Up a Running

[Firebass]

Thanks all for all the tips.  I have my mill up and running and each day brings a whole new adventure.  Today's lesson was a stressed log.   blade starts pinching and I have not a clue what to do but shut it down before I cook my blade.  I ended up back cutting the board I was cutting just to get it of the log.  Any tips on this would be greatly appreciated.
[/img]

Firebass

[red]

Hi

Sounds like you did real good !

reading a log is an art

and after a few hundred  hours you will be just fine

until then just keep being safe

[Steve]

Under similar circumstances, although with a different mill, I used long wedges that I made and inserted into the cut.
Make them 3 or 4 feet long so you can reach the log from where you operate.

[brdmkr]

The wedges really do help.  When I am cutting hardwood, I will carry a couple of nail pullers (it is late and I can't remember what the car called, but they are sort of a mini crowbar).  I put these in the kerf to keep it from closing up.  Also, the pinching generally occurs in the wide dimension.  So, I try to cut that first, leaving the narrow dimenision  to help hold things in place.  For example, if I am cutting 1 x 6 with the 6" being the vertical cut, I will cut the vertical cut first, then as I am cutting the horizontal I'll put the wedges in.  It seems to help, but it could just be my imagination .

[solidwoods]

Many milling cuts can bind a blade, like splitting the pith on lg. dia. log, or 2" th. or more cut, or wide cuts (especially completing the cut on the big end of a lg. dia. flared butt log)

Warp.
Dry logs can be a cause (always cut as fresh a log as you can)
Hickory , dry white oak and some others, small dia logs, curved logs, can have stress.

If your mill has a blade pressure gage, you'll see the psi. drop off as the blade heats up,,  if left uncorrected, the situation will get worse.

If you use a 3/4 space,, try 7/8 (don't know your mill specs)
jim

[Jim_Wahl]

Another thing you can try is, if you were cutting boards vertically, switch to horizontal,
or vice versa, until you get past the tension wood.

[Captain]

Wedges are helpful.  I use the tactic Jim is referring to; that is cutting perpandicular to the stress.  In addition, I will usually make as series of cuts in that direction (example, a bunch of vertical grooves) to relieve the stress, then cut the boards free with a horizontal pass or two...however many it takes.  I have also run into situations where 2 step cuts of half the desired width/depth have been necessary due to stress.

Captain