Milled a couple of small ones today....

[scsmith42]

Both oaks that I milled into 4" x 10"s to be used for a retaining wall here on the farm.  The fellow in the photo is a member of our local woodworking club who traded me a couple of days of labor for some large oak beams. 

Log number one.







Log number two.







The "whack" of 4 x 10's that were yielded from log number two (the smaller log).

[paul case]

i didnt know you were even interested in ones that small. ;D  pc

[wormy]

that looks like they have been cut some time back.   bet it did a number on your blades

[terrifictimbersllc]

Those look pretty straight.  How did you mill those out, as "quartersawn", 4" dimension pointing towards center, or "flatsawn" with 10" edge pointing toward center?   Did you mill oversize and trim or cut them out as 4x10's?

[ladylake]

Bet that 10" cut made that motor snort some, shouldn't be much trouble with stress in those logs, for sure with a swing mill.   Steve

[terrifictimbersllc]

I see the hose in the first picture!  Use a lot of water today?

[WDH]

I don't usually fool with the little ones like that  :.  When I saw the title to the thread and your name, I would have bet that those logs were "little"  .

We used to have a log smokehouse like the one behind you and log #2. 

[Left Coast Chris]

Scott, you really tied one on to saw those "tiny" logs.   Great work. Very nice beams.  Did you wax the ends prior to sawing?    I think I remember you suggesting that in the past and I began doing it.  Saves alot of time (thanks).

[scsmith42]

Those look pretty straight.  How did you mill those out, as "quartersawn", 4" dimension pointing towards center, or "flatsawn" with 10" edge pointing toward center?   Did you mill oversize and trim or cut them out as 4x10's?

99% of what I mill is quartersawn (and grade quartersawn at that), but in this instance I was milling for yield instead of grade.  These are going to be used in making a retention wall, so the milling pattern was not of concern.

If I were milling timberfame beams, then my milling pattern (and yield) would have been totally different. 

I normally mill wide quartersawn 1/4" oversize per inch, to allow for the extra shrinkage experienced in drying.  In this instance, I milled  as 4 x 10's.

One nice thing about the extremely large logs, they usually don't have a whole lot of stress in them so the lumber remains straight.  Just heavier than the dickens to handle though.

[scsmith42]

Scott, you really tied one on to saw those "tiny" logs.   Great work. Very nice beams.  Did you wax the ends prior to sawing?    I think I remember you suggesting that in the past and I began doing it.  Saves alot of time (thanks).

Chris, I always try to apply end sealer directly to the end of the log ASAP after felling (I usually take it with me and apply it to the logs when they are loaded onto my trailer).  The smaller log had it applied, the larger one was about 6 months old when delivered, so I did not bother with it.  Unfortunately, neither one of these logs was going to produce much FAS lumber, hence their use for the beams.

[scsmith42]

that looks like they have been cut some time back.   bet it did a number on your blades

Actually, it wasn't too bad.  I was able to mill about 80% of the first one before re-sharpening, and about 1/3 of the large one.

[scsmith42]

Bet that 10" cut made that motor snort some, shouldn't be much trouble with stress in those logs, for sure with a swing mill.   Steve

It did.... Usually when I'm milling the 10" cut horizontally, I'll make two 5" cuts instead of a single 10".  Vertically I'll mill the entire 10" at once, and it does take a bit longer to pull the blade through the cut!

You are correct about the stress, but I have had a few where the boards were moving as they were being cut. 

[scsmith42]

i didnt know you were even interested in ones that small. ;D  pc

<grin> Yeah, normally I prefer ones like this:





I can't wait to quartersaw it!