Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??

[Magicman]

I would not round up nor round down my quote for sawing that job. 

65 miles @ $2 per mile = $130  Travel & setup
Minimum sawing rate.  =  $450  Based on .45 per bf with a minimum of 1Mbf
Total                          =  $580  A reasonable quote based on my normal sawing rate.

I would leave home early, saw it, and be back home for lunch.  If my total cost was $100, it would still be OK for a half day job, realizing of course, that it would actually be a full day because that is all that I would do that day.    I prefer that my sawing days are in the $1,000 range, but no way would I jack the cost up to that.

 

[BravO)))]

No, my ?? was for the lumber in the post above. 

??

[Magicman]

I have never seen that red coloration in Black Walnut.

[BravO)))]

I have never seen that red coloration in Black Walnut.

Was thinking that myself.  Could be the condition it was in.  It had literally zero soil under it. 

[Magicman]

I can not make it fit any Walnut description that I have ever seen. ?? 

I am not some kind of expert nor Black Walnut Whisperer but I did saw 4,912 bf of Walnut last year:  LINK.  Be sure to scroll down through the entire page to Reply #856.  More on Replies 917, 943, & 966 where I sawed the Walnut "cutoffs" which was not included in the 4,912 bf listed above.  The cutoffs were invoiced hourly rate.

The above was all on only one job and does not include what I sawed for other customers.

[Nebraska]

Bravo)))

Where is that Walnut from? Basically asking where are you located. 

[BravO)))]

I can not make it fit any Walnut description that I have ever seen. ?? 

I am not some kind of expert nor Black Walnut Whisperer but I did saw 4,912 bf of Walnut last year:  LINK.  Be sure to scroll down through the entire page to Reply #856.  More on Replies 917, 943, & 966 where I sawed the Walnut "cutoffs" which was not included in the 4,912 bf listed above.  The cutoffs were invoiced hourly rate.

The above was all on only one job and does not include what I sawed for other customers.

I will say it's neither a yard tree or a true forest tree.  I am surrounded by a bit of old growth.  The growth pattern wasn't what I was expecting.  It started fast, then had dense rings, followed by what looked like open growth for a bit, followed by super dense rings.  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, but not much else it could be.

Bravo)))

Where is that Walnut from? Basically asking where are you located. 

Central Mississippi.

[Magicman]

Well I am also in Central MS.  Brookhaven.

[BravO)))]

Ah.  Vicksburg here.  I can grab a picture of the leaves tomorrow.  When they dry, I can trade you a few boards if you want.  Only trees I think with similar looking leaves are the sumacs and tree of heaven, and none have similar bark. 

[Magicman]

The Walnut logs that I pictured in the Links, came from South of Port Gibson near Alcorn College. 

[BravO)))]

Mississippi does have amazing trees.  I never understood why we don't have more woodworkers here exporting out.  So far, everything I've been milling has been at the house.  Huge trees, but not easy to transport because of the washed out hills.   I use cables and snatch blocks with my lawnmower lol. 

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Traveled down to Decatur, TN on Saturday (God's country, I swear...) burned up some blades on some really nice oak logs. Only hit the dogs once! Customer wanted them cut into cants and then slabbed at 2 inches. Neighbor wanted a  mantlepiece out of one of the bigger logs @ 4" inches. Good God one was that heavy... 24" wide live-edge both sides, 10-foot long.





Most logs were ~20" diameter, between 6-12 footers. Some really pretty grain in those boards.... Guy wants to use them to build an addition on his home.  It will certainly be sturdy! He said he was going to clean them up on his table saw once dried.
Used the Blueflex blade from Norwood, and it did fairly well. Wore out after about 4 or 5 logs, then started weaving and cutting poorly, even when going slow. Performed better than the standard blades I have from them, but not terribly impressed. Definitely was pushing the mill to it's limits with these logs, but she got through them. Billed 7 hrs @ $50/hr, customer handed me cash again (shucks). My accountant swears I don't even work. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have ab order for 1,000 bf of 4X4X8 posts (Poplar or pine) from a customer and a neighbor 2 miles up the road with a pretty good stack he cut last year he wanted me to cut on shares. I normally don't saw on shares but the timing and conditions were right in this vase.

