Mill Run Cedar ?

Hi All,

I'm needing 1000 bft of cedar. Where do I look for mills that are in a cedar wood country?

I'm wanting pieces that are 1/4x 4 x 8ft or 1/4 x 6" x 8ft. Some 4ft long are ok.

I'm skinning a RV. Butt joint cedar will be screwed on too metal framing. Will the 1/4 thickness warp more easy than 3/8 ?

T_Bone

Go to www.woodweb.com

There is a piles and piles of lumber on for sale on this site. all over the world too.

Hi T_Bone, more than a few types of cedar as I'm sure you're aware. You want western red?

The "cedar" here is stable, but 3/8" would be better than 1/4". I can give you a couple of phone numbers of bandsaw guys who like to mill cedar, but the freight might be more than you had in mind. You probably meant 1000 sq ft, not bd ft? Big difference when you go that thin.

"The fine-grained, soft brittle pinkish- to brownish-red heartwood is fragrant, very light and very durable, even in contact with soil. Because of its rot resistance the wood is used for fence posts. Because the aromatic wood is avoided by moths it is in demand as lining for clothes chests and closets, often referred to as cedar closets and cedar chests. It was once a premier wood for pencils. If correctly prepared, it makes excellent English longbows, flatbows, and Native American sinew-backed bows. The wood is marketed as "eastern redcedar" or "aromatic cedar". "
Juniperus Virginiana

Hi Tom,

Naw, that's 1000bft as I also want some for my house. The RV will take 600bft inside and out. The RV is 2400sft with 10% overage included, so check my math will you please.

I'm going to spray on bedliner for a outside seal coat OR

I'm also thinking about T&G with butyl sealer. No bedliner seal. Can I do T&G on 3/8 or 1/2? How about swelling from a rain on a natural finished cedar surface? will that be a problem?

T_Bone

Thanks GG, that's a good website.

T_Bone

T_Bone, you do want a pile. I don't know how these guys are going to assume lumber volume. They wouldn't ordinarily be milling that thin. But all you really care about is the total cost for your lumber anyway, not how they count it. The trees aren't expensive, so waste isn't an issue. Sometimes it works better to explain how many sq ft you need. Don't forget to tell them that you want only heartwood, NO sapwood.

I'm sure you know that a bd ft is 12" x 12" X 1". Half that thick would be 2 sq ft/bd ft. I didn't ask before, but that would be in the rough, unplaned. You want to use it rough? I'd be thinking about 1/2" stock, planed.

Take a look at your T&G cutters. If you settled for 1/8" tongue, you'd want at least 1/8" on both sides of it: 3/8" finished stock minimum. You want to seal rain out of the wood to minimize movement. No idea if these guys know how to quarter-saw, but that's what you really want. Movement all but disappears when you get the grain orientation right. Your corners are the most challenging. I'd seriously consider some biscuits there.

I've hired several band-millers and generally had to explain exactly how I wanted them to cut. They were always happy to learn. Hard to find a "real" sawyer. Takes more than a mill.

Did have a thought about transport though. I know a couple of guys who are just getting started long-distance hauling (independently). If they could also find a load headed east it might work well. Shoot, if you'd said something sooner I might have been able to hit CG with it this weekend. Reunion for the class of '64, which my sister and hubby here are proud to claim. Not clear I could have talked them into driving there however...

Anyhow, one mill is 3 miles from here, guy's been trying to sell me his small Woodmizer since he upgraded. The other I don't know, but he advertises milled cedar on craigslist here. More or less a specialty item. The huge pine mill doesn't touch cedar and, far as I know, the hardwood mills don't either.

Let me know if I can help.

Hi Tom,

Are you going to be in CG? Time for a Cup of coffee?

How about using cedar as a flooring? Or would oak be a better choice?

Find me a picture of the end grain so I can see what you consider "acceptable" for my needs. Or I did buy that book you have talked about for years on here (page number?) I just haven't read thru it all or got the basics down just yet.

I'm still in the planing stage but getting close too ordering materials. It appears that I can get solid wood cheaper than what I can buy the plastics for and I'm not a plastics man to begin with.

That trip too Ill. really took a toll on me, so no more fast long driving trips and I hate airplanes or the garbage one has to go thru just too fly. I'm even thinking about selling my 27+5 flatbed.

suggestions for my RV project, 8ft x 40ft?

T_Bone

Cedar way too soft and brittle for flooring IMO. Oak is a much better choice.

KEH

In addition to woodweb, you might go over to the Forestry Forum and poke around and ask some questions.
saw here

T_Bone, I'd have let you know in advance if I was going to be in the area. Been a long time. Not my reunion, I was class of '67.

KEH is correct, cedar's way too soft for flooring. Oak is good, hickory/hard maple is better. With any of them, quartersawn is best. I can remember when all flooring was quartersawn, but that was a long time ago.

Quarter-sawing... if you have a copy of "Understanding Wood" it's page 8. The US Forest Products "Wood handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material" talks about it on page 3-2 and 3-3. Wood movement is mostly across the grain so if the grain is perpendicular to the face of the board, it gains/loses a tiny bit of thickness. That's much preferable to the grain being parallel to the face (plainsawn) where the board gains/loses a lot of width. The principle is a percentage of the board dimension. Quartersawn photos on page 75 of "Understanding Wood" show dramatically the difference in movement between quartersawn and plainsawn. Say, 7% movement (depends on species): total movement is .035" thickness in a quartersawn 1/2" thick board. Same 7% means .21" width movement in a 3" wide plainsawn board.

Around here, wide cracks between floor boards are normal every winter, unless quartersawn was specified. That's assuming the flooring was laid such that an open window during our humid season doesn't cause the (plainsawn) floor to buckle from taking on humidity. Quarter-sawing yields less, so is more expensive.

You asking how I'd skin a mobile 8' x 40'? I like metal. Folks tell me that copper is expensive but I disagree, considering its lifespan cost. Same for aluminum, which would be better weight. If you really want to keep the weight down, is that Hexcel plant still there? Amazing product they came up with. I got to play with a lot of it when I lived in Denver and did some plane interiors. Not inexpensive.

As much as I love wood, it's not best for all applications. Often is the cheapest.

Have fun.

Thanks for the suggestion KEH

Hi Tom,

Since I'm a metal man, that was my first choice. One it's too cool right now to skin with 20ga. Too keep expansion down too a minimum I would need to skin at 100ºf or more. Then there's what to fasten with. Without going too the airstream RV(pop rivets) look that leaves welding.

Too weld that long of seam without warping the SM, I would need to heavily supervise my workmen and that I can't do.

Lap joint with screws would look just like pop rivets.

The last choice would be butyl caulk. Expensive but what a seal and permanent bond.

I'm not too concerned about weight. No matter what I use, I'll be around 12k to 14kGVW when fully loaded, 22kGCW. At that I'll get 14.5mpg in AZ and 12.5mpg in the Co Rockies. That still lets me use tandem 5.2k air spring axles.

T_Bone

Red cedar is an allergy wood.Some people become sensitized to it.While the smell may be ok in a closet you wont like it inside an RV.

Hi 36 coupe,

That's funny, as I awoke with the same thoughts this morning. I still may use a all wood interior but just in a different wood.

T_Bone