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Who does this regularly?

Started by kelLOGg, October 24, 2013, 09:42:07 PM

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kelLOGg

 

 

I screw up far less if I actually sketch the pattern I want to saw on the small end. If I don't I'll get confused as to the orientation I intend to saw. For you guys who are experienced in production work are you able to keep the pattern in mind even after rotation? I certainly can't. Here I am sawiing 2 x 4s out of a 12" SYP. I got 10 but a couple had wane on them but are still OK by me. The downside is that there is more slab handling.

With the new Digital Readout device I recently added it makes measuring relative to the pith easy.  Cutting the above pattern would be cumbersome without it.
Bob
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Peter Drouin

A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Magicman

Sorry no, because I am not going to spend that much time turning and splitting, but I would easily get the same number of 2X4's.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Deese

I think I will try that this weekend. Thanks for posting this.
2004 LT40 Super 51hp w/6' bed extension
Cooks AE4P Edger
Cat Claw sharpener/Dual Tooth Setter
Kubota svl75-2 skidsteer w/grapple, forks, brushcutter
1977 Log Hog Knuckleboom loader/truck

POSTON WIDEHEAD

I'm regular, but I don't do logs.  ;D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

drobertson

KelLog, did that years ago, nothing wrong with it, if it works, go for it.  I set the pattern to 2" drops parallel to the sweep. and another to 2" drops to 4" on the other two faces.  Keeping the heart centered on the cant size may require a 1" drop to remain centered. On the second and fourth face, take the flitches to the side and finish the cant to 4".  Saw down the heart centered 2x's,  The remaining flitches will be trimmed of wane, then spit to obtain any additional 2x combination.  Some work out for two 2x4's, others will make real nice 2x6's.
Keep in mind this is for the avg. size you mentioned, 12", I saw my 2" drop down to around 8-1/2", this will allow for trimming of stressed flitches that will then be then spit giving 2, 2x4's.
Minimal waste, and very straight, stress relieved boards.  Once the process is locked in, a very speedy process.
the numbers will be locked in your head, and the need for figuring will be a small issue.  It just takes time and adjustments, Just remember Reactive logs are just that, a problem child, take the good with the bad and love every minute of it.    david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

JustinW_NZ

I do this yes on big wood that i'm quarter sawing, as I cut the cants out first.
Helps me get the best out of the expensive logs.

I figure 1 or two minutes coming up with a plan for the more expensive stuff that's premeasured is good.

Cheers
Justin
Gear I run;
Woodmizer LT40 Super, Treefarmer C4D, 10ton wheel loader.

scsmith42

Bob, I do it all the time when quartersawing big logs (over 36"). 

I've found that if I study the medullary rays closely before milling, I can mark out the best cuts to intersect the rays.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

backwoods sawyer

If the customer is real talkative, I will make a couple horizontal lines for quick reference to the log orientation,
If the customer is real curious I will add a few lines so he can get the jest of  how the pattern will work out. Also good for training a sawyer as you float back and forth between making cuts.

Some customers like to make a plan for certain logs, others arrive with a full layout like yours, but that is usually bowl turners on hardwoods.

If it works use it!!!
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

5quarter

Bob...Like Justin and Smitty, I mark out a pattern on big hardwoods, esp when QSing. Funny thing is that I often change my pattern based on what is showing.
What is this leisure time of which you speak?
Blue Harbor Refinishing

delvis

Only done this quarter sawing.  Otherwise I just square it up and either saw through the heart or around it depending on what the customer wants.
If I never saw another board I will at least die happy having spent the last few years working with my dad!

Brucer

Most of the time I'm cutting beams out of the centre of the log. It the beam is rectangular I'll simply draw a line across the end of the log parallel to the longest dimension. If I'm sawing FOHC I'll do the same thing, drawing the line through the center and between the two timbers.

It's not fancy or time consuming -- as I'm making my opening cut I'll just swipe a lumber crayon across the end of the log when I walk past it.

Once in a long while I'll end up taking several different sized pieces out of a log and once in a while I'll draw a line or two to remind me what comes from where. I wouldn't normally measure the lines -- just sketch a picture of what I intend to do.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

downsouth

I do as brucer does, just take a log crayon and make a line on the end to remind me witch way is up or down, and usually make the rest up as I go.
But whatever works.

Bandmill Bandit

Idid it a lot when I first started milling but now I just do it to show a customer an idea of what his logs will give him. Some customers still look at me like I am crazy whne it drawn but then i never did claim to be and artist.

Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Brucer

I did it today. I was trying to get several specific sizes of material out of a customer's Douglas-Fir. It had been laying on the ground for several years and the sapwood had started to decay. There was quite a bit more decay on the side that had been in contact with the ground. So ...

I took a trial cut on all four faces that would get me just below the sapwood. Then I tested the wood on each face to see how deep the decay had gone. I then chose a sawing configuration that would get me the most pieces out of the sound wood. A quick diagram on the end of the log showed reminded me what I was planning to do on each face.

I didn't try to draw it to scale -- just a few quick lines so's I would remember how the cant was oriented. Took me about 5 minutes total and got me 50% more recovery than I was expecting.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

kderby

I used to do this when I was gaining my "sea legs."  Now, I have a better eye. ;D  Brucer demonstrated today, taking the time to plan can have its rewards, even for experienced sawyers.  Do it on the higher value material and push the lower value stuff on through the machine.

I also do this when prepping logs, for orientation purposes.  Usually just a couple lines that help me line up the first cut.  That lets me avoid or emphasize features of the log like sweep, knots or other damage.  This "thinking" while doing the prep means the log comes onto the mill ready to be milled.  My lines are laid out where the saw blade is to enter the log (horizontal once the log is on the mill and clamped).

Kderby 

Meadows Miller

Gday

I am doing it quite regularly of late training a couple of young blokes  ;) I if they cant cut good timber in consistent volumes with the Lucas they are in trouble  :)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

dboyt

Not a bad idea.  It gives some potential patterns that you might not have thought of, but it can also mean more turning and edging the way you have it laid out.  If you absolutely need to maximize the number of 2x4s, that would be the way to go.  If you have use for 4/4 lumber and other widths, you will find efficient patterns based on squaring the log to a cant.  As has been posted, use what works!  You will develop an eye for patterns with experience.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

Finn1903

I do something like that when I am cutting a customers log with the customer standing over my shoulder.  I take out my black paint crayon and mark approximently what we can get out of the log based on what they would like to get.
WM LT40HDD47, bunch of saws, tractor, backhoe, and a loving wife.

longtime lurker

Using the Lucas I often do a quick crayon scratch on the end if I'm chasing something thats a bit hard to get from the log...  say if I'm chasing x 8" from an 18" diameter log I'll put a crayon mark 4" above the heart as a "roll around about this point" marker. Do I really need to...No. I seem to not need that when breaking down on the canadian twin but y'know... it takes me a second or two and it's become a habit.  I can't get volume with the lucas so I tend to try to get what I can in the sizes I need with more care.
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

JustinW_NZ

Sorry to bring up an old'ish' thread, but I was milling in the weekend and when I was doing this I remembered this thread for some reason.



This was quarter sawing some large eycalyptus which you can see I mark with the crayon to make sure i'm always cutting the grain the best way without having to stop and eyeball it once started.
This was a large log that required the barrel sawing or 'bibbying' method to get to the point where I could split it apart and get rid of the pith and cut these nice wide quatered boards out of it.

Cheers
Justin
Gear I run;
Woodmizer LT40 Super, Treefarmer C4D, 10ton wheel loader.

terrifictimbersllc

Quote from: JustinW_NZ on November 10, 2013, 04:49:27 PM
Sorry to bring up an old'ish' thread, but I was milling in the weekend and when I was doing this I remembered this thread for some reason.



This was quarter sawing some large eycalyptus which you can see I mark with the crayon to make sure i'm always cutting the grain the best way without having to stop and eyeball it once started.
This was a large log that required the barrel sawing or 'bibbying' method to get to the point where I could split it apart and get rid of the pith and cut these nice wide quatered boards out of it.

Cheers
Justin
Put away the crayons.  Those checks are at right angles to the growth rings!   Yours is a great photo to see this. Not that I have great wisdom in this matter.   I learned it just the other week,  while quartersawing white oak for wine barrels.   

While I was toiling and straining to look at the rings, the guy standing next to me, told me to look at the checks, and saw parallel to them.  Wow.  Makes it a lot easier!

Turned out the "guy" was the owner of a Romanian barrel making company who knew a lot about white oak.

The rest of the day I found it much easier  to decide where to cut the logs, and how to tilt leftover pieces to establish a new cut at 90 degrees to the growth rings.

Now I have mixed feelings about using Anchorseal for logs to be quarter sawn! 
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

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