   I went up to the lot to this pile of logs. Many are only 7-8 inches in diameter but each will make a 4X4 and the customer is fine with any 4/4 or 8/4 side lumber. I loaded a 12' 10" diameter log on the mill and cut the first slab off. When I shut the blade off the drive belt jumped off again so my last repairs did not fix it.

   I unloaded the log and hooked up and called my small engine guy and took it to him. I figured he be the expert on belts and pulleys and alignment issues. He checked but could not find anything obvious. We discussed it and he offered to fab and install another keeper like the one at about 8:00 on the mill as facing the drive wheel. I agreed and he welded a long 5/16" bolt to a piece of angle iron, cut off the threads and bored a hole in the new keeper an the mill up at about 2:00. He put it in so we can pivot it right next to the belt. We tried it several times and it worked fine. I had asked the WM folks at the Paul Bunyan Show why they did not have one the but they had never had a problem it seems. I don't know what has changed or why my mill isn't keep the belt on when I release the tension but this works very well.

   I went back to the site and sawed 10-12 logs before dark with a whopping 215 bf yield and only 7 of my 4X4s. It is slow going because every time I cut a new length or thickness I have make a new stack. The sprocket on the tip of my chainsaw broke then my cordless circle saw died on me so I'll have to fix or replace them next.

[Magicman]

I am assuming that you have a use or a sale for your 95 - 4X4's or 1Mbf of lumber?

[WV Sawmiller]

Lynn,

  Yes I have a committed sale for the 4X4's. I took my mill to the flea market as an advertising aid and a long term acquaintance and former USMC friend saw me there and said "I've been meaning to talk to you" then he asked about prices and how many bf in a 4X4 8' post then ordered 1000 bf of them. Usually people have a build plan and tell me "I need this many 4X4s and this many 2X6 and this much 1" siding" but he ordered the posts. I asked him about siding and framing and he said he'd get back with me about that later when he finishes his design plans.

  Normally I would go cut a tree or two off my place and cut the order from that but since this neighbor had approached me about sawing these logs and he is close I opted to use his logs instead. I expect it to work fine for both of us. It is not something I would normally do.

   These logs have been cut a year but have been off the ground and other than the bark constantly slipping they are cutting very well and making real nice boards and posts.

  I saw him at the site just before I left yesterday and told him to give me a cut list of what to make for him if he needs something special but right now I'm just saw into full size 8/4 and 4/4 for stock which he says he can use for projects around the place and I can use or market my share as needed.

  Since I'm cutting 4X4 posts I'm generating a lot of 1X4X8 side lumber but periodically/pretty frequently I'll have a customer come want 1X4's for nailers on a metal roof on a barn or shed and I end up selling all I have in stock and ripping some wider boards to get the rest. Seems like I remember at Jakes 2 years ago he threw a pine on the mill and sawed it up into something like 7/8" nailers and said something about that being a common size he sells there for metal roofs so if he did not have an order he'd saw them into stock knowing they would move pretty quickly.

[Magicman]

I understand, just asking because I never sell anything nor saw on shares. 

[RetiredTech]

I've got these very green sweet gum logs that I want to turn into board and batten siding for a small 5' x 6' hunting house. The plan is to put them up green to dry in place. I believe I remember @Magicman suggesting to turn the bark side in and nail them in the center only. Correct me if I'm wrong about that. I lost the first 6 foot or so because the tree was hollow at the bottom. I'd like to get all the siding out of this one tree. What would be the minimal thickness I could cut the siding and not expect it to split when it dries? Would 1/2" be feasible? It will probably get camo-painted after it dries. Not the best looking logs for sure.



 

[Magicman]

That is what I would do and have done in the past.  I would make the boards whatever the logs yield full width and get the bats from the smaller width flitches.  If the bat widths varied, it still would not matter but I would only get one from each flitch to avoid boards that would crook.

