Sawing spruce again

[ladylake]

Sawing spruce yesterday again, a brand new 7/8  10° blade was up and down some but not terrible in not real wide spruce around 12", then I put on a 4°  3/4 tooth  resharpened blade with way better results,
way better but still not quite perfect as when pushing to hard in the wider cuts I'd still get a wave but not very often and I cut about 10 logs with the same blade... Those 3/4 pitch blades do work better in spruce.   Steve

[red oaks lumber]

spruce, there's a oops from mother nature

[Peter Drouin]

Spruce is easy if green, But dry is a pith  :D

[Bruno of NH]

I too was cutting spruce today .
Full of knots was like milling steel .logs have been cut for 3 years .
I'm new to milling my next logs are hemlock I hope they mill better .
Jim Bruno of NH

[petefrom bearswamp]

Jim, you will find Hemlock a lot friendlier than Spruce.
Blades will wander over the knots, but not make the wavy boards that seem to come from Spruce.
pete

[Peter Drouin]

If the blades are sharp they cut flat. Pete try the 1 1/4 55 7°

[thecfarm]

Hemlock cuts mighty nice on a Thomas. I just use the 10° blades. Not saying that is what to use,just saying that is what I use.
Those hemlock will peel mighty easy this time of year too. I run the saw just through the bark the whole lenght of the log. Than I use a tire wrench to work under the bark. I need something better,wider,but it works mighty nice and quick too.

[nk14zp]

Make a spud from a piece of old leaf spring.

[thecfarm]

It's on my list. If I was doing more of it,I would make one. I think my Father loaned his out to one of my brothers,about 30 years ago. Who knows where it is now.

[47sawdust]

I've been peeling fresh pine logs this week.I use a spud I made out of a leaf spring with a slight curve.I sharpened it on 3 sides and  welded it to a 20'' piece of pipe.Man the peeling goes pretty good this time of year.A debarked log can be pretty slippery,not always a good thing.

[thecfarm]

That bark,shiney side up will find you in a heap on the ground mighty quick too.  ;)

[bandmiller2]

Ray, when I want to peel any log I grab an old roofers tool designed to replace roof shingles. Don't know the proper name but its long with an offset handle and slight curve designed to go under a shingle and hook and pull the nail. I use it upside down and it follows the curve of the log, best bark stripper I've ever used. Frank C.

[thecfarm]

I know what you mean,never used one,but have seen them. I need to get some more stuff done around here. The "stuff"never really gets "done".  :D  I need to get up in the woods and get some hemlock out. I might built the wife a small sugar shack. I might even built a spud. I have all the stuff kicking around here. Just have to fo it.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Peter, I have used the .055 7 degree blades better but still not great.
This was in plantation grown Norway.

[Brucer]

Several years back I was asked to resaw some 22" dry Spruce cants. You could surf on the waves. My only blade back then was the 1-1/4, .045, 10°, 7/8 pitch. Nothing I did could solve the problem -- brand new blades, realigned the mill, flooded the blade with lube, sawing at a crawl. The customer was not happy, but he could see I was doing everything possible to get a decent cut.

I spoke to WM about it and they suggested I try the new 7° blades, in 1-1/2" width. Same thickness, same pitch. Those made all the difference.

I've never been asked to saw Spruce again, but it's nice to know about the 3/4" pitch. Never know when someone is going to drop by with something unusual.

[roger 4400]

Hi. I also use a 1 1/4  3/4  10 degrees on a Baker mill, I go slow and have no wavy boards with spruce. Last year I had 2 big spruces 24 in. from which I had 25  full 2X12 17 ft long without problems. Good luck.