well, I mentioned last week that this year I will be working some sawn stock. Already I have the walnut high chair that is underway; but recently the carpenters at work hired the local fellow who runs a bandsaw mill. While he was here, we had him saw up a white oak that didn’t quite make it as riving stock. There was enough twist in the log that made it obvious that riving it would waste a lot of wood. So I asked him to saw a bunch of 1″ and 2″ stuff from it.
He had to slab off some of the flared end of the log. His mill handles 26″ wide, I think. so after running it through a bit to even things off, then it was a matter of what stock to cut where/when. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time agonizing about it, we had a number of people around to move this wood, and many other sawing projects for the day. I was essentially cutting in line. So quick was key. I chose to cut 2″ stuff off the top, I think we took 2 planks at that size, then one of 6/4 – by then we were nearing the middle of the log, so I switched to the 1″ stuff at that point.
My plan was to then take these 1″ thick boards & rip them down the middle to approximate some quartersawn stock. We ripped three of these boards, the center board and one north & south of it.
It was noisy, but quick. It’s been years since I have regularly pitsawn stock; so I’ll take what I can get. These sort of mills do real nice work, they have a fairly narrow kerf. We stickered & stacked the stuff right off the saw, onto the forks of the tractor, then just set the pile down on some bunks. I later broke it into two stacks. And there it sits. You”ll see this white oak later in the year.
This is one of two piles from that log. The plank on top is an oldie, put there to cover the stack. The thinner stuff is in the middle of the pile. I rarely have wood like this on hand; it will take me quite a while to use this up.
the end view shows the quartered stock in the middle as well. Sandwiched between some wide stuff on bottom, with a heavy plank above.
thanks to the whole crew for making it happen, and Michael for snapping the pictures.
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
I’ll be interested to hear how much the stuff twists as it dries. Let us know how it turns out!
Great post, and pictures.
Thank you.
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Agree with Tom.
At the risk of teaching egg-sucking, you are likely to have a great deal of wind in those planks when they loose moisture.
Either a VERY heavy weight on the whole stack moved onto a flat, hard floor or a few truck straps bracing the whole lot together will minimise the movement.
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Peter: Am waiting to see if the panels will be carvable.
Jennie
I adore woodmizers particularly early non hydraulic models. I ran one of the first ones to be imported to the UK in the early 90’s for the National Trust. Fast cut, little waste. The trick is don’t try to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. straight clean wood will dry straight and clean whether sawn or riven. Sawing straight boards from a bendy tree causes problems. Normally spiral dries OK especially if you split the boards down the centre though obviously you will be chasing the grain one way then the other when carving. Lining the pith up parallel to the bed is a good way to get the best boards and minimise cutting across the grain.