Turning A Log, Into Shelving

[DM]

I needed some 12" wide lumber for a shelf project, so it was time to saw some out!

First thing i did was to find a log that was big enough to mill 12" wide lumber out of, and sit it on my BSM. (band saw mill) I have a LOT of Aspen on my place, so an Aspen log was very easy to find for this project.

http://www.fototime.com/270CA36004D5814/orig.jpg

As you can see, the log has some taper in it, so i used my hydraulic "tow boards" to lift the small end of the log. By lifting the small end, 1/2 the hight of the large end, it keeps the "center" of the log "horizontal" on the mill. You will get more lumber out of a tapered log when you do this.

So, i got started milling the log by sawing the outer slabs off, then turning the log with my "cable winch log turner" and makeing more cuts. As you can see, i could of got some pretty wide lumber out of this log, but i chose to turn it instead, ending up with the MAX amount of 12" wide lumber,

http://www.fototime.com/7895E734C92AFCD/orig.jpg

You can see just how nice and straight my BSM saws, i'd make a few cuts, and then pull the lumber off the mill,

http://www.fototime.com/14C215A9150CDFF/orig.jpg

Then i'd make more cuts, until i finally had the log all milled with as much 12" wide 5/4 boards i could get out of the it,

http://www.fototime.com/6E2794AF49372B1/orig.jpg

[DM]

The "tally" for this log, was just under 100 board feet of lumber... Then i took it over to my shop and sit it near the door where i will be working on it next,

http://www.fototime.com/3CBD0D9E0322116/orig.jpg

Now with the lumber i needed in hand, i pushed my mitersaw out of the shop, and sat up some roller extensions to hold the boards as i cut ends square, and to the lengths i wanted,

http://www.fototime.com/D96599AD5D05526/orig.jpg

I had originally made my mind up that i'd build with the lumber "right off the mill", but once i got started, i decided to run the boards through my "thickness planer" a couple times, to "smooth" both sides up. With that done, i piled the lumber on my 4 wheeler for the ride to the house,

http://www.fototime.com/5AB526F56B88649/orig.jpg

I have a closet right off my kitchen, and it was just full of junk, so i cleaned it out! I decided it would be a good place to put some of the can goods and canning supplies i wanted to keep near the kitchen. The jars of canned veggies were taking over my dineing room table, so it would be a GREAT place for them!

http://www.fototime.com/E3EB5DCBC0293D9/orig.jpg

[DM]

As you can see, this added a LOT of new space for my can goods, and even a place for my meat grinder that was on the floor!

http://www.fototime.com/692B7C7A7F40F50/orig.jpg

I'll finish my project another time, as i want one more lower shelf, and then this winter, i'll take everything back out, and paint the closset white, to clean and brighten it up!

This was a very simple, easy project that was VERY useful, all made from nearly FREE lumber!

DM

[Gracie]

Gosh, Your new shelves sure do look nice and the thickness of them looks like they'll hold many a full canning jar with no warping from the weight over time...but 'spect you folks who work with wood, take that into consideration when you're in the planning stage.:) Your pictorial of the process makes it look so easy, but know it must take some doing, to take it from tree to attached to your walls, all in 1 day....Congratulations, on your new shelves!

[JoAnna]

You're very talented. The shelves look great, and so does the canned stuff.

[Tooldummy]

Remember the old V8 commercials where the guy hits his head and says "wow, I could have had a V8"? My wife has been after me to make her some shelves, I have plenty of trees and I have a friend with a sawmill! Wow, she could have had shelves! Yours turned out great, thanks for the idea!