Things That I have Learned Sawmilling

[WDH]

#1).  Don't wear pants with cuffs at the sawmill.  When you lay down on the couch for just a minute at lunch to rest-your-eyes, there is a sawdust extraction and a spousal explosion.

[goose63]

You are lucky if that's all you get this my wife  >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

[woodyone.john]

Danny, I have a dim awareness of that which you speak of. To speak more of this may be collusion!
john

[thecfarm]

I have a pair of pants and a shirt out in the garage when it is warm. I change out there. I have learned. When it's cold I have clothes just inside that I change into.

[Jim_Wahl]

My dear sweet wife wants to know how I get so much sawdust in our bed even after a bath and change of clothes.
As a matter of fact, so do I. :

[Jeff]

I've found out its not a friendly reception when you come in after running the chainsaw and pull off your rubber farmer boots that were pulled on over your pant legs. That creates quiet the sawdust out put as well.   Ive been creating quite a pile of wood and dust lately.



 

[LittleJohn]

I've found out its not a friendly reception when you come in after running the chainsaw and pull off your rubber farmer boots that were pulled on over your pant legs. That creates quiet the sawdust out put as well...

I find it even more annoying is the stupid sawdust that finds its way into the bottom of your rubber farm boot, while working, makes each step a littel crunchier

[Jeff]

Yup, every once in awhile ya have to find some place to balance yerself so you can pull em off and dump em without getting you socks soggy.  The trouble still is far outweighed by the ease of just waling up to those boots and stepping into them and going out to do what ever it is needs done.  I love my farmer boots no matter how I look going to the the store with mamma. ;D

[LittleJohn]

I love my rubber boots for the nightly walk down the drive way to get the mail, and play in the mud a bit to get the water to drain of the driveway!  and here in MN they are predicting areas of up to 6" of snow tonight  :(, after tax day that is just unfair

[Chuck White]

If you wear your boots with your pants legs tucked in them, you might want to try a pair of gaiters.

They will go over the tops of the boots and sawdust won't be able to get into the boots!

[beenthere]

My dear sweet wife wants to know how I get so much sawdust in our bed even after a bath and change of clothes.
As a matter of fact, so do I. :

Are you wanting us to try to figure it out for you?   ;D  or   

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Danny...wear shorts like I do.  ;D
But then, you'll probably beat your legs all to pieces......like I do.  :D

[47sawdust]

My handle is Sawdust and it seems to end up everywhere I go,Splinters too.
My wife is a champ but she's not so pleased about splinters in the sheets.

[jmouton]

     1 thing i have learned is that you dont wear  jeans  with any holes in them ,  your boots  seem to fill up pretty quick  with sawdust   ,,  not fun,  then my girlfriend yells across the  house about the sawdust coming out of the drier , cuz washing them doesnt get all of it out , 


                                                                                                                jim

[drobertson]

that is too funny, well maybe just a lil bit.  Just this morning I check my jeans, after sawing til 11, man they were covered, right by the bed, glad I got to them before she saw them ;D   

[Dave Shepard]

I seem to always fill the pouch on the front of my hoody sweatshirt when running the chainsaw. Then forget about it until I throw it over my head taking it off and spraying sawdust all over.

[bandmiller2]

When I step up to the cash register and pull out a handful of sawdust and change, I feel funny putting it back in my pocket but don't want to dump it on their floor. Frank C.

[Dave Shepard]

I've done that way too many times. :D Makes me feel even more like a traveling dirt heap than I normally do.

[customsawyer]

My other nick name is pig pen.

[Peter Drouin]

When I step up to the cash register and pull out a handful of sawdust and change, I feel funny putting it back in my pocket but don't want to dump it on their floor. Frank C.

I have done that too. :D :D :D :D :D

[WDH]

#2.  When you suspect that the band is dull, it is way dull, and on the very next cut, you will have a wavy board.

