In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

board n batten siding

Discussion in 'The Sawyer Room' started by T-Stew, Apr 4, 2018.

  1. T-Stew

    T-Stew

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    First I'd like to say I'm an aspiring miller, though I have a granberg mini mill that I never got to use. I am planning out a future home, and looking to buy a place with woods to be more self sufficient and have a bit of a homestead. So this is a bit in the future, but I like to do lots of research and get my plans together. I am wondering if its feasible to try and do all my own siding from the land, cutting my own board and batten style siding. Will the mini mill be enough or will I have to upgrade? It'll depend on what woods are available but I'm looking for land around the Adirondack mountains in NY, most places have a good mix of hardwoods and softwoods. I've heard softwoods are fine for board and batten, maybe pine, spruce, or hemlock? Would that ease the demand on the saw and speed up processing compared to denser hardwoods? I'll probably be doing this all solo, and on 2-3 week breaks from work since it will be out of state, so I might be in a little over my head just debating how feasible this all may be. I'm planning on building a home pole-barn style, rough design so far is 32x40x8 with attic truss for 2nd level. So We'll say roughly 144' of wall, 8' high would be 1,152 sqft for first floor siding... and then gable ends of second floor would be about another 320sqft so 1,472 less all the windows and doors. Would this be feasible for a beginner, on say a couple 2-3 week breaks? I wouldn't want the building to be exposed partly sided for too long. I know I'll need a bigger saw, so that will factor in on how much I save doing DIY vs buying metal siding, but I figure I'll get into milling and lots of projects in the future, and maybe even do the same siding when I build another pole barn or two, so I guess investing in a big saw may be more worth it.
     
  2. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    Oh for sure...

    I use board and batten siding on all my outbuildings because I can produce it myself. I converted my chainsaw sawmill into a bandsaw mill because it was on the slow side, but it can be done. IF...and that is one big IF...you can always have someone come in with a portable mill and knock out the siding portion of it if you feel it is taking too long though. Myself, I have 3 sawmills and have paid people to come in and knock out a big chunk of my building project just for a lack of time to mill logs. I am not saying do that right off quick...try it first...but that can always be plan B.

    My mantra here is to do as much for myself as I can. That included building my home, my outbuildings and my barn out of wood that came off the farm. The concrete foundation, concrete counter tops, and slate in my entryway all came direct from slate on the farm, and my gravel pit as well.

    What you are proposing CAN be done, I know, I live it every day; me, my wife, my kids, my sheep...

    (This is my sheep barn, 30 x 48 using board and batten siding, all cut from 15 trees from Eastern Hemlock taken from my land. Total cost was $4450. $2100 was just for the new steel roofing).

    DSCN3768.JPG
     
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  3. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

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  4. Blstr88

    Blstr88

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    If you're looking to build an entire house out of milled wood I think you'd be way ahead just buying a small bandsaw mill.

    Check out the Woodland Mills lineup...they're only around $4000 and I imagine would produce way more quality lumber for you then a chainsaw mill.

    A bigger saw to mill with will run you $1000+ anyway, so really you'd be spending more like $3k...you'll save that much 10x fold over paying someone to build it.
     
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  5. huskihl

    huskihl

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    It's slow. Really slow. The mini Mill, if it's the kind I'm thinking of, rides along a 2 by 6 and cuts at 90° to it. They're great for making posts and beams. For making slab Lumber, you're going to want a Granberg Alaskan Style Mill
     
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  6. mike bayerl

    mike bayerl

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    Congratulations! I wish I were younger and land around here were cheaper so I could do this. I have a decent amount of experience with hiring local portable bandsaw millers to saw my trees into lumber. For the amount of work you are looking at, I would STRONGLY recommend a bandsaw mill over a chainsaw mill. Chainsaw mills are much slower and waste a lot more fuel, wood (kerf) and time to maintain the saw and chain. As stated above, you can get into a basic (non-hydraulic) mill for $3-8K new. You could use it for couple of years and resell it for 60-80% of the up front cost. Better yet, look into getting a decent used hydraulic mill. You could buy one and use it for a couple of year and sell it for the about the same price, maybe a little more. Those really hold their value. That's my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary. The Wood Wolverine
    P.S. I love spending other people's money.
     
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  7. Slocum

    Slocum

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    This is off subject a little, just wanted to show my appreciation for old siding. Just finished putting batts on my man cave project. IMG_7443.JPG IMG_7439.JPG


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  8. Shawn Curry

    Shawn Curry

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    That sounds like an awesome project! But I agree you’re going to want a band saw mill.

    For siding you’re probably going to want 1” thick boards and if you’re making them with a chainsaw you’re going to cut down half the forest to end up with enough boards. When I’m laying out the cuts I’m going to make with the chainsaw mill I figure the saw will cut a 3/8” kerf. So that’s 3/4” of log turned to sawdust to make the first board.

    Your number also didn’t include the battens, or trim around the windows and doors. It’s going to take a bunch more lumber than you’re thinking right now.

    Now for that much lumber, if you had all the logs cut and staged, it would be a lot cheaper to hire someone vs buying a mill. But the way it sounds like you want to do it on your own time I’d be looking to buy my own.
     
