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onebusyman

Jul 21, 2011, 7:02 PM

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lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Good evening all! The house in Bucerias is coming along very well. About half way done at this point with completion sometime in October. Finish work is underway, floor tile and windows ordered. Very exciting process.

In the area where the house is being built they will be removing a very large parota tree. Permission has been granted for the removal....very sad to see it go. However, we'd like to make use of this great lumber and I'm looking to see if there is anyone in the PV area that has a portable saw mill (or any kind of saw mill). We'd like to cut up the branches into usable lumber and the 20+ foot circumference trunk would make great table tops. I hate to see this simply cut up and hauled away. It is such beautiful wood.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.....

Thanks, Dave

Bennie García

Jul 21, 2011, 8:51 PM

Post #2 of 11 (2803 views)

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Re: [onebusyman] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Jajaja it certainly won't be "cut up and hauled away".The guy hauling it away will know what it is worth and haul it to someplace that will turn it into useful lumber. Straight to the place you are looking for!

When you say you have a permit to remove the tree, from what governmental department was this obtained? Transporting raw lumber requires a guia from SAGARPA. You risk a fine and the vehicle can be confiscated if the wood lacks the proper documentation.

If you can't find a legitimate sawmill, many local woodworking shops have band saws big enough to handle resawing timber into lumber. A lot of them mill their own lumber right at the shop and also saw others wood for a price per board foot. You should see some of these guys muscle one of these logs through the saw. Many will not accept logs that are en rollo or logs which haven't been canted so when they remove the tree ask if they can cuartonear (square off) the limbs into sizes no more than 12 inches thick or so and buck them into length. Or even smaller planks if you desire ( although the chain saw's kerf will waste a lot of good wood).This is usually done on site with a chainsaw. Most small scale logging operations do this. You may have seen people in your area milling beams out of coconut palm this way. The cuartones or squared off logs with rest flat on a band saw's table which makes it much easier to mill into dimensioned lumber. A round log will roll unless properly secured and snap a blade.

Sculptari

Jul 22, 2011, 1:53 PM

Post #3 of 11 (2774 views)

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Re: [Bennie García] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Bennie - I think he is looking for large slabs. They certainly are impressive. I just had a perota side table restored, from the 1960's. The top is about 3 inches thick, 3 feet across and about 15 feet long - all one piece.

He is looking for slabbing, using an Alaskan portable sawmill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynArfysIGF0

The wood man from Guadalajara would know, but he doesn't seem to post anymore. The problem will be drying it so it doesn't warp or crack too much. Something that big will take a master. There is a chemical you can brush on the ends of the wood to st stop it cracking while the wood cures. I have only seen it at www.leevalley.com

What would be fun would be to turn a giant bowl or tub. I have built and used giant vertical turning jigs before, but didn't bring anything to Mexico.

(This post was edited by Sculptari on Jul 22, 2011, 2:05 PM)

Bennie García

Jul 22, 2011, 4:33 PM

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Re: [Sculptari] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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The guys that fell the tree will be able to cut it into just about any dimension he wants. If they have a big enough bar on their saw to fell a parota they won't have a problem slabbing it out. It won't be as nice and uniform as with a portable mill but it will work. I got the impression that he wanted to crosscut the trunk into end grain surface table tops. The trunks on parota usually don't yield much quality lumber, the good stuff generally comes from the limbs. A bit unusual but that is the way it works in this case.

You don't need anything special for coating the ends, some people use latex paint, we used to use parrafin wax on cocobolo and bocote that was exported. All it needs to do is slow down moisture loss through the end grain so it doesn't check.

Parota can be both easy or difficult to dry. Some of the wood is stringy, referred to as peluda in Spanish. It is usually a darker color and harder and heavier, takes longer to dry and is more prone to develop defects such as end checking, warping or twisting. It is also hard to mill even when dry. It will pinch a saw blade and burn and try to kick back. You have to have very sharp blades. The lighter color parota, kind of a cafe con leche in color is lighter, softer and easy to work with. Saws and planes like butter. But both have really nasty saw dust. A good face mask is a must.

It is preferable to dry it slowly in the shade, stickered and weighted down.

Sculptari

Jul 23, 2011, 12:10 AM

Post #5 of 11 (2735 views)

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Re: [Bennie García] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Very good answer Bennie - you ARE the wood guy from Guadalajara, right? Posting under a new monicker. Nothing wrong with that at all. Your answer is exactly the expertise he was looking for. It's not the cutting, it's the drying that's the problem.

