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Flitch Sawn Sassafras

Started by YellowHammer, March 31, 2012, 12:23:22 AM

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YellowHammer

I know a guy who builds expensive, ($3,000 dollar a chair) furniture from sassafras wood.  He says he likes all his wood flitch sawn to maximize yield because sassafras trees are usually small.  Just so happens I picked up a few thousand pounds of these logs from storm damage a few weeks ago, and am getting ready to saw them.  Is there anything special about sawing sassafras I should know about?  Is flitch sawing a common practice for small, apparently high value logs?  Should I try to edge them or just kin them with the bark on? 
Thanks
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

markd

I don't know about sassafras but I like flitch sawing for my better hardwoods, gives me more options for mixing and matching the grains. I sticker the whole log and air dry them and select out what I need after they're dry, they can be edged later if needed. You might speak to him see what he wants, but I'd leave the bark on. How big are your sassafras logs?
markd

ALWOL

   I really enjoy sawing Sassafras. It has a very pleasant, kinda spicy aroma. I have found it to be remarkably stable, and very easy to dry. It is fairly light, and saws like butter.
   Here is a pic of the last log that I sawed. It was about 12" dbh.

 
There's a big difference between staying busy and making money.

colinofthewoods

I would like to see what a $3000 chair looks like

customsawyer

I bet they are some beauties.
I have only sawed two sassafras logs and they were good enough logs to get some 1X10X10'. It was some very nice looking lumber. It was a customers logs so I have no idea how it dried.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

WDH

If you leave the bark on, the bugs will love it as bark is a bug magnet.  If you do leave it on, I suggest that you spray the boards, and especially the bark, with a borate spray.  Powderpost beetles love the ring porous hardwoods like ash, red oak, hickory, persimmon, etc.  Since sassafras is ring porous too, I would not take any chances.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

YellowHammer

Here is a photo of the logs after I got them home.  Some look good, some have issues.  These logs came from a nearby tornado hit, and the guy's yard was a mess.  We have too many tornados here.  He said if I would get these worthless logs out of his yard he'd let me have the two big cherry trees that had also fallen down.  I ended up spending the day there, helping him clear brush and burning limbs.  When I left we were both happy.   I have noticed the distinctive aroma of the logs, I smell it when I get downwind of them.




Here is also a link to the $3,900 chair and other furniture webpage.  His studio is about a couple hours drive from me, I'll have to find some time to visit.

http://www.woodstudio.com/lookout-rocker.html

YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

customsawyer

That is a nice looking chair. I just have to many other things I could spend $3900.00 on. ;D
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Chuck White

~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

tcsmpsi

Those are huge sassafrass trees/logs!   :o  Down here, 8" would be huge.  That being said, I do still have some sassafrass boards I have milled.  About 3 1/2" is the widest of them.   :D
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

Tree Feller

I sold a Hal Taylor design rocking chair in Bois d' Arc for $3000 and have a commission for two more in Walnut at $2500 each. (I gave the client a discount for ordering two)

Hal gets $4500 apiece for his. When Sam Maloof passed away last year, he was getting $25,000 apiece for his rockers and had a two year waiting list.

I wouldn't pay even $3000 for a rocker but that's because I'm a woodworker and can build them myself. For those with no time or skills to build them, $3000 for a chair that takes around 50 hours to build is not extravagant. Plumbers are paid better for their time.
Cody

Logmaster LM-1 Sawmill
Kioti CK 30 w/ FEL
Stihl MS-290 Chainsaw
48" Logrite Cant Hook
Well equipped, serious, woodworking shop

tcsmpsi

Well stated, well applied.  The plumber is an excellent comparison.  Certainly, many of us have apprenticed, studied and applied ourselves in the woodworking field as much as any plumber.    :D

*Certainly, not to be distinguished as not paying homage to the art of plumbing, some of us, too, have apprenticed, studied and well applied ourselves in the plumbing field, as well.   ;)
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

WDH

I look forward to seeing what comes out of those logs!
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

JohnM

Quote from: Tree Feller on March 31, 2012, 10:23:53 AM
Hal gets $4500 apiece for his. When Sam Maloof passed away last year, he was getting $25,000 apiece for his rockers and had a two year waiting list.

I didn't know he had passed, that's a bummer.  That being said, morbidly enough, imagine what his stuff worth now.  Sad but true.

JM
Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

Okrafarmer

Hmm. Interesting furiniture. Way out of my price range, but if I were going to plop down that much money I'd be looking for more material in the piece-- those are a little too minimalist for my liking.  :-\ Then again, who asked me? Especially since I get my furniture at yard sales....
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

pasbuild

If it can't be nailed or glued then screw it

YellowHammer

With their end product so expensive, its got me thinking....I wonder what I should charge them for the lumber?  A couple hundred bucks a bdft?   :D

YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

markd

Who's got time to sit in a chair? I've got my eye on that mean lookin log trailer with the steel wheels, I want one of those.
markd

SPIKER

Ive got a few nice big sassafras on my place a few that are 24+DBH but no mill for them love the smell of the saplings and have pulled and harvested some of the root bark for pot puree well was going to make some root beer or tee out of it but never made it smelled so go just hand out and rub some together...

Mark
I'm looking for help all the shrinks have given up on me :o

customsawyer

There is times when I think this kind of work might compare with making a quilt. I know that the wife will spend 6 months working on a quilt and make a gift of it. Some of those that receive the want to pay her for it. She always says she wouldn't know how to charge for the number of hours that she has in one.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Okrafarmer

Quote from: pasbuild on April 01, 2012, 12:15:42 AM
Here are some $16,000 rockers
http://www.birdseye-connection.com/the.store?cart_id=4209887.28132&page=rockers.html

Now that's more what I'm talking about. Much more my style. But a guy who has never paid more than $2,000 for a car or truck won't be buying one of these beauties any time soon!
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Jemclimber

Woodmizer was showing their mills at the fairgrounds when I bought mine. They were sawing sassafras and the whole area smelled nice. I don't see it in too many yards but it's around. They had a bunch of good sized sassafras logs to show off their mills.
lt15

Dodgy Loner

I appreciate the work that goes into the furniture in both of the websites, but I must say that I have a lot more appreciation for the style of furniture in the first website. Much more elegant. The stuff in that second website is kind of, um, let's just call it "unique".

Either way, sassafras seems very light and weak for a chair wood. Usually wood for chairs is made from strong, stiff woods like oak, hard maple, ash, hickory, etc. Cherry and walnut are about the weakest woods I would consider using for a chair with normally-dimensioned parts. The exception would be the seat of a Windsor chair, which is usually made of a soft wood like pine or poplar, but is thicker than the rest of the parts to make up for its weakness.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Okrafarmer

DL, the second website, I should clarify, is more my style because a lot more wood is used and shown. To tell the truth, though, neither site has exactly the style I would choose if I were rich enough to purchase it. I believe I would own at least $100,000,000 before I would pay $10,000 or more for a chair. I would prefer to see furniture that looks more conventional and shows off a lot of lovely board footage.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Dodgy Loner

Yes, I would agree that neither is quite what I would want if I were a billionaire. If I had won the lotto last week (which would have been a miracle, since I didn't buy a ticket), I would be in the market for a Maloof rocker. In my opinion, one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture ever made.
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

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