Hi all, A friend of mine are going to split on a used mill. It’s a small one, max 20” diameter. Or 18”, I forget. But it’s a good price and a low risk way to fool around with milling. One of my projects is to mill some BL into 1” slabs to make an outdoor dining table. i’ve read a bit online about how hard the wood is if left to dry. So should I plan on jointing/planing/sanding & drilling when it’s still green? thanks in advance.
As a fellow sawyer and woodworker...i would say no. Yes it is a "Hard" wood, but not much different than oak. If you do all that work while it is green, it WILL move as it dries and you will have wasted your time planing, jointing, etc.
buzz-saw and i milled some BL over the Summer and its still stickered here at my place drying. I was eventually going to build something for the outdoors with them. I was planning on simple joinery. Maybe i dont know what i got myself into. Maybe lukem can shed some light. The threads about it are here in the milling section. Best of luck with the mill and be sure to post pics
If you do it green it is just going to move as it dries you'll end up with imperfections. If I was going to do it green, I'd build the whole table green and be OK with whatever happens as part of the character of it. It is hard, but it isn't THAT hard. You will only get about half the life out of your planer/jointer knives due to silica deposits in the wood.
Just a word of caution. It is an addiction , and not a whole lot different than CAD. Sure is fun though.
Consider this mill a cheap gateway drug. It’s a Norwood, 18-20” capacity. That’s all i know. About $2k with a box of blades. If my buddy likes it then I will be in for half. Thanks to everyone for all the replies.
I am thinking of taking up Cocaine...it may be a cheaper hobby! My dad and I paid $6k for our first 1987 WM LT40 non Hydro about 15 years ago, last year he had his woods logged off and took the money for a LT 40 Wide w/Hydo
Nice upgrade. Thats what it's all about. Probably correct on the white stuff being a cheaper hobby but you are guaranteed absolutely nothing on that investment and when you wake up the next morning feeling like a sack full of a$$-holes you probably will ask yourself what the heck happened last night. A long day of milling might leave you worn out and tired to the point you can barely make it to bed ; but when you wake up you will know it was worth every penny.
Well this will be a long post to answer everybody First dry locust is really not much different to work than dry white oak if you can use carbide tooling even better the one customer that works with it a lot builds all decks green and surfaces them with a floor sander he does use all stainless hardware because the wood will outlast most other hardware . I mill a lot of locust I use the woodmizer bi metal blades they hold up the longest in the hard locust ,carbon blades I would only get maybe 150bdft out of a blade the bi metals have lasted as much as 600bdft.and use a good amount of blade lube I use cotton spindle lube mixed with washer fluid. The locust does not seem to move as much as oak it will move as it dries but my customers say it is minimal. buzz-saw 's comment about it being a addiction all good things are addictiveChainsaws ,sawmills,tractors,things with tracks skidloaders . buZZsaw brad as to a bigger mill is not bigger always better???????? as to cocaine does snorting sawdust count maybe I should just roll some and smoke it I do think sawdust is" woodcutters crack" as to waking up after a hard day milling you just have to wear ear protection to no hear all the creaking and groaning mixed with expletives I started with a jonsered chainsaw mill with the manual carriage, next mill was a lt35 hyd the new mill is a lt 40 super hydraulic wide cut @49000.00 MMMMMMMMMMM maybe cocaine is cheaper have a great time with your mill and any questions on milling locust I will gladly help if I can O one last thing some people can have a allergic reaction to locust sawdust it is very fine I do wear a respirator when sawing Have fun JB
Well, I will snort sawdust before I snort the Colombian stuff! thanks for all the feedback guys. If this mill gets bought, I should be able to post some stuff this summer.
