chair in which they are/were sitting.

MattJ

Out on the greek island of santorini I saw I guy who had a shop and only worked with olive wood.  He made large cutting boards, picture frames, small furniture and lots of turning and the wood was really beautiful.  We have some cutting boards and large utensils and the wood is very durable, hasn't warped or cupped, and I would say is equal to or better than hard maple in kitchen use.  The figure is fantastic but I would imagine cutting large boards that are not 50% pith would be a challenge.  The mature trees are comparible in size and trunk twist to apple trees.

metalspinner

My few experiences using olive in the shop have been good.  The smell alone makes it worth while to get your hands on some. :)  The wood I was using was just a bowl blank.  I don't think it would ever really be "dry" in that there is so much oil in it... no finish necessary.  And, boy is it dense.  But it machined beautifully.  I would guess that green logs should cut just fine on a typical portable sawmill bandsaw using plenty of lubrication.

Artenvielfalt,
How about some pictures of your endeavor along the way?  I've heard that Greece is a beautiful place. ;)
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

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