OT how thick to saw white pine

Gary Mitchell · Dec 17, 2020

My brother called me to ask how thick he should have some white pine sawn so he could plane it to 3/4" dimension lumber after it dried. I
have no clue except a rough guess but I figure some of you guys will know for sure. Thanks in advance. gm

Wisconsin Cowman · Dec 17, 2020

1-1/4”

Pete in MD · Dec 17, 2020

I agree with the Cowman.

coshoo · Dec 17, 2020

I think the commercial mills saw it 1", but their planers are probably more precise, so I'd go with Wisconsin Cowman's recommendation.

DRussell · Dec 17, 2020

Tell him to have the mill saw it in 4/4 size and not to inch dimensions. 4/4 is a bit more than an inch. The sawmill will know what he is talking about.

Mike M · Dec 17, 2020

I'd thick the guy sawing it should know. Depends on how accurate and/or rough his saw cuts too !

JD in da UP · Dec 17, 2020

Circle sawmill if it is really rough you’re better off at 5/4. A band saw mill run well, 4/4. A sawn board shrinks way more in width than thickness.

Zachary Hoyt · Dec 17, 2020

1" is 4/4 softwood scale, which planes to 3/4" after drying. 1-1/16" to 1-1/8" is hardwood 4/4, for some reason. I mostly saw hardwoods, but the quarter scale on our sawmill is for softwood, so I have to do a little mental arithmetic to get the hardwood boards to come out right.

teddy52food · Dec 17, 2020

With my Woodmizer I sawed it on 1 inch & it planes out at 3/4 no problem. 5/4 will plane to 1 inch.

BarnyardEngineering · Dec 17, 2020

(quoted from post at 11:05:24 12/17/20) I'd thick the guy sawing it should know. Depends on how accurate and/or rough his saw cuts too !

The guy sawing it may not be an experienced sawmill operator. My next door neighbor owns one of the smaller Woodmizers. He knows enough to turn round pieces of wood into flat pieces of wood. I would not count on him knowing hardwood 4/4 from softwood 4/4.

Stephen Newell · Dec 17, 2020

The wood is known as four quarter meaning it's roughly cut 1" thick.

Tom in TN · Dec 17, 2020

JD,

I'm not much of a wood guy so what's surprising to me is probably general knowledge to everyone else. But your observation about the boards shrinking in width more than in thickness actually caused some surprise to me recently.

I have an old tobacco barn that I use as a general purpose barn. It has vertically hung boards all around and because it's a tobacco barn, the boards are purposely spaced with about 1/2 inch between them. I've been replacing some of the badly warped boards using pressure treated 5/4 lumber. I've been butting the replacement boards up against each other and after a few months, I have gaps between every board. I wasn't expecting the shrinkage, but at least it is consistent with all the rest of the existing boards.

Tom in TN

Phil-mar Farms · Dec 17, 2020

I always asked for a fat 1” 1 1/8” to 1 1/4”

CH(upstate,NY) · Dec 17, 2020

Go 5/4. It will shrink and may cup while drying.

M-MAN · Dec 17, 2020

Back when I was running my sawmill I had it set up to pull heavy 1 inch boards. Heavy = 1/6 over. The biggest white pine I sawed was 18 inch boards and they planed out 3/4 just fine. I still have a few In the barn.

jm. · Dec 17, 2020

Been sawing for years, on my 4th wood-mizer and have two planes. The pine around here can be cut at 1 inch or 4/4 and let air dry for 90 days and still plane out 3/4 easy. Like someone said lots depends on how accurate the mill can cut the stuff. Bandsaws tend to be more accurate than circle saws.

Jo Bird · Dec 17, 2020

I to cut white pine with my Woodmizer LT 40 HD, the trouble is with all knots that your sawyer will encounter, the knots will cause the blade to rise or fall as he goes through them, if his blade is getting dull or sawing to fast. This makes for thick and thin areas around the knots, which you may not plane out to a smooth surface. Hopefully you will be their to see if you need to cut thicker material.

RJKeith · Dec 17, 2020

I agree with some of the commenters below, how wide will the board be and if it cups you will need extra thickness to plane out. Cupping will be more prominent on the outermost boards, so if 12" or wider, cut those 1-1/8 and the inner boards 1".

OT how thick to saw white pine

Gary Mitchell

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Wisconsin Cowman

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Pete in MD

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coshoo

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DRussell

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Mike M

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JD in da UP

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Zachary Hoyt

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teddy52food

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BarnyardEngineering

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Stephen Newell

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Tom in TN

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Phil-mar Farms

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CH(upstate,NY)

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