[thecfarm]

#3,you have checked the log stops for days and weeks and the stops are always lower then the cut. The one time you fail to check the log stops,they are too high.

[ozarkgem]

#1).  Don't wear pants with cuffs at the sawmill.  When you lay down on the couch for just a minute at lunch to rest-your-eyes, there is a sawdust extraction and a spousal explosion.

When I am logging cedar I cut the limbs as high as I can reach with the saw. I end up with two shirt pockets full of sawdust.

[Lud]

I believe the answer to most of those problems is an airhose for a blowdown. ;) ;)

[hackberry jake]

I learned a pretty good one day before yesterday.
#4 When you get some new bands in the mail, check the tooth orientation before trying to make a cut. Some bands come inside-out.
#5 If you put on a fresh band and as soon as it hits the log it jumps off the wheels... DON'T just think it was a fluke and do the exact same thing again. If this happens, resort back to tip number 3.

[Magicman]

Never ever leave your truck windows down or your toolbox lid open.

I learned very early on to wear a welders waist apron to keep sawdust out of my pockets and Pat happy.   ;D

[kczbest]

I wouldn't advise washing, waxing, and shampooing the carpets and seats in your Wife's new ride and then parking it with the windows down to dry out in the side yard. An hour or so later you get bored and decide to make a little sawdust. Sawdust+Wind+nice clean ride= Husband in the Doghouse.

Don't ask me how I know this!

[Delawhere Jack]

5) Poop flows downhill.
6) Never reach down into a toilet trap.
7) Payday is on Fridays.

Oh wait..... those are things I learned doing plumbing.  ;D

5) Opening that first face on a really nice log is more rewarding than fixing computers for a living.  ;D

[Magicman]

for a living.

What is this "for a living" that you speak of??  ???  Do you mean that folks are actually s'posed to make it.   

[Nomad]

     If you park your truck where it's getting a good share of sawdust blown on it, don't open your sliding back window at 60mph. :

[47sawdust]

Nomad,
Opening the sliding rear window is a great way to make you realize just how clever you are.Fortunately I've never done that with a passenger to appreciate the genius driving.

[SawyerBrown]

6) When you're sawing around a lot of buildings on a windy day, and you think the wind is out of the south, the wind will actually be out of the southwestnortheast.  So just figure on finding dust in your pockets and everything attached to them.

[OneWithWood]

7) I have learned that there is an inverse relationship between FAS boards and the amount of 2C boards that seem to sprout up all around the mill.  It seems for every dull boring FAS board I retrieve there are at least 8 useless boards with interesting figure that go into the 'someday' piles that seem to sprout up everywhere and never make it to the scrap pile.
If it weren't for periodically running short of firewood during winter there would be no room in the barn to mill or turn around. :

[WDH]

#8).  Slab piles grow.  They must put down roots and grow bigger, because suddenly, before you know it, you have a monstrous slab pile glaring at you. 

[SawyerBrown]

9)  "I'm sure there are no nails in that log ..."  Enough said?

[SawyerBrown]

Oh, and the corollary:

9b) The number of nails/screws/insulators/hinges/etc in a pile of logs is inversely proportional to the number of blades in the truck.

[thecfarm]

#8? change slabs to rocks.  ;D  That is my place.

[bandmiller2]

Were it not for wives we could all live very happily on a sawdust floor, problem solved. Frank C.

[terrifictimbersllc]

#10 Tighten up your shirt collar before raising the chainsaw to notch out a log up on the mill.    Or plan on undressing behind the truck later.

[Jeff]

Were it not for wives we could all live very happily on a sawdust floor, problem solved. Frank C.

(Mixed with peanut shells)

[Magicman]

You can vastly increase the "grade" (value) of lumber by using the word "character".

[GAB]

If Ray could sell his rocks (solid real estate) for $0.25 a pound he would be a multi multi millionaire.
Unfortunately his home would be in a pit instead of on a hill.  The man has rocks.
C'est la vie.
Gerald

[petefrom bearswamp]

I have a good compressor in my shop so blow myself and helper as clean as I can and blow into pockets too.
To add to the safety margin I undress to my underwear in the garage before entering the palace, so as to not make the queen angry.

