Re: INSERT TOOTH SAWBLADES

[UNCLEBUCK]

good advice on my saw collars, i better have the inside collar machined to match the outside , i did have a paper shim that fell out when i took the blade off to go to saw shop, i will ask for someone to come out or i will take it apart and go to the saw shop who does machining also. thanks for the tip mitch and jeff and ron , i think i will put small wood blocks inside each sliding little box pipe on each track cleaner, i like the paint brush idea too !

[UNCLEBUCK]

my last input for the night but as I watched corley5 and jeffs mill I noticed that corley5 had the butt end of the log to the rear of the carriage, I thought the butt end always goes to the front of carriage, any thoughts on this ! thanks again! :P

[Jeff]

he is smiling from ear to ear and thought it was way cool, thanks ForestryForum

Me too. Thanks Buck.

[Ron Wenrich]

We had a thread before about which way guys like to put their logs.  For me, it doesn't matter, since I'm running an automatic.  

For a hand mill, I would prefer the butt to the back, just because it reduces the number of steps to get to the tapers.  Works real well on long logs.

The advantage of the butt end front is that you have less travel between saw and flare.  It can save some time.

For a good running saw, it really doesn't matter all that much.

[mitch]

I agree with Ron.

For a hand mill, I would prefer the butt to the back, just because it reduces the number of steps to get to the tapers.  Works real well on long logs.

I often saw with inexperinced help and I much prefer to set the taper... more accuracy and saves time.

[Minnesota_boy]

When you saw white spruce and tamarack, saw from the top end of the log to avoid the pinch that sawing from the butt gives you.  With my small circle saw mill, sometimes the spruce would pinch the saw so hard it would push the carriage back.  It might take two or three starts to get far enough into the log to get beyond th pinch.

[D._Frederick]

You guys with hand set mills do you hire help to run them? If so what do you do for workers compensation insurance?

[Minnesota_boy]

I bought a Woodmizer and avoided the whole problem.   Workers compensation and the lack of workers available when I wanted them were a real headache.

[UNCLEBUCK]

hello everyone, what do you all use to block out the tapered end of your log on the first cut , i dont have no adjustable knees on my 4 headblocks so would a block of wood be safe riding back there, thanks :P

[UNCLEBUCK]

D._Frederick,  I have not cut a log yet but am going to use the lumber from my first logs and make my brother-in-law 2 new porches on his house and he is going to be my boardman and I would like to watch and see what others say to your question of insurance ,something definately worth knowing, i am still trying to figure out which way the log goes on,haha ! :P

[D._Frederick]

Unclebuck,
I am sorry to hear about your fathers fight with the big C, we all hope that he will soon see the results of the first log being sawed on your mill.
I hate to say it, but don't hire some one to help saw on a circular mill unless you have insurance, they are just too dangerous.

[Sawyerfortyish]

I always prefer to saw from the small to big end. You dont have to walk as far to pull the taper or put a block behind the log but when you do use a block you have to watch and make sure it doesn,t fall out and become wedged in the carrige or ways or cable. On my circle mill I and can cut between 8 and 10 thousand feet per day I have two people hired to help and insurance is a bad word  >:( it,s a killer they trippled it after 9/11 we went 3 months without. Trying to find a company that could sell this type of insurance in N.J. was almost impossible I could have paid for a brand new F350 diesel 4x4 and had money left over for what that company wanted to raise our priemeium to . But in the end we got better insurance for about the same cost from a different company.

[Minnesota_boy]

I'm sure that D_Frederick was implying that the sawmill was the dangerous part, but don't discount how dangerous a helper can be also.  If the helper is careless and lets the end of a slab contact the top of the running saw, the slab will immediately become a missile headed directly for your head, possible with the helper as well if there is a limb projecting that catches part of his (her?) clothing.  Make sure any helper understands his obligation to help in keeping the mill as safe as possible.

[D._Frederick]

The sawyer of  one of are local mills had his leg crushed by a slap coming back. He was pinned in place by the log deck, the leg was later cut off above the knee.
We had the carriage on are No. 2 American decked over so nothing would fall through. We always had a 1x4 and a 2x4 riding on the carriage to take care of taper.
I sold this mill because of the insurance problem. The two company that are licensed to sell workmans comp. would not deal with you unless you had full time pay roll.

