Author Topic: Lets make some Sawdust together ! (Event is Over, March 2021) (Read 2023 times)

Tristen · « **on:** February 27, 2021, 11:05:58 PM »

Free sawmilling; you bring your log or logs to my sawmill and together we will cut as many as we can into whatever size lumber you wish. Everyone who brings logs will get at least on log sawn.
So if 20 people bring six logs each, we will start by sawing one log for every person. When everyone gets one log sawn we will start on log number 2 for everyone. Each person who brings logs will have to be present at the time their log is being sawn, they will need to take their own lumber off the mill and put it in their own truck/trailer.
If only one person brings 20 logs, then we will saw as many as we can for that one person.
When the weekend is over, or i am to tired to move, any remaining logs will need to be taken with you OR we can work out an arrangement (some kind of payment) for them to be sawn at a later date.
Oh YA can't forget; it is also my daughter Karley's 20th birthday party (golden birthday) , So on Saturday there will be cake, and she will be expecting a Happy Birthday Gift. (a piece of lumber from your log will not count)
We will have a camp fire burning and some hot dogs and a can of beans, we can provide the willow stick, you cook the dog yourself. Please bring some kind of a dish, IDC if it is a bag of chips or potato salad, just something to contribute to the "pot luck" type of lunch and supper. IF you want something besides hot dogs for meat then you have bring it yourself. (steak, hamburger, pork burger) What every YOU wish to cook over the open fire. We will provide some lemonade or water or sweet tea, if you want anything else, it is bring your own. (kind of like family gathering rules )
Even if you don't have any logs you are still welcome to come have a good time, watch a sawmill work, or get a work out rolling logs, carrying boards, stacking lumber or playing Disc Golf on our 9 hole coarse, (Beaver Tail Disc Golf Course) or even if you are just shooting the [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better], bring your own gloves, especially if you are just shooting the [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better].
Oh ya, almost forgot , i guess you could just come to wish Karley a Happy Birthday)

COVID; There will be plenty of open space outdoors you will be able to stay as far away from people as you wish, you don't have to eat the same food as everyone else if that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to bring you own food and drinks. Your mask may come in handy with all the sawdust. The only bottle neck is the restroom in the house, we will have the covid spray out for eveyone to use and we will have the restroom area cleaned regular. The outside restrooms, (behind the tree, or around the barn) should be covid free all day, if you choose to use one of those.

I am hoping to get a few local mills together and Make a lot of sawdust !

One of these years down the road, i could see this event having 25 sawmills and 200 people wanting their lumber sawn. (hopefully not THIS year

) I have no idea how many on this form are close to my area, or how many would even be interested. so if you would let me know you are coming it would be a great help. You can message me here, or "Find Davidson's all natural gym" on FB and click "going" on the event. The link below the photo will take you to the event.

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moosehunter · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2021, 12:07:45 PM »

Interesting idea.... Can't wait to hear how it turns out.
mh

Tacotodd · « **Reply #2 on:** February 28, 2021, 01:31:04 PM »

That’s a pretty interesting idea that you have there. Be sure to tell the FF how it all goes.

GAB · « **Reply #3 on:** February 28, 2021, 01:41:13 PM »

I think it was Sept of '19 when at @Bruno's the opposite occurred.
Four owners brought their mills and Pete w/ Jim's help also brought his edger and Bruno supplied the logs.
A lot of sawdust was made that day.
GAB

Tristen · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2021, 04:01:22 PM »

Quote from: GAB on February 28, 2021, 01:41:13 PM

I think it was Sept of '19 when at @Bruno's the opposite occurred.
Four owners brought their mills and Pete w/ Jim's help also brought his edger and Bruno supplied the logs.
A lot of sawdust was made that day.
GAB

I would bet a lot of good information was exchanged that day also, and maybe even some friendships started.
If 20 people show up, eat my free hot dogs and watch me mill one of my own logs, and no one shows up with a log of their own, and no one else shows up with a sawmill. There will still be a chance for me to learn something, make some contacts, or maybe even get lucky and make a friend. That would be a good day. (especially with all the covid, and everyone stuck at home) It only cost me a gallon of gas, a few hot dogs and a blade for my mill.
If 400 people show up with 2 logs each, and 25 different types of sawmills each with an experienced sawyer willing to teach others and show off (demo) their mills, can you imagine the information and knowledge exchanged at an event like that ? Not to mention all the bull crap i could fertilize my garden for years.

Plus I live in a small town, my mechanic will help me with all my breakdowns with his free information, my pizza shop will make a pizza just the way i like it, special order, the gas station will stay open late if i call ahead of time. The person who delivers diesel for my tank will come out on a special run if my tank is empty. The least i can do is saw some free lumber for the community.
oh ya can't forget my daughters birthday !

Tristen · « **Reply #5 on:** March 18, 2021, 09:14:31 PM »

Well only 2 days left before the party ! Lots of good things so far !

The garage is clean !

just in case it rains or is cold we can get warm in the garage.

Also the FREE LOGS are starting to roll in and Pile up

The stickers are cut and ready to go !

still have to dig out the fire pit and add some more chairs and it will be ready to go.

I know this is not going to be some blockbuster event, however i do think a few people from the local area, some friend, and some of my daughters friends are coming. Should be a good day however many show up !

