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Sawing black walnut log and post-sawing refreshment, Kickapoo style.

Started by whitepe, October 05, 2011, 01:14:20 AM

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whitepe

Sawed a black walnut for a buddy of mine, Larry "Horse" Heinz who has a lucas swingmill. We knew the log had a nail or two in it so we worked around it on my LT15.  He was tired of dinging blades on his swingmill and of course less kerf waste.  I don't want this thread to go into which is a better mill,  Swing mills vs. band mills.  Each has their place and both are great mills.    My point of the thread is how fun, enjoyable and rewarding it is to saw logs into boards. Anyway when we were done, we enjoyed some of Leo Schaub's homemade wine.   During prohibition Leo's dad and uncle made moonshine for Al Capone. He has family photos of them with Al Capone to prove it.   Leo and Horse are fellow firemen with me on our local fire department.  Back in 2002 when I bought my LT15, some guy north of my place was trying to sell me an old circle mill powered by an old engine that was used to move barges up and down the Illinois River. It turns out that circle mill was owned by Leo's Grandfather.  And of course in Forestry Forum style ala Electric AL,  Leo's grandfather used explosives to make logs smaller and more manageable in size.  Still love watching the videos that Jeff took of ElectricAl making logs smaller. The 4th person in the pictures is my Father-in-law, Beverly Blessing.  Many of you FFites have met him before at the 100 years of forestry picnic in 2003 in Michigan.   Pictures are on facebook.

blue by day, orange by night and green in between

SwampDonkey

No, not a sawmill battering, but I thought you were slicing up that veneer log in the back yard. ;D ;)

You been watching Ken Burns' "Prohibition" movie on PBS? ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Magicman

Looks like the most fun was after the lumber was in the truck.   :)   Didn't take long for this thread to turn to food refreshments.    :D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

whitepe

The veneer black walnut is still standing and it's fate will be determined yet this fall.  The timber buyer is working my neighbor's  place right now and when he's done he's coming my way.    Just to be clear, it's not an urban forest log though.  
6 acres of my almost 20 acres is a heavily wooded stand of mostly mature red oaks, white oaks and ash and yes sadly the ash are dying but that's another story.  The walnut log I sawed for Larry Heinz came from the yard of Larry's brother in Kickapoo, illinois and it indeed was an urban forest tree.   Sad thing, Larry who is mid 60's knows the guy who pounded all the nails into that log we sawed when he was a kid about 50 or 60 years ago.  Kickapoo celebrated it's 175th anniversary this year and they held a several day event.
The records show that when Kickapoo was founded in 1836, the area that the town now occupies was a heavily wooded stand of black walnut.  There are still several of them scattered around the town and they have been snapped up over the years as urban logs.

blue by day, orange by night and green in between

whitepe

SwampDonkey,  Nah,  I haven't been watching Ken Burns Prohibition.  Didn't even know he did a series on it.  I got his "baseball" series on VHS tapes.  But, speaking of prohibition, a few years ago I found most of what was left of an old beer
bottle from Leisy brewery in Peoria.  The Leisy Brewery was a business that was a victim of prohibition.    Peoria has been home to many breweries and distilleries over the years and due to the abundance of oak trees in the area along the illinois river, many cooperages thrived making barrels for the beer and distilled spirits industry.  The Hiram Walker distillery was one of those business.  Today across the river in Pekin, Illinois,   Sky vodka is still distilled to this day.    The Hiram Walker distillery metamorph'ed into the ADM ethanol plant today.    The Sunday Peoria paper (which got delivered to me at 4 PM monday :-(    had an article about prohibition. I haven't taken the time to read so I think I will get to that soon
blue by day, orange by night and green in between

LeeB

'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

whitepe

it was GOOD wine    :D    hahaha......    i blew up the original photo and I could see raspberry bottled in 2005.   Dang, I read the article in the paper.   Peoria had 100 trains a day leaving town with liquid refreshments in 1880.   When prohibition hit,  half of the people in Peoria were immediately left without a job.   The article also quoted Peoria County historical society records that said between 1837 and 1919 there were 24 breweries and 73 distilleries in operation in Central Illinois.    42% of the nation's revenue which peaked in 1894 came from liquor excise taxes   The US congress enacted a $2 per gallon whiskey tax to pay for the civil war.  Prior to income tax arriving in 1913, in general 1/3rd of the nation's coffers came from liquor taxes and the majority of that came from Peoria's federal district.  Wow.  those stats are unbelievable.  My how times change.
blue by day, orange by night and green in between

LeeB

 :D  Most of the bad wine I've had, I never knew about till the next day.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Full Circle

Whitepe, my dad's from Peoria and when I was much younger I attended the Kickapoo Sesquicentennial Celebration with my cousin, and even had the T-Shirt to prove it....  My Aunt and Uncle still live in Dunlap, and, interestingly enough, my uncle restored and runs a friend of his old circle mill.  I think it's powered by a straight 6 Buick engine, maybe?  Got to see him mill a log with it about two or three years ago.  Quite a machine.

Didn't mean to go off on a tangent, just hadn't thought about Kickapoo in a long time, and your reference to a circle mill reminded me of my uncle showing me "his" mill.  Thanks.
   
-Roy



fullcirclefarmandforest.com

Magicman

I guess that is where the term "Kickapoo Joy Juice" came from  ???
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Magicman

I had forgotten about Al Capp.  Thanks for the reminder.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

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