I cut down about 70 trees in order to build our garage/cottage. It was mostly cedar and I have arranged for a guy with a portable mill to mill the wood for a deck, dock, etc. There is one black cherry which is quite rare in our parts. It is more than 18 inches across at the butt and I have two 12' lengths, plus a shorter piece. I have no immediate plans for it and might even consider selling it. Should I mill it or leave it? If so, what thickness boards should I request? I appreciate any advice you might provide. Peter, NB Canada. Stihl MS290
No matter what the cherry log looks like usually the wood always brings good money from furniture makers you pretty much cannot go wrong with sawing it into 1''boards random width they by far are the easiest to sell or use for your own projects cherry does not keep to well in log form especially with the weather getting warmer and wetter Good Luck with your projects JB
It's probably worth milling 1" (a.k.a. 4/4) boards if it's straight, the pith is centered and there's no rot and only a few branch/knots. If you have the equiment to load it on a trailer, etc. you could take it to a local small mill. Otherwise you could try to find a local portable mill operator.
Yes, mill it 4/4 as Mike suggested. While he's already there with the band mill it just makes sense to get it cut.
Thanks for all the advice. We milled the first piece of cherry. It was about 12+ feet long but due to a good bend we cut it in two - 7.5' and 5'. The longer piece was cut into 1" slabs (many 8" wide) while the shorter piece we cut into 2" live edge. It looks good. Here is a photo. I weighed one pile down with some 80lb weights I had on a pallet Two more to go. Peter, NB Canada. Stihl MS290
Looks great! Glad you made made lumber rather than firewood. Looks very clean, no surprise rot, knots or other defects!
