Made the commitment on a sawmill

cbay · January 20, 2018, 08:09:52 PM

Hi FF members, just got a LT 15 and excited to learn about milling and caring for lumber. Ashamed to admit but even though we had a couple small portable mills over the years i never learned to take care of the lumber and dry it properly and know very little. Worked a lot of hours back then and ended up selling them.
Always loved the wood though. What drove us to buy them in the first place was when we built a couple lakes and couldn't let some of the beautiful trees go to waste and wanted to do something with them.
Things are different now and i put a lot of thought into it knowing that if i did it again i was going to learn how to take care of things. Keep the mill in good working shape and learn how to dry wood and make usable lumber.
Looking forward to building some sheds, maybe a pole barn, and lots of beekeeping equipment.
Really don't know a lot despite having those mills in the past so been doing a lot of reading lately. Been on this site a lot lately and looks like a great place to hang out. Plan on asking a lot of questions in the future.

Dad with the mill

Couple big oaks to cut.

Had to practice on some old pine first and get the hang of it. Right off the bat we had diving in the first several boards. Couldn't figure it out at first and thought maybe something was out of whack with the track but it ended up that the log wasn't being secured good enough and that caused it to dive. Found the spike cups that go on the end of the dogs to be really useful to keep the smaller logs stable and that pretty much took care of it... so far.

First sticker pile. Can see the dive boards laying on top! smiley_confused

Very humble with all things related to milling and pretty much anything woodworking related. Never built much of anything before and if you asked me a couple weeks ago what a cant was i would of had a glazed look in my eyes and said i will have to get back with ya on that. :D

Southside · January 20, 2018, 08:26:44 PM

Congratulations on getting the mill, and that is good looking lumber you have there. The first time you run your band into the log dogs or back stops just remember there are two types of sawyers, those who have tried to saw parts of their mill off, and those who LIE about it!!! :D Don't be bashful with pictures and questions.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 20, 2018, 08:39:16 PM

New mill feels good doesn't it! 8)

Congrats!

ncsawyer · January 20, 2018, 08:40:49 PM

Congrats on the fresh new paint! I know you'll enjoy it!

TKehl · January 20, 2018, 08:53:39 PM

Howdy neighbor! Welcome to the forum.

That's some nice White Oak you've got there.

Good news about barn siding is it is forgiving. Great place to hang the practice wood and can go up green.

Cedar seems to be a good local wood to make bee hives with. Fairly rot resistant, but more importantly, it's light.

cbay · January 20, 2018, 08:58:32 PM

Thanks, my plan is to bait you guys to answer all my silly questions by showing plenty of pictures. smiley_really_happy

TKehl, really would like to get in to some cedar but our property doesn't have any, so maybe i'll have to learn to barter a little... same goes for pine, since it is lighter for making beehives.

firefighter ontheside · January 20, 2018, 09:23:10 PM

Congrats on getting the LT15. I got mine from a friend who couldn't use it anymore last fall. Though I've yet to use it at my house, I have used it when my friend owned it. Where are you located? I'm about 30 miles south of St. Louis.

I will be cutting yellow pine, oak, cedar and anything else I can procure for the price of free.

Welcome to the FF.

Bill

cbay · January 20, 2018, 09:57:19 PM

Quote from: firefighterontheside on January 20, 2018, 09:23:10 PM
Where are you located? I'm about 30 miles south of St. Louis.

I will be cutting yellow pine, oak, cedar and anything else I can procure for the price of free.

Welcome to the FF.

Bill

Hi Bill, we are north of Springfield up on Stockton lake. Our ground is over in Barton county just north of Lamar.
Ha i know what you mean about cutting. They are all fair game at this point.

thecfarm · January 20, 2018, 10:11:34 PM

You will like it.
I planned on building something to keep just the head covered. Never did. :

Never to late,maybe this year. All you need is a small building to park the head under.

Crossroads · January 20, 2018, 11:36:17 PM

Congratulations on the mill! What kinda nd of hives are you planning to make? I have several langstroth that I bought, but I've also got 3 top bar hives that I built with my lumber

Lawg Dawg · January 21, 2018, 06:02:06 AM

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I ran an lt15 for 6 years, getting my wood business going. Its a great mill, and will take care of you if you take care of it. Probably sawed half a million board feet with mine.

Very first thing I did with mine was sawed enough lumber for the shed. It never got rained on, and was in good shape when I sold it.

