well a few days ago I cut my first boards for my house. im cutting oaks and some ash with my ez jr. cut 3 or 4 small logs (around 10 inch diameter) and I guess im a slow learner because im not an expert yet haha! I have never been around a mill before so it makes sense to buy a mill and build a house with it, right? anyway, I need to make the best of my time and wood so how do some of you guage how deep for the first cut? I measured the thinnest part of the log and set the blade about a half inch lower.
another question I have is about making a cant. I made the first cut across the top and then turned the log 180 degrees to sit on that flat surface and make the second cut. then rotate 90 degrees and repeat. im sure these questions seem elementary to most of you but again I have never been around a mill ever. I have only watched some youtube videos.
thanks in advance!
Yucorn,pretty much its something you will learn from practice. My bandmill is at a handy hight I measure the lowest part of the log to the bunks and figure how much to take off to leave a 6" face.If your short on logs and want every last piece of strapping take less off.Remember its cutting through the bark and its contaminates that dulls bands,the fewer bark cuts the better. Frank C.
Gauging the opening cut will depend on the minimum width of board you will accept. On a log with a good bit of taper, you may want to take an opening cut to give you a 6" wide board. Due to taper you may not get a full length board, but still get usable lumber. Depends on what you can use. If a 4" board is usable for you, then make your opening cut where the first cut will give you a 4" wide board as measured inside the bark. If you are looking for a specific width to you boards, start at the pith and measure out to the edge of the log in the increments you want you board thickness to be plus kerf allowance plus 1/2 the thickness of a board to center the pith in a board. You might also be able to get a thinner or narrower board or two from the outside of the log.
Frank pretty much summed it up, it takes time and experience. As far as how heavy of a slab to take, it really boils down to what you are after. For the most part I will open up with around a 4" face. Butt logs with lots of flare I sometimes take several cuts. david
thanks for the advice! im learning a lot already like if I pull the log clamp up too high it will hit the blade! I was watching the stopper piece on the other side of the log. when I had the mill delivered they mentioned the piece of tubing that comes down to prevent the blade from hitting the squaring bar and log clamp but there is enough play in the clamp side to lift it above on the clamp side for the blade to clip it. oops!
if a log is tapered is it easier to square if its butt first or skinny end first, or does it matter to anyone. I felt like butt first was better.
I have no idea how your log stops are. Mine slide up and down in a piece of square tubing. I marked inches on the stops. Four inches is really 3½ and 6 inches is really 5½. I also marked 5 and 7 inches too.But does not help when I set it up for 6 inches and then I think 4 inches will be better. ::)
And you are a sawyer now. As soon as you try to saw the metal on your mill you are sawyer. :D And seems like it's just about a brand new blade too. Can't be one that you are just about to throw away.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,67722.msg1014761.html#msg1014761
Try reading this. It has some good info. Also try a search using "opening cut". There are many threads on the subject.
You'll find 1/2 " makes a lot of difference on a bigger log, once in a while I slab too thin and drop down 1/2 " and get that 6 to 8" board. Steve
After reading this and the link attached in one reply I feel a lot better about what I'm doing after only a few practice logs. I felt like I was losing a lot but find out there is just some loss no matter what, especially logs with sweep like I picked to start on. and every log is different. I'm so proud to actually turn out a good board I told my wife every board is a piece of art. good stuff.
This is not exact science you will have a lot of waste its just the nature of milling.I burn slabs so in reality theirs little lost. You will make miscuts, we all do, just move on.Backstop awareness is something painfully learned. On my bandmill I can make a 12" cut safely with the stops up less and I have to doublecheck. Frank C.
I hope to one day soon to be making my first opening cut so all this info is a big help to me also. Thanks everyone for giving so freely with your knowledge. Hooray for the Foresters Forum!!!
thanks for that link! that helped alot! I cut some yesterday and was able to build 2 walls. I still have a lot to learn but things are coming together.
im thinking about hosting a competition of all forestry skills. categories to include logging my trees, skidding them back to the mill, cutting up and mulching the brush, milling the logs, timber framing, and more. the prize will be the respect and admiration of my little family. contestants will be judged by how fast we can build my house. feel free to bring truck loads of logs, lumber, shingles, insulation, wiring, plumbing, or cash!!
just kidding! but seriously???
just a little humor!
Good thread!!! - and it is nice to see that (for once) I have been doing the correct thing! HA!
Sometimes it "feels" like I am "wasting" too much of the log - but my flitch/slab pile is still manageable so I guess things are good!
@yukon, as for the building... I understand! We (our family) have been building our home now for three years...
At first there was lots of help as the excitement was high... but now it has become "work" (they prefer home schooling! HA!!) - so often is it just the wife and myself... and I still enjoy each day!!!
(just wish I had an indoor toilet completed for the upcoming WI Winter..... brrrrrrr!!!!!)
Good luck!
