Swingblade Heart Centered

[MSU_Keith]

I need help from the swingbladers out there. I've ordered all the literature and watched all the videos on swingblades.  I understand the concept of regular cutting and double cutting on the various models but there is one thing I could use some help understanding.  It is easy to understand double cutting a 8 x 16 beam but if you have an 8" swingblade can you cut a 12 x 12 heart centered cant without turning the log?

I can see clearing the top of a log to a line 6" up from the center with qsaw or plain saw dimensional boards, then cutting the dimensional boards out the left side but can you go deeper than 8" down without turning the log?  I don't see how the blade drops lower than the carriage 'cross bars' or am I missing something?

As a followup, how easy and accurate is it to align the log and the line of blade travel after tunring a log?

[Captain]

Keith, you just plain can't do it without turning the piece over. 

On an 8" mill, as an example, the limit of depth is truly 8".  To get a 12x12, the piece would have to be both inverted, and aligned with the blade lengthwise.

One option would be to use the mill with a clip on slabber, then cut like you would on any bandmill, turning the log.  I've seen this done where the customer prepped a cutting table with the blade first, leaving an 8" high shelf on the log, right side to act as a backstop.

Captain

[MSU_Keith]

Captain,

Thanks for the quick follow up.  I can see lots of ways to help align the log once turned using fixtures on log holding rails but turning the logs sure sounds slow and painful.

Is there a clip on slabber that can cut vertically and horizontally?  I guess the 10" mills are probably more popular for someone looking to do bigger beams.

[Captain]

Hey Keith, the slabber only cuts horizontally.

The 10" mills are popular when a customer wants to cut larger stock on a frequent basis.

For Peterson, the 8" mills outsell 10" mills about 8:1.

Captain

[Husband]

We have done this before. And yes you do have to flip the log once I'm sorry to get a piece that big :-[. If your log was 24"plus, you can get two from it with only one flip still. (If you didnt need to centre the heart that is)
It is a hole lot easier to do this with the WPF models though because of the easy 1 point sizing.
When I set up my log bunks all I do is make sure that I have a marked point or a piece of 2x4 on the bunks and when I flip that log over I can just slide the log to that reference and its lined up ready to do the next lot of cutting. This way If I had an 8" machine I can do a piece 16" x whatever the log will allow me to get from it at its widest point....moving them pieces is always the challenge ;D
The 10" machines are mainly sold to the people who are doing alot of the big cuts for obvious reasons. We try to find out from the folks as to what they are primarly going to be doing and go from there as to what will be the best machine for their use, pointless spending extra $$ on a much bigger machine when you dont need to.

Chris

[LOGDOG]

Captain and Chris make good points. I had a thought about aligning your log again after you've flipped it 180 degrees. When your saw is vertical, assuming you've got your skids anchored good and solid ( and level), it's very easy to simply score a line in the top of your wooden skids - say maybe a half inch deep. Prior to flipping the log over just clean up whichever edge is going to flip towards your score mark by taking that edge off with the blade in vertical position. Just enough to give you a good straight line that you can line up with your score marks in your log bunks. Then - (You'll like this Chris) just take your EZ Dogs and clamp that log down tight ... it's not going anywhere and it's in-line with the saw. 

LOGDOG

[Husband]

LogDog, if only you could see me now!  ;D ;D ;D.
Those EZ dogs do work great, we even done some logs, branches that were only around the 6-8" diameter and they held them well, now we just have to find them that small here in NZ to do more of them :D.
I am glad to hear that you and others who have them are enjoying the simplicity and yet great function that they provide for millers such as yourself.
All I can say is well done Jake on another great idea!! 8)