Logs to Milled Lumber

My husband did a bit of a trade and arranged to have some oak logs delivered :0). I’m really excited to finally have them here at the house!!! Of course the most convenient place to unload them was the the least photogenic place in the yard….

I’ve been waiting for these logs to show up for months. I’ve known they were coming, but I had no idea how many I would be getting or what else in the way of lumber would be coming with them. When I first learned they could possibly be available last summer, I read and read about how to air dry lumber, bought a gallon on Anchor Seal was and ready to go….and then was forced to be patient ;0).

First order of business was to get the end of the logs sealed. They were cut in November and should have been sealed then, better late than never. I brushed a pretty heavy coat of Anchorseal on the ends and where the branches had been cut off. Depending on how we end up milling these heavy beasts, I may cut off the ends and seal them a second time.

My delivery man also brought me one log already sawn into boards. These are rather exciting boards since his mill has a circular blade, some of the boards have really good saw mark on them. I’ll have to think of a special project to use them on. They were still a bit wet, so I’ve gotten them stacked out under the shed roof for a while to keep air drying.

I realized almost as soon as I finished that this would have to be done again. I had placed my stickers on 24” centers and kept having to add in blocks at the end of the stack. It had been so long since I’d done my research that I’d forgotten a lot of what I learned. On 4/4 stock like this the recommended sticker spacing is 12-18” I’ll probably go with 12” spacing.

There was also a bit of mold growing on the boards where they had left the bark on the wood. I sprayed everything I saw with a bleach solution, but will probably still have some staining. I can’t wait to update you on this project! We have some dead spruce trees in our yard that I’d like to have milled at the same time. Some of them are destined to become an end grain floor for the shop ;0)

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