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General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: Resonator on June 02, 2019, 11:59:25 AM

Title: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 02, 2019, 11:59:25 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20180116_113400_483~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1516721020)

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!

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171125_152127_286.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559488341)

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.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 02, 2019, 12:30:52 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171123_131406_617.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559491994)


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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190525_160738_286.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559492373)

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!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: trapper on June 02, 2019, 02:11:06 PM
nice pictures  Glad I met you last spring
marv
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 02, 2019, 02:32:52 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171011_141453_239.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559499556)

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.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171011_141501_580.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559499563)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171011_141515_828.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559499585)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171011_141525_440.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559499591)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20171011_141623_950.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1559499650)

Inside view, with sliding windows to slide open to bag the buck!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 02, 2019, 02:41:33 PM
Thanks trapper (Marv), was good to meet you too!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 08, 2019, 05:54:39 PM
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.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20180112_100332_485.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1516721704)

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

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20181004_172924_137.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560029520)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20181004_151305_181.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560029521)

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

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20180616_100410_861.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560029525)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20180616_100418_451.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560029532)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 18, 2019, 09:24:59 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190610_173149_478.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560905503)
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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190609_134922_724.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560905507)



(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190611_063748_524.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1560905511)

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
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Crossroads on June 18, 2019, 11:46:14 PM
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 😉
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Darrel on June 19, 2019, 12:51:03 AM
Good story so far, I'll stay tuned.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on July 04, 2019, 09:21:27 PM
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190704_131849_933.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562286051)
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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190629_133157_959.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562286063)
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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190704_131836_008.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1562286073)
I also took the time to trim branch nubs flush with the trunk without bark.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190629_132035_043.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562286081)
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. ::)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190629_185749_836.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562286094)
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

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Moisture_Meter.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562287938)
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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190704_182255_923.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1562286112)
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
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Chuck White on July 05, 2019, 06:34:22 AM
Looks like you're doing pretty good with the mill!

Gotta be careful with fresh-peeled logs, kinda like handling a fresh-bathed baby! ;)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 10, 2019, 11:22:17 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190809_131811_308.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1565449204)

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

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190809_142317_090.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1565449240)

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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190810_091557_512.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1565449246)

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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190809_171717_375.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1565449266)

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.



Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: RAYAR on August 10, 2019, 01:53:47 PM
Looks like you're having a great time.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 11, 2019, 05:40:09 PM
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.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190810_085425_555.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1565449268)

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.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on August 11, 2019, 07:36:40 PM
Really well done.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on August 11, 2019, 07:46:18 PM
that looks great, and clearly designed for a guitar player, where I think Jeff's was designed for a balalaika player.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 11, 2019, 09:00:32 PM
 :D :D


Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Jeff on August 11, 2019, 09:04:04 PM
I feel like a grandad!!  :D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 25, 2019, 07:48:31 PM
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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_124940_572.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774134)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_124841_346.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774140)
<(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_123856_247~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774192)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_142110_219.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774213)

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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_142122_673.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774207)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_142747_006.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774293)
The main drive line also powered a secondary pulley overhead, which ran a chain elevator to remove sawdust outside into a wagon.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_142837_065.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774205)
5 man "Armstrong" log turner.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190825_143059_411.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1566774198)
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.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: A-z farmer on August 25, 2019, 08:03:51 PM
Resonator
Very nice pictures thank you for sharing 
Zeke
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on August 25, 2019, 08:45:14 PM
man killers, those belts and blades. you really had to know where to keep your hand and stuff out of.  thanks for the pics.  
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: samandothers on August 25, 2019, 09:59:39 PM
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.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 25, 2019, 10:00:20 PM
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
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on August 26, 2019, 12:12:49 PM
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! :)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: thecfarm on August 26, 2019, 01:21:48 PM
I always enjoy hearing and seeing them things run!!!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Jeff on August 26, 2019, 03:39:54 PM
Dont drink diet pepsi doc, its not good for you.  ;)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Magicman on August 27, 2019, 08:27:00 PM
Quote from: doc henderson on August 26, 2019, 12:12:49 PMdiet pepsi keeps me going!
It's a proven fact that diet Pepsi will make you fat. ::)  Have you ever seen a skinny person drinking one??  ???
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Darrel on August 27, 2019, 08:58:33 PM
Quote from: Magicman on August 27, 2019, 08:27:00 PM
Quote from: doc henderson on August 26, 2019, 12:12:49 PMdiet pepsi keeps me going!
It's a proven fact that diet Pepsi will make you fat. ::)  Have you ever seen a skinny person drinking one??  ???
That's true Lynn, also, unless you are a very brittle diabetic, you'd be a whole lot better off with the sugar. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on August 27, 2019, 10:13:07 PM
when i was in undergrad college, i also worked full time as an RT in the Lawrence memorial hospital.  i drank 5 reg. cokes a day in 8 hours.  I also did research for a year and a half, so i needed the sugar and caffeine.  i weighed 135# and was 3% body fat.  we would meet and run for an hour after work at 1 am and go to class at 8 am.  i was burning all the sugar.  i drink diet coke cause I am already fat, and I do not want to get fatter!   :D  .
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on September 04, 2019, 06:00:49 PM
I do like a good tall cold sweet tea myself, reminds me of years ago driving truck down south in the land of grits, where the waitresses called me "Hon' " ;D

Did a little welding and fabricating recently with some pieces I picked up at the steel supply yard near me. The have a large selection of channel, angle, plate, pipe, etc. and charge by the pound for cut-offs and scraps.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190904_155815_506.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1567631822)

Made a jib hoist out of 6" C channel, 5" tube cut in half, and a couple short lengths of chain with hooks. I use this for lifting logs off of trailers that have sides/fenders that get in the way of the forks. 


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190904_160614_981.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1567631867)

Also made a trailer jack bracket to mount on my mill. The bracket wraps around the frame, and the removable C channel at the top holds it in place. That way I'm not drilling holes or welding to the trailer monorail frame. I also added a few pieces of 4" nylon cargo strap for padding to keep from scratching the frame paint. The jack itself came with a short steel pipe section I welded in place, and it can be removed by pulling a pin. Adding the jack made a HUGE improvement not only for hitching and unhitching, but also for leveling the mill before sawing. (Wish I would have done this 2 years ago!) :D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on September 04, 2019, 06:46:59 PM
Quote from: Jeff on August 26, 2019, 03:39:54 PM
Dont drink diet pepsi doc, its not good for you.  ;)
new study in JAMA says all soda is bad, do not know why but worldwide correlation
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Nebraska on September 04, 2019, 10:44:20 PM
Meh.... bad schmad, life is 100% fatal anyway.  smiley_skull  Some days diet Pepsi is a blessing, most all things in moderation.. oh yeah and Resonator nice pictures as well, like your jib hoist,  my heavy trailer has those fenders in the way as well. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: btulloh on September 05, 2019, 09:27:58 AM
Everyday something is added to the list of stuff that's bad for you.  Occasionally something is removed from the list and determined to be OK after all.  It's important to watch the news closely so you know what to scared of.    :D :D

Be careful of excessive moderation.  ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: nativewolf on September 05, 2019, 09:57:46 AM
Quote from: doc henderson on August 27, 2019, 10:13:07 PM
when i was in undergrad college, i also worked full time as an RT in the Lawrence memorial hospital.  i drank 5 reg. cokes a day in 8 hours.  I also did research for a year and a half, so i needed the sugar and caffeine.  i weighed 135# and was 3% body fat.  we would meet and run for an hour after work at 1 am and go to class at 8 am.  i was burning all the sugar.  i drink diet coke cause I am already fat, and I do not want to get fatter!   :D  .
Quote from: doc henderson on September 04, 2019, 06:46:59 PM
Quote from: Jeff on August 26, 2019, 03:39:54 PM
Dont drink diet pepsi doc, its not good for you.  ;)
new study in JAMA says all soda is bad, do not know why but worldwide correlation
I can certainly believe this, soda consumption has moved pretty much in correlation with declining health.  We just don't need to drink anything more than H20, a soda should be a treat once a day or less and not these 32 oz things people consume like crazy.  Just common sense I'd think.  In the poor south it used to be people drinking cool-aid with just crazy amounts of sugar, now it is soda.  Sigh.

Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Bruno of NH on September 05, 2019, 11:26:34 AM
My uncle had kidney cancer last year.
Drinks lots and lots of diet soda
I think that did it
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on September 12, 2019, 08:37:29 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190908_134449_201.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1568333507)

Some of the Sugar Maple I sawed last year, is in a friends shop being made into an island countertop. This will go into a repeat customers new house (the tree came from his land). Stay tuned for more future work on this project. ;)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190912_163555_297.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1568334050)

Sold 650 bd. ft. of my rough sawn 1" Spruce.  8)
This customer saw my ad online, and drove about 2 hours each way to buy it, and was glad to fit it all in his short box pickup! While I was helping this customer, another pulled in my driveway and bought a 3' Black Ash natural edge slab. I'm grateful for the business, but do they have to pull in all at the same time?! :D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: PAmizerman on September 12, 2019, 08:44:26 PM
I like when customers all come at the same time. That means I don't have to stop what I'm in the middle of to wait on them.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: PAmizerman on September 12, 2019, 08:46:18 PM
I've had customers drive over 3½ hours one way for hemlock and Ash.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on September 15, 2019, 02:53:10 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190915_121321_167.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1568572515)

QuoteStay tuned for more future work on this project. 
As promised the Sugar Maple project continues. My repeat customer found a guy with a solar kiln to dry the lumber for his new breakfast nook. (My lumber is stacked in front.)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190915_121451_501.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1568572312)

He claims it can get up to 120° on a good sunny day. I tend to believe him as I was sweating loading lumber inside on an overcast day. The gray metal duct at the bottom of the wall runs to a furnace for additional heat in winter. During the summer the only cost to run it is the electricity for the fans.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20190915_121532_357.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1568572416)

I left my lumber in good hands, knowing he had some large animals standing guard. ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 04, 2019, 08:43:56 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191204_102719_203.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575507693)

I had a new customer stop in and buy some full 2" x 12" White Pine I had for sale. Some of the wood was from a huge tree taken down by a tree service, and some wood from my own land. I had originally cut it into random widths, but he requested it be resawed into 12" for stair treads. The lumber buyer is a custom builder who plans to build a playhouse - man cave inside a converted grain silo. 


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191204_130952_501.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575507692)

Not long after the lumber customer, I got a call from a many times repeat firewood customer buying the first load of the season. Board footage and cord woodage, just another day chasing the sawdust dream. ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 05, 2019, 08:12:23 AM
Recently I picked up my Sugar Maple from the solar kiln (the one with the cows standing guard). Both my meter, and the kiln owners meter, read the boards at 6 - 7% M.C. after about 2 months of drying. 8)
I was very pleased how straight they dried, the only bad ones were the short pieces on the top of the stack that looked like airplane propellers. I'll make sure to stack some heavy weight on top next time.
    But before I could start building the custom breakfast nook, my best repeat customer had another project to do. I had helped him and his wife move into his new house, and he soon realized he had to much junk, and not enough storage space. (A friend told me once you need to move every 4 - 5 years to get rid of all your junk. :D) After looking at how much pre-built yard barns cost, I offered to build him a 10x12 for less $$$ using my lumber.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191124_150313_869.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575507727)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191116_123315_750.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575507703)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191116_123329_050.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575507721)

I used my air dried Red Pine for all of the joists, studs, rafters, and shelf supports. The only big box store lumber was the plywood and a few 12' 2x pieces I used for the top wall plate, and on the front of the shelves. I used these since I didn't have any pieces that long, and they were extras he had saved from the new house build.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Magicman on December 05, 2019, 09:24:17 AM
I love it.  Building such buildings actually was my job before I bought my sawmill.  I started using "bandmilled" lumber to save on my costs and then decided that I liked his job better than mine.  Wow, that was 18 years ago.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 29, 2019, 11:27:30 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/RodCrafters_Journal.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1577636030)

Got a cool pic sent to me from my friend the custom fishing rod builder. He made the featured rod on his lathe with Black Walnut, Red Cedar, and some Tiger Maple I had sawn for him. 
8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on January 29, 2020, 08:44:57 AM
Recently I completed building the custom breakfast nook for my best repeat customer, here's some pics:

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20191214_155026_239.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1580302157)
 
The quarter-sawn Sugar Maple had very directional grain, run it through the planer one way and it would chip, switch ends and it would cut smooth ribbons. The first log above the stump I cut at 3' to avoid a bend in the tree. These short boards had some twist when drying, but had a nice red color.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_144913_197.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1580302171)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_145244_098.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1580302210)

Ray fleck, ray fleck, and more ray fleck. After going through all the work of getting the lumber cut, dried, and planed, I made sure to select the best face / grain figure on each board (with as much ray fleck as possible!) The customers wife requested a tung oil finish, which I hadn't used it before, but I really liked how it made the grain "pop".

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_144159_744.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1580302348)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_143731_574.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1580302163)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_144337_711.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1580302217)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200128_143216_364.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1580302227)

The finished project in the new house. I had to build it in two separate cabinets, in order to fit through the front door, and then reassemble them into an "L" once inside.
The entire project was built loosely based off a photo of a similar nook the customers wife found online. There were no plans, and everything was built with "eyeball engineering". This included building mock-ups to check bench and table height, and make sure they were happy with it. (Which they were). ;D



Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Darrel on January 29, 2020, 09:02:50 AM
Wozers! That turned out nice!  
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on January 29, 2020, 09:13:19 AM
Jeremy,

Super Fine!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: chet on January 29, 2020, 09:16:55 AM
  smiley_thumbsup  Very nice work , Jeremy
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Nebraska on January 29, 2020, 09:17:31 AM
Ditto that looks great.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: stanwelch on January 29, 2020, 01:06:01 PM
Very nice Jeremy.
 Especially like the quarter sawn with ray fleck.  8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Bruno of NH on January 29, 2020, 01:53:55 PM
Great work
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on January 29, 2020, 09:38:18 PM
Thanks for the feedback guys! I put a lot of hours into the project, and wanted it to be a showcase piece. Highlighting what can be done with lumber that I can produce, (and some woodworking). ;)
Thanks also to the customer (and his wife) for generously letting me use one side of their heated 2 car garage for a workshop for over a month, without which the project wouldn't have turned out as nice. Further convincing me that I need to plan to build a new shop of my own, just for constructing projects. Allowing my business to be able to produce "value added product" year round.


