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suburbancowboy
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2016 11:06am
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I am thinking of buying a portable saw mill this year. My issue is the easy access to trees to cut up. I have access to lots of Quaken aspen trees and not much pine. Has any one used aspen to build a garage or shed? How does it stand up to the weather?
I'm guessing not well considering the only lumber I ever see made out of it is T&G siding for the interior.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Feb 2016 02:38pm - Edited by: Don_P
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You got it, one of the least durable woods, it probably isn't siding. It is relatively weak structurally but you can build with balsa if you make the sticks big enough. It's best use is probably sheathing and paneling. For dimensional IIRC it is on the awc.org spancalc. Scroll down, Franz in South Africa is using a relative, we chatted a bit about it.
There is a writeup in the first chapter or two of the wood handbook on the USFPL website, chapter 4 gets into mechanical properties (a little deeper than useful). Download a chapter at a time there unless you have a very fast connection, large book.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 12 Feb 2016 12:46pm
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Quaking Aspen, or Populus Tremuloides, like all the poplars (far as I know) has so little rot resistance it's almost ridiculous. It's pulpy, punky, spongey garbage from a longevity standpoint. Pine is not very rot resistant either, but I'd wager better than any poplar, and probably stronger too. I'd never put the effort into building with a poplar unless I knew the particular species was different from other poplars/cottonwoods. (They don't call it 'cotton' wood for nothing) Commercially it's used mainly for wood pulp (makes great toilet tissue) and "utility" wood for pallets, crates etc. might make nice interior paneling.
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old243
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 07:27pm
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I have a bandmill as well. I would also not recommend it anywhere that is going to be wet all the time. As you can oversize the size of the pieces while cutting . Depending if this has to pass building inspection. You likely could use some of it for structure, and make it bully for strong. I have cut lots of it in 4/4 and used it around the farm. It is also very nice to use for paint grade trim. It also gets quite hard as it dries. old243
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 08:46pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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I've too have always considered poplar (quaking aspen) to be a crappy wood and we've only used it for the wood stoves. However, when I think about it we dragged old felled poplars across a slough opening and used them to bridge the muck and water and those old trees would last for years, mostly just rotting where they laid on the ground. So, if the logs were stripped and protected from the elements I can't see a problem using them in construction. The beauty would be that because they can be so plentiful, just use much larger dimensions to compensate for any inherent weakness in the wood itself. (Is that what old243 is saying above) i.e. Instead of cutting a 2x4 cut a 4x6 and maybe you'd even be better off than the guy using, say a fir 2x4 in his build. Thoughts?
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Don_P
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2016 08:51am
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This works for standard 2x dimensions
http://awc.org/codes-standards/calculators-software/spancalc
Use #2 and grade honestly.
A nominal 2x8 is good for 10'5" as a floor joist. It is not very stiff, stiffness usually controls. Notice E is 1 million, in spf it'll be 1.4. Bending Fb is 828psi in spf it'll be around 1200. Look up eastern white pine, we have lots and I use it, just check your sizes and grades.
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leonk
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2016 09:50am
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AFAIK the only place it was used for is inside the sauna
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Greenland South
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2016 01:05pm
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Suburbancowboy;
I would buy that sawmill and cut your aspen. I Know of several people here in NE BC that have done just that and built wonderfull homes. One fellow I know built his entire 2000 sq ft home entirely out of the aspen he cut on his property. The only exception being the plywood sub floor and the Tamarac flooring he also milled from his property.
There are a few things you need to keep in mind with exteriors finishes using aspen, no ground contact, wide overhangs and regular coating maintenance.
I have used aspen myself, although not on the exterior. All the trim and a couple feature walls in my home were milled from local aspen and in my opinion looks far better than pine or cedar.
The cabin I'm building will eventually be sided with aspen
The logistics of cutting and getting your logs to the sawmill are something you should give a lot of thought.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2020 12:55pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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If untreated pine rots in no time but is pretty good when treated or protected, why isn’t poplar similarly useful?
Again, we have lots of polars and a shallow 60’ wide swampy area to cross. If I dragged poplars across, raised them up and draped something waterproof along their lengths (then laid and strapped decking on top) wouldn't the logs last forever? I suspect bark would fall off in a year or two.
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ICC
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2020 05:43pm - Edited by: ICC
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The heartwood of the poplars, aspens and cottonwoods (all the same genus) does not accept the PT chemicals very well. Southern YP is excellent in that regard which is why it is so for PT so much. They rot quickly when weather exposed.
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