Cedar logs with a bad center

[rimshot]

Very few decent sized cedar trees around here are perfect at the butt.  There always seems to be some rot in the very center.  Like the rest of you, I hate to lose a board because it has a rotten spot or streak running through it.  On the other hand, I want to get the most out of my logs.  I usually start at the bottom of a fallen tree and take 16" blocks off the butt section until I get up to a spot where the rot is no more than the size of a tennis ball. I measure my logs from there.  If the bad spot is steadily diminshing as I cut the blocks and I figure it's down Small enough it will be eliminated within within four feet or so might take the first log.   Of course one trys hard to hold the spoliled lumber to a minimum.  People can be fussy when they buy lumber.



Any tips out there to get the most out of your logs for sawing patterns?  i'm talking about
Eastern White Cedar 10-28" but I assume any rules could apply to most all logs.

rimshot

[Dewey]

I saw  Northern White Cedar  also.....When I have  logs with center rot I saw the log the way I would want to....  and cut the rot off the boards as I am sawing. When you butt back logs you loose allot of good lumber that you would get otherwise. I don't move my mill and I have an electric saw handy the I trim  the wainy ends and rot off.

[ladylake]

 
Right, no sence  in throwing away the outside boards.  Steve

[Magicman]

I saw with the bark and turn.  That way, I get the outside boards and discard the rotten center of the log.  I usually get down to a board with only one good side, which depending upon the use, will be OK.

[thecfarm]

My cedar is the same way here. I have some rotten end pieces that I think would make good planters to sell. Stand 3 diffeant lengths on end or could group less or more. These are good size butts pieces too. The first piece of the log,the butt swell, looks good.

[redbeard]

WRC  dose the same. But the wood is good right up to where the rot starts. So I do the same , saw the boards and trim the rot.

[GAB]

I have sawed some shag bark hickory and some cherry with bad or hollow centers as follows: I load the log onto the mill and adjust it so that the top of the log is parallel to the bed.  Then I saw to the rot or hole then rotate 180 degrees and repeat. then rotate 90 degrees and again saw to the rot or hole, then do the last side the same way.  The boards from the last two sides sawed will be tapered or ready for making taperd planters or whatever.  I think MM was saying roughly the same thing however I have never heard of the term he used.  Doesn't mean it is a bad terminology.  Gerald

[Tom the Sawyer]

Sawing around the decay.  Client wanted to see what I could salvage from this chunk of walnut.  The butt log contained a lot of decay and they cut off a 3.5' section and left it.  He asked for 16/4 slabs if possible, decay on one side was OK.



 



 



 



 



 



 

Milled til it crumbled away... 3 @ 18" wide, 1 @ 14", he was happy.

[mesquite buckeye]

Hard to justify one that funky unless it is a custom cut.  If we try to cut mesquite with that little good wood in it, we would lose money on the log, even if it makes some nice lumber. :

[rimshot]

Sawing around the decay.  Client wanted to see what I could salvage from this chunk of walnut.  The butt log contained a lot of decay and they cut off a 3.5' section and left it.  He asked for 16/4 slabs if possible, decay on one side was OK.
==================

Nice job and thanks for the pics, Tom the Sawyer.  If you can get lumber out of that log that was 90% air I ought to get a few more boards with my logs.  Thanks for the example.

rimshot

[Magicman]

I think MM was saying roughly the same thing however I have never heard of the term he used.  Doesn't mean it is a bad terminology.

??? Yup, maybe parallel to the bark, or the bark parallel to the bed.  We are all saying the same thing and recovering the most meat from the log.


 
Heart rot ERC.   

[Cedarman]

I have seen them rotten , but never that empty.  My first thought was to take about a 1 foot chuck.  Pressure wash the bark off and pressure wash the soft stuff off inside.  Cut some lumber to nail to the back side, put a flat floor in it of some sort and put some cut animals or knick knacks and make a display of some sort and attach it to a wall.  The worst that would happen is a worked piece of firewood.

Or let it dry, stand it upright in a fire ring so air could get under the bottom and build a good fire so it would go up the inside of the log and have a roaring fire come out the top.  It would burn until it toppled.  With a good draft, you can get a neat flame shooting out the top.  Sad thing is that they are not reusable.  We have done heavy cardboard tubes that way.  Fun.

[CalebL]

I think MM was saying roughly the same thing however I have never heard of the term he used.  Doesn't mean it is a bad terminology.

??? Yup, maybe parallel to the bark, or the bark parallel to the bed.  We are all saying the same thing and recovering the most meat from the log.


 
Heart rot ERC.   

What did you end up doing with that?

[isawlogs]

 I saw a lot of EWC also and I do cut back on some but not very often, I rather cut an eight foot log at the stump end with some rot and saw around it then cut 16'' blocks. I find more return on boards then on kindking  ;)

  Now certain logs need be renamed culverts, Magig, those on that trailer would be prime candidates for a rename tag.  ;)

[mesquite buckeye]

Or Cambodian water mains. Too big to be bamboo.

[CalebL]

Or Cambodian water mains. Too big to be bamboo.

:D :D :D :D

[beenthere]

Those make good coolers at a picnic, or like a Pig Roast (ala 2005). Maybe even for some ol bleau 

 

[isawlogs]

 Now the odds that there could be some Bleu at the piggy roast edition 2013 are working there way upwards.  ;)

[rimshot]

Great pictures Majic .  I've seen bear den up in logs with rotten centers smaller than that ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :D :D :D.  Thanks for the post.

rimshot

[GAB]

CalebL: If your question was directed at me - On the cherry I got some very nice clear 1" boards out of what the customer thought was firewood.  On the shag bark hickory I had some good lumber but definitely not clear stuff.  The hollow center went into firewood that did not need splitting to dry.  Gerald

[Magicman]

What did you end up doing with that?

Nothing.  Doing something always takes time, and my time has a way of getting used elsewhere.   :-\


 
They are still exactly where I unloaded them.

[Joe Lallande]

When I cut a cedar with rot in the center, I use a 4' piece of rebar to probe the inside of the log until it stops at solid wood.  I then mark the spot the rebar stopped and cut off this section before I continue cutting my lengths.

[francismilker]

What did you end up doing with that?

Nothing.  Doing something always takes time, and my time has a way of getting used elsewhere.   :-\


 
They are still exactly where I unloaded them.

MM,
Around these parts those hollow cedar logs have value in cutting them into about 16" "flower pots" and putting a plywood bottom on them.

[ST Ranch]

For me if it is butt rot [more of a cone shape] I will buck the log a bit longer to compensate for the length of rot [say 10 or 12 feet - I do not like to inventory lumber less than 8 feet long, mill as usual and trim off the rotten board ends.
If the rot runs more than 8 feet [cylinder thru rot] I will trim till I get a minimum 5 inch outer shell, split the log into quartrers and then quarter saw the outer shell.
However - I do like francismilker's idea to cut them into flower pots - going to try a couple and see how they do.

Tom

[clww]

I've made a number of bird houses out of hollow logs/branches. Old timers would also use them for bee gums, too.