# Hackberry tree milling



## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

The power company has informed me that it will be cutting down a small hackberry tree on my property and I have requested that they leave me anything over 4" in diameter. I have a 1 3/4 hp band saw that is supposed to be quite good at resawing along with a 3/4" 3 TPI blade. I have mostly worked with pine, cherry, and red oak. I have never worked with hackberry and have heard or seen little of it being worked. Does anyone have any experience with it or suggestions?


----------



## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

It's kinda like elm but bright white, and not very hard. Much harder than pine, but nothing like oak or maple. Kinda stringy, too. Beautiful stuff as long as it doesn't turn grey on you.


----------



## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Great good to know. My mom spoke of a man calling it "iron wood" but I guess she was mistaken. I have some experience resawing rough cut lumber, mostly cherry but haven't done any raw wood. I have seem people painting the ends but dont know much else. Is there anything in particular I need to know... like preventing it from going grey?


----------



## cuerodoc (Jan 27, 2012)

Yep! paint or wax the ends--it'll check.
"Round here it's a "weed", nobody likes it--most common saying is something like: "a tree looking to die and fall on a fence"
It also has a tendency to have large grubs in the logs--especially if you leave'em outside, and will rot fairly quickly when left on the ground.
I do like to turn it though.


----------



## SeniorSitizen (May 2, 2012)

I cut a small piece from the tree to steam bend and it gummed the tires and blade so bad I'll never do that again. As far as I'm concerned hackberry can stay in the timber and die of old age.


----------



## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

The "ironwood" is hornbeam, completely different tree. Hornbeam is more closely related to beech.


----------



## ironman123 (Jan 21, 2013)

I have Hackberry and Pecan trees. The hackberries when I cut them down are about 8" diameter and spalted. When I use the wood I have to Vacuum Stabilize it because it is punky (soft) in places. Pens, Bottle Stoppers, small items.

Ray


----------



## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

I sawed one of two hackberry logs last spring that I got from a blowdown at the edge of my yard. I was looking out the shop door during a thunderstorm and watched the thing fall. Luckily it fell away from the fence.

It sawed very easily and the wood was white, white. I laid the second log in a shady area and will wait for it to spalt. I haven't checked on the sawn lumber since I stickered it so I don't know how much it has grayed. It's in an air-dry stack as I didn't think it was worth the trouble to put it in the kiln. Perhaps I can use it as secondary wood on a furniture project.


----------

