Whatcha Sawin' ???

[Grizzly]

Seeing that timber and knowing how far it is going to be trucked brings to mind the old saying: "Some folk have more money than brains."  Aren't there pine trees in ID that would make just as good a timber?  But that's ok, glad you got the job. 

I've been in trucking for a bunch of years and Jim's example is one of thousands. We truck steel from PA up to Edmonton where it'll get fabricated into something and then turn around and truck it into Texas. Or vice versa. Trucks load wood in ID and meet trucks coming from Ontario. Freight is simply so low a cost in the overall picture we ship where and when we want with little consideration of the overall cost.

[Magicman]

Simple geometry Steve.  The closer you get to perpendicular the more scraping action takes place.  Think about your knife blade.  A little angle and it whittles, but remove that angle and it scraps more and dulls faster.

Notice that I never said that I tried a 10° blade, but rather I installed a 7° Turbo and sawed just fine.

I was not making a comparison with any other sawyers experience, but rather stating what worked for me during this instance.  I keep a supply of 4° blades for White & Post Oak plus knotty SYP.  This may or may not continue based on how well the Turbo's perform.  I have some Post and White Oak on the ground now that I may get around to sawing next week.  I may just start with the 7°X39 Turbo's. 

[RPowers]

I saw A LOT of knotty WO and Post oak here, and hickory, and the 4 degree blades have never cut better than the Turbo 7s for me, but they are slower. They might be better in dry locust or something ridiculous like that, but I've even cut Osage/hedge with a 7 Turbo just fine and at a good speed. I am trying thicker blades in a 1.5" width right now to see what allows the most feed speed in the Turbos. You guys that cut a lot of pine can fly all day long with any good blade just about, but when knotty oaks and hickory are 75% of the sawing menu I've got to keep experimenting to find the fastest thing for that. I am trying some Cooks 1.5" 8-degree blades and like them overall, but the gullets are too shallow compared to the Turbos.

[ladylake]

Simple geometry Steve.  The closer you get to perpendicular the more scraping action takes place.  Think about your knife blade.  A little angle and it whittles, but remove that angle and it scraps more and dulls faster.

Notice that I never said that I tried a 10° blade, but rather I installed a 7° Turbo and sawed just fine.

I was not making a comparison with any other sawyers experience, but rather stating what worked for me during this instance.  I keep a supply of 4° blades for White & Post Oak plus knotty SYP.  This may or may not continue based on how well the Turbo's perform.  I have some Post and White Oak on the ground now that I may get around to sawing next week.  I may just start with the 7°X39 Turbo's.

With that theory a 13° would last the best, my 4° cut great and I'll keep running them.  Why would you even keep 4° if they only cut 2 logs.  Steve

[crowhill]

I'm curious, in reading about how the same degree of the blade will saw one thing or another better in the same species, one's getting dull blades and ones not... are different metals being used in the blades of the same degree that will make a difference?

[ladylake]

 Certainly could be different metal and tension in different hook angle blades, a while back I got a box of 10 that cut so bad I sent them back.  Steve

[Magicman]

All of us are chasing compromises to an extent.  4° blades are proven for sawing hard logs such as White/Post Oak and knotty SYP.  I have used them for years and without more proven evidence, will continue to keep a stash, for now anyway.  Last week was the first time that I had tried a Turbo in Post Oak and was pleasantly surprised which is why I will give them another shot.

The blunter tip on the 4° blade is beefier than say a 10° or especially a 13° which while keener would also be more fragile. 

My normal is to caution against "chasing blades" and having a large assortment of different hook blades which is why I am letting attrition eliminate my 10° blades and replace them with Turbos.  Time and sawing will determine whether I continue to stock and use both the 4° and the Turbos.

[Delawhere Jack]

Milled three "new to me" species this week. Yew, paulownia and black gum. The yew "logs" were tiny, but there was a sentimental aspect. The black gum....  :-\, the client seemed pleased anyway. The paulownia was a real treat. Logs up to 17'. I'd say more than 2/3rds of the boards were dead clear, it cut like warm butter, and there was very little tension in the logs. 