[UNCLEBUCK]

D._Frederick,Sawyer40,Minnesota_boy, hey there ! thanks for the feedback, insurance sounds like a real b*&%$.  I like the idea of putting decking down on the mill, pretty convinced I will be cutting from small to big end now too! it just makes sense to do it that way,if I never asked I would have done it the opposite,going to have about 80 big fat white oak and 15 big fat spruce logs to cut . my questions are starting to slow down now as I am getting to really know this old mill during the warm days and hope to cut first log mid-april so now am felling . I think my last question is concerning the splitter behind the blade,in my picture back a few pages you can see it , it is bolted to the original wood husk , all the wood is solid throughout the husk except for the ends where there is really no structural value, the splitter feels like it is bolted to a weak area,i have steel plates and all thread bolts anchoring the husk in many many places but right where the splitter is it doesnt seem to be right structurally,lots of heavy iron under the old wood husk where the plates and all thread anchor too, i would like to cut oak to rebuild the husk with after i cut up my pile of logs , any advice greatly appreciated again, I cant get a bandsaw mill because this mill is kind of like a piece of the farm now , lots of stuff to figure out but seems to be worth it and i like doing this. thanks :P

[UNCLEBUCK]

Also if you look at my splitter on page 2 here is it too tall or too vertical ,its got some flex too it if you grab it on top and looks like 1/4 inch steel with a beveled edge , i better take it off and replace the blocking that spaces it from the carriage, maybe thats the instigator, maybe some of you got splitter ideas to share ok !  :P

[beenthere]

I would think you would want to know that the splitter is held pretty straight and tight. You don't want a pointed slab getting in between it and the saw (slab on the carriage side of the splitter) which happens, and if the splitter is a bit loose, it can happen easier. Yours is straight up, rather than curved but I  wouldn't think that would be a problem. Also, it is tall but that protects something coming in contact with the teeth up high. When I was sawing once, the off-bearer dropped a 4x4x 8' white oak onto the back of the saw that had a short splitter. It came by me, and then went through two old apple trees and was picked up about 75' away. Had a saw stripe the full length of one face of the 4x4. Not a pleasant thought even now.

[Jeff]

Buck, there is nothing wrong with that splitter, and they will flex at the top if you grab it. Also DONT DECK BETWEEN THE TRACKS!  Why? If makes it to easy to do something stupid. Keep a few boards handy to throw up there to work if you need them, but don't deck.

[Ron Wenrich]

I wouldn't do anything to the board splitter.  It may need to be adjusted.  It has to be straight and I have mine angled just a hair with the back end a little further from the log side.  

You will still have to watch that your slab end doesn't go behind the splitter.  Very important.  When I first started sawing, I wasn't watching.  A rounded end got caught and I kept on feeding.  The slab bowed, and when cut through shot back at me.  Luckily, I had a piece of safety glass up.

If the wood is in good shape, don't try to replace it.  Using green wood is even more of a disaster.  If you want to do a better job of securing the board splitter, fine.  You could run a bolt all the way through the wood and fasten it that way.

Do not run your log past the board splitter when sawing, unless you're ready to dump the cant.  Splitters will flex.  Even if your adjustment's off a little, you can still saw.  If your saw goes off line, your log can be hanging past the splitter.  When you return your carriage and the log is beyond the splitter, you can pull that splitter into the saw.  Many sparks and pieces.

My mill sits about 5 foot above the floor.  I don't have any decking.  Any garbage that falls off the log has a long way to fall before it causes a problem with the carriage.  

[Sawyerfortyish]

Unclebuck when you get ready to replace that husk build one out of steel. Don,t play with wood steel won,t rot like wood is strong and the dimmensions are the same from one end to the other. I rebuilt a husk on my old american mill it would have been quicker to weld one together than mortice one out of wood

[Jeff]

If your after function I would certainly  have to agree.

[UNCLEBUCK]

Well I read the book again by Stanford j. Lunstrom and it all is crystal clear to me now after working on the mill this last week and hopefully everything will go good I guess I am just a fanatic about having everything being exact ! Time to get on with it and get sawing ! thanks everyone again and again !  :P

[UNCLEBUCK]

thanks for the splitter advice and about decking ! I love to hear stories of boards flying because it makes me think of more ways to as safe as possible !  I have run out of questions now and maybe next year I can share some of my misshaps but hopefully I have enough to look out for ! thanks to all my new buds ! I am grateful to all ! :P

[Jeff]

Don't disappear on us now, you probably know somethings we may need to know! ;)