# Tension in a cant



## Oldcop (May 22, 2017)

This cant was 8"x6". I decided to saw straight down the pith to make two 4x6 beams 14' long. My buddy snapped this pic while I was still sawing. It eventually opened to 4 1/2". The bottom beam flexed away from the top one as soon as the were separated.

Reactions: Like 3 | Informative 1


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## Oldcop (May 22, 2017)

Should have mentioned it is white oak that had been cut over a year and rescued from a log pile. It was about 12" at the small end. No idea if it was a branch or trunk.


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## Tony (May 22, 2017)

Cutting right through the pith there. Hope you can still use some of it! Tony


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## woodtickgreg (May 22, 2017)

That os why i usually cut the pith out. Slabs that i jave left the pith in almost always crack and do weird things when dry. The mills around here mill out the pith and use them for pallets.


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## Oldcop (May 22, 2017)

woodtickgreg said:


> That os why i usually cut the pith out. Slabs that i jave left the pith in almost always crack and do weird things when dry. The mills around here mill out the pith and use them for pallets.



Greg, I was trying to get a couple of 4x6 corner posts for a pole barn style BBQ pavilion I'm planning on building and guessed that having the pith on the outside of the posts wouldn't really hurt. Would I have been better off to have cut a couple 3x6s for top bands avoiding the pith all together or laid out my posts with the pith in the center to take advantage of the rot resistant quality of white oak heartwood?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Oldcop (May 22, 2017)

Tony said:


> Cutting right through the pith there. Hope you can still use some of it! Tony



I just cut this yesterday late. Should I throw them back on the mill this afternoon and cut a 1" pith board off each of them? I'd still end up with a pair of 14' header beams.


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## Tony (May 22, 2017)

Oldcop said:


> I just cut this yesterday late. Should I throw them back on the mill this afternoon and cut a 1" pith board off each of them? I'd still end up with a pair of 14' header beams.



@woodtickgreg would know much better than I.


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## woodtickgreg (May 22, 2017)

At this Pointe I would try and sticker them and stack them with weight on them. Part of the problem here is that the outside has dried somewhat and shrunk and the inside is still wet. The tension is actually in the dry outer wood. If you can give it some time to dry they may even out some. In the future now you know to either leave the pith in as a post or beam or cut it out. Let's just say for conversation purposes that these chants didn't have any pith in them, but the had sat and been handled the exact same way. I bet they would have done the same thing because the outer would have been dryer and shrunk and the inside would still be wet. It's the dry wood that has shrunk and built up the tension.


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## woodtickgreg (May 22, 2017)

Oh, and I would cut the pith off of them, it will help even out the drying process. You could then rip the pith out of each board and still have some nice 1/4 sawn lumber out of the pith boards.


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## David Van Asperen (May 22, 2017)

@woodtickgreg or others who may know
How much of the center is considered pith? Have never really figured that out.
Thanks in advance for helping me out again.
Dave


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## woodtickgreg (May 23, 2017)

Kinda depends on the size of the log. I generally try to remove 2" to 3" As an example, if I was milling a large log say 2 to 3 fett across and was just flat sawing I would mill down to the center and then make a 2 to 3 inch slab. Pull that slab and then rip another 2 to 3 inches out of the center of the slab to remove the pith. That will yield 2 nice thick quarter sawn boards on either side of the pith. Think of the pith as the bullseye in the center of the log, remove that.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Schroedc (May 23, 2017)

I had a maple one we split once, it bowed so badly it almost hit the mill head as we were going past by the end of the cut. That one ended up getting used to make a really neat archway but definitely was not what we'd originally planned

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## Lazyman (May 23, 2017)

Technically, the pith is just the center of the first year's growth. If you cut a twig in its first year of growth in half you can see the spongy material in the center -- that is the pith. I think that what most people are referring to when they say the pith that contributes to this sort of warping and also cracking as wood dries, is the core wood or juvenile wood which is generally much less dense than the mature wood. If I remember correctly from my days in forestry school, the rule of thumb is the juvenile wood is usually considered the first 5-10 years of growth but that will vary depending upon the species and the site/conditions where the tree grew. If this was my log, based upon your picture, I would try to cut about an inch off of each half to try to remove as much of the juvenile wood as you can while still keeping a relatively large dimension. Another option would be to try to quarter saw it. Since it is white oak, you will likely wind up with some beautiful boards.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Oldcop (May 23, 2017)

I usually quarter saw the bigger ones. This one would only give me 1x2s or 3s at best and I need some posts and beams to build the coolest BBQ shack in all of North Georgia! I'm going to cut the pith out and use the resulting 3x6x14s for header beams. I'll mill some proper 6x6x12 posts to support 'em. I appreciate all the help from everyone. I've milled a lot of pine structural lumber, pine siding, and quarter-sawn oak planks, but I'm just now getting into the post and beam oak milling.


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