"To look around at what you have accomplished in a day gives a man a good feeling. Too many men work on parts of things. Doing a job to completeness satisfies a man."  
- Richard Proenneke, from "Alone in the Wilderness"
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Jeff on February 08, 2020, 01:57:01 PM
Definitely a show piece!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: RichTired on February 08, 2020, 04:18:43 PM
You do very nice work! Amazing what you can find in an old log... 8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on February 08, 2020, 04:23:30 PM
who knows, may solidify a tradition of a family eating breakfast together.  nice work start to finish.  no pun intended. :)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on March 28, 2020, 10:10:47 PM
Even with all the nationwide pandemic that's going on, I've been getting a few sawmilling calls. I had taken a break from sawing over winter, but since the snow is melting in the land of cheese, I guess I'm back in the sawmill business. 8)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200326_133103_764.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1585440960)

Bought a new box of blades and a couple B57's. I ran the originals till they were plum wore out, and then picked up a couple auto parts store belts to get by. They worked OK, but there's nothing like the real thing.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200325_092629_261.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1585440960)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200328_085938_454.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1585440954)

A repeat customer brought over a few logs to saw, though he didn't know what they were. My first guess is Elm, but I've been wrong before. Whatever it is, I'm happy to saw it (and get paid)! ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: thecfarm on March 29, 2020, 08:09:26 AM
You sure do good work. Both sawing and building!!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on April 04, 2020, 01:00:19 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200328_113436_538.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1586018082)

New customer brought me a couple big, knotty, pitchy, White Pine logs to saw. Biggest one was 30"+ diameter, and plenty heavy! Had to do some "Bibbying" with the chainsaw for the blade glide to fit in different places.. Tree came out of someones front yard, so of course it had...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200404_085413_505.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1586018430)



(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200404_085255_669.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1586018068)

Customer requested it cut to 7/8" thick for paneling, so I got max board yield from the logs. He was impressed by the wide boards (some almost 20") that you can't get at a big box store.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 27, 2020, 09:03:29 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200602_203609_896.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1593302511)

Still chasing the sawdust dream, riding out the ups and downs, and hoping for better days to come. Maybe there's a pot of gold out there, the rainbow did touch down in my woods. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200624_110915_832.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1593302587)

Made a new sign for the business from some leftover paint and a free 2-man saw blade.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200627_074647_186.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1593302950)

Ran the original blade guide rollers about as long as I could, and replaced them with new ones from Wood-Mizer. Cut some knotty Spruce before and after, huge improvement in cut quality (less waves).

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200622_110630_258.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1593302494)

Rented a mini EX for the weekend, and did some demo and cleanup to make room for a future new garage / shop building. While I had it, I gave a few trees a gentle "nudge" while cutting them down to fell them in the right direction. Very handy machine for moving logs around with the thumb and bucket, and digging stumps, and stacking brush... (I definitely need to own one of these someday). ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200521_110622_236.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1593302504)

The lumber inspector was impressed with my inventory. (Makes it all worth it).  ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on June 28, 2020, 06:50:18 AM
Your lumber always looks so very well sawn. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Nebraska on June 28, 2020, 09:30:38 AM
That inspector looks like he might be tough to deal with in the future, one of mine took me out yesterday evening whipped me in golf(dad hadn't played a round yet this year) then I had to buy him a hamburger. Enjoy it they grow fast.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on July 19, 2020, 11:57:04 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200715_193036_323.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595171480)

Another day, another rainbow, back in the woods. (Still looking for that pot of gold.) :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200630_112747_277.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595171231)

One of my neighbors took down a Spruce tree, and I got a couple logs free for the taking to cut into knotty slabs. Maybe not the greatest wood, but I gave him a piece as a thank you. That gave me a chance to mention: "If he ever thin out your Pine plantation, let me know." ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200716_074153_263.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595172411)

 A new customer brought me some 12' and 16' logs to rebuild a ramp into an old 2 level barn. He felled the trees a day or two previous to bringing them to me, and pressure washed them. 8)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200716_083915_121.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595171202)

Some had a little sweep. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200716_143845_263.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595171295)

They were cut into full 2" thick 16' planks, and 7" x 7" x 12' beams. After wrestling these all day I was whooped.
After sawing to fill his cut list, he had one log too many. I offered to knock a couple bucks off his bill, and kept that log for myself.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20200716_170231_052.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1595171291)

Soon after he left, the son of a repeat customer stopped in to buy some of my White Pine and Red Pine boards. He asked if I had any long material available, I said "Well I just happen to have this White Ash log here, if you want too wait around while I saw it." ;D
He was happy to get some 14', mostly clear 1" boards, and may bring me logs to saw in the future.



Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: chet on July 19, 2020, 09:06:02 PM
Ain't it nice how things work out sometimes.  Musta been dat rainbow you was workin' under.  :)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on July 20, 2020, 07:18:39 AM
Jeremy, that is some nice ash. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on November 28, 2020, 07:31:49 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201128_093734_227.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1606606394)

Still chasing the dream. Took me five years, but I finally made the last payment on my Kubota. 8)
Just turned 1000 hours recently, and other than a few "operator error" repairs, it has performed very well. I know I wouldn't be able to run my business without it. Now onto paying off that bright orange Wood-Mizer behind it... ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201027_104033_364.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1606606418)

Got a call out of the blue from someone down the road from me, they had a huge mostly dead White Pine blow over in a storm last spring, and asked if I wanted the logs. They mainly just wanted to get rid of them, though I said they can have some of the slabs or lumber if they want.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201031_135043_807.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1606606405)

I agreed to take all of the logs, they even arranged free delivery. :) 
Although the biggest log is right at 3' in diameter, (too big for my mill), so the jury's still out what I'll do with it.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201107_155148_457.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1606606431)

Got quite a few nice thick slabs so far, and some 1" lumber for cabin paneling. 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201123_143421_096.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1606606439)

Sold a few to another neighbor with a winery business, he has plans to make them into bar-top tables. He liked that it was a local tree, that came from only a couple miles from his business.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: trapper on November 28, 2020, 07:44:42 PM
nice shiney mizer,   Get a new one?
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on November 28, 2020, 08:00:31 PM
No, still got my 2017 LT28 (paint is still shiny), hope to pay it off soon. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: 2308500 on November 28, 2020, 08:08:48 PM
,
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Southside on November 28, 2020, 09:23:24 PM
@Resonator (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=37685) seems you have a strange, white, fungus, on those last logs there.  Hope that isn't invasive and spreads down this way.   ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on November 28, 2020, 09:35:52 PM
 :D :D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: stanwelch on November 29, 2020, 04:07:01 AM
Good job Jeremy!!  Glad to hear you are still chasin'  8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 05, 2020, 07:44:54 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201201_085056_944.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1607169429)

Frosty morning.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201105_083048_844.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1607169475)

Cut down some Black Ash while expanding my sawmill yard, and had a new customer request 1 x 6 Black Ash for cabin Paneling. He was OK with getting fresh cut lumber, he won't be doing his project until next year. Cabin Paneling seems to be one of my best sellers, customers prefer the rustic natural appearance over what is available in the big - box store.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201105_105015_004.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1607169479)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201114_095221_178.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1607169481)


Always amazed how dark the wood is fresh off the mill, and how light it gets a few hours later. Some of the logs had plenty of stress, and I may have put heavy weights on top of the cant while on the mill to hold the last few cuts flat. ;D 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201128_110508_334.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1607169484)

The customer liked the Black Ash so much he called back and asked if I had any full 12" wide White Pine to go in another room. Took a walk in the woods with my chainsaw, and a few hours later I had lumber ready. Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.  ;D


Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on December 05, 2020, 08:13:35 AM
good looking lumber!  great job!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Magicman on December 05, 2020, 08:48:34 AM
Oh yes, that wall paneling (is) will be beautiful.  Very often customers call not really knowing what they want.  Suggesting wall paneling, wainscoting, ceiling, flooring, etc. gets their mind to thinking and very often leads to more sawing business.

