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Chasing the Sawdust Dream

Started by Resonator, June 02, 2019, 11:59:25 AM

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Resonator




Some of the first Red Pine from my land I cut into lumber.

This summer it will be 2 years since I bought my first sawmill, and got hooked on making sawdust. I'm going to try doing a thread about some of the equipment I've used, logs I've sawed, and projects I've built with my lumber. Also what I've learned along the way, as I chase my dream of turning a fun hobby into a full time business. All of which I've been able to do with help from what I've learned here on the forum. Thank you FF!



My first mill. A friend of a friend had a used Woodland Mills HM 126 that he had cut all the lumber he wanted, and no longer needed. He did not have it listed for sale, and I was the only one he showed it too. We agreed to price, and he required no down payment. Just a hand shake and come back later with the money to buy it.
The mill proved to be a good basic beginner mill, and I cut quite a bit of lumber with it. Before I sold it I built a frame of 2" x 5"x 5/16" wall tube steel. I bought full 20' long pieces from a nearby steel supplier. (Bringing them home on my 10' trailer there was just a little overhang on the tail end!) This made a continuous frame with no joints, easier to keep in alignment and level. I used heavy angle iron for cross braces, bolted to tabs I welded on. This also made it so the next owner would just have to add an axle and a hitch, and it would be a portable trailer sawmill. When I sold the mill, I came out ahead. I got what I had paid for it, as well as the cost of the steel frame, not to mention the value of all the lumber It had produced.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Resonator





My second (and current) mill, my Wood-Mizer LT 28, brand new from the factory in fall 2017. I saved the a section of that black plastic wrap, and use it as a rain cover for the engine.



As it is today, cutting some "wood pecker pole" spruce. Very pleased with it's performance, with very few issues since I've had it. And yes my next mill will have hydraulics!
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

trapper

nice pictures  Glad I met you last spring
marv
stihl ms241cm ms261cm  echo 310 400 suzuki  log arch made by stepson several logrite tools woodmizer LT30

Resonator




One of the first projects I built with the lumber I cut with my first mill, was a deer blind (or "shooting house" to the guys down in the land of grits ;)). I used Spruce for everything from the framing, to the full 2" floor, to the natural edge siding. The only money I had in it was the cost of hardware, metal roofing, clear acrylic for windows, and the waterproof stain. I sold it for less than plastic deer blinds were going for, plus it had the look of a mini cabin.













Inside view, with sliding windows to slide open to bag the buck!
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Resonator

Thanks trapper (Marv), was good to meet you too!
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Resonator

More pics of projects I've built with lumber cut with my mill. This was a small outdoor building built entirely with Red Pine I had logged and sawn. The outside was reverse board and batten natural edge siding with a clear finish. The customer is a relative of mine who's father planted the trees I used, so the lumber had special meaning.

Being built with fresh sawn lumber off my Wood-Mizer in winter 2018.


The structure set in its final location at the customers hunting camp on family land.






The inside I made paneling from blue stain Red Pine, ripping narrow boards with the best color, and making panels from them.





Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Resonator



Custom sawn lumber, and lumber from my own supply, sold. 8)
1" random width Poplar boards going to a rebuild a hunting camp.

A different customer order, quarter sawn Sugar Maple.







A repeat customer has asked me to build a breakfast "nook" for a new home he is building. I cut a good sized Sugar Maple tree from my own woods, and milled over 300 bd ft of mostly clear quarter sawn lumber from the trunk logs. Nice part about this time of year is you can peel the bark off a log pretty easy before you saw it. Not so nice part was getting the logs out of the woods, had the tractor buried to the frame in the mud, and got to deal with an army of wood ticks and mosquitoes. :D
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Crossroads

Nice work, you will like the hydraulics whenever you get them, I know I do. That being said, I'm glad I cut my teeth on a manual mill, I feel like the lessons learned were better earned 😉
With the right fulcrum and enough leverage, you can move the world!

2017 LT40 wide, BMS250 and BMT250,036 stihl, 2001 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, l8000 Ford dump truck, hr16 Terex excavator, Valley je 2x24 edger, Gehl ctl65 skid steer, JD350c dozer

Darrel

Good story so far, I'll stay tuned.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Resonator


Happy 4th of July! Hottest most humid weather we've had all year! Spent the last few days sawing some of my fresh cut Spruce into 4/4 random width boards.


One good thing this time of year the bark peels easily off the logs, especially with logs that got muddy skidding out of the woods.


