😂🤣

Yeah, it can be challenging to get consistent good wood from the Big Box stores. They tend to mass produce their wood and this can result in twisted boards in their stacks. The lumber in the video was milled up for a customer to make all kinds of projects. You could not see it in the video, but the majority of it was quarter-sawn and dead flat. If we were selling it, we would cull the clean boards from the ones where the knots twisted the board. Then, where possible, we would cut out the knots from the boards and sell shorter boards.

@@lawyertosawyer good to hear. My sarcasm was directed towards Lowe's because at every turn they stick it to their customers. Most of the time they are the most expensive on just about everything. But the thing that gets me is the absolute piss poor quality of their lumber and the outrageous price that they charge for it. The pine lumber that they call premium has a lot of knots , cracks, twists, chips and bends. The pressure treated lumber is still wet and improperly stickered. Having a few fans blowing down the aisle would go a long way into drying out the lumber.

@@laff000 I figured it was. Sorry if it sounded like I did not catch the sarcasm, and I appreciate the fact that you took the time add more context to what you said in your first comment. Thank you for commenting!

@@lawyertosawyer one of the things that keeps me going is that there's a lot of Amish sawmills where I live. Normally I go to them to buy lumber. I will only go to Lowe's if I am desperate to complete a project and need some kiln dried wood that I can't find anywhere else. I needed a 1“ x 12" x 6' last week. I happened to be in Lowe's and went to check out their lumber . They wanted over $21. for one. It was full of knots , bent and cracked. Since I needed to do a little traveling I went to a building supply business where I was able to buy a 1×12×8 for $14. If I was able to get it from the Amish it would have been about $8.

That is really funny!

That is what the customer wanted. There is a sentimental reason for it that we have been asked to honor. But that is only part of what they wanted. They will have almost 3,000 board feet of lumber to work with!

Depending on the species, water can represent roughly 40-60 percent of the weight of a freshly cut log. Oak, for example weighs around 5.4 lbs/ board foot green and about 3.5 lbs/board foot at 8% moisture content.

Glad you enjoyed the video! The song is Come Get With Us by TrackTribe

@@lawyertosawyer Duuuuude, thank you so very much. Keep on sawing and keep on rockin' to that funky music!!!

Thanks!

Yes! The cost depends on distance, the size of the order, and whether we have to unload it at the delivery location or there is a machine with forks to unload the lumber.

It is very efficient, especially when properly insulated. The system recycles the heat as it is pulling the water out of the air. Depending on the time of year and what I am doing with the kiln, it costs me between $175 and $225 per month to operate.

The Concrete floor provides a stable flat surface. It should be insulated to increase the efficiency of the kiln. It is a heat sink, so, at first it absorbs the heat, but as the kiln heats up, it radiates the heat back into the kiln. The negative part of using the garage is that the heat can radiate out from under the kiln through the concrete, causing some heat loss. Our newest kiln has a much smaller concrete footprint as is a little more efficient.

More to come. This past year has been one of the roughest ever, but we are coming through it and plan to have a productive 2024.

Great! I'll be waiting.

It was down at least 6 months. I had put anchor seal on it within a couple weeks of it coming down. That whole tree was huge (42 inch diameter at the base). Only the bottom log had a little checking. I believe that the time of the year the tree comes down can impact the checking.

@Avidwoodworker Right on man. That is big for a White Oak for sure. I've just had guys tell me it has to dry natural with no kiln for 1-2 years after it's cut as well. It's a timely investment, but beautiful. 👊

@@jwhiteker1 We let it air dry down to around 28% moisture content and then move it into one of our dehumidification kilns. It comes out nice. The advantage to putting it into the kiln (in addition to shortening the drying time) is that we also sterilize the wood at the end of the drying cycle. This kills insects and insect eggs that could be laying dormant in the wood. The last batch of quarter sawn white oak we pulled out of the kiln was so flat you would have thought we had run it through the jointer (I am exaggerating a little, but only a little).

@Avidwoodworker That's awesome. I've been threatening to get a bandsaw mill for my 160 acres of Oak that needs thinned, but my forester had a look and said I don't really have any good timber value. I think I could still harvest enough for my own needs. But the insects could take it for sure since it would have to air dry. That's great that yours came out that flat. I've heard White Oak likes to cup and twist unless there's lots of weight on it.

Yep!

Yes sir! Hope he shares pictures with us of what he builds. 😁

Thanks!

Slab Clamping Dogs

Answers will be coming soon. I have a second video that still needs to be edited and published.

I believe the customer waited about 3 months. But, you do not have to wait. You can put up a fence with green lumber. It will air-dry in place. After 3 months, you can paint or stain it to protect it. The main advantage I see to letting it air dry first is that you get to see if a board will dry funny. If you put it up green, you could potentially see a sag in the board. That being sad, I use fresh cut lumber all the time without a problem.

@@lawyertosawyer Thanks! This was has been my plan but wanted some confirmation :)

Even a bad day at the sawmill is still a good day for me. I love the hard work!

There are 2 Simple Reasons we make videos like this one. 1) Many folks enjoy just watching the process; and 2) Marketing. Since we are not seeking to use KZbin for a source of revenue, we do not produce 'How To' videos. Our primary revenue stream is producing product for customers and that is what we focus on. Recording and editing videos takes a significant amount of time, which would negatively impact our ability to timely deliver a quality product to our customers. And, since a video like this has resulted in additional sales, it is far from stupid. Thanks for watching and your question!

Don’t you post you videos for people who want to learn more or something new

LOL! For some reason I just saw this comment. Thank you for the helpful comment! We have really changed how we do things around the kilns. We do use the poly straps on our lumber stacks now. However, we use them mainly to hold the stacks together as we move them around. They get loose as the wood dries and shrinks, and we use a lot more concrete blocks on top of the stack now. It works very well. We are putting together more videos to better explain what we do now.