I owne a saw mill and have some questions reguarding timbers. Are most people out there framing with seasond or green timbers. I have acesss to a large ammount of younger doug fir were I live so I am wondering about the box heart timber, because these tree are only big enough to box into one beam ie. 8x8 , 10x10 or something like that.

Green boxed heart is probably the most common timber used.

...and Douglas Fir...nice to work with, fo sho...

so does evryone agree that it is common place to use green timbers? thanx everyone for responding

absolutely.

yes, green is common. check out the UK websites, they call it green oak construction... for example, http://www.greenoakstructures.co.uk/

Derek. what are relief cuts? tb

I want to see the relief cuts too, please. bradbb@surfbest.net

We've done relief cuts on some projects, but it seems everyone has a different opinion on exactly how deep they should go...
What's the opinion here?
(*POP* goes the can o' worms again.... )

1/3 to 1/2 of timber size(don't go past center).

This is from the ILBA standards for log construction,


2.J. Kerfing
2.J.1. The kerf is usually, though not always, a cut made with a chainsaw.
Logs are known to check, or crack, in those places where wood has
been removed closest to the pith, (or the center) of the log. Kerfing is therefore an effective way to control the location of checks as green logs dry.
Because dry logs already have seasoning checks, kerfing usually will not change the location of checks, and therefore kerfing is not required for dry logs.
2.J.2. The kerf must be deep enough to promote checking. Note that even those long groove profiles that do not require kerfing (like the double-cut) are nevertheless required to be the depth of at least onequarter of the diameter of the log at every point along the top of the log. (See also Section 2.D.5.)
After a log has both the kerf and the long groove cut, there must still be at least one-half of the diameter of the log remaining un-cut. Removing more than half the diameter of the log for kerf and groove combined would weaken the log, and so should be avoided.

Sweet.
Thanks