I have been involved with the wood business only indirectly, still have relatives in the custom dry kiln business for export to Japan. This is an excellent market for Mexican hardwoods, in case you didn't know.

Wood and me, just don't get along. Plaster and exotic cementatious materials - whole other story.

onebusyman

Jul 23, 2011, 6:25 AM

Post #6 of 11 (2723 views)

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Re: [Bennie García] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Thanks for all the helpful responses....exactly what I was looking for! Next step is to find some local resources with big saws and/or band saw. I've worked with wood for many years but seldom with 'wet' woods. Just saw an article in one of my wood magazines for building a small solar kiln.....looked interesting. The man who is building my house in Bucerias will ultimately arrange for the tree to come down, selfishly, I'd like to be able to have some of the wood.....a slab coffee table, the top to the Island bar in the kitchen.... The tree is on one of the lots he sold to his sister-in-law and in the way of her new 'hacienda'. They worked with the local government to get the permissions so I'm not sure about any of that. I don't think I've ever seen a tree so big.....with such a large drip line!

Bennie, great information about the trunk wood vs. limbs. They have already cut some of the limbs off the tree and they are just laying around the base...some are 3'+ feet around. Would love to use one of those slabs for the curved bar top in the kitchen. I have used parafin in the past to seal end grain on apple wood used for turning. Does slow the drying process and keeps the wood from cracking. Not sure how the weather on the coast (and the humidity) will impact that drying process. Usually takes a year or more for slab wood to dry naturally, depending on thickness. Glad I'm bringing a planer and some good sanders!

Thanks again for all the responses and I'll keep you posted on how this turns out. Hopefully, with pictures of how I've been able to use the wood around the house!!

Bennie García

Jul 23, 2011, 12:37 PM

Post #7 of 11 (2690 views)

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Re: [onebusyman] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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In Reply To

T Not sure how the weather on the coast (and the humidity) will impact that drying process. Usually takes a year or more for slab wood to dry naturally, depending on thickness.

The humidity in your area can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to drying wood. Right now, in the middle of your rainy season the humidity is about as high as it will get. The wood from the tree will dry at a slower rate which will help prevent defects. As time passes the humidity will lower and the wood will dry faster. But it will only get so dry in your environment. The good news is that it doesn't need to be so dry in that same environment. You can get away with using lumber with a higher moisture content because the humidity level in your home is high also. Unless you are running AC a lot of the time. Then the wood will shrink some due to the drier air.

Parota, though, is relatively unstable. It is a sponge. It shrinks and swells much more than other species common to the coast such as primavera, rosa morada or cedro. Doors and drawers will stick in the humid months and rattle in the dry months. It will also ding and dent more easily. In all honesty I hate the stuff. To me its appearance and resistance to wood boring pests are its only redeeming qualities.

cbviajero

Aug 9, 2011, 9:50 AM

Post #8 of 11 (2567 views)

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Re: [Bennie García] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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A friend gave me section of mesquite trunk about 5 feet long by 18 inches in diameter,it's beautiful wood but very dense and hard to work,what I would like to do is find a mill in the gdl area that could rip it down the middle and then I could make 2 benches out of it,any suggestions Bennie?
Chris

chinagringo

Aug 9, 2011, 10:04 AM

Post #9 of 11 (2566 views)

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Re: [cbviajero] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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There is a mesquite furniture manufacturer in Tonala. Contacting them may result in a clue as to where you might be able to get this done. Heck, they may even have the equipment to do it on site?

http://www.mueblesrusticosdemezquite.com/ini/indexi.php
Regards,
Neil
Albuquerque, NM

Bennie García

Aug 12, 2011, 6:14 AM

Post #10 of 11 (2510 views)

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Re: [cbviajero] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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You could try to talk the people at Maderería Santa Fe to slice it for you. Take Vallarta out of town towards Nogales and stay to the right as you pass over the periferíco. Don't go over the Aviacíon overpass, take the lateral..Go thru the light at Aviacíon, past the small bus terminal. The place is right where the overpass ends on your right.

cbviajero

Aug 12, 2011, 8:09 AM

Post #11 of 11 (2496 views)

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Re: [cbviajero] lumber mill in Jalisco?

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Thanks for your replies.
Chris