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best sizes to cut oak for re-sale, using the scales on woodmizer saw

Started by mainiac1, May 01, 2019, 11:29:25 PM

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mainiac1

Hey Guys/Gals...new to the forum. Been on here studying about mills and kilns the past week. My Wife and I bought a used LT15 couple weeks ago so that we could saw up some lumber we have laying around and potentially sell some of it down the road. I plan on building a small 14' kiln in the next couple months. I cut my first log today (4' x 18" dia Oak) and need to study up on the scales so I dont waste too much lumber. My question is what are good/popular sizes to cut lumber to that people are wanting to buy it in? The guy we bought the saw off is upgrading to a bigger machine and was happy to show us his inventory of  lumber  he has cut and kiln dried that he sells locally. Mostly 2" slabs if I remember right. Not looking to take orders, just cut what we got into sellable product once its dried. Also, can someone send me a link to a good video or offer a decent explanation on using the different scales in the adjustable scale sight on my machine. I appreciate the advice you have to offer.

Chuck White

~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

WDH

Woodmizer makes two magnetic scales that can be placed on the mast besides the permanent scale on the mill that makes moving the head to the next cut very easy and fast without having to do math.  One is the standard scale, and for 4/4, the boards come off the mill a full 1" thick.  There other scale is called the hardwood scale and for 4/4, the boards come off the mill a full 1 1/8" thick.  1 1/8" thick is the standard for rough hardwood lumber.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

SawyerTed

Welcome to the forum!  My owner's manual has a good description on using the scales on the machine.  It does take some practice.  With that in mind, practice on some low value logs.  Tulip poplar, if available, is relatively easy to saw and lower value so it makes a good choice for practice.  I started sawing junk logs that were destined to become firewood first.  Some were oaks that presented greater challenges than pine and poplar.  By all means practice a while before you decide to saw high value logs.  We use a term here for lumber sawn that doesn't turn out so good -"designer firewood" (I borrowed this term from someone here on the forum).  My designer firewood pile is just about gone but every now and again I make an addition to the pile.  Either I make an error sawing or the wood doesn't submit to drying straight which is often a sawing error that appears later.

"Best sizes" depends on who is buying.  The best size (most common)for my hardwood furniture building customers is 5/4x6" 6 to 8 feet long and 16/4 square by 6 to 8 feet long.  Some want other widths up to 10".  It us unusual for them to want much above 10" due to cupping and other defects that occur during drying. 

Best sizes (most common) for my fence builders is 1x6x8', 2x4x8, 2x4x10 and 4x6x10.

My outbuilding customers want 2x6x12 and 2x6x16 mostly and some want 2x8x12 and 2x8x16.  They also want 1x8, 1x3 or 1x4 for board and batten siding.

Knowing who is looking for your product will determine the best sizes.
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

D6c

Quote from: SawyerTed on May 02, 2019, 12:26:25 PM
 
........"Best sizes" depends on who is buying.  The best size (most common)for my hardwood furniture building customers is 5/4x6" 6 to 8 feet long and 16/4 square by 6 to 8 feet long.  Some want other widths up to 10".  It us unusual for them to want much above 10" due to cupping and other defects that occur during drying......

Always a little unsure of what people mean when they say 5/4 ....for example:
Do you mean you cut 5/4 to 1¼" or do you mean it's over that so it will clean up to 1¼ after drying?

Magicman

Anytime a customer starts throwing 4/4, 5/5, 6/4, etc. at me for sawing, I always pin them down to the exact inches that they want.  No guessing and no misunderstanding.  I can saw it but I can't unsaw it.
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Brad_bb

Yes it's important to be absolutely clear as Magic says.  5/4 is a common size cut.  Most guys cutting 5/4, the board will actually come off the mill at about 1 3/8".  Assuming your LT15 has the same crank handle as my 2014 LT15, Turning the crank 5 quarters will yield a board that is 1 1/16". Each tick mark (detent) on the crank is 1/16", but it doesn't take into account the thickness of the kerf.  So to get 1 3/8" you'd need to crank about 6 quarters or so.  Do a quick experiment and verify what you are actually getting off your mill.  I cut a lot of 4/4 Walnut and Ash boards on my mill by cranking 5/4.  This gives me 1 1/16" which should be enough to dry and plane to 3/4.  On a wood that is less stable while drying, you might want to increase that to 1 1/8" or more.  These two board sizes are very common for funiture making, making T&G flooring or siding, etc. I cut large slabs with chainsaw mill 2.5 and 3.25 thick and may lost 1/2" flattening them.  Sometimes more if you have some bad warpage.  If you're making narrower slabs on the LT15, 2" might work as well.  
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SawyerTed

