Whatcha Sawin' ???

[WV Sawmiller]

   About half my customers wood is poplar. The rest is a decent mix of WP, oak, Hemlock, Walnut & Cherry. I cut it at home but can't remember the last time I cut ash for a customer. Strange since they are dying all around us and makes pretty lumber.

   We don't have SYP up here and I envy you guys who do. I piddled as a mill hand a few hours for the Goat a few weeks back and watched his associate, Kirk, cutting them. They just steadily flew on and off the mill.

   Kind of strange what just 225-230 miles difference will do in the selection of woods you get called to cut.

[Peter Drouin]

So you go by the temperature to tell you what angle to saw a log?  say_what

Just make some pencil marks on the end of the log. ;D

[WDH]

Slingshot,

Your poplar is sometimes called rainbow poplar because of all the colors, especially the black.  Very desirable and more valuable than the plain green stuff.  I get calls for it.

[Crusarius]

that poplar is still a soft wood right?

[longtime lurker]

Can y'all stop complaining about the cold??? It was 45° here yesterday. Thats celcius, so 113°F. And humid like a sauna. One of the most uncomfortable days of my life.

Please pack up your snow and send it - I could use it for my drinkies. ;D

[Magicman]

that poplar is still a soft wood right? 

My definition is that Deciduous trees are "hardwoods" and Conifers are "softwoods".   Also:  LINK and  LINK

That being said, Tulip Poplar is a "soft" hardwood and there certainly are some "hard" softwoods.  Of course my "higher education" came from the school of hard knocks and I have no diploma,  :P  just scars.   ;)

[LeeB]

that poplar is still a soft wood right? 

Of course my "higher education" came from the school of hard knocks and I have no diploma,  :P  just scars.   ;)

ANd a good many of those scars self inflicted.  :

[Magicman]

You would think that I would learn, but this "second childhood" stuff is tough.  I can't jump nearly as high but the trip back down is much further and the landings are much rougher, but at least I am much more manure.   

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

You would think that I would learn, but this "second childhood" stuff is tough.  I can't jump nearly as high but the trip back down is much further and the landings are much rougher, but at least I am much more manure.   

smiley_airfreshener

[paul case]

You would think that I would learn, but this "second childhood" stuff is tough.  I can't jump nearly as high but the trip back down is much further and the landings are much rougher, but at least I am much more manure.   

smiley_airfreshener

Woooooohoo. That was a deep leap. Mature maybe?
PC

[tmbrcruiser]

The school of hard knocks usually means a bought lesson. I was once told a bought lesson last longer than a taught lesson.

[Magicman]

Yes and maturity is sometimes overlooked but manure-ity is never forgotten.   ;D

[Roxie]

 :D :D :D

[loganworks2]

Yes I have stepped off into that more than once and wondered if I would ever find the bottom

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

:D :D :D

x2

[fishfighter]

Well, the old saying, (admin edit) :D

One more cold morning to go and them just maybe I can get myself in gear and hunt. :(

Been working building cabinets. Very happy how they are coming out. ;D Bad thing is that I am almost out of firewood for the wood stove. But I do have a pile of oak trash slabs I can saw up quick. ;D

[BLink]

-14 F here, but I'll be milling today....inside(55F)!

Do you have an electric saw?
A friend has a saw inside but making an exhaust pipe to get outside has been a real challenge!!!

Any suggestions?

[BLink]

PA_Walnut,
Does the washer fluid stain lighter woods?

[paul case]

I always wondered if you could rig up to send your exhaust out your sawdust blower?

PC

[Southside]

Paul - ever see those little glowing sparks that come out once in a while when sawing at dusk?  I don't think the mixture of those and sawdust would be a good thing.  Now install a dedicated exhaust fan and I think it would be OK. 

[Delawhere Jack]

Today was extra hard, hard maple. Its been in the deep freezer for the last week. Should be about 0°F all the way through by now.  :D Surprisingly, the CAT fired up after sitting about six weeks. I put the jumpers on off the Jeep just for a little insurance, and it popped off right away.  Then it stalled, as the CATs are known to do.  :D A couple more start/stops with the throttle held open and It was idling by itself.  It was @18°F today. Almost balmy.  ;D

Crotched maple with included bark.

Curious, why did you draw Poston's head on the end of that log? 

[paul case]

Yeah I have seen those sparks and they go right in the sawdust blower and outside into a wet pile of sawdust. If it was dry dust maybe...maybe?? I just have not seen it. I knew a mill that blew their sawdust into a pit that their slabs and dust burned in. No problem roe them.
All of this will not be a problem for me as I am set up electric.

Just wondering.

PC

[PA_Walnut]

BLink,
No staining with washer fluid that I've seen. Its gonna be my summer mix now too! Works great! 8)

[Brad_bb]

I sawed screws and grubs today.  Slabbing the 4th side of this Green Ash log I hear the classic "Zing!" and see some sparks.  I got through it and decided to see if I could finish the cut but 6 inches later "Zing!".  Wedged the slab up and backed out.  I used my brand newly restored Axe from Thrane Axe and Saws to chop the slab off.  Nice having a proper and sharp axe. Drilled around the two offenders and pulled them out with the slapper whacker (Crescent nail puller).  They looked like drywall screws. 


 
I used the garret metal detector but couldn't find any more metal.  I used the axe to juggle and hew the rest of the slab off to make sure there were no more screws. 


 
I did find a lot of grubs.  I figure this log has sat in my log yard since the early spring and who knows how long in my supplier's yard before that, hence one reason why it was so infested.  These are not EAB. These are in the sapwood tunneling.  2.5" to 3" deep all they way around the log.  The outside 5/4 boards will be "character boards" full of tunnels.  Anyone know what kind of beetle grubs these are? They are 1/2" to 5/8" long and a hair over 1/8" in dia.  There were alot of them.  None of my Ash logs in the last 3 years have had these grubs.


 

As I was changing the band I did something dumb.  I held the new band in one hand and tried taking the old one off with the other and lost control of the old one, hitting me in the forehead and nose with the teeth.  Left some scratches and really hurt but no serious bleeding.  And the cherry on top was when i went to chainsaw the slabs in the slab rack (into firewood length), i hit the same screw with the chainsaw and more sparks and a chain to sharpen! Just one of those days! I only got 5 2x8's from the heart of this log, but with crotch feather on one end, plus my  6 outer 5/4 character boards 8-12" wide.

[Night hawk]

Hello Brad,  I've seen something similar up here in Alberta Canada. My guess is them grubs are Asian longhorn or white spotted sawyer beetle larva, emerald borer or fishin bait ? Been called "One of the most destructive forest pests to have entered Canada". I thought they only attacked spruce but ya know what thought did haha.