First cuts

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Finally got my %^_@ together and got the mill finished, and started cutting. Played around on a too-short piece of pine, then threw this poplar on. To think I almost made it into firewood!





I've got 2 more logs from this same tree (this was the smallest of them). I think I might get some more practice before I cut those up, I screwed up a lot of pretty wood just playing around today.

And yes, I cut into a log support, burned up my first blade today, too! Getting in all kinds of firsts!  

- Kevin

[WV Sawmiller]

Glad to hear you sawed into a side support already. Some folks take days and even weeks before they do that. I never do something like that (unless there is someone watching). Now let us know when you roll a log completely across the mill because you forgot to put the side supports up and when you leave a toe board up and saw some long wedges,

[RetiredTech]

Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet. I get a little better every time I fire the mill up. I'm sure you will too. Actually sawing good lumber is a lot harder than watching the videos. It's also more rewarding. Don't feel bad about sawing the log stop. I've got one blade that I broke every tooth off of doing the same thing. And guess what, It was brand new.

[Nebraska]

Save your first board. Sounds like a good start to me. 

[tacks Y]

That wood looks good to me, dry it and plane it. Was this dead for a while? It has some nice spalting.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Yes, standing dead for about 2 years. Is that what causes the grain to get brown and streaky like that?
I thought it was too far gone... bark was moldy underneath, sliming off the log when I tried to manipulate it. It landed with a thud, I figured it would make OK firewood once split and dried. Glad I've got 2 more logs of it!

- K

[Brad_bb]

Show me somebody who hasn't hit their uprights and I'll show you someone who replaced their uprights so no one would see.  I did it twice a few weeks ago over two days.  Luckily they were soft hits, so I think the bands will resharpen.  Look for the curls of metal on the tips of the teeth and scrape them off with a metal tool.  Then you'll be able to see if the whole tooth is still there.

The first cuts on my mill were agonizing.  Not knowing what you're doing and not wanting to waste wood make it difficult.  I was basically starting on walnut.  But you'll learn as you go along and things will become second nature.  With hardwood logs I usually center the pith on both ends.  So I have to shim the small end with small pieces of wood.  I have a board that I lay across the rails that is the same height as the cross bars, and I use the board to measure from to the center of the pith so I can shim accordingly.  I never saw any pine, but I've heard that some guys will will make the side of the tapered log parallel to the bed so the lumber they cut will not have cut grain fibers or they will be minimized. 

With enough sawing and asking questions here, you will be able to read a log and what you should optimally make out of it.  Being new make sure then you saw 4/4  that it comes out 1-1/6" to 1-1/8".  I hear most on here go 1-1/8 but I tend to go 1-1/16 in hardwood.  Learn to stack and sticker properly and try to prepare stickers ahead so they can be dry.  Lumber pallets are a huge time and work saver if you have a forked machine to move them around. I air dry on the lumber pallets, tightening the strapping as/after they air dry.  I stack all of them the same height so fit neatly into another guy's kiln.  I just load the pallet onto the trailer and take to him and the pallets go right into the kiln.  No hand loading or transferring.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Great advice, thanks @Brad_bb .
I've got a gaggle of those plastic pallets from my stint with a produce distributor (funny story...) The boards hang off the ends, but it's a good start. I would like to build a shelter and some racking eventually, but...
Getting there! I had some short pine logs I worked on yesterday that I started feeling more comfortable with. When I got done sawing I took the tension off the blade and a washer decided it was time to split! 
S'ok, raining here today anywhoo, good day to source spare parts at the co-op! 

[Brad_bb]

Lumber Pallets

[grweldon]

My first cuts were in large Pecan branchwood.  As we all know...according to Magicman, Pecan is the "devil"!

I can't remember if I cut in to my side support on the first day or the second.  In any case, I was surprised how far the blade cut in to the support.  Must have gone almost a 1/4" in mild steel.  I was impressed!

[barbender]

 Cutting into your side supports is like getting the first dent in a new truck- you might just as well get it over with, so it's not hanging over your head😁

 NYS, from what I've seen on FB sawing pages, many people have gotten mills and expect the process (from what I can tell, anyways) to be like driving a car, or operating a lawn mower. I've came to see it as more of a troubleshooting and problem solving excercise as much as anything. There's always something trying to keep nice, uniform, quality lumber from coming off the mill. Then, when you get the day's issues figured out and things start humming along, you'll saw into your backstop😂

[SawyerTed]

I was recently in Sedona Arizona where they say there are electromagnetic and gravitational vortexes due to the high iron oxide levels jn the geology there. 

It has occurred to me that somehow a similar set of vortexes occur around a sawmill.  Somehow a sawmill is a manifestation of the many variations of Murphy's Law and a concentration of Gremlins and Glitches. 

Murphy is especially potent when it comes to new blades, audiences and shortages of time.

The bigger the audience the more likely it is you will hit a back stop. 

The newer the blade, the more likely it is to you will hit a back stop, clamp or log turner. 

Combine a large audience with a new blade and you are doomed.  Don't mention having a deadline coming up, plus a large audience and a new blade.

[NewYankeeSawmill]

... many people have gotten mills and expect the process (from what I can tell, anyways) to be like driving a car, or operating a lawn mower. I've came to see it as more of a troubleshooting and problem solving excercise as much as anything.

I have yet to have a day of cutting where I didn't need to fiddle with something first!
Fortunately the local suppliers have a decent bolt-bin and grade 8 parts.

[Magicman]

After work yesterday, the customer and I were looking at his "4 nail slab" and the conversation drifted to the sawmill.  I explained to him that anything and everything that sticks up above the sawmill bed is subject to being hit by the sawmill blade.


This one has to deserve some kinda award. 

[TimW]

Lynn,
   You need to frame that photo and put it up in your office.

[RAYAR]

Show me somebody who hasn't hit their uprights and I'll show you someone who replaced their uprights so no one would see.

I bought a used custom built mill and it had three capped uprights. There were no blades left for the mill. I later discovered that all three uprights had been cut into just below the caps. I ground out the kerfs and welded them back up. I later fabricated a blade guard to avoid cutting into the uprights. If the blade is less than 1/4" above the uprights, the guard contacts the upright and stops progression of the carriage. Works great, it's saved me once or twice now, but it's another story with nails and screws, but my uprights look great.

[SawyerTed]

Now you've done it!  Living dangerously, tempting the vortexes!