I for one an excited, (and i may be the only one

)

Walnut Beast · « **Reply #6 on:** March 18, 2021, 09:34:22 PM »

Looks like some great preparation and should be a great time 👍

Tristen · « **Reply #7 on:** March 22, 2021, 11:53:11 AM »

Well "Free sawmill weekend" has ended, until next year ? or forever ? I don't know have to wait and see where i am at next year. Well how did the weekend go ? Who showed up ? Was it fun ? How many people ? There is always two sides to every coin, so first the pessimist:

PESSIMIST; Wow what a nightmare ! Hours of preparation, hours spend on fb typing up the event and posting the event, then more time spent sharing this event in all the groups on fb. What a waist of time. Hours of time spend contacting other sawmills in the area asking if they would like to show off their mills and how they operated, small mills, large mills, chainsaw mills, all waisted time not a single one of them showed up. Then there was the $225.00 hard earned money i spend on food. The first log is scheduled for 8am, when no one shows up by 9 am, i figure i would saw up an old rotten white oak to get it out of the way, as soon as i start sawing someone shows up with a 6 ft cherry that is maybe 12 inch round. The next people who show up are two kids with a red oak tree they had just cut down. The trunk was a nice 9 ft log the second log was full of knots and a fork at the end, the rest were limbs and not straight at all, full of stress, should have been firewood. The next log was a White oak, 20 inches round and 12 ft long and guess what, he wants the whole thing Quarter sawn ! Wow can this get any worse ? The first person i had scheduled with the 12 white oak logs never even showed up! The wind was blowing the sawdust right in my face all day, the one bad direction, on a normal day I would not even have ran the sawmill due to the wind direction. Three dull blades, and 5 gallons of gas for the sawmill. Probably 3 gallons of diesel fuel waisted in my tractor. Every time i would get going i would have to stop and answer questions. The never ending questions, they seamed to go on all weekend, What kind of wood is that ? what do you do with the cut offs ? why are you sawing it that way ? How much dose that log weigh ? How should i stack my lumber and why ? From dawn to dusk all weekend and not getting paid. Not a very profitable way to spend a weekend.

OPTIMIST; Wow what a great weekend ! I spent a few minutes typing up and event on fB and then copied it to the FF, easy copy and paste. I spend a few hours over the next two weeks promoting the event in fB groups, i should probably be doing this a lot more to promote the business. This event really helped me get my butt in gear, new business cards, Now listed on Wood-Mizer's Pro Sawyer Network, a New and updated sawmilling contract. My daughter and her friends spend hours cleaning out my garage so they could have a heated place to have the party, i have not seen the floor of the garage for years! My wife let me order some gravel for the driveway so it would not be mud. Hot dogs, beans, a few bags of potato chips, and a birthday cake, I don't know how anyone could do two days worth of party food for less than $225. The local home town donut shop gave me a discount on donuts if i passed out some of their business cards. Soon after the event was posted on fb, I got a call from someone stating they saw the event on fb and then looked at some of the items i had for sale, that first call led to me trading some of my lumber for 600 concrete blocks. The next person to call did not want to attend the event (to many people and the whole Covid19 thing) but he wanted to bring me some logs to be sawn at a later date and was happy to pay my prices. SATURDAY MORNING; at 8am the first log was scheduled to be turned into lumber. They brought 12 white oak logs. They decided other things were more important to them, they did not want to unload the lumber from the mill and did not want to stack and dry the lumber themselves. So they have agreed to pay me to mill the lumber and stack the lumber and air dry the lumber for a year. (I have prices for all of that

) By 10am i was bored and decided to saw up an old white oak, it had a rotten core and a big split down the middle, i set it aside last fall and figured someday it would be firewood. At 10:05am the noon appointment showed up early and was so thrilled by the rotten/split white oak that he paid me cash money for it! I then sawed up his small cherry log for free. He was afraid to bring me all of his high dollar cherry logs because he wanted to see my work first. He is a high dollar wood worker and has a barn full of over 50 cherry logs and has agreed to allow me to saw them at a later date for cash. The 1pm scheduled log was a beautiful 12 ft white oak, straight as an arrow. It belonged to the sawyer who has been training me on his Norwood 2000 for the past 3 years, (i owe him so much, i would have sawn this log for free anyway). It is so much work to manually roll and quarter saw a log on his mill, but with the hydraulics on my mill it was an easy job. I was very proud to get the quarter sawn, rays through the entire 12 ft length of this log. The entire log was quartersawn, never missed a single cut. He choose to have 4 boards rift sawn, rather than take the 8 skinny quarter saw boards. I could have gotten the quarter sawn but it was his choice. About 2:30pm an unscheduled red oak tree shows up. Two kids with a chain saw, a boom truck and woodworking dreams. They brought the whole tree! Two logs and 6 limbs. They had no idea about lumber making, air drying, stacking, live edge, stress, stickers, or any thing else, they just wanted some lumber. They walked away Sunday afternoon with $1000 worth of lumber and a crash coarse in lumber making. With what they learned about logs, lumber, stickers, air drying and live edge, I have no doubt they will be back with lots of future trees. They now know how to look for the good logs, and they have lots of farm land/woods. The neighbors who showed up with dishes of food were amazing! The random people from the city who showed up were amazed to learn how lumber was made, and were scared my free range chickens were going to attack them at any time. The weather was amazing for the first day of spring, i was covered in "man glitter" within the first hour. I hit no metal in any of the logs and will easily re-sharpen the three blades that i used. My daughters birthday presents included, gift cars from tractor supply but what do you expect from loggers

. I will have leftover hotdogs, beans and chips for a week (and that is a good thing). All three of the sawyers with portable mills messaged me after seeing all the photos on fb. They all wish they would have brought their mill and were sorry they missed it, and wanted to know when i was doing it again. If i gained nothing else out the weekend, I slept very well for two nights!

The rotten/split white oak, SOLD !