A new blog for my woodworking

I started a new blog to showcase my woodworking projects at http://jtcwoodcrafts.blogspot.com/ . I will be showcasing some projects that use wood from my property and milled on the sawmill.

Rains and wood

I am really glad I made it out. Previously, I had my wood stack float 10 feet closer to the pond during a big rain event. It has rained 2.5 inches in the last few days, and I am glad I picked up everything. A large portion of the wood was the dead cedar I milled. I added a picture of some to the left. It is some beautiful wood. I also picked up some 6/4 cedar elm lumber and the osage stump I milled. I should be set on porject wood for a while, and need to rig up a router jig to plane the osage lumber becuase fo the size and crazy grain. You should check back in the future to see the final results. The cedar elm has checks in the pith, but I expected that from the small, twisted trees I cut. I believe next on the agenda for the woodlot is to set up the mills wood deck and start collecting up another group of logs starting with rot and bug resistant cedar. If I can get the deck set up, then all of the logs can be kept off the ground and in relatively good condition. It will allow me to log for a while and mill them all at once. Stacking the lumber was a pain when I was doing a log here and there where I cut the movement prone cedar elm well after the eastern red cedar. The cedar stacked on the cedar elm would have weighted it down some, but it is a pain to break up a wood stack every time you mill. I hope to mill a decent stack all at once in the future. I still have quite a few dead cedars to go, some more cedar elm culls, and may cut some stagnant post oaks to release some saplings near the sawmill. The ERC is going to be milled into 8/4 lumber for table legs and a certain style of cabinet I want to make. The cedar elm will become more 6/4 that I resaw after it moves during drying into 1/2" stock. The oak will probably just become yard timbers for a raised bed garden at home, and that means I don't need to dry it. Hope to get out soon, but it may be a while with the kiddo taking up my time!

Woo Wee! Made it out!

I made it out to the property for a little while at least. I did not accomlish much on the forestry end of things other than some pics for a buddy who's business is Texas Timbers. He wants some cedar elm badly to turn into flooring. The photo shows a cedar elm twig with leaves using my hand for size reference. I remember when I first spoke to him on the phone when he was looking for new woodlots to source wood from. He had never heard of cedar elm and wanted nothing to do with it. Now that he has seen what I have done, he has done a 180 on the topic. I am keeping mine for myself, and he has his own sources. I was able to do a little mowing, caught some fish for dinner and through back a 4lbs largemouth, and made sure everything was alright. I made it home with all of the wood I had cut and it appears to be nice and stright with little problems. One cedar elm board has some bug activity, but I think it will pass like my earlier experiments did. Next on the agenda is make some items with all of this wood for the business. Hopefully I will get enough stock built up to begin doing the local Third Monday Trade Days!

Stuck at home, so testing cedar elm

Well, I am stuck at home with the new baby! I guess if there is any reason to stay away from the woods, it is our new little girl. Another good thing to come from staying home is I get to use some of the wood harvested and milled from the property. Here is a pic of a box out of cedar elm I milled from a cull tree that was crooked and skinny. Nobody could tell me anything about the wood except that it must be similar to other elms. Duh, but how close? Well, this is one tough, pretty wood. The interlocking grain makes it stringy, and it is very tough. Sharp tools are a must with this wood to prevent burning. It has a very light sapwood and a medium brown heart wood, and there is a very dramatic break between the two. The sap tears out much more than the heart, and quartersawn rays are prone. It does show a very nice rayfleck in the quartersawn grain. The interlocking grain in the sapwood also shows a very interesting zigzag pattern that can make the planesawn faces nice. The hardness made it dificult for me to remove swirl marks from some coarse grit sanding. I think I have found a new favorite wood as long as I can get past the burning issue. I hope to be out in the woods working soon, but until then I have some fruits of my labors to play with.

Business and marketing a niche product

Ah, the joy of coming up with ways my small business can market it's products. I am currently using the mill to make my own lumber from thinnings and cleanings on the property. The higher the end the end use, the higher the profit I can make. The trees were junk to a luber buyer, the lumber I cut could probably be sold for $2.00 a board foot, or I can make a bench out of about 15-20 board feet and a few hours of my time that sells for $100-$200. The cedars I milled on Monday would have been considered junk by any self respecting forester or logger. They were broken 8-12 feet up, most were standing dead, and they showed signs of insect damage. I could see the diamond in the rough. 100 board feet of beautiful, pink eastern redcedar to make all sorts of rustic items out of. I like to build what I see in the wood, not gather up wood to fit to a plan. A nice leaner had perfect slabs for bench legs or possibly book shelf sides. The smaller diameter logs will yield lots of wall shelves or mini picket fences. All from a few junk logs. I still have several larger standing dead cedars to go that are even bigger, and then I can get started on the hardwoods. The trick is to get the logs cut and air drying so that I can get them in the product pipeline. I need to pay for that sawmill somehow since I want this place to be self supporting. I plan on using Etsy to sell the small items, a local flea market once a month, and my website for larger and commissioned items. I may try to sell unusual lumber pieces on Ebay, but I will post it on the website at first. I should be able to start making items in a month or 2 that I can market as 100% Texan, made in the US, and sustainably harvested.