-Dad2FourWI
I can second that indoor toilet! my wife would more second that! we have upgraded our shower to a real hot water heater with a hose on it in the shop. (it was heating water pouring it in a bucket and hoisting it in the air with a hose out of the bottom). my wife and kids are tough as nails! we are only into this project since the end of august and we are seeing good progress. we poured our own concrete footers, short walls on 2 sides and floors from bags hand mixed. 24x36 feet isn't big but still a chore. im really proud of it and it will all be debt free. 30 acres, 36x36 polebarn and all. yesterday we got the first 2 wood walls built! my 13 year old s homeschooled and is having a blast using his farmall super a pulling logs with my scabbed together log arches. my 2 year old is "anti help" keeping my wife far from being able to fully help. we are not the average family. we sold our 10 acres in north mo and bought the land and we built a 12x12 cabin with a sleeping loft and built our shop . then we sold our house on lake of the Ozarks moved into the cabin and started this cabin. first day after selling the house we got our sawmill and a few days later we got a well drilled. we have been truly blessed by the lord with every thing!
I prefer the small end forward, on the butt logs especialy . How about others??
Big end or small end first depends on what I am cutting and what I am cutting it out of. If I am cutting hardwood for grade I tend to go with big end first. If I am cutting soft wood for construction lumber I tend to like the small end first. This is less to do with what is right or wrong but which works best for me. Remember you only learn from mistakes. If you do everything right there is no lessons.
I always keep some short strips ( approx. 12 - 24 inches ) and various thickness (1/2 inch to 2 inches ) laying under the mill for those logs with a noticeable taper. Put a strip , thickness determined by amount of taper, under the small end for your first cut . This will even your log up to some degree , be sure and pull that strip out when you roll your log for the second cut or you will end up with a wedge, and that will happen eventually! Good luck on your sawing!
I saw with the small end toward me. It works best for me because I'm sawing mainly timbers and I try to use the smallest log I can get away with to make a given sized timber.
One of my byproducts is 1" lumber which I take off the sides of the timber. Having the small end toward me also makes it easy to figure out how wide my face is going to be -- the face will keep getting wider as I move down the log. (OK, in theory it will :D). Since my main goal is the timber, the decision for the opening cut is more along the lines of, "Can I get a decent board if I bump the head up 1", or should I just leave it?"
Depending on what you're sawing and what species you're cutting, you may find having the butt end toward you works better. Experiment a bit and see what works. The one thing I found is that I can cut a lot faster if I keep each log oriented the same way.
I generally turn the log so that I start at the narrow end. The exception is an over-size log that needs to be perfectly centered on the bed so that the saw doesn't hang up on it. It saves trimming with the chain saw when you get to the end of the log. I tend to slab low grade logs a littler harder than the higher grades, but I heat our home with the slabs, so there isn't much waste. Bigger logs, I might take several slabbing cuts just so I can handle them.
Leveling the log as SAnVA suggests will save you some wood. I use an old scissors jack. Just remember to lower the jack or remove the strip of wood when you have a flat side down. You mentioned rolling the log 180° after the first cut. I generally roll 90° unless the shape of the log makes it easier to roll it 180. That makes for a little less log turning, and less raising & lowering the toe rollers.
I don't think there is much danger of hitting a clamp with the EZ, so you may have to wait until you mill a log with hardware in it to hit metal. Be patient, it will happen soon enough!
I milled the lumber for our post & beam home in southwest MO in the early 1980s. We still live in it, and it is still standing, but we still have some work to do on it (still walking on sub-flooring!). Helps to have a patient wife.
Congratulations on the mill. Be safe, learn, and enjoy.
Having a swing blade mill, I don't turn the log, but I have my bunks set 1" lower towards the saw carriage, thus I start with the big end toward the saw. (my bunks are set so at the lowest blade position I don't hit the log dogs holding the log in place). To start I just run the blade near the log and use an educated guess. I try for a usable board 6" wide and at least 4' long. If I don't quite get that I drop another half inch or so. Once I get the starting board, I drop another layer (usually for a 1" thick board) and saw that board. If that doesn't get me a full length board yet I repeat. Once the face is fully opened, I cut off my cut list depending on what the customer wants (or if my log, what I want). My blade holds well thru bark (carbide teeth) but if needed, I stop and sharpen (it takes about 10-12 minutes) I also use the metal detector rather than the blade to find metal.
I can see benefits to both ways. I will keep trying and see what works for me. I have had a lot of waste but mainly from bad wood (rot and defects). the cuts so far are going well or maybe im not picky or don't know any better.
im learning so much here! thank God for all of you and thank all of you for all the advice!
When I cut a log I turn it 90% after the open cut. That usually gives me a flat edge on one side of the slabs. That makes edging alot easier.
Whenever I open a log, I try to cut so that I will have the width for a good board on the 2nd cut! ;)