More Newbie Questions

[plaindriver]

1.)  Is it hard on a blade (pinchwise) to cut, say a 20" log in half as opposed to just cutting a 1" slab off the top? Or, do you guys ever employ a wedge when using a sawmill?
It would seem to me that cutting thicker beams would have a tendency to pinch the blade and make the mill work harder, generate more friction heat etc,


2.)  If a log has been sitting in rain for weeks, and is saturated, does the blade have to work harder to get thru it?


3.)  For making stickers- -Say I have a cant, 8x8 and, say, 5' long. Is it practical to first make ¾ slices thru, say, the first 56" or so,  then turn it 90°  and repeat? Reason for not cutting all the way thru initially is to keep it more cohesive when turning it and when making the perpendicular cuts.. Sorta tic-tac-toe style cutting. Sure seems a lot easier than cutting ¾ or 5/8" slabs then ripping in the table saw.

4.) What do the wise men do when you have a crotch in a tree as below? I was thinking to use the chainsaw to cut well below the crotch, and salvage whatever I can from the rest of the log. Use the fork for firewood, Im thinkin. The below suspect is just over 100" as is. Also, note other end gets fat in a hurry.



  

 

[customsawyer]

1. I haven't had any ill effects of a blade being pinched on a band mill.

2. Most of the logs I saw are kept under a sprinkler system till I saw them. The wetter the better.

3. I make the cuts all the way through then just turn them all 90° and saw them all again on the mill.

4. The way you cut a crotch depends on what you are trying to get out of it.

[GDinMaine]

I will just comment on #4
As Customsawyer said, it depends on what you are looking to get out of it.

If it was my log I would lay that it flat on the mill (fork parallel with mill bed) and saw it as is. One could get some very pretty lumber from that.  But then again it is not mine.  Just an idea.

[Magicman]

No, No, No, and depending upon what you want.  For framing lumber, stand it up and discard the unsawed crotch.  For figure, saw it like a pair of pants.

I try to avoid ever shortening a log.  You could easily trim $5-$10 of sawing off.   :-\

[beenthere]

Is this a chainsaw mill, and the blade is the bar?

[Tom the Sawyer]

plaindriver,

beenthere raised a good point.  Please consider putting information about your equipment in your signature line. Assuming it is a bandsaw mill, the previous answers all apply. 

Just a little comment about #3.  If it is a bandsaw mill, I wouldn't make a practice of backing out of cuts.  You are just asking for a blade disaster when the blade is pulled off the guide rollers.  I can't imagine that it would be worth the extra time to back out of a cut, much less replace a destroyed blade.  Cut them through, turn 90°, clamp and cut them through again.

[plaindriver]

Thanks to all. Some great info. "Experience trumps rank everytime"!

[two-legged-sawmill]

Hello Mark, Lots of good questions and answers, I believe
that sawing crotches horizonally is dependent on how wide
an opening you have on your guides! The more you can saw
that way the more picturerest your board will be. As MM says, it depends on what your sawing out. By the time the weather dries out you will have it down pat! You can cut out your garden stakes using the same method as your stickers!

[dboyt]

The set in the band saw teeth, plush the smooth metal behind the teeth (and lubricant) allow the blade to slide through the cut-- unlike a chain saw blade which has a set of teeth on the back side.  The only time I use wedges is if I need to back the blade out of a cut.  As you have been advised by Tom & Customsawyer, it isn't worth it to try to back the blade out each time when making stickers.  Just set the boards aside, then put them back on the mill when you have enough.  Don't try to use a table saw to cut stickers-- band mill is much faster and safer.

If you are cutting dimension lumber and not concerned about saving the figure in the crotch, trim the edges of the crotch to straighten out the log, either with a chain saw or on the sawmill, and cut parallel to or perpendicular to the crotch.  If it doesn't have included bark, you can get longer boards out of it.  Your job is to 1) figure out what you or the customer want, and 2) provide it using your skill and experience.

[plaindriver]

 2) provide it using your skill and experience.
At this point, I have approx. zero of the former and extremely little of the latter. I am working on both, and enjoying it.

At least, I passed my (bi-annual) airmans physical today, good for another two yrs.

[dboyt]

You'll pick it up as you go... fortunately most mistakes on the sawmill are non-catastrophic.  Congrats on the bi-annual, from a fellow pilot.