WDH · January 21, 2018, 08:00:18 AM

Getting it up off the ground about knee high like lawg dawg did will make the sawing and turning and board removal much easier on you. A log deck to load logs on the mill will help too.

cbay · January 21, 2018, 09:10:48 AM

Quote from: Crossroads on January 20, 2018, 11:36:17 PM
Congratulations on the mill! What kinda nd of hives are you planning to make? I have several langstroth that I bought, but I've also got 3 top bar hives that I built with my lumber

Thanks, we have Lang hives, ten frame deep and five frame nucs.
We've made lots of them with pine and plywood from the lumber store but over time it would be nice to not rely on them for much more than plywood.

cbay · January 21, 2018, 09:22:39 AM

Thanks for the pic Lawg Dawg. I want one! smiley happysmiley

Quote from: WDH on January 21, 2018, 08:00:18 AM
Getting it up off the ground about knee high like lawg dawg did will make the sawing and turning and board removal much easier on you. A log deck to load logs on the mill will help too.

Yes this is the stuff i have tossed and turned about. We bought it with the GO trailer package, but it had to be ordered, so it will be easier to keep level and up off the ground.
The only deal about having it up higher is we don't have our tractor or skidsteer at the house, they are at the farm so for now it looks like we'll use the winch and ramps that came with the Go package.
I guess the big stuff will probably get done at the property and just take it out there for those.
It's nice to do stuff here though and definitely want to get a shed over the top of it. That's high on the list right now. Would be awesome to have one like Lawg Dawg's. AND a solar kiln, AND some lumber sheds....... :D

Darrel · January 21, 2018, 09:55:01 AM

Welcome cbay! That's a purdy mill you've got there! 8)

cbay · January 21, 2018, 06:48:41 PM

Had a good day with the mill, but was wondering what the common cause of "chatter" in the boards is caused from?
It's not sitting very good and did notice that a some of the legs were loose from the ground after putting the big oak on. Not sure if that could be the cause or not (track uneven). It definitely settled some with the weight of that log and that's when it started. Also made more noise when cutting at that time...
Here is a pic.

Slingshot · January 21, 2018, 07:27:06 PM

Looks like you hit something with the blade and bent a tooth
or knocked some set out. I would try a new blade.

____________________________
Charles from KY

cbay · January 21, 2018, 07:32:50 PM

Charles, thanks, will try another blade with the next log. It did get better lower in to this log though, but gonna have to figure this sort of stuff out for sure.

cbay · January 21, 2018, 07:33:58 PM

Got the sticker stack set up before getting into the oak today. Hoping this does the trick. 8 ft. long and 5 ft. deep, so the supports are close to 3 feet apart. Nothing is level on this rocky ole hillside but at least the bubble in the level was somewhere in the middle. :

This was the first of two big oak logs we had to work with

Made some really nice 14" slabs

cbay · January 21, 2018, 07:46:10 PM

The bees must have know i was building something for them. They invaded the sawdust all day!

thecfarm · January 21, 2018, 08:20:06 PM

I have seen that once. I was sawing with my 10 year old grandson. He kept stomping on them. They was not bothering us at all. Finally I told him,If I get stung because of your stomping,I will not be happy. The stomping stopped.

firefighter ontheside · January 21, 2018, 08:30:19 PM

In my limited experience, after I hit a nail in some sycamore thelumber looked just like that until I changed blades.

As far as a shed goes, I bought a used metal carport on craigslist. For $900 I got an18x26 roof over the mill. I put it sideways across the 18, which left about 20 feet to park my trailer.

esteadle · January 21, 2018, 08:50:39 PM

I see bees every time I saw. They love the sawdust. Most logs are moist inside and sawing releases fine particles with a lot of surface area for the aromatic fragrances to release and attract them. They come all day long and bask in it. I think they build nests with it too.

Also, about the chatter in the boards. If you picture in your mind the sawblade going through the wood, the way the teeth could make a pattern like this is by being out of alignment with each other as they are pulled through the wood. All sawblades have teeth are "swaged" one way or the other, in a repetitive pattern to help clear out room for the bandsaw blade body to follow it. If the teeth are not swaged exactly the same amount (compared to the other ones) they will scrape a little deeper or a little less deep into the surface of the cut. As the blade moves forward, you end up seeing straight lines across the board, very similar, if not identical to the ones in your earlier pictures.

The usual culprit for this depends on whether the blade is new or not, and whether it has been "set" properly, by machine, or by hand by someone who knows what they are doing. It may happen when you hit something in the log (screws, nails, spikes, bolts, hooks, dirt, rocks, pebbles, glass insulators, rope, clothesline, fenceline, staples... <pause to draw air>... axe heads, wedding rings, bullets, old horseshoes, new horseshoes, hitch pins, hitch parts, hitch drawbars, axles, steering parts, and the occasional jade figurine), so if you see it, just check in the board where it started. :-)

May I say, welcome back, sir.

cbay · January 21, 2018, 08:56:30 PM

Quote from: firefighterontheside on January 21, 2018, 08:30:19 PM
In my limited experience, after I hit a nail in some sycamore thelumber looked just like that until I changed blades.