I will be at a customer's location at 9:00 this morning sawing Cypress, then SYP Monday, and White Oak starting Tuesday.  This "sawdust dream" seems to never "wake up" and I ain't chasing it.....it's chasing me!!  ::)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: kantuckid on December 05, 2020, 09:19:06 AM
On that 3 footer, chainsaw/split with a wedge, etc., some off the worst side then saw it. 
 
An old time sawyer, logger mill owner in my area who I knew well, told me a story about breaking down huge logs from the virgin forests by drilling a hole in a strategic location then blowing off some gunpowder to split those logs so they'd fit on the mill. That same man had gone up north from KY chasing timber and logged and milled in WI for a number of years, took his family with him, then came back.  
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 05, 2020, 10:20:04 AM
Someday I'd like to take a trip way down south and see you saw Mr. Magicman. smiley_thumbsup

Oh yes Kantuckid, I'm experienced in splitting a log lengthwise with a chainsaw and wedges. The next log up the tree from the big one I cut that way, and it seemed like a lot of work for some low value lumber. I have plenty of White pine available that are much more manageable size. I may just make a cut out sign of Paul Bunion and Babe his blue ox and put it next the log for advertising.  :D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: DocGP on December 05, 2020, 12:46:39 PM
Which little Kubota you runnin'??   I love my little MX 5100, but as with everything, would occasionally like a bit more grunt on the front bucket.

Love this thread, and you are talented at woodworking, as well as milling!!

Doc
(https://forestryforum.com/board/Themes/default/images/icons/modify_inline.gif)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on December 05, 2020, 01:52:01 PM
Thanks. I own a MX5800, perfect size for my work, and I wanted something I could tow behind a 3/4 ton pickup. Horsepower and lifting capacity are good (though I know it's limitations) and the 4wd is essential for all the tasks I use it for. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on December 05, 2020, 09:15:01 PM
Beautiful lumber, Jeremy.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: PAmizerman on December 05, 2020, 09:31:11 PM
I've split a couple logs with a chainsaw. It's not much fun. 
This one I couldn't get cut  the whole way through so I improvised😂
Splitting a big ash log!! - YouTube (https://youtu.be/Iq2YmxZg78A)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Old Greenhorn on December 05, 2020, 09:37:53 PM
Quote from: PAmizerman on December 05, 2020, 09:31:11 PM
This one I couldn't get cut  the whole way through so I improvised😂
Brilliant! I'd have done a lot worse. ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on December 06, 2020, 09:19:42 AM
Great thread, beautiful work resonator.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Bruno of NH on December 06, 2020, 11:58:21 AM
Jeremy,
You do great work with your sawmill operation. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on January 17, 2021, 02:46:48 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210105_131338_556.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909123)

Frosty January, trees were covered for many days.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210106_132534_844.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909133)

If you run a sawmill, you will need a plan for the the slab wood waste that accumulates. I process mine into firewood to dry and sell. And as long as it gets cold here, firewood will sell.  ;D


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201217_134649_756.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909143)

I was cutting trees clearing land for my mill yard, and was pleasantly surprised to find a red oak. It must have been planted there by someone long ago, as I've walked all of my land and not seen any oaks. (Or "highly valuably Black Walnut" trees). :D Was able to get some 1" paneling from the trunk, and a few nice slabs from the top.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20201217_131609_057.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909156)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210110_130628_506.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909163)

A new customer brought me a whole trailer load of Poplar logs to saw, all to be cut into 1" paneling.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210111_090707_766.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909166)

The trees were cut into logs about a year ago, so I had to cut a cookie off each end to remove the mushrooms. :D

br>(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210113_154559_776.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909174)

Cut, stacked, and ready for pick up. I tried to get the best boards I could out of the logs I was given, you gotta play the hand your dealt. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/sunrise_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1610909175)

View out my front door, back in the woods. Each new sunrise is a new day, to keep chasing the dream.

Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on January 17, 2021, 02:59:17 PM
you are living the dream.  Cheers!  Doc
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on January 23, 2021, 08:26:24 AM
The custom builder I cut lumber for in reply #39 sent some pics of the playhouse - lookout tower he's building inside an old grain silo. Looks to be quite the project!

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spiral5.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1611407028)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spiral1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1611407038)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spiral2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1611407067)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spiral3.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1611407088)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spiral4.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1611407116)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on January 23, 2021, 08:36:11 PM
Wonder what he is looking for?
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: randy d on January 23, 2021, 08:52:00 PM
That looks like one heck of a deer stand. Randy
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on January 23, 2021, 08:52:31 PM
Serenity? ;D 
I will ask him if I get the chance, he may be sending more work my way in the future.  
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on January 23, 2021, 09:11:43 PM
Quote from: randy d on January 23, 2021, 08:52:00 PM
That looks like one heck of a deer stand. Randy


Thats what i was thinkin!  My luck id slip on the top step and corkscrew all 6 turns to the ground. 


I wonder if spiral staircases in australia or china use left hand metric thread. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: thecfarm on February 09, 2021, 05:45:44 AM
Not only a lot of work and time to build those stairs, but a lot of smarts too!!!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Nebraska on February 09, 2021, 07:34:19 AM
How about that hand rail?  ...🤔 impressive  project. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on February 09, 2021, 09:30:19 AM
He does custom work and knows his stuff. I will try to get more details if I see him again. No sawing here for a little while, winter has definitely arrived.
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20180206_070040_697.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1517926823)
 
Woke up this mornin', it was 22 below.
Look out my window blue sky, white snow.
Too cold to work, what can I do?
Pick an old guitar, got them 22 below blues.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on February 09, 2021, 07:17:48 PM
I throw in the towel at 22 above!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on March 14, 2021, 11:59:13 AM
Out of the deep freeze and back in the sunshine. :laugh:
Had very mild weather this past week, great for making sawdust. 8)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210302_121209206.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1615735105)

Had a new customer with his own straight truck stop in and ask me to cut some lumber. Brought me 2 loads of logs, mostly Hemlock and Balsam, with a little bit of Spruce mixed in. I agreed to work with him on the overall price of the job, (I bill everything hourly rate), and cut the best logs and cull the worst ones. He requested all full dimension 2x4 and 1x4 lumber for a Maple syrup shack he plans to build.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210311_100724750.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1615735144)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210305_141026771.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1615735652)

It worked out good as he supplied all the stickers, and picked up the lumber as soon as it was cut. That way he was also able to pay for each half of the job as the work progressed, and keep things in budget.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210311_133517596.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1615735742)

He hauled all slabs back with him also, as they will be fuel for his syrup boiler. He even requested to "slab it deep" on some of the logs to make more firewood. ;D
This job came at a very good time as it's tax time, and it's always good to keep uncle Sam happy. ;D
If you do this as a business, keep track of all your blades, fuel, business equipment purchases, and any other deductions, it all ads up.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on March 20, 2021, 02:29:41 PM
More logs, more business. 8)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210313_142928446.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616263120)

My friend the custom fishing rod builder and some of his friends cleared a fence line of trees, and saved a few mixed logs for lumber. A couple were basically firewood, (like the one at far right), and I did what I could with what I had.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210319_145206989.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616263147)

The best one was a 12' White Ash log, that I cut into full 2" thick trailer decking.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210313_141346349.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616263171)

