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Writing a book on sawmilling

Started by Cedarman, December 24, 2005, 08:09:05 AM

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Cedarman

There is a huge amount of small mill sawmilling information scattered about on this forum, WM magazines, other magazines, some books and in peoples heads.   Wouldn't it be nice if someone wrote a book, "You've bought a mill, not what are you going to do with it and how will you maintain it."

I'm not talking a gloss over the main things book, but a detailed book with gobs of info.  It would be more on the order of a text book.

Does anyone remember an article in the WM news about the guy who took damaged tobacco bales and sawed off the damaged part?  I remember the story, and I thing it was in the WM news.  How to solve problems and satisfy customers with a sawmill.

A detailed explanation of all the strange things woodmizer owners have done with their machine would be very informative and get the creative juices flowing.

I think getting the info in one place would be helpful.

Any good writers out there?

I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Larry

Sounds like a great idea to me...most sawing textbooks appear to be written in pre-historic times.  We our fortunate to have knowledgeable sawyers that are also good writers.  I was gonna nominate a few to write the book but we have many that could do an excellent job.

Of course if the book is written by any of the characters here it will need a food section and a humor section.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Dan_Shade

There is a wealth of information in the USDA websites.

but yes, I agree, a good book with diagrams and whatnot could help a beginner out a lot.  I know that without reading things on this forum, there are many things I'd have never known to do while sawing.
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Furby

Why don't we save time and just put together a compilation from the forum and the forum can be the author? ;)

isawlogs

 I think this forum is a big book ... There aint much that is not covered on here . If one took time to make a search he would be suprised at the info available .  ;)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Cedarman

For me there is nothing like a good book that is well indexed and I can take with me where ever I go.  Its just different.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Modat22

remember man that thy are dust.

iain

You need two copies, one for the workshop/truck/etc, and one for the throne room ;D, is there a way the forum can benifit in a monetary way?



iain

Dan_Shade

I've been pondering this some...

there is a lot of info in the knowledge base, but I don't think the knowledge base has been updated for a while, and doesn't have many pictures.

a book covering setup basics, like band tensioning, trouble shooting bandsaws, how to fold and unfold bands (with pictures), optimal board sizes from logs, how to center the pith or saw to the taper.  the same could be done with circle saws with info on hammering, swaging, grinding or filing.  A chapter could even be made for homemade saws, with particular attention shown to loading methods and cant turning and clamping.

there is probably enough info on the forum to make for a good book, it would just need edited and compiled..  hmm...

Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Dan_Shade

what we need is a student in forestry writing a thesis ;D
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Jeff

Well, in the right situation with the right person, I certainly could offer up the information on the forum to convert it to a book form. Of course the book title would have to reflect the forestry forum in some fashion. :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

isawlogs

 Theres  enough info here to make a series of books .  :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Dan_Shade

Jeff, have you seen how wikipedia.com does their articles?

we(you ;)) could set up a database with different chapter layouts, and then members could go in and edit each other's text.  i could see where that could cause a few issues, but doubtful around here, this site isn't big on ego like some are :)

but anyways, an outline could be detailed and a writeup for each bullet could be done, including pictures and all of that good stuff.  after the info is put together it could be edited into a book format, and sold via online sales of pdf files or i'd imagine it wouldn't be terribly hard to find a publisher.
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

VA-Sawyer

I've been working on this very thing for about a year. Kind of a book of things I wished I knew when I bought my saw. I was thinking about seeing if WM would market it as their saw is where I have my experience.  Maybe I need to travel to some other sawyers with other brand saws to broaden my view.
VA-Sawyer

Dan_Shade

Introduction
     History of sawmills
          Pit Saws
          Circle saws
               Water powered
               Steam powered
               Engine powered
     Logging History
          Pictures of Jeff's dragsaw collection