As far as a shed goes, I bought a used metal carport on craigslist. For $900 I got an18x26 roof over the mill. I put it sideways across the 18, which left about 20 feet to park my trailer.

Next day i mill will put another blade on and see. I did read this evening on an old post referring to "chatter" where it was said that going too slow can cause that as well. But hearing it mentioned twice about hitting something tells me this could be it as well...

Really want to make my first shed build to be one for the mill. Unfortunately it will be a little while and hate to just tarp it in the meanwhile but figure it will save some money and be worth waiting till later this year.

Resonator · January 21, 2018, 08:58:45 PM

Welcome cbay! I would suggest putting heavy timbers under the track, in the pictures it looks like your mill is sitting directly on the ground. Check the track section joints are tight periodically, and sight down the rails to check alignment. Load and turn logs gently, to avoid knocking things out of alignment. You want to keep the track flat, level, and straight as possible, to make straight saw cuts. Keep the blade sharp and tight. Oh and save the boards with waves, they're a good excuse to get a surface planer.

cbay · January 21, 2018, 09:11:08 PM

Quote from: Resonator on January 21, 2018, 08:58:45 PM
Welcome cbay! I would suggest putting heavy timbers under the track, in the pictures it looks like your mill is sitting directly on the ground. Check the track section joints are tight periodically, and sight down the rails to check alignment. Load and turn logs gently, to avoid knocking things out of alignment. You want to keep the track flat, level, and straight as possible, to make straight saw cuts. Keep the blade sharp and tight. Oh and save the boards with waves, they're a good excuse to get a surface planer.

Thanks Resonator, The sawmill is setting very poorly on a slope to the point if i let go of it with a clean track it will keep sliding to the end almost. I had good pressure on all the legs until the big oak went on there today. That changed things in a hurry.
I didn't prep it because we were assuming it would come with the trailer package, but it had to be ordered. Should be here in a few weeks.
Nonetheless, i still want it to be a better spot, just didn't have the time yet.
Thought about using creek gravel but then figured it would make it's way into logs and cause blade damage so then decided to just wait for the trailer package and then later this year decide whether to make a concrete slab there or just bring back some dirt and level it better.
I love hearing suggestions and different ideas and hope to come up with some improvements thanks to getting feedback here as the year progresses.

Lawg Dawg · January 22, 2018, 06:12:04 AM

Quote from: cbay on January 21, 2018, 06:48:41 PM
Had a good day with the mill, but was wondering what the common cause of "chatter" in the boards is caused from?
It's not sitting very good and did notice that a some of the legs were loose from the ground after putting the big oak on. Not sure if that could be the cause or not (track uneven). It definitely settled some with the weight of that log and that's when it started. Also made more noise when cutting at that time...
Here is a pic.

I've had brand new blades cut like this...I think it's from cutting at too slow a feed rate. But when the blade gets dull you will need to slow the feed rate or get really wavy lumber, especially in knotty logs. Best thing is to have LOTS of sharp blades on hand and change them often. It's a tricky game this sawmilling stuff :D

WDH · January 22, 2018, 07:56:19 AM

Your stickers need to line up with the foundation supports. 3 feet between stickers is too wide for drying lumber flat. Minimum sticker spacing should be 2 feet, however, I sticker every 16" to assure that the lumber stays as flat as possible. You could split the middle and sticker at 18" apart.

To test that the mill bed rails are all lined up perfectly, pull a string from end to end to see that they are level with each other.

cbay · January 22, 2018, 09:34:09 AM

Quote from: WDH on January 22, 2018, 07:56:19 AM
Your stickers need to line up with the foundation supports. 3 feet between stickers is too wide for drying lumber flat. Minimum sticker spacing should be 2 feet, however, I sticker every 16" to assure that the lumber stays as flat as possible. You could split the middle and sticker at 18" apart.

To test that the mill bed rails are all lined up perfectly, pull a string from end to end to see that they are level with each other.

Thanks for the feedback, i got one off from the foundation supports i'll have to line up then. Is that enough foundation support? Assuming i don't have to have the same number and spacing of the supports as the stickers? Was hoping 8 cinder blocks would be enough for the piles but if i really need more then so be it.

Darrel · January 22, 2018, 10:03:58 AM

Stickers do three things for you lumber:

Keeps boards separated
supports boards from sagging under their own weight
Transfers weight down from above helping keep boards flat

It is therefore essential to have close sticker spacing. All stickers must be supported not only by the board they're resting on but by a sticker or bunk below that board. And all stickers must be aligned vertically to assure efficient weight transfer down through the stack.

Hope this helps.