[pineywoods]

There is no such thing as a log that contains just 1 nail. Cost me 2 blades yesterday.

[YellowHammer]

Don't go eat lunch when burning a slab pile with fire breaks cleared around it when a 20 mph wind kicks up
YH

[LittleJohn]

If your mill hasn't tasted metal, you have either never operated it or a LIAR

[petefrom bearswamp]

Don't you just love the sound metal makes?
The little pings aren't bad but the deeper throated chunks are bad bad bad \.
Pete

[Delawhere Jack]

An 8 penny nail makes the blade go "ZING!".

A 2 1/2" round masonry nail will stop the saw head cold and sounds like a bag full of cats in a chipper. 

[Cypress Sam]

Musket balls cut easy, nails are tougher, Horseshoes are bad, and plow shanks make both sides of the band smooth.

[Dave Shepard]

Ceramic insulators are sawmill kryptonite.

[WDH]

If someone is observing you while you are operating your sawmill, there is a 100% probability that you will do something stupid or bone-headed. 

[SawyerBrown]

If someone is observing you while you are operating your sawmill, there is a 100% probability that you will do something stupid or bone-headed.

:D :D :D  That's a good one!

[Magicman]

Problem is sawing experience doesn't help or count.  We do it to ourselves.....again.   :D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

.......... bone-headed.

:D :D :D I've not heard that in a while.  :D :D :D

[GAB]

D. Jack:
I have observed that a 1/2" lag bolts affects blade performance.
Gerald

[tcg]

Two lag screws, one large nail and one ceramic insulator with lag all clustered together in one log needless to say so much for that chain.

[WDH]

If you slam a cedar slab into the back glass of your truck, it will shatter the glass, you will get mad, and you will find a picture of it on the Forestry Forum. 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

If you slam a cedar slab into the back glass of your truck, it will shatter the glass, you will get mad, and you will find a picture of it on the Forestry Forum.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[ammonbarnes]

Ya I got an earfull when my daughter started pooping wood chips

[ammonbarnes]

I have been pretty lucky not to hit to much metal but watch your dogs they make fast work of needing a new blade and with my mill the dogs don't get more than the paint peeled off

[VictorH]

Just because the jeans went through the wash does not mean the pockets are empty of sawdust.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Just because the jeans went through the wash does not mean the pockets are empty of sawdust.

Found that out this morning!

[pine]

No matter how careful you avoid the dog clamp with the blade the bolts on the bottom of the guide rail will find said dog clamp even if the dog clamp is full retracted/down and stop the guide so that the blade can find the front edge of the guide rail that blade is traveling in.
Lesson: don't leave the guide in or near the cant as you approach the bottom cut when cutting 1" boards.

[SawyerBrown]

#?: "Off-loading" means different things to different people.  My definition is: You grab the finished piece and do something with it once I push it onto the loader arms, preferably earlier.  Some people think it means grabbing "their" end of the board.  Others think it's only when they can't find anything better to do, like talk on their cell phone or visit with the passer-by.  With others, I'd categorize it more as "off-load watching". 

I guess being raised on a farm, everybody just pitched in and worked ...

[hardtailjohn]

I haven't learned it only from milling but..... I have learned that if you hold your thumb over the end of your punch or chisel when you're hitting it, it'll keep the end of the punch or chisel from mushrooming over. ;)  However, it doesn't seem to help diminish the noise level..... 
John

[backwoods sawyer]

I have learned that a 288 w long bar is no match for a 44" log when you roll the log over the saw using a cat and at that point you wish it was your thumb on the end of the chisle.
I also learned that the for sale section of the forestry forum is a good place to look for a replacement. ;)

[Brian C.]

I have learned that a hand between a log and a rail when turning a log causes one to say "ouch".