Safety

Sawmilling
     Bandsaws
          Saw maintenance
               Band Tension
                    Problems associated with incorrect tension
                         Too much tension
                         Too little tension
                    Airbag tensioning
                    Screw tensioning
                    Hydraulic tensioning
                    How much tension
                         Flutter method
                         Gilman's caliper method
               Band Maintainance
                    Band Sharpening
                         Commercially available sharpeners
                         Home made sharpeners
                    Band setting
                    Folding and unfolding bands
          Home made saw designs
               Sawhead designs
                    Metal wheels
                    Rubber tire wheels (car tires)
               Frame/Rail designs
                    Rigid Vs Flexible
                    Log Loading
                    Cant turning
                    Clamps
                    Backstops
                    Sawing into clamps and backstops
     Circle Saws
          Swingblades
          Conventional circle saws
          Mobile Dimension saws
          Doublecut saws
     Material Handling
          Dragbacks
          Handling flitches
          Disposing of slabs
     Chainsaw Milling
          Slabbing
          Sharpening

Urban Logging
     Metal in trees
     Loading methods
          Parbuckling
               Smashed Fenders         
          Fla. Deadheader/DanG method
          Destroyed Trailers
     Log arches

Sawing Methods (Lots of pictures and diagrams here)
     General Information
          Log Scales
          How boards are graded
          Thickness of boards
     Grade sawing
     Quarter Sawing
          Woodmizer method
          Scott Banbury method (for lack of a better term)
          Flip the face method
     Dimensional Lumber sawing
     Resawing
     Tie sawing

Food
     GrItz
          Jeff's picture of him enjoying GrItz
     Marmite
     Sweetin' water
     Maple Syrup

   
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Jeff

Wow!  Thats a lot of work accomplished already! :D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Dan_Shade

 :D

hah, there's more, that was just what was rattling off of my head

there's a lot of legwork that needs done for a book, to avoid copyright infringements and such.  but it's nothing that can't be done.

A well written book on this subject could explode the hobby of backyard sawmilling!

of course, I just put up a great outline for somebody other than me to get rich off of :-D (i'm not too worried, i don't know of any rich writer's other than stephen king)
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Cedarman

And then there is all the peripheral equipment to make the operation go smoother. I think one area that needs to be addressed is mill site organization both portable and stationary.

Then there is the whole area for another book.  "All the different ways to make money with a sawmill".  Another one could be "All the different ways to make money with your woodlot".  Most people think only of selling logs.  They forget about split rails, mushrooms, grapevines, firewood, etc.

Oh, "How to make money drying your wood"

We might have a shelf full of books when done. :P :P
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Jeff

I dont know anything about getting a project of this type going but it sure does seem like a good idea.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Coon

Dan, you forgot to include a section on tree felling, bucking, and skidding.  And then there should be something about Scaling (with all the different scales), grading, drying, and finishing lumber.  Just had to put my .02 worth into this huge text book. :D :D
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

whitey

   I like the sounds of this.  If JeffB would like to run with the book  I'll buy some stock in it.
                   Whitey          PS  I'll buy 2
you  don't have to be crazy to cut juniper but it sure helps !

Dan_Shade

Bucking, felling, and skidding could be added, but i purposefully left those topics out.  They are inherently dangerous and a mere mention in a book doesn't do justice to the work involved to do the job safely.  Also, there are numerous publications out there now that cover that topic.  however, a few paragraphs in the introduction might be of good use.

Drying and finishing are similar topics, there are books devoted to that sort of thing.  I had a blurb about grading in there.

Jeff, if we have a database that "approved" members could modify, it could get us along the way to a book :)  it could be called the forestry forum handbook, but without the food
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

WH_Conley

No food! I don't know if that would be right. ;D
Bill

isawlogs

 See I told you there would be enough to get a series going  ;D ;D ;D

  And there needs to be a camp fire chapter for the lunch break  ;) :) :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Jeff

Take a look at this.  http://www.efiction.wallflowergirl.com/index.php

Found this with a quick search but there may be something much better out there?

its a freeware program that possibly we could adapt to our needs? Maybe other s have some ideas as well. Our first step to do this would certainly be to set up the structure to hold our information.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

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