How wide is the slab when it comes in cutting

[alsayyed]

Hi to everyone. I am curious about when it comes milling wood what size of slab do you cut. I know you have to square the log, and then you cut the log into slabs. Do you cut like 12 in wide and ignore the length depending on the log length. In my case I never take measurement before, and then I realized that I am running into waste. So could anybody tell me how you wood millers do it.? Bear in mind that we do not have big logs like you have in USA the sizes I get sometimes 11- 16 inch in eucalyptus.
Thank as always.

[DanG]

I usually try to make the first cut so that the new face is 4 inches wide at the narrowest point.  If the log has a lot of taper, I may get some short boards off of the fat end, before I open the small end.

To open a 12 inch face would waste a lot of good wood.

[flip]

I'm with DanG on that.  Cut an inch or two slab off the top and cut a couple flitches off and set them to the side.  Turn your log and do the same procedure.  After you have your cant saw it up then take the flitches and set them back on the mill and cut the bark edges off of both sides.  It seems that some times there is a lot of effort to get a few boards but since you have smaller logs anything you get is valuable.

[treebucker]

I would guess that even your 11-16" logs have some taper from the big end to the small end. You can prop the small end up (or jack it up using your toe boards) with wooden shims until it is about level with your blade from end to end. Then set the blade on top of the log and measure the blade height at the lowest point. I find that dropping the blade about 1-1/4 and 1-1/2" (about 31.75 - 38.1mm) from that measurement will yield a 4-6" (101 - 152.4mm) wide opening face. To find the size cant that a log will yield simply take the small end measurement times  .7, or divide by 1.4. For example, a 11" small end (perfect log) times .7 will yield a 7.7" x 7.7" square cant.


There's more to learn. It seems you need to ask more questions until you are comfortable with the other things you need to take into account such as sweep and taper.

BTW - I would like to hear more about your Qatar and your source for, and types of , logs.

[Tom]

Alsayyed is in the country of Qatar and has a chainsaw mill.   The sawing approach would be pretty much the same regardless of the mill, but I don't know what the procedures would be for a chainsaw mill.  Kevin might be a big help.

[alsayyed]

Hey Tom thanks you and thanks to everybody trying to help. I am the only person in the country is doing chainsaw milling. But let me tell you frankly I have learned a lot from this forum very good and plenty of information. I think treebucker article is helpful because yester I got one log which is 16 inch wide x 1.40 meter. Tomorrow I going to dive the chainsaw in that log. It is cider but this not American cider. I will post photo tomorrow or Friday.

Thanks ya

[Brucer]

It's difficult to cut thin slabs with a chainsaw mill. Your saw runs on a guide, the guide is supported off the top of the log, and the cutting bar has to saw below those supports.

Back in my chainsaw milling days, I would drive 10mm (3/8") lag screws into the surface of the log and rest my guide on top of them. Then I'd set the depth so the cutting bar would pass safely beneath the lag screws.

This would give me a pretty thick slab, so I would flip it over so it was resting on the cant with the flat side up.  I would wedge it and shim it in several places, and then I would saw a couple of boards (flitches) off the slab.

I still have a piece of Birch veneer I cut with my chainsaw mill - 10" wide, 8' long, and 1/32" thick  .

[LeeB]

Alsayyed, could you possibly post a picture of the cedar tree. I try to identify some of the trees i see here in Egypt while traveling from Cairo to the coast where I work and I think one is cedar. I would assume it to be the same cedar you have in Qatar. There doesn't seem to be many trees in Egypt as much as I have seen so far. I don't think there is a lot if any milling done here. LeeB