Owner-Builder Blogs

Jennifer(Guest) · January 15, 2006, 01:06:06 PM

How would you go about using your own wood? We have TONS of trees on our site that will have to come down (we will try to transplant soem of the Cedar trees) and I would like to put them to good use (hate to waste perfectly good lumber!). Could you take them to a local mill? I wonder if that would cost more that buying lumber! I was thinking about stripping the bark off of some myself (and in myself I mean hubby would be doing most of the work) and using them as logs (stair railings, splitting and using for trim work, would love to use as the support beam, oh and make a bit of rustic furniture) but I don't know much about that. Would it have to be dried out first? We are mixing contemporary (flooring, appliances, bathrooms, etc.) and rustic together, so rough lumber would look great but it is really expensive. Using my own, and not paying for anyone to mill it would be really great! Sorry for rambling! Thanks for any suggestions! Oh, and when we finally start building we will probably have a blog too, if I am not too stressed!

glenn kangiser · January 15, 2006, 01:36:09 PM

Welcome, Jennifer --

There are several ways to use your own wood. I made all of my own lumber except what was salvaged.

Find someone in your area with a small sawmill could be one way - I like to cut my logs about 6" longer than stock lengths to leave room for trimming ends etc ie: 8'6" 12'6" 16'6" etc. This would require a way to move them - a trailer - crane -tractor etc. or I have watched the loggers in Mexico in the Sierra Madre -several get together and roll the logs up planks onto the truck or trailer.

For do it yourself fairly cheap the Alaskan Sawmill is pretty reasonable $129.95- just an attachment that goes on a chainsaw - heres info from another posting:

QuoteThe Alaskan sawmills using a chainsaw do make boards. but are a lot of hard work and have a lot of waste (any chain as opposed to band) . The kerf of a chainsaw is about 3/8 while a bandsaw is 1/8. There is a ripping chain available for chainsaws that greatly improves the process of making boards with it. Logosol has a thinner chain and bar available which makes cutting faster with less waste. Logosol states that the bandsaw is twice as fast as the chainsaw. I can make a 16' 1x12 in about 3 to 5 minutes with my bandsaw -estimated time.

Alaskan Sawmill

The bandsaw moves along fairly easily by you - chainsaw is drug along by you in the Alaskan. The Logosol looks easier -carriage similar to a bandsaw. Board quality is much more rustic with the chainsaw. Band sawed boards can have a pretty decent finish with not too much sanding or planing.

The one Harry mentioned looks to be quite a bit above the Alaskan with an option for a bandsaw attachment. Still if all you can get into the site is an Alaskan it could be a great help - initial cost is much lower. Price of the Logosol appears to be similar to other brands of bandsaws.

Logosol Sawmill

Free online videos of Logosol

I have a used Wood Wizard band saw - kerf is about 1/8 inch so there is very little waste. If logs are cut then left out for a few months the bark will loosen and the bugs will do artwork on the surface for you. It is best to get them up off of the ground as they can deteriorate rapidly if fungus gets started. Checking also starts in the ends fairly soon so the best time to make boards is fairly soon after they are cut - I still commonly leave my logs 6 months to a year though. Getting the bark off of a log is the best thing you can do to preserve it though without question. Keeping it off the ground and or on a well drained area helps also.

A draw knife and a peeling spud helpto get the bark off- new logs - maybe an hour or two - older logs - 5 to 10 minutes - a power washer with a turbo nozzle will make the logs nice and clean quickly- even help to remove th last traces of bark.

Daddymem · January 15, 2006, 04:47:29 PM

Is yours more like this type?

Daddymem · January 15, 2006, 05:00:48 PM

To get this thread back on track, here is a blog primer. (also a neat computer clearance online store) I like the blog search engines, I found Dustin and our blog with FirstDay in the search. A search for CountryPlans will lead you to Lloyd Kahn's blog where he mentions our own John R (after all the greenhouse blog links).

January 15, 2006, 08:51:26 PM

That one appears to be a circular sawmill. Mine, while 1/2 the price used will take much bigger logs - I can cut up to 30" diameter and 20 feet long. Log handling equipment is necessary for even smaller logs. It is not as fancy as some of the bigger ones but will do a very big job. It has a 10 horsepower engine that travels on the carriage over the log. The log stays stationary and you pull the boards off after you cut them.

Mine is very much like this

Here's an article to go with it. Choosing_the_Right_Sawmills

Dustin · January 15, 2006, 10:36:04 PM

So if my blog can be googled, does that mean I'm somebody?
I actually found my blog linked in another blog under the subject "Homebuilding Porn". Not sure how that is... Are my houseplans suggestive?

