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Board width

Started by bandmiller2, September 15, 2013, 09:26:55 PM

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bandmiller2

When you folks cut boards do you cut to odd and even width or just even width.??Myself I cut to 6",8",10",12",14"16"est. I never bothered to do the odd like 7",9" est. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

thecfarm

Depends what I am doing and the plan for the boards. I built a veggie shack for the wife. I did go with the odd widths,but I was building as I was sawing. The roof and the sides did not matter about how wide.It will all be covered.It can be a bother. Sometimes a board has to go back on the mill.If I am going to have some left over,I stick with the round numbers.
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Gasawyer

most of the time I cut even, only cut odd number width a few times.
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Jim_Rogers

Frank:
For softwoods, I do 4, 6, 8, 10, 12" widths and store them on pallets ready for sale. I don't do 5" but some mills do, in softwoods. My lengths are 8', 10', 12', 14' and 16'. Sometimes I save some 18' and 20' pieces if they are really nice. But not too often.

With hardwoods, I do odd inches but I don't store a lot of hardwoods here for sale.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
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POSTON WIDEHEAD

For myself, I saw even.
Custom sawing, the customer will specify.

I also have wood workers that order 1 side sawn x wide.
Other customers ask for 1 side sawn the other live edge.
And the rest, live edge slabs.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

LeeB

I cut whatever comes. Even, odd and fractions there of.
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Brian_Rhoad

I cut softwood to even widths. Hardwoods are cut to what ever width the cant is as I turn the log unless I need a specific size.

Finn1903

Generally I cut evens. 
But, I have a trailer deck order that are odd size plus a fraction.  That is a custom order so the boards will all be the same width across the trailer deck.  Can't buy oak trailer boards custom cut at lowes. 
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Brucer

All of my lumber comes off the sides of custom cut timbers. Since I've got limited space for storing lumber I keep 9 stock sizes -- 1x4, 1x6, 1x8 in 8', 10', and 12' lengths. This is all softwood.

For a custom order I will cut to any size the customer wants. Usually even then it's even sizes but I've had requests for random width siding: 3" to 10" in one inch increments. I also get the odd request for odd numbered sizes for cladding built up beams etc.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

isawlogs

 That really depends on what or why I am sawing a certain log. Some white pine logs go for furnisher , these are cut 4\4 5\4 6\4 When turning the log after a few cuts, well the width will be what ever it is, as these boards will be ripped on the table saw as the build goes. Some other logs are for construction lumber, these the boards will be even numbers.
Hardwood lumber is random width and lenght. Take the best out of the log.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Magicman

I saw the width and thickness that the customer specifies.  My last job was the same as factory finished lumber.  ¾" thick and 3½, 5½, 7¼, 9¼, & 11¼ widths.  This was Pine, Oak, & Cedar.

All was scaled as 1X4, 1X6, 1X8, etc.
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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ron Wenrich

Softwood to even widths, cut full.  Grade hardwood to whatever the face allows, but shoot for 6" minimum.  Will allow down to 4".  Even, odd, or fraction of an inch.  Sometimes that little extra fraction will give you a better grade board.  Pallet stock gets cut 4" or 6". 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Knute

I saw mostly hardwoods and keep turning the cant to get the clearest lumber. Not concerned with width, but I try to keep a minimum width of 5 inches. This is when sawing my own logs which is almost always the case.

5quarter

Frank...I get a lot of junk pine dumped at my place so quite often I will simply make 4 cuts, leaving a boxed heart beam 5¼" square. I let them air dry for a year or so and let them do all their twisting and bowing. then I will square them up to a clean 4" square. people seem to like those for any number of things and I can never keep them around long. Better pine I will saw 2x the widest I can and then resaw to what ever I or a customer needs later. most all my hardwood I saw to an odd width, leaving an inch to dress a board to final even dimension. perhaps not the best system, but it works good for me.
What is this leisure time of which you speak?
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schmism

to be clear, you guys are talking about resawing fitches?  (those first few boards off each side of a log before the cant)    or are you talking about what dimension you saw a cant to before you saw it down into boards?

As a woodworker who buys random width often,  i assumed you guys would resaw flitches to maximize bf  minimize waist trimmings....
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m wood

in my case, yes.  I'm cutting for myself and maximizing the use of the log and minimizing the waste.  It all goes to random projects and B&B type siding.  I keep to about 5" min. and will get specific with my other tools when needed.
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Ron Wenrich

Quote from: schmism on September 16, 2013, 12:21:00 AM
to be clear, you guys are talking about resawing fitches?  (those first few boards off each side of a log before the cant)    or are you talking about what dimension you saw a cant to before you saw it down into boards?

As a woodworker who buys random width often,  i assumed you guys would resaw flitches to maximize bf  minimize waist trimmings....

From a hardwood grade standpoint, maximum width does not always translate to maximum dollars.  Sometimes you have to cut out defects to increase the amount of clear cuttings, which increases grade. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

red oaks lumber

as a 4sided planer operator, life sucks when you guys cut random size widths then the customer brings to guys like us and want it planed. :(
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

drobertson

Frank, as a few mentioned, it really depends on what a customer wants.  But when sawing random logs to be sold at a later date, I have found the even numbers sell better in general.  And as most cases generally go, full cut pine is what folks ask for.  As it is though, with Murphy's Law, what's laying and stacked is not what many folks are looking for.   david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Magicman

This question is what got me out of the "Lumber" business.  I never seemed to have the exact width or length that a customer wanted.

Now I can saw um and leave um.   I love portable sawmilling.  :D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

isawlogs

 When i bought my mill, the first winter was cutting hard maple that was sold to a dryer. I had to cut for grade to get the best $$$ 6'' + 1/4'' was what they really wanted, this being there main market, but bought every thing down the 3 1/4'' three feet long. I targeted the six inch but worked real hard at getting the best grade no matter the width. Made good money that winter.  :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Dave Shepard

Softwood I cut even inches, usually no narrower than 4", but 6" and up preferred. Hardwood, I saw for the best board, unless otherwise specified. The last two batches of cherry I sent for flooring they wanted it sawn on the whole inch. If I was selling it as grade lumber, it would be whatever the pattern sawing yielded.
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Deese

I have only been sawing lumber for about a month, but have already got a three stacks of stickered lumber about "thigh high". One stack is 1x8's, second is 2x8's, and third is random widths (uniform widths in each layer). As for now, I have been cutting for the widest board, wether it be 4" or 13". I have an old craftsman table saw that I'm about get running, and I plan on cutting them to whatever width I need at the time. However, thus far I have noticed that my thinner/narrower hardwood boards are drying with less crook and cupping than my wider ones...

I have some 12" red oak lumber that already looks like smiley faces, and they are on the bottom of the stack with a lot of weight on them :-\

This is a bigtime learning process, and that's what makes it so much dang fun  8) 
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cutterboy

I saw mostly hard wood and just take whatever width the cant  turns out to be. My customers are mostly hobby woodworkers and are going to cut and rip anyway. Once in a while I get a custom order and then of course, I saw to whatever widths they want.
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

bandmiller2

Guess it all depends what the boards are for, most of my customers use them for boarding in sheds.Its agrivating to nail down an eight incher and the next one you grab is seven.Suppose if there were a lot of seven inch it wouldn't make any difference. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

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