Can a down fir or spruce be be cut up and used to make a garage?
- Thread starter rustybucket
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If you are going to make standard dimensional lumber, you are wasting money.
If you are going to cut large slabs with live edges, it is a niche market but you should be able to cover your cost.
If you are going to make custom beams and fireplace mantels, you can recoup your expenses faster and make a little money.
If you are going to cut large slabs with live edges, it is a niche market but you should be able to cover your cost.
If you are going to make custom beams and fireplace mantels, you can recoup your expenses faster and make a little money.
like a busy beaver 
Unless you are cutting special size timbers, I think you're better off using manufactured lumber which has been cut, kiln-dried/heat-treated and planed to uniform size. On a small scale(i.e. not automated), there is more work to it than most people realize. Also, before building anything, you will want to verify if the wood need to be stamped by an inspector.
Disclaimer: I own a Wood-Mizer hydraulic mill and live five minutes from where they are made . . . and one of the inventors of the mill lives five minutes in the other direction.
Disclaimer: I own a Wood-Mizer hydraulic mill and live five minutes from where they are made . . . and one of the inventors of the mill lives five minutes in the other direction.
Add in the cost of buying a mill such as a woodmizer, or renting one. A good friend of mine had a similar idea when building his new house (5000 plus square feet). He bought a new portable mill, had lots of timber from clearing 5 acres, but in the end I don't believe he actually used much of his own lumber. I think the majority of what he cut he did use for formwork though, figured he saved a bunch there the last we talked about it.
And like woodsman said, if it isn't cured properly, it's all going to warp/crack etc and you will be cursing all your time wasted.
Wood-mizer makes some fine equipment. I worked at a small site once when on "vacation" from the M&B sawmill I worked at (tailsawyer on a 8' Letson & Burpee rig).
And like woodsman said, if it isn't cured properly, it's all going to warp/crack etc and you will be cursing all your time wasted.
Wood-mizer makes some fine equipment. I worked at a small site once when on "vacation" from the M&B sawmill I worked at (tailsawyer on a 8' Letson & Burpee rig).
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