Converting larch

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dickm

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Been busy with the chainsaw felliing a load of larch (and some hemlock) that have been overshadowing our garden (and more importantly, the PV panels, so costing real money :) ). The boles are about 12" diameter max, now cut into 6-10 feet lengths and I was wondering about planking some of them on the 352. Obviously, a coarse tooth blade as wide as possible, and rig up some infeed/outfeed support, but any advice on whether to do it now, while they are still wet, or allow some drying to take place? My thinking was that they are probably easier to cut wet, but a d**n sight heavier!

Alternative is to use the chainsaw, but wastage would be excessive. Or find someone with a bandmill, but for the amount available (some 10 trunks), that's probably expensive overkill.
 
Try a couple through the bandsaw Dick and see how you get on ? Ian at tuffsaws does some good ripping blades, 3tpi or thereabouts, should let the timber dry out much quicker. Know what you mean about being heavy though !

PVA or otherwise seal the ends before planking, saves loads of time compared to doing it after.

Some pics are obligatory of course !

Cheers, Paul
 
Thanks for the encouragement, Paul. Can't do much for the next month, (I've been fingered for jury service :( ) but will try with one of the smaller pieces as an experiment. For the record, this is about half the stuff, with three more smallish hemlocks and three BIG Norway spruce to come.
 

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