Quote from: Magicman on May 02, 2019, 02:49:47 PM
Anytime a customer starts throwing 4/4, 5/5, 6/4, etc. at me for sawing, I always pin them down to the exact inches that they want.  No guessing and no misunderstanding.  I can saw it but I can't unsaw it.
The actual dimensions of the lumber desired by the customer has to be understood, however, I shared what my customers want - mostly 5/4 in hardwood.  Your's may want something different.  5/4 comes off my mill at 1 1/4" inch thick
The point of my post was to the same point you are making - know what your customers want, then saw that.
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

WV Sawmiller

   I think you would be way ahead of the game to either canvass the market and know what people want and cut those sizes as best you can or make a SWAG with several sizes and advertise and see what people buy and cut more to that market. Remember you (or they) can always make them smaller.

   I don't sell a lot and most of what I have on hand is what was left over after sawing a custom job or stock I was afraid was going to rot on me if not sawed soon. It may take a while but out of the blue some guy will call and come buy all my tulip poplar or such to build a shed or some one will come buy all my 4" 4/4 poplar for strips under a metal roof. How much storage space do you have and how quick do you have to see a return on your time and money invested? 

   BTW - those scales are just tools to help you cut what historically has been common sizes. They don't force you to cut that size or even indicate it is the right size for your market. You determine the size you want and cut that. My SimpleSet has spoiled me. I told a guy who stopped by today as I showed it to him "I would probably stop sawing if this ever quit and I could not repair or replace it."

   Good luck.
Howard Green
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Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

moodnacreek

Here I can not do enough 2x8 and 1 1/2 x8 oak 8 foot to as long as you can do.

WDH

5/4 is "five quarter inches" or 1 1/4".  The standard in the hardwood market is to saw 1/8" over the nominal thickness, so a 5/4 board would be 1 1/4" (same as 1 2/8") plus 1/8" over, so the rough thickness for 5/4 hardwood would be 1 3/8" thick.  That is if you are sawing for the wholesale market.  You can custom cut any thickness that you want to, depends on what the customer specifies.  I saw most of my hardwood 1 1/8" rough (4/4 which is "four quarters plus 1/8" over". 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

mainiac1

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on May 02, 2019, 07:25:19 PM
  I think you would be way ahead of the game to either canvass the market and know what people want and cut those sizes as best you can or make a SWAG with several sizes and advertise and see what people buy and cut more to that market. Remember you (or they) can always make them smaller.

  I don't sell a lot and most of what I have on hand is what was left over after sawing a custom job or stock I was afraid was going to rot on me if not sawed soon. It may take a while but out of the blue some guy will call and come buy all my tulip poplar or such to build a shed or some one will come buy all my 4" 4/4 poplar for strips under a metal roof. How much storage space do you have and how quick do you have to see a return on your time and money invested?

  BTW - those scales are just tools to help you cut what historically has been common sizes. They don't force you to cut that size or even indicate it is the right size for your market. You determine the size you want and cut that. My SimpleSet has spoiled me. I told a guy who stopped by today as I showed it to him "I would probably stop sawing if this ever quit and I could not repair or replace it."

  Good luck.
I don't have allotta space...kinda winging it. I realize I have to airdry for a moth or 2 depending on what kinda lumber I'm sawing, and I plan to build a kiln in the next couple months to finish drying the woods I cut. Not a quick turnaround I know. Hobby at this point.
Thanks for all the good replies.

esteadle

Quote from: Magicman on May 02, 2019, 02:49:47 PM
Anytime a customer starts throwing 4/4, 5/5, 6/4, etc. at me for sawing, I always pin them down to the exact inches that they want.  No guessing and no misunderstanding.  I can saw it but I can't unsaw it.
Hrm. 
For me it's the opposite. If I get a customer talking in quarters, I start talking to them like they know what they are talking about. All I usually need to ask this kind of customer is "what does your finished thickness need to be?" They already know about planing and jointing, cup, and warp, and checking and moisture content - all that stuff.
It's when I get requests for "2x4" or "4x6" then I pull out the "nominal vs. dimensional" conversation and explain about softwood markets and hardwood markets and dressing and kerf and all that stuff. Sometimes I have to pull out a commercial 2x4 and my Stanley and show them... 
5/4 is a magic thickness for Oak. Sells to almost anyone.

Southside

I always ask for the exact size they want.  Folks will ask for 1 x 4 KD pine and half will expect nominal 3/4 x 3.5, the other half full dimension as they want to use rough lumber inside, thus the KD.  Always ask.  Actually had a customer text me a couple weeks back and said he needed "one 2 x 4" - Ok, that's fine I have them. When he showed up he actually wanted a 2" thick, 24" wide, 4' long live edge slab. I am some glad I didn't pick up a 2x4 when he pulled in and head his way...
 
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