First horseshoe

[Ron Wenrich]

When I was at Sawlex, I was talking to Dan Shade about hitting metal and made the comment that in all my years of sawing, I never hit a horseshoe.  Today was my first.

It was on a pretty big red oak, and there was no blue in the log.  It was hanging on limb that had died and healed over.  I caught just part of the cleat.  It was hanging parallel to the cut, so I didn't saw through it, just a grazing blow.

I had to sharpen up, and I was on my way.  Damages could have been a lot worse had I hit it in a different angle.

[bandmiller2]

Horseshoes don't bring good luck,around a mill at least.Ron did you have to swedge to bring the corners back??Thats one good thing about a bandsaw your losses are pretty much limited to the price of a band. Frank C.

[zopi]

heh..I found one in the garden with the tiller the other day...hit the tines and stopped that sucker dead...didn't hurt the tiller though...

Glad you didn't eat a band...

[Fla._Deadheader]

Ron uses a Circle blade, Zopi.  : :

  Had a neighbor that told about sawing directly into a horseshoe, and ripping the mandrel from the husk. Said the whole thing tore up the mill shed. Guys were going out through cracks in the walls  : : :

  I wasn't there to SEE it.  : : : : ;D

[Jeff]

I didn't hit one until near the end of my commercial sawyer days.  Here was my turn:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,4913.0.html

Ron and I were both lucky it seems. Hitting a chunk of metal like that can be potentially catastrophic.

[beenthere]

Ron
That 'shoe' hanging up nearby, with you singin/hummin "   my good luck charm smiley_singsongnote02 " song?

[moonhill]

I hit a horse shoe once, it stopped the mill and rounded the teeth over on the band, cut about half way through it.  I wouldn't want to hit one with a circular saw.

Tim

[Ron Wenrich]

I didn't need to swage the saw at all.  I hit nails today that caused more damage then the horseshoe. 

[STUMPKICKER]

  8)  Never hit a horseshoe myself but knew of other guys that had. I was talking wiff the millwright today @ lunchtime and niticed a porcelin insulator, picked it up and said, "That'll do as much damage to bits as anything.  ;) The worst obstacle I've ever hit was an old flat file that had been in the tree a LONG time, couldn't see it-completely grown over!  The saw had just been filled. :( Those guys that have metal detectors must really appreciate them.

[zopi]

Ron uses a Circle blade, Zopi.  : :

Well,I'm still glad he didn't eat a band...tho' that would be a neat trick.

[backwoods sawyer]

When I first started working in the big mill I was off bearing a set of double cut twins, we hit horseshoes, railroad spikes(thanks to the environmentalist of the time) and insulators. Insulators are by far the worst to hit with a band saw. Teeth start flying, you can dive behind the cement wall, but it is all over before you start moving. Now when one of the block chippers gets unseated from its rails and starts dancing across the transfer chains, it is time to vacate the area before it takes out your little cat walk that you call home, coarse jumping out the cracks in the wall is not a good option when you are on the third floor. Finding your way to the forth floor by way of the conduit will suffice.   

[Ron Wenrich]

  Those guys that have metal detectors must really appreciate them.

I've always said that I have 3 metal detectors at the mill.  One has 46 teeth, the other two have 22.  If there's metal in a log, I'll find it.   :D

[bandmiller2]

Most sawyers have a detector kicking around somewhere,seldom used every day.I just check when something looks suspicious,kinda like customs checking every container.Frank C.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

That was a close call Mate ive seen what itll do to a headsaw at my grandfathers mill as they had a couple off saws upagainst the wall that had afew gullets/teeth missing and one had a 2 to 3" crack in it and there was a line along the roof where they had afew stray teeth go missing  ; ;) :D Like Puppa said Cheap logs allways endup costing you More  ;) :D :D

Ive hit afew things over the years but nothing thats written of a saw yet  Like you said saws make dang good metal detectors but they dont like it too much when the find it  : : ;) :D :D ;D

Reguards Chris

[STUMPKICKER]

G'day y'all!  8)  Our millwright told me a while ago 'bout a mill that was set up in town a while back. Whoever set it up was not a millman obviously. They had a big ol' Cat diesel to run it. They had hooked up the pulleys WRONG. :( When they fired her up she was runnin' 'bout 3000 rpm.  Glad I wasn't there to witness it. I was in there one time after and noticed a half a saw up 'gainst the wall. I've heard a lot of horror stories around mills- which I won't get into for courtesy to others. I'm sure some of ya's have heard the same. Tales like those are better kept to oneself. Anywho, y'all have a great day. 

[Cedarman]

Had a load of cedar come in Monday.  Smelled metal in a couple of them.  Set aside the most likely butt logs and got the real detector out.  Found 4 hits near surface  of one log and a major hit at 4' up on an 8' log.  Appeared to go2/3 of the way through the log.  The other 3 checked clear.  There was no surface indication of metal.  The logs were just too clear of knots and had that houseyard look about them that aroused my suspicions.  At least I found them before the mill did and before we wrote the check for the logs.

Now why a logger can't see 3 strands of wire sticking out 6" or worse yet our sawyer and offbearer not seeing them either is a mystery to me.  That has happened more than once.

[cdnwoodchuck]

my Dad told about a sawmill in his home town of Powell River on BC's west coast that had the pleasure of a delivery of an old growth Fir from the Queen Charlotte Islands in the 50s,

the cannonball they 'discovered' and the damage that it caused was talk of the town for many years