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  9. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    Of course, if you do not have the money for a band sawmill, there is a workaround to that.

    I just mixed and matched what I had, taking an old vertical bandsaw, and converting it to use on the tracks of my chainsaw mill, so I get the best benefits of both. A faster sawmill, less waste from kerf loss, yet ability to handle 24 foot logs; all for very little money.

    The internet is loaded with homemade bandsaw mill plans.

    DSCN4886.JPG
     
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  10. T-Stew

    T-Stew

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    Wow lots of responses! I'll reply to a few below...

    Just the siding. I'll look into the better mills though. But as far as quality I don't think that matters as much for board and batten does it? It's not fine furniture we're talking about. I kind of like the rough cut look and even chainsaws seem to make pretty smooth cuts. The main thing here is cost savings though, I'm not sure if spending $4k is going to save me 10x that, atleast on the siding project... the alternative was your typical metal barn siding, which is a whole lot less than 40k (though I haven't priced it out but estimating based off a pole building a built 7 years ago might even be less than 4k . If it's still cheaper or at least similar than that it is feasible. I'm going to really be pinching pennies to make this happen, and will require staging it over over about 10 years as I am going to do it all cash with maybe taking some out of 401k if I have to, but trying to avoid any bank loans. Heck I am even contemplating a composting toilet to not have to spend the big bucks and legal hassle of septic systems.

    Yes exactly, it's 90º and better suited for beams. I basically got it to make some mantle pieces since for the size I wanted would have been a few hundred bucks so the mill would pay for itself just for that (I wasn't figuring buying a new saw, though my little ms290 could handle cutting just 2 beams but I wasn't really sure).

    Thanks! Well by the time I get around to doing it I might be ready to retire as this may take some time, but that is why I'm trying to get the planning done as soon as I can. I'll look into those, but really depends how much funds will be available.

    I wasn't really calculating out the exact siding, just a rough estimate of the wall that needs covered... it is a lot though its a pretty modest size for a home, with 32x40 footprint and the two 40' walls are only 1 story.

    Slocum that's a great looking man cave. :yes: If I do get a bandsaw mill then perhaps making interior siding too would certainly be possible.

    LodgedTree now that is my style, even DIY on the mill itself :yes: I might have to peruse the internet for some plans. I really don't have anything on hand though, it'd all have to be acquired. I'm good at fabricating, welding, etc. If I can build it in my spare time the next couple of years and have it ready to go before hand, then much less of a cost impact then buying a factory built machine all at once and probably not until needed when I'll likely have lots more costs demanding my money.
     
  11. mike bayerl

    mike bayerl

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  12. LodgedTree

    LodgedTree

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    I hear you...my self-built bandsaw mill came from Pro-cut Plans which was a homemade chains mill set of plans, but it cut too slow for me. Granted I happened to have a Gilliom Bandsaw kicking around doing nothing, which is still an option for you. Gilliom is unique in that you buy the casted parts to build the bandsaw, then build it yourself using plans and plywood. You would have to check online for prices but because of this, they are VERY cheap. This would give you the sawmilling head cheap, then power it with a cheap electric motor or gas engine from Harbor Freight...

    You could also just buy the harbor Freight bandsaw mill for $2000 too. They got good reviews. I thought of doing that at first, using the Pro-Cut track (because it is 24 feet long) and then the bandsaw head by adapting it to the Pro-cut Track. Basically giving me a bandsaw head on a better track then what the Harbor Freight unit came with.

    You are right though, you will never get a better quality cut then a chainsaw mill because that bar just does not flex! It makes a lot of sawdust though and is very slow. The other issue is, by the time a person gets a big enough chainsaw to really pull the chain through the log, they are at $1500. For that, they could buy the Harbor Freight Bandsaw mill at $2000 and be further ahead.

    Or they could pay $850 to have 3400 board feet of lumber sawn for them by a Woodmizer owner and build their place that way. That is what I did with my barn because I was working at the time. It was 30 x 48 and for me, was well worth it. Now that I am retired, I have plenty of time.
     
  13. mike bayerl

    mike bayerl

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    All good points LodgedTree The "make vs. buy vs. pay someone else" decision is always a fun one to work through. If you could get 3400 bd-ft sawn for $850, there is absolutely no question that would be the cheapest and fastest. Everyone's situation is different. I used to have 2 very good, experienced and inexpensive WM sawyers near me that would have charged me about the same. Unfortunately, they have both retired. Last time I had someone out here to saw, I paid about $900 for 1500 bd-ft of oak 4/4. The two prior sawyers were retirees who mostly did it for fun. Hence, they were much less expensive. Now, the only locals I can find are young guys with families to feed, so they have to charge a little more.
     
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  14. T-Stew

    T-Stew

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    Sounds good, thanks all! Yeah the chainsaw mill doesn't seem to save enough money compared to the slower pace, especially if I plan on using it a lot. I've been eyeballing the Woodland Mills, and for just personal projects I think the smallest model might suffice me (can always upgrade later) and it's only a couple hundred over Harbor Freight. I'll likely have a couple/few years to do some research and make a decision. But I love woodworking, if I can get a chunk of land with a good amount of woods I'll definitely be interested in milling but also will look around to see the cost of hiring the siding project done but a portable mill.