You could even consider board on board but leave plenty of overlap.  After the boards dry, you could come back and nail everything down tight.  There would probably be nothing wrong with laying a bead of caulk down on the overlaps.

[SawyerTed]

Got to my sawmill job today expecting to saw cedar.  My customer said he has more than enough cedar for his porch project.   

He decided we needed to cut walnut today.  He asked for 4/4 and 5/4 as wide as possible with the best grade possible.  I believe I hit the goals just fine.  Most boards were 10" wide and better.   

[Nealm66]

Beautiful!

[WV Sawmiller]

    I strolled back up to my shared lumber job about mid-morning today to work on my order of 94 4X4X8 poplar posts. Anything else I cut into full size 4/4 boards and 8/4 framing as the logs will make. The owner and I will split the lumber. He is salvaging logs that were going to go to waste and will use it on the farm for various projects as they come up. He has an awful lot of very small "logs" that often will only yield 1 4X4 and 1-2 1X4's. Sometimes U can squeeze out a 2X4.

   I sawed a couple of knotty white pine upper logs. The first was so wormy I just made it into 4/4 boards. The second was better and I actually got 3 4X4 posts out of it. (The customer had said pine would be okay too). 

   At the end of the day I had sawed probably 35 "logs" and had a total of 559 bf for the day. I did stop to talk a while with a neighbor and the log owner then again when a cousin of his came up about sunset. No speed records were broken by any means.

    I'm still only a little over a third of the way through my order. I had another customer call yesterday who wanted 8' long poplar board and batten to repair some damage/rot on a cabin over on the Greenbrier River about 20 miles away. The 1X4s will be perfect for what he described and he needs to get back with a count on 1X8's. So far no poplar log I have sawed would make a 1X8. I have some 10' stock already cut or can go cut a tree on my place if necessary. The guy said he was in no hurry so we will see. He was excited to find a source to match what he had used before and was happy with the prices.

   While sawing I got a call from a guy who was a cold call back about Labor Day. I had finished a job and was driving out the seldom used road which is mostly a private drive for a dozen or so families. I saw a lot of oak logs in a guys yard and stopped and talked and left a card. He had someone lined up to saw them on shares but evidently that guy has not come through so it looks likely I will get that job to finish about December when I have caught up and his schedule permits.

   I forgot to take pictures and it was nearly dark when I left. 

[WV Sawmiller]

    Still piddlin on my order of 4X4's. Got in a few hours today before family events took over. The owner was there most of the time and after I left. He did a decent job feeding logs to me. Its still a real slow job and a log or two did not even produce a 4X4. Often they would only produce a 4X4 and a couple of 1X4's. The larger pine logs that would produce multiple 4X4s were too wormy to use for anything except 4/4 sheeting with a lot of character.

I've got 61 of 94 4X4s so far. The 2X in front is side lumber from the small logs when it will make. The short stack to the side is mostly 8' long 1X4's.This a stack of wormy 4/4 white pine boards and a few 12' 8/4 framing and a couple of 12' 1X6s.

[Magicman]

I hope that you come out ahead with that "shares" job.  

Sawing your half of wormy logs doesn't sound very profitable. 

[WV Sawmiller]

  Yes I will come out okay. My half right now is the 4X4s. The customer/owner will not get any of them so for every 8' 4X4 I saw he gets 10.67 bf of the side lumber. Even the wormy pine is okay for siding and some customer would come along and prefer it if I had it on the yard. People are funny about that.

    I have very little invested in this job except my time which is more hobby for me than for many folks here. I do need to finish it to get on to some other higher paying jobs I have in backlog. It is only 2 miles to the job site.

[SawyerTed]

What is an "emergency" sawmilling job?  

Got a message Saturday evening from a potential customer needing an emergency sawing session.   

He hasn't responded to my questions yet.  I told him I was available Monday at 7:30 to start and would be available most of the week as necessary.

Only things I can think of is either his boss wants something done/built or his wife wants something done/built.   I may get to save a marriage.   

It's in the back of my mind that it may be a Helene related need.