Dogging Problem

[TimW]

I sawed my first two 10 foot pine logs Sunday.  These 2 logs, counting my training log I cut at the dealership before delivery makes 3 logs total on the mill.  I was showing my friend how to use the Simple Set to bump down to the next cut.  I was having sooo much fun, I didn't try a cant.  But kept cutting down 2 inch slabs, to show him how to edge boards.

Went I went to edge them, they were a hair off of square.  The 2 inch thick slab would not get tight when running the dog in.  If I did it at the top of the board, the ram shaft would hit the board just a hair before the flat side of the "D" shaped dog would grip the board.  If I did it at the bottom of the board, it would wiggle at the top.

This was about a 14 inch wide slab on it's side.  Either way, dog high or dog low, I have enough wiggle to make the cut just a hair off of square.  All my edge cuts on my two inch thick boards are off square enough to see without a square.  Seems like the dog needs some adjustment to make it truly plumb.

This is frustrating on a brand new machine while trying to learn how to use it.  I made a note to buy two, 2 inch square aluminum tubes like MM has to support a square at a backstop to check the backstops for square across the bunks.

Also, how in the heck do you get Simple Set to do what you want.  My instruction book is short on explaining and/or left a step out.  I have no idea.
hugs,  Brandi

[kelLOGg]

Sorry I can't help with your post but I recognize your user name as a contributor on TBN. Welcome to FF. Both are great sites.
Bob

[TimW]

Sorry I can't help with your post but I recognize your user name as a contributor on TBN. Welcome to FF. Both are great sites.
Bob
;D  Yep, I've been there awhile.
hugs,  Brandi

[bandmiller2]

Brandi, what are you doing up after 1 am sawyers need their sleep no wonder your boards are askew. Be prepared to constantly check and adjust mill parts. Sometimes when making a lot of cuts from a round log (aren't they all) they shift slightly I like to have one flat side on the mill bunkers. Frank C.

[Magicman]

Clamping only flitches and keeping them exactly square can be difficult or sometimes impossible.  Depending upon the resulting board's intended use, slightly off square is sometimes acceptable. 

Leaving an unsawn cant on the bed and clamping the flitches against it is commonly done to give the wiggly flitches something solid to be clamped against.

[WV Sawmiller]

Brandi,

   I am not sure I am totally following your issue here but if the out of square is coming while edging I find my mill does not clamp flitches tightly that are 2" or under so I shim them up by adding another 4/4 between the clamp and the flitch. Marty Parsons showed me the trick of laying a 1X4 on its side to clamp a single 4/4 board. Of course this works best if the side on the bed rails has already been squared. Laying the 4/4 board on its side puts clamping pressure on a longer section of the flitch rather than just in the center.

   Normally I edge against a square cant. I stop cutting boards when my cant gets down to about 4" thick. When I am finished edging I resume cutting the cant into boards to the rails. Obviously that would not work in the case you describe when you just cut through and through for the entire cant.

   Not sure on your question about the Simple Set. I set my SS 1/8" thicker than the cut I want to make and it works great. Example: If I want 1-1/4" thick boards I set my SS at 1-3/8". I have even made a cheat sheet showing which mark to start on for the 4th face for each thickness board I will cut so I end on a final board exactly that thickness. This saves me one cut on almost every cant.

    Hope that helps.

[GAB]

Brandi:
Not knowing what you have for a mill I think WV Sawmiller has answered your question or concern.
I usually have  a piece like 2" to 3" x 3" to 4" x a few feet long handy to use as a spacer if I am going to try and edge less than the minimum clamping thickness.
If you look under WV Sawmiller's post there is some information if you care to and would do the same it might help some of us to help you in the future.
Wishing you some more happy sawing.
I believe the "cure" for a sawdust addiction is more sawdust.
Gerald

[TimW]

Brandi, what are you doing up after 1 am sawyers need their sleep no wonder your boards are askew. Be prepared to constantly check and adjust mill parts. Sometimes when making a lot of cuts from a round log (aren't they all) they shift slightly I like to have one flat side on the mill bunkers. Frank C.

Frank,
I work nights for a major Texas airline.  4 nights a week.
hugs,  Brandi

[TimW]

Clamping only flitches and keeping them exactly square can be difficult or sometimes impossible.  Depending upon the resulting board's intended use, slightly off square is sometimes acceptable.  

Leaving an unsawn cant on the bed and clamping the flitches against it is commonly done to give the wiggly flitches something solid to be clamped against.

Thanks MM.  I stick to cants when I can in the future.
hugs,  Brandi

[TimW]

Brandi,

  I am not sure I am totally following your issue here but if the out of square is coming while edging I find my mill does not clamp flitches tightly that are 2" or under so I shim them up by adding another 4/4 between the clamp and the flitch. Marty Parsons showed me the trick of laying a 1X4 on its side to clamp a single 4/4 board. Of course this works best if the side on the bed rails has already been squared. Laying the 4/4 board on its side puts clamping pressure on a longer section of the flitch rather than just in the center.

  Normally I edge against a square cant. I stop cutting boards when my cant gets down to about 4" thick. When I am finished edging I resume cutting the cant into boards to the rails. Obviously that would not work in the case you describe when you just cut through and through for the entire cant.

