Milling and cutting your own floorboards is a doable and potentially very rewarding experience, as long as you’re determined to put in the time, patience, sweat, and effort required for the job. Plus, some power tools and a keen eye for detail will also be crucial to properly executing the steps involved, lest you end up with a below-average pile of floorboards just good enough for winter firewood! However, below is a guide that will walk you through the entire floorboard manufacturing process, from the felled tree to the finished boards:

one. Prepare the right tools – In palletizing applications where precision cuts are essential, having the right set of tools is important. The tools below will get you up to speed and help you make good quality floorboards as if you bought them from the hardware:

has. chainsaw
b. chainsaw mill with guide rails
against thicknesser
d. float up

two. Prepare the appropriate protective equipment – Like other carpentry processes that involve the use of chainsaws and other cutting tools, floorboard manufacturing can be a dangerous task. By wearing the proper protective equipment, the risk of injury, fatal or otherwise, will be greatly minimized or nil. For this company, you will need the following protective equipment:

has. safety helmet with visor
b. dust mask
anti safety glasses
d. heavy duty work gloves
me. Hearing protectors such as earplugs or earmuffs
F. protective chaps
gram. steel toe shoes

3. Limb the felled tree – In logging jargon, limbing is the process of cutting all branches from a felled tree, usually with a chainsaw. Here are the steps:

has. Wear your protective equipment and start the chainsaw.
b. Mindful of your footing and putting the chainsaw at full throttle, start cutting limbs starting at the base of the felled tree and work your way to the top.
against Be very careful when cutting small tree limbs. They may become entangled in the chain and be thrown towards you, throwing you off balance. In the same way, keep an eye on the “stressed” branches as well. These branches, when cut from their base, can jump dangerously.

Four. Buck the uprooted tree – Bucking is a lumber term meaning to cut a delimbed tree into desired and usable lengths. For floorboards, sawyers typically cut trees into 10-foot lengths, although your length requirement may be longer or shorter; The general rule of thumb is to cut the tree 5 to 6 inches longer than the desired length of the finished board to allow enough room for trimming and shrinking.

5. Run the chainsaw sawmill to produce raw boards – Raw boards are slabs of wood that have not yet been coated and dimensioned. The number of rough boards that can be made from lumber will depend on the thickness setting of the chainsaw mill and the diameter of the tree to be sawn. Here are the steps to properly sawing wood:

has. Adjust the thickness setting of the chainsaw mill according to your requirements.
b. Mount the guide rails firmly to the top of the wood. These rails will serve as the chainsaw reference for the initial cut.
against Turn on the chainsaw mill and run it along the entire length of the log for the initial cut.
d. After making the initial cut, the guide rails can now be removed and the resulting flat surface from the initial cut will now serve as a guide for subsequent cuts.
me. Once all the cuts are complete, you will now have a stack of raw boards ready to dry.

6. Dry rough boards – Due to their high moisture content, raw boards must undergo a gradual and controlled drying process until they are dry enough for the sizing and surface.

There are two methods commonly used to dry rough board: the air-dry method and the oven-dry method. Although both methods can produce similar results, the air-dry method takes much longer to complete, but it won’t cost you anything. All you have to do is stack the rough boards with thin strips of wood between each board to allow room for air circulation. On average, a 1-inch-thick board will take about a year to air dry.

Kiln drying, on the other hand, is much quicker and usually takes only a few months to complete. This method involves the use of an oven, an oven-like chamber where humidity and temperature are controlled. However, you will have to find a kiln operator, bring the raw boards to and from your kiln, and pay for their kiln drying services, resulting in additional expenses.

7. Surface and size of dry rough boards – After the rough boards have been air dried or oven dried, they are ready to be clad and sized to the required thickness and width. To do this, you are going to use the thicknesser and the planer:

has. Pass the rough boards through the thicknesser, also called thickness planer, to obtain the desired thickness and smooth both surfaces of the boards.
b. Pass the boards through the planer to obtain the desired width.
con You now have a stack of finished floor boards ready for use.
d. Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done!