Also had a crooked, knotty, Black Cherry log that I cut into slabs to be used as a mantle and shelves. After slabbing it, I ripped one edge straight to go against the wall. I told him I have my doubts how they will hold up drying, and he said he is OK with "rustic", and not afraid to use epoxy. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210313_112529944.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616263198)

And then the best wood of the bunch. He cut a Box Elder into firewood, and saved a few chunks for making his fishing rods. I had never cut it before, and and to say the least I was impressed with the color. :o
Just another day...chasing the sawdust dream.  
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Crossroads on March 20, 2021, 09:47:25 PM
Cool colors for sure!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: thecfarm on March 21, 2021, 07:48:38 AM
Get what you can out of logs.  ;)  Well sometimes so called logs.  ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: KWood255 on March 21, 2021, 09:47:24 AM
Nice job Resonator. Great work, and nice equipment!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Jeff on March 22, 2021, 09:29:28 PM
The box elder like that amazes me. I've never sawn it.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: stanmillnc on March 23, 2021, 09:31:09 AM
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50848/IMG_0973.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616506056)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50848/IMG_0974.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1616505980)


Milled this box elder a few weeks ago - amazing color. Was a huge box elder at ~30" DBH. Unfortunately, some rot in the middle.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on March 23, 2021, 09:55:14 AM
Wowzers! :o
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Darrel on March 23, 2021, 10:50:41 AM
Box Elder has never been seen or sawn by me.  Looks to be purdy stuff from the pictures!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on May 19, 2021, 11:25:38 AM


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210409_190107669.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621434333)

Still chasing the dream...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210425_182135598.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621434414)

Went to a meeting by a old family friend's cabin recently, and of course I spotted a pile of fresh cut logs. ;D
He had an interesting story behind them...
Back in the early 1900's a logging company came in an cleared all the timber off of this piece of land, and left it abandoned. It fell it to tax delinquency, and a bank took ownership of it from the county. My friend's grandfather offered half what the asking price was for the land, and the banker scoffed and refused to sell. Not long after the stock market crashed, and one evening at suppertime the banker knocked on the door. He asked if the offer was still good, and signed over the deed. The next day the bank closed it's doors for good. The grandfather raised his family, and that has been their farmland for generations. In the early 1960's as a young man, my friend planted Red Pine on some of it. And now well into his 70's, he's selectively cutting mature tree's that he planted long ago.
I may be buying some of the saw logs, we'll see how things go.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210409_141938129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621434487)

Did a couple of small sawing jobs, both came in as logs on trailers, and went out as lumber on the same wheels. This one the guy claimed he had Hemlock logs, but amazingly turned into Spruce when it arrived at my mill. ;D
The biggest logs were 14' with obvious rot on the butt end, but he didn't want them cut any shorter until after they were sawn into beams.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210427_083043925.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621434498)
Another job was some Basswood logs that came in on a old rebuilt fertilizer trailer. Kind of liked the walking beam setup, think that would work good for forwarding in the woods.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210427_141426594.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621434523)

Sawn into 1x6 and 1x8 lumber.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210424_115430688.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621437187)

One other small job, had a repeat customer bring in some firewood size pieces he wanted cut into natural edge slabs. I had to do a lot of adjusting and clamping to hold them down, and of course he wanted them as wide as possible. He has a small furniture business, and plans to make end tables with them.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 02, 2021, 08:18:56 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210415_100154251.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1622632956)

New clearing project. A neighbor of mine approached me and said he was putting in a food plot, asked if I would be interested in the logs. After walking the site, we agreed that I would do all the chainsaw work in exchange for all the logs. This way I could make sure I was cutting saw logs for lumber, not just firewood. The site is mostly white pine, along with some maple and black cherry that will be for firewood.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210506_094719793.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1622633043)

The site to be cleared is adjacent to land I do my winter logging on, so I had access to it, only the ground ain't frozen now. ;D
A load of sand packed down nicely and filled in the first muddy area.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210506_094648289.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1622633073)

My own trail crossing, made from beams I had sawn and old utility poles. This may become a permanent driveway with a culvert in the future, but now for minimum access it works.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210506_094354606.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1622635505)

Did I mention the ground is not frozen? ;D
I cut a few poplar trees to extend the trail to the clearing, and as soon as I had them cut into logs, I hauled them back to the mill and slabbed them into thick planks. These came back into the woods, and were thrown down into the mud. Not exactly a swamp mat, but it kept the tractor up. ("Poor boy has poor ways", old saying.) ;)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210516_074303353.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1622636035)

Some of the many saw logs back in my yard. Gotta love that pitchy pitchy pine. :D
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.

Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on June 02, 2021, 08:33:32 AM
Nice work bub.  8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Magicman on June 02, 2021, 08:50:39 AM
Outstanding!!  8)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on June 02, 2021, 09:10:38 PM
Very nice logs.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 07, 2021, 08:07:46 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210516_185427486.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1623064580)

Thanks guys. smiley_thumbsup
Makin' lumber. First lumber off the clearing project, a stack of 2x4's for the landowner at reduced cost, as part of the agreement.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210604_130236191.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1623064639)

And a stack of 2x6's for my own inventory. If I don't sell them, I'll use them on my garage/workshop build.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210520_092723026.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1623064690)

Been experimenting with building a log deck in front of the mill. Made a temporary one out of poplar cants and concrete block, may build a more permanent one down the line. Had quite a few smaller logs, and this definitely helps speed up production not having to load them with the tractor. Also nice about sawing this time of year, it's easy to debark the logs before sawing. Brings back memories of cutting poplar with my dad 30+ years ago. Back when the local paper mills were going full bore, and would pay extra if the logs were peeled. So that was my job to peel them, paid so many cents per stick. (Though poplar wasn't pitchy like this pine. ;D)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210528_152017950.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1623064714)

One log had kind of a neat look inside, kind of leopard spot pattern. I set those boards aside, will see if someone likes that "look" and buys them.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210525_192111959.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1623064745)

End of the day, low angle sunset light after a storm blew through (didn't see a rainbow this time :D). 
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on June 07, 2021, 09:12:26 PM
What model is your Kubota Tractor?
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: caveman on June 07, 2021, 09:52:14 PM
I think I saw in an earlier post that it is an M5800.  Good looking lumber, by the way.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 08, 2021, 07:56:50 AM
Yes, MX5800 to be exact. ;) 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 19, 2021, 08:41:43 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210610_135749914.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624103879)

Been hot as a habanero lately.smiley_sun

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210615_145403910.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624103893)

Finished sawing up all the good white pine logs, saved a couple big knotty ones for slabs up to almost 24" wide.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210610_075821005.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624104362)

Had a nice change of pace from pitchy pitchy pine, a new customer brought some highly valuable black walnut to saw. He brought in a 16' log "hot off the stump", so I cut it into 2 - 8' logs and sealed all the ends with anchorseal before they could check to badly in the heat. I also peeled off all the bark since it was so fresh, and sawed it immediately into boards. He requested 5/4, which if it was me I would have cut 4/4 instead to get better yield, but that's what he wanted, so that's what he got. I also edged as much sapwood off as possible.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210609_160856822.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624104401)

Tried to catch a picture of the "green haze phase" as the color changed, I had never seen that, and it happened fast.
Love the smell of that very fresh walnut too.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/green_slab.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624105353)

Had a chuck of sugar maple I had tossed aside a couple years ago to "age", threw it on the mill to see how it looked.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/spaltedmaple.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624105384)

Was pleased to see some spalting and staining.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/ollie_sawdust.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1624105391)

The lumber inspector stopped by to check the sawdust supply, he seemed pleased. Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.





Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on June 20, 2021, 09:37:07 AM
Very fine. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on June 20, 2021, 03:48:36 PM
Good stuff dad. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 20, 2021, 04:08:47 PM
No, me not dad. I'm the favorite uncle of the inspector. ;D 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: mike_belben on June 20, 2021, 08:28:40 PM
Well ya gotta start somewhere  ;)
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 11, 2021, 09:42:46 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210715_085744524.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729302)

Had to help cut down a hybrid maple tree that was in bad shape at my local church. After it was cut down and hauled off (just firewood, nothing big enough for lumber), a local stump grinder was called in to remove the stump. His remote controlled tracked machine made quick work of it, only had to stop once to replace a broken tooth when he hit a rock.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Cherry1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729458)

Had a new customer come by with a couple Black Cherry logs, first one sawed out into boards OK,

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210713_132508529.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729503)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210713_105829914.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729583)

2nd one turned into Cherry covered ants. :D


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spalt_02.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729698)

Had a new customer bring me some odds and ends of spalted maple to saw, he liked what it looked like so much he brought back more logs another day.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spalt_01.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729648)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Spalt_03.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729717)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210811_144227585.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628731199)

Not a huge amount of lumber admittedly, but that's kind of my niche. I can do small jobs doing custom work by the hour, that other big sawmills wouldn't do.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/van_wood.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729589)

Had a customer come by and ask to purchase multiple slabs, and throw in a dozen 6x6 posts too. 
But that's business, some days are slow, some days you do OK. Always keep the calculator handy. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210726_183558649.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628729747)

Good year for red raspberries along my driveway, perfect for a snack after work. Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on August 15, 2021, 12:16:00 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210731_083359876.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039175)

Off on another crazy sawmilling adventure. ;D

About a month or so back I got a call to look at a sawmilling job about 5 miles from my house, I looked at what there were for logs and gave a rough estimate of what my total cost to mill them would be (I even bid a little high I thought). And then out of the blue, I get called back to come saw them. Typically I don't do portable jobs, but this was close enough I could pull my mill there with my tractor to use for log loading.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210731_103018024.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039176)

The customer had bought an old farmhouse to renovate, and had taken out a couple dozen spruce trees and had them all cut to 16'. We worked out a "package deal" where I would use my tractor to sort through the piles and find then best saw logs, and then cut them into 10' lumber, all by my hourly rate. He had an old flatbed lumber tarp handy, so we threw that down first to catch most of the sawdust and bark slabs. I also brought my sawhorses with me, I've gotten it the habit of using them as it makes it much easier to stack boards to be edged next to the mill.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210803_144052705.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039257)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210803_144026257.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039290)

Everything was cut to full dimension 2x4's for a future garage-shed, and the customer did all the stacking. He wasn't to concerned with staining, so he used the edgings and other thin boards for stickers. I had the customer help by hosing the dirt off the logs, and trimming the branch stubs flush, before they went on the mill. I sorted through the cut off 6' pieces when we were done, and picked the best ones to make short 2x4's.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210803_143931459.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039357)

I didn't do a total board footage count, but I know he got hundreds of full dimension 2x4's from the days I worked. He also got an additional stack of lumber from 1" jacket boards and any pieces under 2". I also cut a couple cookies from one of the biggest log ends that was trimmed off, as he wanted to make a table.
Couple things I learned: check the mill is level, and on solid footing. After a days sawing it had shifted on the blocking, and was no longer level. Makes a huge difference especially with a manual mill if your pushing uphill, and also if all the supports are on solid footing it effects how well it cuts. I oversized my cants slightly, as the first opening face cuts in spruce seem to have the most waves. I retrimmed the 4" cants at saw through to make a flatter board. Though going forward, I plan too change blades more often. Talking with Magic Man at the Pig Roast, he told me to know the difference between a dull blade, and a blade that is no longer sharp. (He speak much wisdom). ;D
Jobs like this even more makes me want to get a hydraulic mill, but the factory is still a year behind on new ones, so I use what I've got.
When I got done with all the sawing, I restacked all the remaining logs (to small, knotty, or crooked to make lumber) and cut off pieces. I also moved all the bark slabs onto the burn pile. I kept track of all my hours and the customer was OK with paying above my original estimate for the additional work. (I even was asked to move a hot tub with my tractor, why not, I'm rented by the hour.) ;D
Amazingly I hit no nails, as these were all yard logs from around the farmhouse. Did have one screw eye we found and removed before sawing, and one bullet that didn't damage the blade.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20210803_162807351.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629039363)

I saws um, and then I leaves um. ;D
An orange triangle screwed to a sticker rode nicely in the back, and I fit right in driving back home out here in beautiful farm country.
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.



Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: WDH on August 17, 2021, 06:39:12 AM
,that is a nice tractor. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on April 02, 2022, 09:17:46 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Mill_Sunrise.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648902948)

Another new day for making sawdust. Recently pulled the mill out of hibernation after a tough winter, thought I'd get my thread goin' again.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20211102_140821045.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648902965)

Mill was down for a while last fall, after many thousands of cranks the saw head lift gear shaft broke. Luckily WoodMizer was able to fab up a new one and get me back in business. 8)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Pallets.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648902970)

Had a small pallet order for a friend of mine, needed to be a custom size not like a standard pallet. Easy enough value added project to bang out with the air nailer and my lumber I had cut already.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220316_113751566.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648902992)

One of my repeat customers brought some logs, a couple pines and one was a storm damaged red oak. Had a nasty split down it, had to work around it to get what board footage I could.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/short_oak.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648902999)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220320_160830059.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648903012)

Got a few nice wide clear boards and an 9'+ long 8x8 mantle beam out of the center as he requested. Also cut some 12' 6" pine boards and square edge slabs on the pallet closer to the tractor.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/sugar_shack.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648904276)

Took a side trip to my buddy's sugar shack, maple syrup season is in session. He built the building himself using all sawmill lumber his family cut from their land. Everything else used in construction was repurposed for other buildings.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220327_155628321.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648904288)

His wood fired boiler can do 30 gallons at a time at full boil. Note the floor is made from old concrete silo blocks (staves) salvaged from a nearby farm. 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Olsd_Style.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1648904326)

Sign decorating the inside he saved from a local bar when it was torn down. Kind of fits as the wood fired syrup he makes has old time flavor, especially warm right out of the boiler.  food6
Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.

 





Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Walnut Beast on April 02, 2022, 03:44:19 PM
Interesting and very cool pictures 👍
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Magicman on April 03, 2022, 08:46:32 AM
Thank You for another glimpse into your world my friend.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_2061~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1648954002)
 
Here was my sunrise yesterday morning.  Clouded over with one hole letting the morning in.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on April 03, 2022, 09:23:46 AM
Glad you are doing well.  taking time to enjoy the world we live in.  


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/B975DEFC-DE9D-4BB9-8ABC-586C12B748F1.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1648992178)
 

getting ready to make breakfast, last campout.  BSA
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: DesertHobo on April 03, 2022, 11:18:12 AM
Those pallets look great, what are the dimensions on them?
Great looking sugar shack too, your buddy should be proud.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on April 03, 2022, 12:18:53 PM
Thanks guys, enjoy each day we got. :)

I want to say those pallets were 40 5/8"x 45 1/2" or there abouts. My customer owns a commercial greenhouse, and grows hanging basket flowers for garden centers. The pallets had to be an exact size, as they become the bases for prefab steel shelving racks that fit over them and bolt into the 4 corners. They then carry the basket plants for shipment in his truck throughout the state.

