Your measured logs on one side, the pieces to cut on the other. The plan tells you where to crosscut each log, how to set it on the mill bed, and what to chalk on each end: boxed heart for heavy timber, free of heart and quartersawn for boards, no wane.
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1. Your logs
How to measure
Draw a chalk line along the top of the log, end to end. Everything is measured from that line, looking at the small end.
Diameters under bark, in inches: one along the line (top to bottom), one across. Leave “across” empty if the log is round.
Sweep: stretch a string from end to end; the largest gap between string and log, in inches. The angle tells where the log bows: 0 = towards the line, 90 = right, 180 = down, 270 = left.
Pith: its offset from the centre of the end, in inches; “up” towards the line (negative = down), “right” to the right.
Knots (optional): position in inches from the small end, angle, Ø in inches — for example 36@45:1; 90@200:1.5.
Or by photo: pin end card A (marker sheet) on the small end, near the edge, just under the chalk line, arrow towards the line; card B on the large end. Photograph the end square on, whole. The page proposes the diameters, the pith and the rings; you confirm, or click the image to move the pith. A fresh clean cut reads better than a rough chainsaw cut.
What each column means
Use: untick a log to keep it in reserve without deleting it; the plan does not use it.
Length: end to end, in inches, ends included.
Ø small end, Ø large end: under bark, in inches. The plan uses them to know which section fits without wane, and where along the log.
Sweep: the gap, the angle, and at in = where the log bows most, in inches from the small end (empty = in the middle). A crooked log holds fewer long pieces.
Pith: the heart of the tree. The plan needs it for pieces that must box the heart (posts) or avoid it (boards that must stay flat).
Heart rot Ø: the diameter of the heart rot at each end, in inches (empty = none). No piece is placed in it.
Ring shake radius: the radius of the loose ring, if there is one. A piece stays wholly inside it or wholly outside: it never crosses it.
End splits: the length of the end split, in inches, at each end. It is taken off the usable length.
Species: it sets the drying shrinkage of pieces sawn to be dried (furniture boards).
Use
Name
Length in
Ø small end in · across
Ø large end in · across
Sweep in · angle · at in
Pith, small end up · right
Pith, large end up · right
Heart rot Ø small · large
Ring shake radius small · large
End splits small · large (in)
Knots
Species
End photos
Remove
End reading
Click the image to move the pith.
2. The pieces to cut
What these fields mean
The table, benches, seats: Biobâtir's furniture; its pieces are computed for you.
Target moisture: the moisture content of the wood once dry (8 % for indoor furniture). A piece sawn green to be dried shrinks: the plan saws it that much bigger, by species. Heavy framing timber is cut green, at its full size.
A list: one piece per line. Mark = its name on the plan; role = what it is (post, board…); width, thickness and length in inches.
Heart: enferme keeps the heart inside the piece (it twists less as it dries, good for a post); hors leaves it out (it splits less); indifferent = no matter.
Grain: quartier (rings upright on the face: the board stays flat) or dosse (rings flat); indifferent = no matter.
Strict: oui = the heart and grain asked for are required; non = a preference, relaxed by the plan if that is the only way to get the piece.
Moisture (last value, optional): the target if the piece is to be dried; empty = it is cut green.
heart: enferme (boxed) · hors (free of heart) · indifferent — grain: quartier (quartersawn) · dosse (flatsawn) · indifferent — strict: oui/non (non = a preference that may be relaxed) — empty moisture = sawn green.
3. Mill settings
What these settings mean
Blade kerf: the wood the mill blade takes out at each cut, in inches (⅛ in = 0.125 for a common bandsaw). The plan leaves that gap between two neighbouring pieces.
Crosscut kerf: what the chainsaw takes out when you cut the log into lengths (⅜ in = 0.375).
Trim allowance per piece: what you add at the end of each piece to square it up later, in inches.
Plan title: the name printed at the top of the plan you take to the mill.
Each piece reaches the visual survey with its log, its face 1 and the knots the bark announced; once its faces are surveyed, the survey compares. Heavy timber only (5 in and up).
Previous plans
The plan is a heuristic search: it places pieces, it does not prove the best possible yield. It does not grade the wood; a structural piece still needs its grade stamp. Blade kerf, crosscut kerf, trim allowance and pith margin (1 in) are starting settings, not book values.