I also took the time to trim branch nubs flush with the trunk without bark.


Peeling the bark extends blade life, and makes a clean edge if a board corner has some wane. Though it also makes the logs slippery, and want to slide around on the forks. ::)


Some off the logs I sawed the cant center into a 2" board, which made it easier to avoid splitting the pith.
I'm still practicing NOT splitting the pith. :D


Recently picked up a moisture meter (General MMD4E) to track how my lumber is air drying, and to let customers know what the lumber MC is when they buy it.


And just to see for myself how well the stuff you guys talk about works, I got a gallon of Anchorseal to try on my logs to be sawed into slabs. Hopefully this will make less checking in the wood, and lead to more checking in the bank!  ;D
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Chuck White

Looks like you're doing pretty good with the mill!

Gotta be careful with fresh-peeled logs, kinda like handling a fresh-bathed baby! ;)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Resonator




New customer, brought his own self unloading truck. :)



Monster Sugar Maple he had me saw, If I'd known how heavy it was, I would of had him set it right on my mill. My Kubota lifted it, but the back tires were almost off the ground. The winch driven claw log turner sure did it's job well.



Cut it into 2" x 14" pieces for guitar blanks (not the first time I've cut pieces for guitars :D). Had some curly grain, and streaks of stain from the ends.



He also brought some old hand hewn barn beams to be sawn in half for a interior project. Amazingly there were no nails! I put an old blade on just in case, and the white cedar cut like butter.



Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

RAYAR

Looks like you're having a great time.
mobile manual mill (custom build) (mods & additions on-going)
Custom built auto band sharpener (currently under mods)
Husqvarna 50, 61, 254XP (and others)
96 Polaris Sportsman 500
2006 Ranger 4X2 w/cap, manual trans (430,000 Km)

Resonator

Yes RAYAR, I do enjoy running my sawmill, and being able to work from home. Trying to start a business from nothing, and worrying about irregular income, is the tough part.




I really liked the camp fire benches that Jeff built at the Pig Roast. (See "Mock Up" and "Pig Roast 2019 RSVP" thread in General board.) I built my own version, with a few things different from the originals:
I used Spruce 6x6 instead of Cedar, (cause I don't have any Cedar). :D
Planed the surface smooth on the seat and arm rests.
Added a 2 1/4" block under the armrest to raise it and the back rest up, and also to serve as a cleat to screw the armrest onto the seat.
Used a router to round over the corners.
Used 10" T50 torx head anchor screws from underneath, to hide the fasteners.
Put the back rest 6x6 on the mill with a 1" sticker to tilt it, and ripped it at an angle to make it more comfortable.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

doc henderson

that looks great, and clearly designed for a guitar player, where I think Jeff's was designed for a balalaika player.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Resonator

Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Resonator

Took a trip back in time today at the steam and gas tractor show near me in Edgar Wisconsin. Here are a few pics of the belt driven saws they were running through the weekend.



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Was fun to watch the big circle mill inside the shed run, powered by a long belt drive off a steam tractor. It would chug along quietly between logs, and then bear down and chug smoke when sawing a big Pine log.





The main drive line also powered a secondary pulley overhead, which ran a chain elevator to remove sawdust outside into a wagon.


5 man "Armstrong" log turner.


Boards cut off were run through the belt driven edger, and any bark slabs and edgings were then crosscut into firewood size pieces. The lumber is used for restoring buildings on the grounds, and the firewood for firing steam engines.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

A-z farmer

Resonator
Very nice pictures thank you for sharing 
Zeke

doc henderson

man killers, those belts and blades. you really had to know where to keep your hand and stuff out of.  thanks for the pics.  
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

samandothers

Great photos and narrative!  Thanks for the time to do this.

I must admit given modern world of safety consciousness looking at some of these devices makes you think how on your toes you needed and how accidents could happens so easily.

Resonator

Thanks guys. Though the sawmill is inherently dangerous, the machine that was scary to watch was a wood splitter one guy had running. He used a hit and miss gas engine to spin a big cast iron flywheel with a sharp wedge mounted to the outer rim. Standing chunks of chord wood up by hand in line with the spinning wheel-wedge to split them.  :o
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

doc henderson

i have seen some like that on you tube.  great to watch on a night shift if feeling sleepy.  the adrenaline combined with coffee or diet pepsi keeps me going! :)
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

thecfarm

I always enjoy hearing and seeing them things run!!!
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

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