# Atlanta loggin/sawmill



## redjeep0 (Jan 4, 2012)

Hey guys, I'm new to the whole world of wordworking as well as this site. I just posted an 'intro' post but thought my questions are most appropriate here. I just watched the xtranormal clip about urban logging. Hilarious! Anyways, what I would really like is some direction. I have a sweetgum and a southern magnolia that I am about to have felled in my yard in Atlanta. I'd love to have the wood used (by me and/or others) rather than chipped/firewood. I have NO IDEA how to accomplish this. That's where your direction would be nice :) 

The magnolia tree is really wide at chest height and I think it could be made into a dining table (if it's pretty enough wood). (I don't have any measurements, but I would estimate it's about 10' circumference--there are two trees that are grown together and they split off just above chest height to two trunks that are about 2-3' diameter.)

The sweetgum is probably 20" diameter at chest height.

Are these trees that:
a: could be worth making into a table
b: worth having milled
c: worth anything to someone else?

Or do you just not know the answer to those until you've cut the tree open?

Thanks!


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## redjeep0 (Jan 4, 2012)

redjeep0 said:


> Hey guys, I'm new to the whole world of wordworking as well as this site. I just posted an 'intro' post but thought my questions are most appropriate here. I just watched the xtranormal clip about urban logging. Hilarious! Anyways, what I would really like is some direction. I have a sweetgum and a southern magnolia that I am about to have felled in my yard in Atlanta. I'd love to have the wood used (by me and/or others) rather than chipped/firewood. I have NO IDEA how to accomplish this. That's where your direction would be nice :)
> 
> The magnolia tree is really wide at chest height and I think it could be made into a dining table (if it's pretty enough wood). (I don't have any measurements, but I would estimate it's about 10' circumference--there are two trees that are grown together and they split off just above chest height to two trunks that are about 2-3' diameter.)
> 
> ...




Reading the lightning strike thread made me think to mention: 
I have no reason to believe these trees are damaged, they're just in the way of new construction.


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## Daniel (Jan 5, 2012)

First step is to have the people doing the felling cut the logs into 6'6" or 8' or 10' or 12' lengths.

Stack the logs out of the way and off the ground (like on some scrap wood, straight round branches, or whatever).

Get some sealer paint and paint the ends of the logs so that they do not check or crack too much.

Once that is done, you have plenty of time to do your investigations... find someone locally who has a portable bandsaw or chainsaw mill, and have them come to your yard and mill the logs into lumber, find a place to stack the lumber (with sticks between each layer!), and let it air dry.

Alternatively, find someone with a mill, and hire someone with a trailer or flatbed truck to haul the logs to that mill. Pay the sawyer to mill the logs into lumber, pay to get the lumber kiln dried, and find a place to stack it.

Third alternative, see if there is someone who will buy the logs from you.

Final alternative: Buy a mill and a kiln, build a new woodshop, and welcome to the world of wood addiction!!

:wacko1:

Seriously, tho... the first step is the most important and will gain you more than enough time to figure out the rest: Get the logs sawn into workable lengths, stacked out of the way and off the ground, and the cut ends sealed. After that, it's just a matter of finding the right person to get them sawn out into lumber one way or another.


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## redjeep0 (Jan 5, 2012)

Daniel said:


> First step is to have the people doing the felling cut the logs into 6'6" or 8' or 10' or 12' lengths.
> 
> Stack the logs out of the way and off the ground (like on some scrap wood, straight round branches, or whatever).
> 
> ...



Great advice! I think I can at least do #1. I have a lot of available land.


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## wood-junkie (Jan 5, 2012)

redjeep0 said:


> Hey guys, I'm new to the whole world of wordworking as well as this site. I just posted an 'intro' post but thought my questions are most appropriate here. I just watched the xtranormal clip about urban logging. Hilarious! Anyways, what I would really like is some direction. I have a sweetgum and a southern magnolia that I am about to have felled in my yard in Atlanta. I'd love to have the wood used (by me and/or others) rather than chipped/firewood. I have NO IDEA how to accomplish this. That's where your direction would be nice :)
> 
> The magnolia tree is really wide at chest height and I think it could be made into a dining table (if it's pretty enough wood). (I don't have any measurements, but I would estimate it's about 10' circumference--there are two trees that are grown together and they split off just above chest height to two trunks that are about 2-3' diameter.)
> 
> ...


 In my opinion this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn what is involved in taking a tree, to a log, to lumber, to a table. It's a lot of work and you may not get as much wood as you think. In fact you can buy wood for a table for a fraction of what you are going to invest in time and money. But that is no fun. Google key words and you can learn a lot. Call Woodmizer in Ga it's a 770 # and find out what is is going to cost for a mill to come to you.Consider it the cost of education.


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## Mandolin (Jan 5, 2012)

Welcome, Redjeep. I'm new here myself, but you won't find a better bunch of people or a better site. Here where I live, sweetgum is very abundant. It is a beautiful wood and easy to work but, if you have it sawed up, stack it with your stickers no more that 12-16 inches apart. Then either band it with steel bands over each sticker or pile all the weight you can find on top of the stack, because it you don't, it will twist and warp until you can't even use it for chair rockers. I got a stack that I sawed in Oct. of 2010. I banded and stacked a big stack of cherry on top of it and it's all straight. I also painted the end of the logs before sawing. I checked it about 2 weeks and it was down to 12 %. I'll probably put it in my kiln soon and band it again and get it on down to 6-8%. I've used magnolia before, mainly for trim and inlay. I cut them off my place and they were small, 6-8 inches. The only wood I've found that is whiter is holly, but sometimes a big tree like yours will have a darker heart. Good luck and again, welcome.[/b]


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