New saw came home!

NCDiesel · April 08, 2013, 12:26:14 PM

I picked up my sawmill from Cook's Friday. Everyone there seemed very nice. I got a great intro to the machine from Billy Gautney. We sawed-up a log there on the premises and he made sure I left with a sawmill but no questions unanswered.

Being the impatient type, I sawed 5 logs already. I LOVE the electric up-n-down. Here are two pics. The first is my truck with the mill at the entrance of Cook's on my way home, and the second is my first cant waiting for the final cuts. I finished that pile of logs in the picture and the saw performed beautifully. I have about 12 more logs. BTW, I have a couple other pics at my gallery. Thanks for everyone's help and feedback!

Ga Mtn Man · April 08, 2013, 12:44:47 PM

Congrats on the new mill! That MP-32 is heavy-duty and should handle anything you can throw at it.

To make it easier for people to find your pics, go to your forum profile and scroll down to "My Gallery" and follow the instructions for placing a photo gallery icon under your avatar. This goes for ALL of you slackers out there!

NCDiesel · April 08, 2013, 02:22:08 PM

Quote from: Ga Mtn Man on April 08, 2013, 12:44:47 PM
Congrats on the new mill! That MP-32 is heavy-duty and should handle anything you can throw at it.

To make it easier for people to find your pics, go to your forum profile and scroll down to "My Gallery" and follow the instructions for placing a photo gallery icon under your avatar. This goes for ALL of you slackers out there!

Done! It was pretty painless too.

Ga Mtn Man · April 08, 2013, 02:28:10 PM

thecfarm · April 08, 2013, 02:34:29 PM

Nice looking mill. ;D

dboyt · April 08, 2013, 03:09:37 PM

Congratulations on the mill! Looking forward to more photos. Look like you had some good practice logs. Did you load them with a ramp?

justallan1 · April 08, 2013, 03:20:30 PM

Congrats on the new mill, NCDiesel.
Allan

POSTON WIDEHEAD · April 08, 2013, 05:40:45 PM

drobertson · April 08, 2013, 05:50:54 PM

Happy for you NC, I'm sure that mill is aligned and ready to rock! have fun! david

brb · April 08, 2013, 10:12:07 PM

Congrats!

YellowHammer · April 08, 2013, 10:23:40 PM

Congrats! It sure looks nice 8)
YH

scully · April 08, 2013, 10:27:05 PM

New mill day is the best feeling ever ! looks like a great mill ! It also looks like you are gonna have a blast !

Magicman · April 08, 2013, 10:46:33 PM

Congrats on the new sawmill.

fat olde elf · April 09, 2013, 02:53:54 AM

Hey Diesel Man ! Glad you made it back to NC with your new mill. I will try to get up your way to see the mill ASAP. Don't forget that I have the cam to sharpen those SuperSharp bands. Have fun making boards !! PER

kelLOGg · April 09, 2013, 05:00:33 AM

Congrats, NCD.

What length mill did you get? and what engine (diesel, I presume) do you have? Post your experience. I have had mine 11 years and it still performs well.
Bob

schakey · April 09, 2013, 09:23:34 AM

smiley_blue_bounce

NCDiesel · April 09, 2013, 11:36:20 AM

Lets see if I can get those answered....

I did load the logs with ramps - I got the package that included the electric winch/ramps. The ramps are on the ground in front of the logs in that picture.

The engine is the 27HP fuel injected gas. It the 16' cut model(a little longer than that - could cut a 16'-6" log). Diesel is not a published option at Cooks for this mill - just the bigger mills. As nice as the folks are at Cook's I am sure if I pressed the issue they would have accommodated me and found a smaller diesel to mount on the Mill. But I chose not to start down that road. They have a 5 week back-log as it is and a special motor request would have stretched that I am sure.

I have no experience running a mill - I was always at the back end off-bearing. And even that was all circular mills. Have done a lot of it though. I even help yearly at a steam traction engine show where they demonstrate an old wooden Frick powered by early 1900s steam traction engines. So I watched quite a few sawyers over the decades.

So far so good! I got the flitches loaded on the bed last night, and will cut them for stickers tonight and have a proper stack of lumber.

So far I learned five things:

They cut wavy when dull
Don't hit the squaring arm with the band

Just because I off-loaded lumber all my life doesn't mean I know how to read a log and maximize board footage
The largest possible cant is always smaller than you think
Diesel and pine sawdust smell good (-:

Thanks for all the kind comments,

NCDiesel · April 09, 2013, 08:40:17 PM

Got the last few flitches loaded up and sawed a bunch of stickers and still got a nice set of 1x4 for roof purloins out of them. Been a good day.

PS: Am I using the term flitches right? I always heard them used for the boards with bark - the ones you saw off to get the cant. The ones with a crown of bark are the slabs, but the next board or two before the cant cut I call a "flitch". Just curious - seems as if maybe I have seen it used differently here.

Thanks again,

dukndog · April 09, 2013, 08:42:12 PM

Congrats NCDiesel!!

Magicman · April 09, 2013, 08:49:41 PM

Congrats, and you have your flitches and slabs well identified.

And remember that under the Extras above is a Forestry Forum Dictionary.

dboyt · April 17, 2013, 11:10:21 AM

Good idea to cut the stickers first. No matter how big the pile of stickers is, you'll never had too many! You might want some 4x6 cants for the foundation of your lumber stacks, too. Here's a drawing.

Nice looking truck, but you need a real honest-to-goodness woods truck. Bring it on over and we'll see about swapping it for something more appropriate. :D

samandothers · April 17, 2013, 09:40:06 PM

Mr. Diesel Congrats! Nice looking mill. Like the Cooks. Fat Old Elf was the first one from the forum to reach out to me and offer to me to come cut with his Cook. It was great of him and it was a nice mill.

I know you are pleased! Have fun.

dgdrls · April 17, 2013, 10:02:28 PM

That's a dandy set-up NC, mill and truck ;)

you gonna really enjoy learning the front end of your mill

best DGDrls

Sawdust Lover · April 17, 2013, 10:10:35 PM

Good choice on the mill. Have fun with it! ..Your lawn will never look the same. :D

NCDiesel · April 19, 2013, 10:47:59 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that my first sawn lumber got conscripted to use yesterday. A guy that does handy man stuff for me put up a small 12x14 shelter. My wife and I raise alpacas and we will use it for shearing, breeding and performing herd health chores . I had small trusses given to me by a family member who had 8 left over from another job he decided against, but my sawn 2x6s, 2x4s and 1x4s got used for beams, ties, purloins, etc. Feels good to go from not owning a sawmill to a structure with my lumber in two weeks. Tomorrow I need to install the beveled siding I cut to the gable ends and the metal roof panels.

Pictures later. Now that I have that structure done(mamma's projects are ALWAYS first), the saw shed is next.