First logs

[Wade]

  Hey Everyone,
   I milled up my first logs today. ;D ;D ;D ;D Nobody told me this was hard work! I loved every minute of it! I have a new respect for you boys that don't have hyds. I cut a walnut, ash and red oak. I don't think I did too bad, though I probably did'nt get the recovery I should have. There's a few boards of different thickness. I was trying to get the hang of the accuset. No sawn dogs or ruined blades, so I guess I did ok. 8) I am very happy that I went with the WM as it seems to be a top notch mill.
 I have a question. The ash tree had a pretty good taper to it. I tried to remember the advice here about taper sawing. The log was about 16' long. On the bottom 4-5' of some of the boards I had 1/4 sawn grain on the left witch turned to plain sawn in the middle and then went to 1/4 sawn on the right side at the top. Is this common with tapered logs, or did I just not saw it right? Also, on the walnut log I opened what looked to be the worst face and then turned it 180. This second face turned out to be almost flawless so I kept on sawing to the pith where I finally got some minor defects. I was getting some nice 18" boards and didnt want to stop. Is that ok or should I have turned it to release tension ( witch there did'nt seem to be much)? Sorry this is so long. I have a lot more questions but I'll wait til later to ask. Thanks Wade

[Ron Wenrich]

There are 2 ways of handling taper.  One way is to center the heart.  The other way is to take all of your taper out of the log and force it to the center.

A lot will depend on how much taper there is in the log.  I can only get rid of about 4 inches of taper.  A really big bell will limit my options.

Another thing is to determine log grade.  I will center most of my logs.  For higher quality logs, you might want to take your taper all the way out so you can get longer clean boards.

I don't turn my logs very much, but, then I'm a production sawyer.  I also have pretty decent hydraulics that will hold a log pretty good and I won't have that much of a problem with tension.  

I saw until the grade starts to give out.  I also don't chase low grade boards like some mills do.  I also have a good cant and tie market.

Tension will be different from species to species and from tree to tree.  A lot depends on how the tree was grown and the wood characteristics.

You have just begun your learning curve.   ;D

[Bibbyman]

Sounds like your off to a great start. Keep a good sharp blade on your mill and watch that your main drive belt stays in adjustment and you'll do fine.

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Walnut is pretty stable most of the time and you can get away with that.  How ever had the 2 faces 90 degrees from the good face had any good boards you  messed them up by cutting to the pith.  You should try to take a board or two from each face and then saw from the best.  Also this will cut down on your edging.  A big bell and alot of taper are hard to deal with.  On ash I would not sweat it to much as it is a poor market.  Now on red oak and such it pays to look at what you're doing.  You will know you are sawing when you hear the sound of steel on steel.
  Woods like hickory will have to be turned offten or they will jump off the mill.
ARKANSAWYER

[J Beyer]

Hickory has that much tension tht you sometimes have to turn it every board?

JB

[Jeff]

Hickory has so much tension that if left in the sun in the log yard it will quarter itself into log length firewood.

[woodmills1]

i cut some hickory once that had so much tension the board I was cutting darn near curled up and hit me in the head walkin with the mill.  put that board on the bottem of a 12 foot high stack and it still made the pile springy.  had to cut it into shorts and it still moved when ripping.  ended up with 2" strips.  but it sure was pretty. :D

[J Beyer]

For the woods that wade is milling, Ash, Walnut, Red Oak, I'm assuming that these woods are quite nice to mill and stay relatively flat.  From the little ash that I milled with the chainsaw, it stayed flat and straight except for the logs that had the pith off-center.  After shed air-drying, I re-ripped the "curved" boards on my table saw (the boards were 48" or less) and they came out straight.

JB