Advice on making 24" boards

[jteneyck]

I believe you are correct, Bill, random width boards, 24" long. 

As one who mills much of my own lumber I can assure the OP that it's not an easy undertaking.  Cutting lumber on an upright bandsaw presents a whole host of problems.  It's OK for a few short, small diameter logs, but it still takes a good sized bandsaw.  For hundreds of board feet, that approach is a fools errand. 

I use a chainsaw mill.  You need at least a 60 cc pro saw, and preferably something much larger than that.  I use an 85 cc Husky 385XP, and often wish for more.   Even a 60 cc pro saw will set you back more than $500 these days.  I think one comparable to mine is now about $1200.  The cheapest mill that works is an Alaskan mill.   One of those capable of handling 18 - 20 " logs costs around $200.  All said and done you would be hard pressed to get started for less than $1000. 

Whatever you mill will take 6 - 12 months to air dry, and you will lose at least 20% of it to twisting, splitting, etc., and probably much more until you know what you are doing.  Then you have to face joint and plane it smooth, edge joint it and rip it parallel.    

Plywood is looking really cheap to me, and much easier.   

John

[Bill Wilson]

John makes a good point about the yield.  I know this is free wood, but if you are working with 24" logs, expect to lose even more than the 20% suggested above.  I suspect that with the short pieces, you will have significant waste, due to checking, splitting and warping.  You are going to need to take even more care in the drying process to prevent ending up with a pile of kindling.  A few suggestions; saw it thicker than you normally would for 4/4 stock.  You will want to tightly control the drying to be sure they don't dry too fast.  This will help minimize the warping and checking.  Stack and sticker the boards and perhaps even band them tightly together to hold them flat.

It would make for a very interesting ceiling, but the only reason one would do it the way you propose is because you really want to, not for any practical reasons.  Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Mac1]

Shipping pallets. Most are hardwod. Around here they are free. Cut to length, sand one side, prep two edges.

[GuyGordon]

No, not 24" wide boards.  24" LONG boards of any width.

[GuyGordon]

Cletus is right. What you or considering sounds like a nightmare and will end up costing you a lot more in the end. ...
Something else you need to think about is sound. Noise from your tools will go right through that floor until you get some type of ceiling in there. ...

Not really all that concerned about the cost.  I just want it to look interesting.

Good point about the sound, though.  I had only considered the sound coming down, not going up.  The ceiling is insulated with fiberglass, and I can barely hear the TV going right above me.  But the tools will be a lot louder.

[GuyGordon]

Surely you can spend your time more productively, like breaking rocks or digging ditches.

Did that last year.

[GuyGordon]

As one who mills much of my own lumber I can assure the OP that it's not an easy undertaking.  Cutting lumber on an upright bandsaw presents a whole host of problems.  ...

Thanks John.  No, I never seriously considered trying this with a vertical band saw or a chain saw mill.  I'm looking for a way to try this out.  That way I could learn something, even if it's just "Well that was a dumb idea."  I might end up doing just my 'office'.  So if there's no way to do it without a big up-front cost that may just kill the idea right there.
"Plywood is looking really cheap to me, and much easier."
But so much more boring.

[opticsguy]

Go buy a band-saw mill..... best investment I ever made. You can cut almost anything made of wood and you can make almost anything made of wood.
My mill is a Timberking 1220 with one extension. I only cut for me and a few friends, I am not interested in selling wood. 
2 days ago I needed some wide wood, about 22".  Had a cedar stump sitting on a pallet for about a year, sliced into 5/4 and 3" slabs. The 5/4 for my project and the 3" slabs for other future possible projects. 
The slabs were 29" wide, too bad I will cut to only 22".......................................

[GuyGordon]

Had a cedar stump sitting on a pallet for about a year, sliced into 5/4 and 3" slabs. The 5/4 for my project and the 3" slabs for other future possible projects.

That sound beautiful. 

A few years ago I re-roofed my house with cedar shakes (personally, not 'had it done').  Oh, it was gorgeous.  But the sun started bleaching it immediately, so I had to apply a stain/weatherproofer.  I used TWP 201.  It certainly protects the wood, but it was such a pity to stain it and hide the beauty of the grain and color variation.  Unfortunately, none of the clear weatherproofers protect from UV for long, so it would have bleached out anyway.

How does the age of your cedar stump affect milling it?  Is it easier/harder to slab?  How long do the boards need to dry vs boards from a green stump?

[Bob Vaughan]

(I plan to use whiteboard/marker board on all walls, so I can write myself notes.).  Of course I'll build in plenty of shelves & work tables.

To write on the walls, chances are you'll have to lean over a workbench to get to the wall.  Also, wall space is priceless for an area to hang tools, clamps, etc.  Shop shelving also takes up some wall space.  Consider simply framing a couple of white boards and placing them against a regular wall.  That way you can remove them and modify the placement to suit the always changing conditions of a workshop.