OK Furby...Here is the scoop

[oakiemac]

Well, I stopped by ken's new mill yard yesterday to buy some Hard Maple logs. Ended up buying 1000bf of veneer rejects. Very good logs but the price was a little steep so I'm hoping that with the extra quality of the logs that I can make some money on the deal.

Meet Ken's partner shawn. A very nice guy and they have a great setup. Ken has 2 nice mill sheds and a log pile that would make anyone jealous. He has mountains of walnut and maple ready to be cut.

Thanks Ken for showing me around and I'll be back to get some white oak in a month or so.

[hawby]

Thanks for the kind remarks guys...

Yes there is a mountain of logs. That is what happens when the cutting crew can do 50Mbdft / week and the sawing crew is struggling to get to 10Mbdft  :-\  (This is Hard Maple ...frozen up until this week. I am anxious to start on the Cherry) That is one of my management dilemmas to get the matchup of personnel such that we can get the grading done, yet keep sawing. I have decided to add some HS guys that seem to have an interest in this type of work, to assist the grader. In fact our HS has an LT40 Super, so there is some actual training and career assessment happening there. By adding these guys, I hope to keep the bands in the logs longer.

My other option is to sell the LT40 and get a resaw instead. I am leaning this direction, but the capital is the sticking point. I am investigating some funding from the State for economic development and job creation. We'll see what kinda "mountain" that involves... paperwork one for sure  :'(

Then I need to consider if the 70 will be able to create cants at a rate that can keep up with the resaw.  ???

Dewey, I love the 70. It is fairly quiet, very powerful and smooth. I seem to have found the way to saw Hard Maple and get it to be fairly straight. (4 degree, 0.055 blades) Little more kerf and sawdust than I like, but you can't argue with the results. The resharps ( done by Dad Hawby) Seem to be hit or miss. Some will cut like a new blade... others DIVE immediately  >:( Feed rate is critical in the frozen stuff.

Biggest disappointment???? So much sawdust that doesn't go out the chute. I have a few mods in mind for curing that, but right now production is the key priority. One of the guys at Woodmizer said I should be able to saw 6000 bdft a day. I dunt thinks he has sawn frozen hard maple before..... It is so frustrating when the sawdust freezes in place on the board. makes it hard to "grade" the best face. The sawyer can see streaking from a knot or rot hole, but not the subtle grains, or even the brown. I would really like to eliminate the sawdust issue... and the grader asks EVERY time if I have come up with a solution.... It would speed grading if we could eliminate the sweeping of the packs during the grading sessions.

The electric motor is such an improvement. No surge form the govenor. Steady and consistant are the first words to come to mind. I really wish there was a clutch though. I know that Woodmizer claims that it is a low-Delta motor, but it would just be so much nicer to have an Autoclutch to switch in and out instead of shutting the motor on-off during log rollup. I also wonder what kind of blade life increase I could get if I had one  ??? ( Boss says the electric bill saw a $600 increase for the first month, but that is hard to say it is all mill or not. CP estimates some months so it could be a catch up month  : We will monitor the situation there.) WMZER says that I should run 2 hours with the blade, then change it out regardless of bdft. I tend to go the 2 hours if I can, then I watch for subtle changes in sound pitch or waviness in the cut. If the resharp was a little more consistant, I would just pull 'em at 2 hours. I was a little reluctant to just start sending the blades into Resharp at 2 hours use. Figured I was looking at $21k + for a years sawing. I am hoping to be able to get 3-5 sharpings before needing to send them in for reman. I'll know better when I get a few more sharpenings into the mix.

If the Orange guys are monitoring this... I have some mods I would suggest offline if you are interested. ( Other than the clutch  ;D)

Overall... great machine. As one of the guys that stopped by to watch said, "That is the niftiest machine I have EVER seen work!" I can imagine that a skilled sawyer could really crank out some grade on it. I on the other hand am learning on an hourly basis. So far... I would give myself a C+ and the machine an A-.

If I can ever find a moment of time again, I will try to get some pics of the yard and mill setup in my gallery. Right now I am busy sawing, grading, loading, unloading, and studying for my CDL, doing payroll, guiding employees, and trying to make payments. Did I mention I retired last year?

[oakiemac]

Ken, I know you are busy and putting in long hard hours but if you are like me I believe that running your own buisness is many times more rewarding then working in corporate America. If it seems over whelming at times just think back to your days at the pill plant. That ought to put a smile to your face ;D
Remember those managers that know everything? They even know more about your job then you did?
Anyways good luck and I think you have a good operation going.

Steve

[dewwood]

Stopped by Hawby's mill site today, he is a very busy man.  Has a real nice setup where he is and no shortage of logs.  There were enough logs there to keep him busy for quite awhile.  I was envious of his new 70 mill, probably a mistake on my part to stop and look.  Having a nice loader there to do all of the moving of materials was also a nice plus.

Hope you can work something out on the resaw Ken, if you would like to look at one I am sure I could set up a time to stop at Fricks and take a look at their mill.  They have a pretty nice operation.

Good luck with all of your plans.

Dewey

[crtreedude]

Sounds good

Always remember, a self-employed person is one that will work 18 hours for himself so that he doesn't have to work 8 hours a day for someone else.

A lot less stress.  :