Yeah my buddy is proud of it, we use it for get togethers like a clubhouse. We've done a lot of cookouts together over the years. He does a lot of things, the black trailer in the picture is some kind of meat smoker, he also brews his own beer, as well he has bee hives for honey, and chickens for eggs.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: DanMc on April 04, 2022, 09:58:04 PM
Someone may have already said this, but woodmizer should be paying Woodland mills a commission.   I have seen too many people starting out on the HM126 (myself included) and then growing to a woodmizer.  And then that Woodland machine may spawn yet another woodmizer customer later on.   
Title: Re: Chasing The Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on April 19, 2022, 08:41:55 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220404_131128217.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1650369975)

Still chasing...
Tax time came around again, and I "paid" a visit to my accountant at his office. Things went good and he was able to hunt me up some good business deductions. He's also good at hunting elk. fudd-smiley


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220318_080350254.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1650369897)

A repeat customer called and wanted some 2x's for a deer blind, so I cut a couple storm damaged white pine to fill the order. One was a nice big one that produced most of what I needed. Started using a few drips of diesel from a bottle to keep the blade clean, makes a world of difference.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220320_174634008.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1650369939)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220411_174511117.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1650370795)

Had some nice pine jacket boards and edgings I ripped down while I was at it, always need more stickers. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220226_094339093.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1650369939)

Had a business meeting with my farmer friend at his hunting cabin that he built. Almost every stick of lumber in the building frame he cut on his LT40 hydraulic, using logs from off his land. Everything on the inside he also cut from the paneling, to the cabinets, to the black cherry spiral staircase.
Shows what someone can do with a with trees, a sawmill, some woodworking skill, and a dream. ;D
Just another day...chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: RockChucker30 on April 20, 2022, 08:07:45 AM
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this.  Inspirational and entertaining, well done. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on May 01, 2022, 12:07:47 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Big_Oak.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1651417434)

And then there are days that are a struggle. :o

Had a new customer call said he had 2 - 8'+ long red oak logs to cut, I said bring them over. He said one was over 30", I figured I could handle it. Didn't realize how big (pushing 3' across") and HEAVY they were until he arrived. Luckily for him his buddy brought them on a 5th wheel trailer along with a (CTL) skid steer. If he hadn't brought that, there is no way I would have gotten the biggest one on my mill. Every step was a struggle, cutting almost 24" slabs (he wanted as wide as possible), I learned just what truly max size mill will handle. I changed blades often and there was still a little wave at the knots, and a slight crown across the width. Didn't help that by having the saw head up so high it was right at eye level, blowing sawdust in my face constantly. ::)
I used the claw winch and a little help from my tractor to turn the cant, and keep whittling it down until it fit between the blade guides. I did also use the trick where the cant is over the stops toward the saw head, to get another inch of cut. All the fight did produce some beautiful slabs to show for my work.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220417_135116273.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1651417521)


br>(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220416_163321336.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1651417557)

Full 2" red oak slabs, you do feel it the next day after stacking these. 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220417_132502475.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1651417526)

Also got some wide clear 1" jacket boards, which he requested to leave the bark on. Barely see it in the pic also, I made sure to put dry wood to cover the forks. If you put wet oak directly on the steel, it can leave black marks.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Oak_stack.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1651417482)

The second log (aprox 28") I hoped would be lighter, but my tractor couldn't budge it. After discussing it with the customer, we decided to cut it into 2 - 4' logs. Reducing the weight by half, so I could load it on the mill and making life easier. In the end I learned what my mill will handle, and honestly I would probably refuse this size job if offered it again. But that is part of the game, you take the good with the bad and learn from experience.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Fromm_Log_Truck.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1651417546)

I was very pleased to be given an old photo from my family's past. About 100 years ago some of my relatives started a business and became hugely successful (a whole story in itself). One of their endeavors was logging off some of the thousands of acres of land they own. This pic is of some of logs going to the mill being scaled, caption "Feb 3 1930, 3000 Ft Logs", (I'm guessing sugar maple). Makes me appreciate the hard and dangerous work these men did, especially in the cold of winter. And serves as an inspiration on the tough days to show that they built a business from nothing, and made it a success by pursuing a dream.
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Walnut Beast on May 01, 2022, 04:58:58 PM
Nice job and interesting 👍
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: chet on May 01, 2022, 05:33:58 PM
Love the old pic.  8)  Was that from the Wausau area. Imagine trying to stop all that weight with mechanical brakes.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on May 01, 2022, 08:50:02 PM
Yes Chet, pretty sure it was taken in my area not far from Wausau. Looking at the truck it most likely had no air brakes, no cab headache rack to keep from being hit with logs, and no power steering either except the drivers Popeye arms (back when men were men).
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Wlmedley on May 01, 2022, 10:07:25 PM
Really enjoy reading your threads.Stuff like this is what keeps me going  :laugh:
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Wlmedley on May 01, 2022, 10:14:39 PM
Company I used to work for sent me to school at Tomahawk Wisconsin when I was a young man .School was on Drott equipment.It was in the dead of winter.Coldest place I've ever been but they sure had good food.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on May 01, 2022, 10:52:16 PM
Thanks. I know exactly where you're talking about. Drott (Later owned by Case) built their own private resort conference center near Tomahawk, complete with a machine testing and demonstration area. I know the food was good, 20 years ago I used to deliver food supplies to the fine chefs on staff that ran the kitchen. food6

Side note Drott is credited with developing the 4 in 1 (dozer, clamshell, bucket, scraper) bucket for crawler tractors. In the 1950's International track loaders were made as a crawler tractor only, the attachment made by Drott was then added on.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Wlmedley on May 01, 2022, 11:01:25 PM
I was a heavy equipment mechanic for 45years and the company I worked for sold International Harvester and Drott equipment years ago.The best food I ever ate was at that training center.Beautiful country too.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 12, 2022, 12:20:32 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220531_190912643.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047877)

Still chasing the dream. Cut down some white pine to saw more lumber for my on going garage - shop build. This was a fairly heavy log for my tractor, so I put the factory log ramps on the mill to help steady the log while loading it with the forks. As I've said before, I love sawing this time of year when the bark slips and peels easy. Also nice to fell a tree, and then saw it immediately while it's all fresh and juicy. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Sprucey_thins.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047873)

Cut some thin spruce slabs last year to use up some knotty logs, just set the crank at 1" (7/8" actual) and made a stack. I now have people that are buying them for cabin signs and rustic trim.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/gep_slab.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047908)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220524_084840600.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047909)

A new customer (who was a referral by one of my repeat customers) had some sugar maple logs he brought. Cut them into slabs, some had really nice color. He had never tapped them for sap, but evidence showed the previous landowner did years ago. I told him I've had customers request lumber and slabs with tap holes for the "look".

