Milling is the procedure by which trees are processed into boards or other useful material. Milling your trees allows you to make decking or unique furniture from your tree, making it much more special than burning the tree as firewood.

We use a specialised piece of milling equipment called an Alaskan Saw Mill. This is a framework bolted to a large chainsaw, in conjunction with a special chain. This machine has access to all gardens so milling can take place on site. This also means you won’t have to take your tree to a large sawmill to be milled and useable for future projects.

We take straight slices off the top of the trunk of the tree, to the desired thickness. Then we will cut it to the required sizes as specified. Douglas Fir Tree Care can cut timber into dimension lumber from these planks.

Milling can also be carried out with another type of machine called a band saw. Although, this is a large machine and access to gardens may be limited.

When is it possible to mill a tree?

You can have a tree milled as long as it’s not rotten. Newly felled trees produce better planks as very old dead trees tend to disintegrate during milling. Trees that have died recently are also good for milling.

Some species of tree have distinctive grain and make very attractive boards. It’s not just about size, smaller trees may be good for shelving or chopping board material. Douglas Fir Tree Care recommends making good use of all felled trees, making it possible for them to be made into desirable boards and furniture. Before it can be used to make furniture though, Milled lumber needs to be dried.

Drying Milled Lumber:

Your lumber needs to be dried before you can use it. Moisture content in a tree after it has been felled and milled can be as high as 100%.

There are two methods of drying. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Air-drying your lumber costs virtually nothing. You can air-dry your lumber right on your site. Just about anybody can do it. The down side is, it takes longer for your lumber to dry. It takes 1″ thick green boards anywhere from 45-60 days to air dry to 20%-15% moisture content. (20%-15% is ideal for outdoor use) That’s assuming it’s sunny, temperate, and the weather is not too humid. Depending on the species and how thick your lumber is, it can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to dry.

However, kiln drying will quickly dry your lumber. When it’s dried, it’s ready to be used. The down side is if the lumber is dried too quickly causing it to split and crack, it will leave you with a nice pile of dry firewood.

Kiln drying is expensive plus the lumber has to be transported to and from your site. It may not be worth the value of the yield.

Making Milled Lumber into Furniture

Once dried your milled lumber can be used as planks for decking, construction or making furniture. The milled wood will have been cut to your requirements, and from there you can set about making your table, cupboard, shelving, chair, bench or any other woodworking project you may have in mind. Douglas Fir Tree care can also recommend wood workers to you for making custom furniture out of your milled wood.

Douglas Fir Tree Care can fell trees and mill timber, for your free consultation or advice please feel free to contact by email.

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