(DON'T try to google that, I don't kniow what your results would be)
I am jealous of your well-treed house lot Mommymem. I've got nothin' but sagebrush on my "town" lot, but at least I can plant, and plant I will! I have very big plans for my 2 1/2 acres. A fruit orchard, for starters...I would love to be able to grow my own cherries. I've never lived where you can grow them! Now, if you have some monster pines, why don't you de-bark a few, dry them out, and use them as cool looking posts inside or for your porch? I would like to buy some big logs for posts on my porch. i have always loved thier look.
You can also make some cool rustic furniture out of them. Google "making rustic furniture". You basically take an industrial-size pencil sharpener and chuck it into your drill to make tenons.....

I also have 20 acres or juniper and pinon pines to tame one our ranch land, after the house is built. I plan on buying a set of those tools to use some of the lumber.

If anyone is curious, I have pictures of both places in my blog.

Daddymem · January 16, 2006, 06:20:36 AM

Well, if anyone wants some big logs they are welcome to come on over, take the tree of choice down and haul it away (I'll help). This is what we have:
Pitch Pine
Piss Oak
If anyone is truly interested I will measure and take pictures of individual trees.

jwv · January 17, 2006, 07:28:00 PM

Well, here it http://strawbaleredux.blogspot.com/ is! But the Country Plans link is not working

I'll figure that out tomorrow!

judy

glenn-k · January 17, 2006, 11:14:29 PM

Looks good, Judy. You mentioned rainwater harvesting - what quantities are you talking and what is your planned storage method. Can you harvest enough for a year round supply?

Amanda_931 · January 19, 2006, 01:00:15 AM

And, what kind of tanks are you using?

(asphalt based paint, by the way does seem to do polyethylene tanks--or at least it's survived one rain without falling off!)

jwv · January 19, 2006, 09:34:39 PM

Water harvesting, near and dear to my heart. As I like to have plants and other green things but live in a desert, water harvesting is necessary. WE have now gone over 100 days without rain so I hope these simple ideas will become more mainstream. We previously had galvanized steel culverts which we plumbed with simple PVC pipe which ran from just outside the culvert (with a spigot) to inside the culvert, several culverts can be plumbed in succession. Then Quikcrete was poured into the bottom to seal the culvert but not the open PVC. We had 4 culverts and a couple of small rain barrels (cast-off food grade barrels) and could store 1100 gallons of water. Not enough for all our needs but plenty for landscape/gardening purposes. We also had a graywater system, that was low-tech and below the radar. Tucson get approx 11 inches of rain a year and that calculates to about 6730 gallons of water from 1000 sq ft roof.

We will probably do something similar this time. If the system gets too involved, it won't be used or it doesn't work. Here's an informative site http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

We will also have low-flow showers (of course), we have a Staber http://www.staber.com/ vertical axis washer and we're looking at a Caroma toilet. Instead of concrete patios I would like to do either flagstone or recycle concrete set in sand to be able to keep water on the lot.

What are your experiences with water conservation?

judy

Daddymem · January 20, 2006, 06:12:32 AM

More tips from the Geeks about blogging.

jwv · January 20, 2006, 07:33:12 PM

Hi Dustin,
I started a new thread for rainwater harvest! You're in the dry country, too. Harvesting can have a big impact and it's amazing to see the amount of actual water that falls from the sky. Even small rains add up.

judy

Daddymem · January 27, 2006, 04:33:17 PM

Even more tips on blogging from the Geeks again.

Mommymem · February 02, 2006, 03:26:05 PM

I've posted our plans on the blog if anyone is interested in a peek.

http://schluterhomestead.blogspot.com/

Amanda_931 · February 03, 2006, 02:05:21 AM

Moving along!

Daddymem · February 03, 2006, 06:12:09 AM

Yet more blogging tips from the Geeks.
oh, and Mommymem is kicking butt. Plumber estimate, electrician estimate, and ResCheck calculations are all we need to submit our building permit applicaiton.

February 03, 2006, 11:35:19 AM

How did you do the Rescheck?
What did you put for R Values for the walls and ceilings?
Are you getting just 2" of foam, or more?

Mommymem · February 03, 2006, 01:43:26 PM

John @FD does the rescheck so you'll have to ask him. We're getting 4" cuz of MA requirements. I'm sure Daddymem can elaborate more on that if you want.

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