Hobbies

[davemartin88]

Woodworking (including sawmill and solar kiln), Sheltie rescue, astronomy, 1956 MGA, saltwater aquarium, radio control airplanes, & reading.

 

[DAYDREAMER]

Woodworking (including sawmill and solar kiln), Sheltie rescue, astronomy, 1956 MGA, saltwater aquarium, radio control airplanes, & reading.

I'm in the process of residing my house 1" x 6" x 12' square planks. From your experience in homemade sawmills, is it possible to cut to these plank dimensions and be significantly cheaper than the woodstores, if I supplied the wood?
We have some local small personal sawmill people around our area, and I've been thinking about cutting one of my cedar trees (it is leaning badly) and have some siding made out of it.

Do you think this would be a reasonable way to go?

 

[Culture]

I though I was alone! I am amazed at the number of people sharing:

Woodworking
Camping/Hiking
Restoring Cars
Kayaks/Canoes
Astronomy
Gardening

 

[davemartin88]

I'm in the process of residing my house 1" x 6" x 12' square planks. From your experience in homemade sawmills, is it possible to cut to these plank dimensions and be significantly cheaper than the woodstores, if I supplied the wood?
We have some local small personal sawmill people around our area, and I've been thinking about cutting one of my cedar trees (it is leaning badly) and have some siding made out of it.

Do you think this would be a reasonable way to go?

Rates that a sawyer will charge you will vary a lot but if you have a reasonable amount of wood, it will definitely be cheaper than buying- not sure how much handling after the planks are cut is involved with siding- if you need to have a groove milled for overlap, a lot of small sawyers won't be equipped to do that. It would cost extra and you will probably need to let the wood dry (could take 6 months to a year, depending on where you're located) before using it.

The good news is that a 1X6 is a pretty simple cut and there are folks that have portable mills that could come to you to mill the wood. Some expect you to do the heavy lifting to get the log on or near the mill, and obviously, the more they do, the more they charge.

I use logs from the neighborhood (mostly oak and a cherry once in a while) and mill them for woodworking, seem to have accumulated more logs than I could ever use preparing for retirement so I'm selling some of the wood off for about 50 cents a board foot as I mill it, helps to cover my other woodworking costs.

Good luck with siding but think the first step is to contact a sawyer to see what they would charge in your area and what your role would be? Also not sure how much siding you can get from one tree but thinking you'll need a bunch to do a house?

 

[HFWR]

I would imagine that most manufactured siding is kiln dried. Anyway, check out this site: Lumber Measure Conversion - Metric - U.S. (from and to)

 

[CuppaJoe]

Thanks for this thread, some of it sounds like w*rk. Reminds me that Saturday is plant watering day and I'm overdue to pot up some kitty grass and an amaryllis. Could be a good day to make zucchini bread.

 

[haha]

Thanks for this thread, some of it sounds like w*rk. Reminds me that Saturday is plant watering day and I'm overdue to pot up some kitty grass and an amaryllis. Could be a good day to make zucchini bread.

This is about my level of action too.

Almost everyday I give thinks that there are very few things that I have the means to do. And nothing that is in any way to do with accomplishing tasks that produce a product. So I don't need to feel guilty about not doing any of it.

Even reading a book takes me a long time!

Ha

 

[DAYDREAMER]

Thanks for the info Davemartin88. I'm willing to do as much work as I can to reduce the cost. I would be willing to have the miller slice big 1" thick slabs, and I would do the rest of the cutting to size. Can't stop this frugality thing, ya know!

I have a ton of time on my hands, and could either spend it watching TV, or doing something I enjoy. Nothing like getting in the shop and making something.

Thanks for the website HFWR. Very useful for estimating lumber!

Well, got to get back to the shop and work on my broken truck. I love having a stuff to work on!

 

[CuppaJoe]

This is about my level of action too.

Almost everyday I give thinks that there are very few things that I have the means to do. And nothing that is in any way to do with accomplishing tasks that produce a product. So I don't need to feel guilty about not doing any of it.

Even reading a book takes me a long time!

Ha

Yeah, when I first read this forum, there were many posts on doing nothing, shouldn't have to justify that. I could give you a resume of stuff that's been keeping me busy since retiring 10 weeks ago (taking a class, just completed an exhausting week in jury selection [my number didn't come up, phew!], reading, walking, touring other neighborhoods, short trip, making the rounds to museums and concerts, etc.) but we shouldn't need to do that.

 

[davemartin88]

Thanks for the info Davemartin88. I'm willing to do as much work as I can to reduce the cost. I would be willing to have the miller slice big 1" thick slabs, and I would do the rest of the cutting to size. Can't stop this frugality thing, ya know!

I have a ton of time on my hands, and could either spend it watching TV, or doing something I enjoy. Nothing like getting in the shop and making something.

Thanks for the website HFWR. Very useful for estimating lumber!

Well, got to get back to the shop and work on my broken truck. I love having a stuff to work on!

Good luck with the truck.

I cut the siding for an equipment barn out of poplar, used a router in a table to cut a notch to allow each board to overlap the next one- came out fine, about 3/4" thick and used it before it was fully air dried but since it was a barn, both sides were exposed so it dried in place without a problem. PM me if you have a specific question and I'll try to help- I believe most siding has been kiln dried as HFWR mentioned but if you let it air dry long enough with good air circulation, you should be fine.

 

[freebird5825]

Martial arts!

Helps me stay in shape and save damsels in distress.

HELP
HELP ME PLEEEEEEEZZZZZ
that mean ol' dragon is barbecuing the castle...
and the troll under the bridge is eating my knights...
and the wicked witch is casting spells on the serfs...
OH
HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP