Most efficient way to make stickers

[Cypress Man]

Hi everyone.  I'm looking for advice on an efficient way to RIP stickers from my edger tailings. What are some of the ways you do it. Types of gang saws etc..

[PAmizerman]

I use my edgings to make stickers. It takes some time but I figure why burn it if I can use it.
I use a radial arm saw with a fence to cut the edgings all to 4' then run them through the table saw. It works best to have a helper return the pieces that will yield another sticker back to you. And stack the stickers. All in all it's not too bad a job.

[carykong]

Your LT70 is more efficient at making sticks than your edger.  Saw your logs in a way that minimizes edging material.    When you want sticks,saw specifically for that mission with your mill.

[Magicman]

When I need to make a huge pile of stickers I use a sacrificial log.  Square it and saw through, turn 90° and saw through.  Very fast and no lost time piddling with edgings.

[SawyerTed]

I turn a few side boards into stickers as I go if I can.  The chainsaw or skill saw cuts to length depending on the situation.  Sometimes an entire log becomes a cant and the cant becomes stickers.

[WLC]

I do as Magicman does.  Sacrifice a log.  Slab it to a cant, cut through,  turn 90°, saw to the bed.  I use a chop saw to cut to length.  Can make a pile in short order.  I generally cut mine at 4/4.

[Southside]

I do recover stickers with my edger when it's there using the right side fence, figure it reduces waste, but for volume I just sacrifice a low value log or cut a 4' piece of sweep out of a log and do as MM says. 

[pineywoods]

Add 1 small step to Magicman's method. saw a cant, saw through, flip the stack vertical, Then cut in 4 ft lengths with chainsaw,BUT stop the cut 2 inches from the bottom of the board stack. Each pass of the saw head yields a whole stack of cut to length stickers. Be prepared to work an off-bearer into the ground. So cheap and easy, I don't even charge customer for stickers..

[Sixacresand]

If cutting acuminated 1 by's:  strap a bundle together at one end, measure and mark lengths, cut with chain saw starting at end opposite of strap.  

Spend twice as much time picking them up, rehandling and stacking neatly.  

[Cypress Man]

Thanks for all the responses and advice.  My problem is that I only saw high cost cypress logs.  It would not be cost effective for me to saw the logs into stickers. On other hand, we create large piles of tailings from our edger that  makes perfect stickers but is very time consuming using the fence and eg 200 edger. Thinking of finding a 12in multi rip gang saw, that would be inexpensive to buy, that could have 4 or 5 blades to rip tailings into 1.25in wide stickers.  Anyone using this method? If so what gang saw would you recommend. 

[barbender]

Can't you get access to some lower cost wood, like pine, to saw stickers out of?

[tawilson]

Add 1 small step to Magicman's method. saw a cant, saw through, flip the stack vertical, Then cut in 4 ft lengths with chainsaw,BUT stop the cut 2 inches from the bottom of the board stack. Each pass of the saw head yields a whole stack of cut to length stickers. Be prepared to work an off-bearer into the ground. So cheap and easy, I don't even charge customer for stickers..

Okay I am going to have to try this, tomorrow.

[DPatton]

I too like the sacrificial log method when available. Stickers from edgings is slower and much more of a pain. 

[Magicman]

Since I edge on the sawmill, most of the time I can produce enough stickers by dropping down in one inch increments as I edge.


 
I do realize that I have not added anything that would be beneficial to Cypress Man.  :-\

[WV Sawmiller]

   I was about to suggest adding one step to the MM sacrificial log process of tying the boards together at one end so they will stay bundled when you cut them into stickers then to length then I realized what was going to happen the first time the blade passed through the first stack. ??? :D

   I guess it might help to stack them on upright on end in something like a 12" diameter piece of pipe or tall box as you take them off the mill, tie the ends above and below the cut and then cut them in pipe/box then go sticker them. 

[Magicman]

I just saws them and as you can see, the customer is in charge of stacking them.  :

[YellowHammer]

We used to cut our KD edging waste into stickers with a power feed and dado head to profile and cut them.  

I learned the trick from a company who also makes H profile stickers out of waste by the thousand.  They have a top and bottom 20" molder setup with a special geometry cutting blade set, it looks like a bunch of half "H" profiles, that take a board of any width and the top cutter cuts the top half of the "H"and just a hair of an inch short of meeting midway on the outside of the legs of the "H".  The bottom cutter profiles the bottom half of the "H" and the cutter just almost meets the cut along the outside leg of the "H".  So any width board can be run and out comes a board with many "H" profiled cuts and each sticker either falls off or is snapped off by hand where the two cutters basically meet on the legs of the "H".
Very effective and fast and doesn't care how wide a board is, the molder profiles both faces, whatever the width and makes "snap off stickers".  

[Cypress Man]

Thinking of trying a woodmaster gang saw but think the feed speed will be too slow. Anyone have know of a better saw?

[tule peak timber]

I used to pay a guy to stand and run endless pieces through my resaw. Then I started buying plaster lath strips from a big box store. I'm now at a point I recycle stickers and don't need anymore.

[carykong]

Cypress Man,

Your wood is high dollar as you pointed out.   If you are considering a gang rip saw,you must have plenty of edging material over 3" in width? If that is the case, you are reducing a good cypress board to its lowest value by ripping it into sticks.

Do you have a market for narrow width cypress boards under 5"?

[Brad_bb]

I've edged boards on my mill up til now and took stickers from the edgings as I'm edging.  The problem with that is you're often getting sapwood or intermittent sapwood and grain changing directions as you cut up to a defect.  Consequently as they dry, some of them will bow or warp in ways you don't want. 

So I've come to realize that for stickers in my drying stacks, I'd rather have a better quality sticker from the good wood.  After all I'll be reusing the stickers again and again hopefully, and culling any low quality ones.  So now I need stickers because I'm out.  I've got some Ash cants I'll just saw the whole things for stickers.  Ash is my most plentiful log.  I've got more than I have time to mill, so I use them for stickers in addition to milling beams and boards.  It's difficult cutting a good log you could get lumber from into "just stickers", but sometimes it must be done.

I would suggest finding some logs that are least precious to you to make a big batch of stickers from, otherwise buy stickers from someone else.  Then you don't have to slaughter some logs yourself that you're attached to.

[JustinW_NZ]

I second what Brad_BB said... bad stickers can make bad wood...
I just cut a clear log or three up like others makes GOOD stickers and use them over and over again...

I think people seem to undervalue them somewhat, OR spend a lot of time producing them from rubbish, I hate paying my worker to waste time with them...

Cheers
Justin

[bandmiller2]

I make a batch of stickers and be done with it. Stickers are a perfect use for doggie logs that have too much sweep. Frank C.