  Not sure on your question about the Simple Set. I set my SS 1/8" thicker than the cut I want to make and it works great. Example: If I want 1-1/4" thick boards I set my SS at 1-3/8". I have even made a cheat sheet showing which mark to start on for the 4th face for each thickness board I will cut so I end on a final board exactly that thickness. This saves me one cut on almost every cant.

   Hope that helps.
WV,
I will try the 4/4 next time.
On Simple Set, I think I got it figured out.
hugs,  Brandi

[TimW]

Brandi:
Not knowing what you have for a mill I think WV Sawmiller has answered your question or concern.
I usually have  a piece like 2" to 3" x 3" to 4" x a few feet long handy to use as a spacer if I am going to try and edge less than the minimum clamping thickness.
If you look under WV Sawmiller's post there is some information if you care to and would do the same it might help some of us to help you in the future.
Wishing you some more happy sawing.
I believe the "cure" for a sawdust addiction is more sawdust.
Gerald
Gerald,
           I have a LT40HD with the 35 horse Yanmar diesel.  What is the minimum clamping thickness?
           I am addicted to all of it.  Well the sawdust, sticking to me on a hot August day in Southeast Texas, not so much.  Just gotta get the basics into a routine.
          Another name for sawdust is man glitter, so Y'all can have that part of it!
hugs,  Brandi

[GAB]

Brandi:
I do not know the exact dimension.
It is somewhere in the 2" area.
If I am edging 2" or less I use a spacer.
Enjoy,
Gerald

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'm like Gerald - 2" or less gets shimmed. I find a 2" board or flitch is not as tight in the clamps as I'd prefer.

[Magicman]

 

 
My "Stick" always travels with me.  2½" White Oak seen here with the broken Cherry stick on the left.  It's a Tool and I paint the red stripes so that it doesn't get discarded or put in the sticker pile.

It serves me well as a spacer when there are too few flitches to support themselves or be firmly clamped.

[SawyerTed]

Magicman, I like the idea of painting the spacer/clamping cant.  I've been sawing them up as I go, usually into stickers.  

[TimW]

Gerald, WV, MM,
Thanks.  I will now use a dedicated board (like MM does) for clamping.  I got some huge oaks (pretty sure Red Oak) to dig up in the next few weeks and make one then.  Until then, a pine 2x3 will have to do.  So I am gonna try some quarter sawing with the oak.

MM, where did you get your square tubes to check your backstops for square.  I didn't wanna buy 21 feet of it for $95 at the steel mill supply in town.  Couldn't find 2 inch at Tractor Supply or Lowes, so I bought 2, three foot long ONE inch square alum. tubes from Lowes this morning.
hugs,  Brandi

[Magicman]

Sorry Brandi, but that square tubing was salvaged from a scrap pile almost 15 years ago.  There is no downward pressure on them so the 1" may work as long as they can be safely stored.  The walls on the 1" may be too thin to be stable.

Mine are 1¼"X about 1/8" thick.  You could use steel tubing but it would need painting to prevent rust.

[TimW]

Thanks MM.  I will use them until I can find 2 inch in a reasonable length.
hugs,  Brandi

[bandmiller2]

Instead of trying to find a striate tube why not buy a carpenters level of the desired length, it can be used for other things around the mill too. Frank C. 

[TimW]

Then you would need to buy two higher quality levels.  I was looking at magnetic levels and saw the lower end price ones and they were plastic.  You can twist them.  No thanks.
I have two straight tubes.  I just want beefier ones.
hugs,  Brandi

[charles mann]

Gerald, WV, MM,
Thanks.  I will now use a dedicated board (like MM does) for clamping.  I got some huge oaks (pretty sure Red Oak) to dig up in the next few weeks and make one then.  Until then, a pine 2x3 will have to do.  So I am gonna try some quarter sawing with the oak.

MM, where did you get your square tubes to check your backstops for square.  I didn't wanna buy 21 feet of it for $95 at the steel mill supply in town.  Couldn't find 2 inch at Tractor Supply or Lowes, so I bought 2, three foot long ONE inch square alum. tubes from Lowes this morning.
hugs,  Brandi

i bought a 20 foot stick of 2" x 2" x 1/4" wall square tubing and when i laided it on my trailers frame, the tubing was bent, about 3/16" bow in it. i inquired about the straightness from the machine shop where i got it, and he said 3/16"!!!!!, thinking he agreed, that was a lot, but to my surprise, he said that wasn't much and he could straighten it for me if i wanted. since welding rod and a torch can fix most metal issues, i opted out of his services. point I'm making it, not all metal can be used as an accurate squaring tool. unless it it machined to square. you might try finding a machine shop with a stock of metal and buy 1 1/2" square stock and have them machine it to square, and sometimes those shops will sell you the length you need, instead of buying a full stick.

[Crusarius]

If you want straight and square your best bet is aluminum extrusions. much more accurate than a hot steel rolling and welding process.

That 20' stick of 2x2 you bought will have a at least a 1/2" bow just by picking it up in the center.