Sawing For Grade

[oregonsawer]

I have read quite alot about grade sawing.
but it is hard to understand reading about it.

My question, Is their a video or dvd out their please
I can understand pictures better.
Help :
Oregonsawer.

[Chico]

I would think NHLA would have one for hardwood Spib has one for yellow pine but I don't know about the western pines I'm sure there is jmo
Chico

[beenthere]

oregonsawyer
What species are you sawing for grade, and what grades?
Hardwood:  NHLA grades?
Softwood:  Dimension or Shop grades?

[oregonsawer]

I am sawing Dug Fir and ponderosa pine!
I just want to be sure I don't get those spiked
knots.
I will be sawing for a very pickey old guy that used
to saw years ago.
He told me on the phone he would be watching me
and if I did't know how to saw for grade I would be out of their.
Go figure!
And that is why I want a video so I know how the big guys do it.Ha Ha
Oregonsawer
And thank you guys

[Dan_Shade]

have you been sawing long?

Might be best to ask the old fella for advice, and admit you have a lot to learn.

a lot of what somebody calls "grade" could be junk in another person's mind...

you get a spike knot when sawing a board off the cant where the knot is in the same plane as your blade.

of course, if the guy is that big of a pain, if he gives you grief, you can always pack up and let him find somebody else...

[beenthere]

So I ask again...what grade are you sawing for?
Are you familiar with any of the grades used for Doug fir and for ponderosa pine?

What will be the intended use? Shop lumber (ponderosa pine) will go for cuttings. Dimension lumber (Doug fir) will be graded for structural use. They are not mutually exclusive, but generally this is the case.

Cornering knot indicators on the log surface will help avoid spike knots. Flat sawn board will avoid them too. Turning the log as you go, and not live sawing through and through will also help when making the right decisions.

Quarter sawn material will get you a lot of spike knots.

But if you don't know what the grades are that the "old" guy wants, you won't have a snowballs chance to saw that grade unless you are just lucky.

Seems to me...

[Chico]

In order to grade saw you have to learn to read the log from the inside out watch for swirls is the best way I can describe it it will start off small and open up into a knot where a limb was before the tree grew  /etc could be injuries show up with bark in them all sorts of things but I would also ask him you need to know what he wants them for and grade starts in the woods so it depends on the logs also if it's not there you can't get it .   Some folks want diamonds from a coal mine  jmo
Chico

[sgschwend]

Wait a minute, you are sawing his logs. 

Are you going to reject logs too?  With good logs you won't have any trouble.

Your customer probably used a circular mill, I assume you have a band mill.  It would be worth your time to explain how the band mill produces boards.  I find that most my customers appreciate that discussion, it helps them understand what to expect.  Your customer probably loves to cut wood and will talk your ear off, heck let him run the mill for a few cuts, you end up with a new best friend (sawyers by nature are friendly).

[backwoods sawyer]

At least have him stand beside you and ask him how he would like each log milled until he is comfortable with your sawing method or you pick up his.
Get the best wood that you can out of his logs with out butchering them, and the old timers that used to run the round saws are generally just plain amazed at the quality, the board footage you get out of a log as well as the over all production.
In addition, if that don't work just send him my way. What is the worst that can happen he could be *pithed at both of us and just prove that he is more stubborn then he should be? Do not let the customer intimidate you, but be willing to saw a log the way he wants it.

[jdtuttle]

Woodmizer has some videos

[thecfarm]

Not trying to judge anyone with out first meeting them,but,I have been around people that can do any job better than me as long as they are standing with their arms folded telling me how to do it.
Than you have someone running around saying you don't know how to saw.

[Bibbyman]

Woodmizer has some videos

I just got a set of the Wood-Mizer DVDs -

Link - Wood-Mizer DVD "Edge on Sawing DVD set"

I've not got through all 6 but just watch DVD #5 "How to get every dollar out of the tree" presented by Dave Scott.  It gave a very good overview of aspects of grade sawing.  I'd say it was more of a 300 level class.

It was pretty specific to hardwood sawing and I don't know how much it will help you saw fur.  It didn't really show any video of sawing - only lecture with slides.

An ad in the new Wood-Mizer Way has the set on sale for $49.95 from $59.95. 

Looks like my friends at Wood-Mizer could have told me to hold off until it went on sales. :-\

[oregonsawer]

Thank you every one for your input.
And thank you Bibbyman for answering my question!!!!!
Oregonsawer

[saw1]

There used to be a video by Gene Wengert from university of Wisconsin.Try searching Gene Wengert.

[rbhunter]

How did it go sawing for this guy?

[WoodMiller]

 :P Here's a link for TREESEARCH - which will search the US Forestry Service research publications - probably more technical info than us poor sawyers can absorb, but there might be something useful:

http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/