How to cut and handle thin lumber- 1/4" or less thickness

[plowhog]

I need to produce thinly cut pine and incense cedar. It will be used in a laser engraver and cutter that is limited to 1/4" or thinner thickness. Typical logs are 9' long and 18" diameter.

Cutting-- any suggestions on sawmill operation for thin stock? Blade type, sawing speed, cut method, etc? 6-8" width is plenty.

Stacking-- My pallet bolsters are 16" on center. Is that good enough for thin material, or should I consider stickering at 12" on center?

Drying-- I presume this will air dry rapidly. Other than keeping it in my barn instead of being outside, is there anything different about how you would air dry thin material?

[WV Sawmiller]

  There are several others here with more experience with the engravers and use of such thin stock. The thinnest I routinely saw is 3/8" yellow/tulip poplar but feel confident I could be cutting 1/4" or slightly less if I had a need for it. I use 2" wide stock but have one customer who orders 3.5" wide boards for craft purposes. I leave a 1" dog board on the bottom.

  I would cut the cants to the narrower widths if they would work rather than sawing the 18" mentioned. I use a 4* blade on everything I cut. You can get by with a larger hook angle in the soft pine and cedar but if you hit a knot it would be more likely to jump over it creating a defect than the 4 degree would. Also I use a 25 hp Kohler engine and I don't know what hp you are using.

    I should not have to say it but a good sharp blade is critical. Slow to moderate speed works best for me.

    I sticker my strips on 2' centers because that is what my stacking pallets were built for but the 12" spacing would likely be better if possible. Yes, they air dry very quickly.

  I'm sawing rough strips and make crates and such out of them but I bet for the engraver you'd be better off if you cut them at 3/8 or so, AD them then run them through a planer.

  Good luck.

[GAB]

I need to produce thinly cut pine and incense cedar. It will be used in a laser engraver and cutter that is limited to 1/4" or thinner thickness. Typical logs are 9' long and 18" diameter.

Cutting-- any suggestions on sawmill operation for thin stock? Blade type, sawing speed, cut method, etc? 6-8" width is plenty.

Stacking-- My pallet bolsters are 16" on center. Is that good enough for thin material, or should I consider stickering at 12" on center?

Drying-- I presume this will air dry rapidly. Other than keeping it in my barn instead of being outside, is there anything different about how you would air dry thin material?

plowhog:
Doc Henderson has posted some on his sawing and fixturing for drying thin stock material used for engraving.  I think some of his posts would answer some of your questions.
GAB

[scsmith42]

^^^ What GAB said above.

I've made a lot of thin stock, but in my instance it was resawing veneer from kiln dried 5/4 or so boards.  

Doc Henderson has a good system in place for economically producing laser blanks.  There is a detailed thread here somewhere about it.

[Nebraska]

Doc put up a nice post in drying and processing. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   One other point I neglected to mention is when cutting the pine be sure you have a good sap cutting lube to keep the blade clean.

[Peter Drouin]

Find a good-grade log and cut it parallel to the bark—dry stickers 6" apart 1/2"x1/2" or 3/4" 3/4" stickers.
 No sapwood or pith in the product. 
Cut the cant 1/8" over the with. Saw down to the pith 1" away and flip. You should have a dog board with a pith in it. Good for Pine, Hardwood you will have to flip more often. The dog board may not be the same size end to end where you're cutting with the bark depending on the taper of the log. 
A sharp blade where you could cut so thin you can almost see through it.  

[plowhog]

Thank you Peter. I'm a novice with a sawmill so I'd like to confirm I completely understand. Many logs I saw include a taper so I want to get it right.

My understanding of "saw parallel to the bark" means when setting the log up, the distance from the bed to the center of the pith will be different at each end of the log due to the taper? And the toeboard (if I had one!) would be raised higher on the part of the tree with smaller diameter? Thus the top (sawing) side of the log is parallel to the bed, and "all of the taper" is accounted for on the bottom of the log between the log and the bed?

I believe I read elsewhere this is called: "sawing outside the log?" As opposed to the pith on both ends being aligned with the bed which is "sawing inside the log?"

And that sawing using the method you suggest results in less wood tension which improves air drying later?

I have never done this, but if I understand it correctly I'm wanting to give it a try ... Thanks!