[hackberry jake]

Something I am currently learning. If you spend $45 on a moisture meter, you are better off just lighting that money on fire. I guess I'll have to fork up 3-4 hundred pretty soon.

[36 coupe]

#3,you have checked the log stops for days and weeks and the stops are always lower then the cut. The one time you fail to check the log stops,they are too high.

Ive sawed just one.Smartens you up fast.

[SPIKER]

I haven't learned it only from milling but..... I have learned that if you hold your thumb over the end of your punch or chisel when you're hitting it, it'll keep the end of the punch or chisel from mushrooming over. ;)  However, it doesn't seem to help diminish the noise level..... 
John

Been there and DONE THAT not by choice however.   Was really interesting looking into the end of my thumb and seeing the white bone sticking out  >:( smiley_carpenter_hit_thumb    Mine was trying to split the NUT on a SHOCK when swinging at flat 1/2" chisel I bumped the fender just enough with the 24oz ball peen hammer  :-[   Remarkably it barely bled at all, I grabbed the left thumb with my right hand wrapping it around it, with that sick feeling in pit of stomach & knew I messed it up good then though well humm nothing running out and don't hut THAT bad, then I opened up my right hand & took a look & almost fainted, SHOCK is ok when you still need to move somewhere...  :-\    Still little feeling on that thumb from tip to the nail bed, remarkably never lost the nail!   Still not sure if it was between the Chisel or the Ball joint that I mashed it on.... :embarassed:

Mark

[OneWithWood]

#Next.  Every now and then a customer shows up to browse through that someday pile.  They never leave without trading treasure!

[Magicman]

Ive sawed just one.Smartens you up fast.

Being smart and staying smart are two different things.   ;D   :D

[drobertson]

picking logs going down hill with a slow lift truck winds up being chase to the timber.

[WDH]

Jake,

Delmhorst J-2000X  .  It will work great with your new Nyle Kiln  .

[hackberry jake]

Jake,

Delmhorst J-2000X  .  It will work great with your new Nyle Kiln  .

I thought you were a pinless wagner guy?

[WDH]

I was for checking air dried boards, but with the kiln, I need to use the hammer attachment to get longer pins an inch into the lumber.  Can't do that with the pinless. 

I am bi-metered. 

[backwoods sawyer]

When worked in production mill we used wagner pin style with a slide hammer in the kilns and the wagner pinless to check random boards on the outfeed of the planner, and random test units, we also had an inline mioster meter with a drop out reject line as well.
The wagner pinless was by far the fastet and easiest to use. it gives a reading as soon as it is set down on a board and can take readings on 100 boards in two min. Took longer to do the paperwork on the test boards then to do the test.
Where the pin style took considerably longer to check a track full coming out of the kiln, we took four readings per unit, four units per cart, and twenty carts long, we had seven double track kilns side by side with three more double track kilns to handle the over run from these. On a hot summer day pulling and checking a freshly pulled kiln charge was a job you was glad to finish up and go to the office with ac to take care of the paperwork.

[OneWithWood]

The Lignomat D is a pinless meter for 8/4 material.  I have one and use it for quick checks on stored material.  I have both a Delmorst R2000 with a slide hammer and a Delmhorst J2000.  They all get used.  Guess that makes me tri-metered...

[WDH]

OWW,

I always knew that there was something unusual about you  :D. 

[hackberry jake]

Thanks WDH. I almost ordered a $400 wagner pinless. I found a j2000 on craigslist and ordered the slide hammer to go with it.  8)

[hackberry jake]

Darn... I thought the j2000x was just a j2000 with a slide hammer. The range on the "x" is higher. It goes from 6-60% where the regular one goes from 6-40%. Oh well. I'm sure it'll be heads and tails above el cheapo POS.

[WDH]

Yep, the X version has a greater range and is well suited for use in a kiln situation.  A number of Forum members have the J-2000.  It will do nicely.