  

  

  

 

[PA_Walnut]

I have some paulownia to cut that I harvested from my own land. It smells kinda funky....is this par for the course?  :-\

[Magicman]

SYP logs that will make any sawyer smile.


 
30" butt log.


 
Second and third logs.   Centered piths and even growth rings.   

[Darrel]

 

[Kbeitz]

Around 60 years old I️ would say.

[Magicman]

I am set up on these White & Post Oak logs now.


 


 
I'll have some "nub" trimming to do and the top White Oak log looks kinda rough, but it will do for bridge decking.

I do not plan to saw them until next week and I see a 7° Turbo experiment in my future.   ;D

[Peter Drouin]

I'm always amazed how some cut limbs.
Common sense will tell you the thing won't roll. :

[Magicman]

I usually tell them that if they had taken one step closer to the log they would have gotten the limb sawed off.   :-\

[Banjo picker]

I am getting a little calloused about dealing with stuff like that.  The only way to educate a customer is charge them for cleaning up their mess.  Banjo

[starmac]

I would be tempted to climb up in your seat and tell them, this ones is by the hour, roll them babies over here and lets get started. The clock is already running.

[Chuck White]

That's my comment too, Lynn, "next time, take one step closer to the log"!

I usually get a funny look, but then I explain and all is OK! 

[Magicman]

No worries about that kind of stuff here.  Less than 15 minutes will clean the logs up and then it is on to sawing.

If you are making live edged slabs for tables, etc. those nubs will sometimes add to the character of the piece.

[crowhill]

Cutting some Eastern hemlock trees yesterday with a new helper, he said he hadn't done any chainsaw work for years. Handed him some PSE, talked about safety, reviewed use of chainsaw with him. Stood back to watch him on his first tree, nice notch n drop. Starts limbing, no nubs, better than the "pro" logger helping last time! Will be nice rolling on the mill.

[Jim_Rogers]

This, come to find out, doctor has been emailing me that he wanted to come over a learn about saw-milling and how logs get turned into lumber. He is a hobby woodworker.
So, this past Monday he drove up from just a little southwest of Boston, and spent the day with me at the mill. We sawed out one very large white pine log. It took a while as I had to basically explain everything that I was doing to educate him about "why" I'm doing what I was doing. We did get a nice 8x10 timber out of the middle of the log for a future timber frame project. As well as two 4x10's sill pieces off the outside. Along with a bunch of 1by stock for siding for the 57' long boat barn that I designed.
It was an interesting day and we did ok, but slow.

Here are some of the timbers for the future timber frame project.



 

The three on the left are 8x8's and then the 8x10x12' and the big one is 8x12x16'

Jim Rogers

[WV Sawmiller]

Jim,

   I had a doctor (Surgeon who repairs nerves in peoples hands - I was worried he'd bang a knuckle or such) from Wisconsin who owns a farm near here come saw for him one morning on his LT50 a while back. Lots of extra features on his I don't have and was fun to do. He had the mill, a skid steer with grapple and other nice toys but did not know how to use the mill.

[GDinMaine]

This was one of six or seven logs I sawed last Saturday. The tree was damaged in a bad wind storm. About a third of the log was missing because it split as it hit the ground. It still yielded about 240bf of lumber. The logs ranged from 24" to 28" diameter on the small end with about 3-5" of taper.

[Magicman]

It's nice to get some recovery from something that would otherwise be firewood but I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with firewood.     Folks hafta stay warm too.   

[GDinMaine]

It's nice to get some recovery from something that would otherwise be firewood but I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with firewood.     Folks hafta stay warm too.   

Actually the customer wanted to toss the log onto the burn pile, but I suggested that it is worth sawing. Luckily there was no other cracks in the log. I was worried that it would just roll right over the backstops when I was setting it up for the first cut.