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/gep_slab_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047933)

Load it up and send it down the road.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Maple_bookmatch.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047936)

Sawed up some sugar maple of my own while I was at it, couple logs I saved while cutting firewood last winter. Definitely saw harder after they've been down a while.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220607_130604624.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1655047974)

Doing summer bush hogging on the logging / hunting trails back in the woods. This area we had a logger cut about 7 years ago (before I owned a sawmill) and cut the poplar for pulpwood. Those not familiar with the poplar here up north, you don't have to plant it. You cut just down an existing tree, and stand back. :o
There are hundreds if not thousands of trees now, some 14' or taller already. Trees keep a growin', time marches on.
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on June 12, 2022, 01:44:15 PM
what are the dimensions?  species?  of the big log.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on June 12, 2022, 01:59:14 PM
The one in the first picture is a white pine (bark off), around 30"ish at the stump. Cut it to 10' long and it was lopsided in weight with the flared end. My tractor lifted it just barely, glad I had the ramps to keep the ends stable. Also it was plenty splippery, though that made it easier to turn on the mill. 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on September 10, 2022, 11:51:57 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220621_092116173.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820384)

Still chasing... 
Sawing business has been slow this year, been working on different construction jobs in the mean time. My greenhouse grower friend hired me to do a bunch of work, including building a new hanging garden for his flowers. He was going to rent a machine to dig the post holes, but I know a smart guy with a PHD. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220623_070535758.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820376)

I did get to use my lumber to brace all the posts until the concrete set. After the posts were set, cables were then strung to hang the plants.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Cat_308.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820404)

Got a follow up call to see work done on the clearing job I did last year. With a nearly new (54 hours) Cat 308 and a frost ripper, they made quick work slicing the roots and digging each stump.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220903_090227772.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820427)

They also had a tracked skid steer with forks and a bucket to clean up as they went along. Amazingly the site had no rocks (18" of top soil) making for easy digging.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/slickeddirt.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662822751)

With 2 good operators working together, in 3 hours it was stumped, smoothed off, and ready to drag and plant.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220807_152927282.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820477)

A new customer brought in a trailer load of basswood to be sawn, the trees had been blown down in a storm but were still usable.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220811_171927263.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820494)

Everything was cut to 1 1/2" slabs, and then reloaded right back on the trailer. Of course the biggest butt log had nails in it, and he paid for the wrecked blade. :D
I asked the customer what they will be used for, and he said making ax throwing targets. ???
That's a new one for me, I guess they only last so long and then they are firewood.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/thumbnail.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1662820481)

My friend the custom fishing rod builder sent me a pic of one of his latest award winning projects. He made it from black walnut and box elder I sawed for him some time back, glad I could help in a small (board footage) way.  ;D
Just another day... Chasing the Sawdust Dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on September 10, 2022, 04:36:45 PM
glad you are keeping busy.  here is how we do targets for axe and tomahawk.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/BAF4C339-9BB7-4A6A-A73B-365633EF7D10.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1662842149)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/884277BE-B069-46A5-9546-078AFB384103.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1662842166)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/0B5956EF-CB13-4677-8B29-9C662B77ECE8.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1662842178)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/273E1DFC-1B7C-4509-8352-67CEED9EE090.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1662842097)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/CAF4D31E-12E0-473D-A5B0-350132EAA116.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1662842103)
 
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on September 10, 2022, 05:36:59 PM
Looks neat Doc! smiley_thumbsup
From what I read it's like throwing darts at a dartboard, taken to another level.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Nebraska on September 10, 2022, 05:50:40 PM
Your friend has talent that's a nifty fishing  rod!
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on October 09, 2022, 11:16:29 AM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/1rainbow.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326269)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Rainbow.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326257)

Still chasing...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221005_130241245.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326357)

Checked back on the clearing job again. What was black dirt, has become green vegetation in just a few weeks.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20220920_102352908.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326357)

New customer brought some nice, round, black ash logs for me to saw.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/B_Ash.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326407)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Ashstack.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326413)

Made some nice 1" random width boards.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221006_111751017.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326482)

Same customer also brought me some not so round red oak "logs". :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/oak_rays.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326468)

Took some work, but they made some beautiful lumber. I laid each half with the "flat" face up and marked the pith on each end. Then drew a plumb line down from that mark, and put straight guide board lengthwise along the pith. I then ripped it with the Stihl saw into manageable size pieces to make quatersawn lumber from. Some boards even had those wonderful medullary rays. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221007_144436836.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326509)

Loaded up to ship. Customer was very happy with the lumber, a lot of it with clear an perfectly straight grain. Said he will have more logs to cut in the future.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221004_084505678.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1665326538)

Made sure to take a long walk in my woods and enjoy the fall colors at peek, and think about life (and song lyrics ;D).

Back in the woods, I'll be alright
Chasing after dreams, to ease my worried mind. smiley_guitarist

Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.


Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on November 12, 2022, 02:16:27 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221110_080948036.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278194)

Still chasin'... (and shovelin')... ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221022_133518500.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278149)

Had a nice spell of warm weather lately, kind of an "Indiana Summer" (you know what I mean" ;D). Was able to get back in the woods and get some trees cut, dry ground and leaves being down made for good working conditions. Cut a few white pine I'd been sizing up for some time.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221031_145403551.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278088)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/piney_stack.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278036)

Wasn't able to slip the bark off easily like in spring, but they sawed up into a nice stack of "rustic cabin paneling" regardless.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221029_135411246.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278075)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221110_113855211.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278744)

Cut a few spruce too, I've sold quite a few of these thin cut natural edge boards for signs and rustic cabin trim.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221026_085131816.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278134)

Had a couple black cherry in the same logging spot, cut them into short logs to try to get some straight boards. I've learned If the end of the log looks like a bullseye, you may have a lot of sapwood to trim. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221027_143653324.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278163)

All sawn and sapwood edged, cross my fingers they dry flat. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221103_072750039.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1668278472)

Fuel up the mill, saw more lumber, send more blades out, answer more calls, stack lumber, and oh yeah... shovel sawdust. ;D
Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: doc henderson on November 12, 2022, 02:39:45 PM
looks peaceful there, nice sunset.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: Resonator on November 12, 2022, 02:50:07 PM
Actually sunrise, but yes, peaceful. ;)
Title: Re: Chasing The Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on December 03, 2022, 04:53:12 PM

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/pine_rise.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101446)

Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221110_113736055.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101489)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221117_143648169.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101454)

New customer brought in some sugar maple logs to be sawn, was nice enough to mark 4/4, 5/4, and 6/4 on the ends so I knew what to cut. Also he wanted nothing narrower than 4", or wider than 8", so that's what I cut. They had been down for some time, some had mushrooms growing on the bark. Turned into kind of a challenge, he brought them when the weather was pretty mild, but the next day winter hit (and the logs froze). Ended up buying some different degree blades from my friend with the LT40 to see if they would cut better. 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221122_085430982.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101405)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221124_160630657.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101478)


>(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221124_132323769.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101434)

Was worth the fight to get good lumber, some with nice spalting. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221125_132322472.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101422)

Had a good thanksgiving weekend, with multiple customers who each bought natural edge slabs.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221125_071921004.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1670101393)

Another new customer that lives in the area drop off some pine and a couple poplar logs to cut. Plenty of knots, pitch, and of course "there's no iron in any of them..." ZING! :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Haklepine.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1670101645)

The customer wanted to be there when I sawed, and loaded the 2x's on his trailer as fast as I cut them. He also took all the bark slabs and the one log that I found metal in. (And he paid for the blade).

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Saw_Blades.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1670101591)

Speaking of blades... took advantage of the Wood-Mizer sale and bought a new pack of blades from Indy. 20% off plus free shipping, woo-hoo! 
8)
Just another day, chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the sawdust dream
Post by: bigblockyeti on December 03, 2022, 05:33:00 PM
When is the 20% off and free shipping sale good through?
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on December 03, 2022, 05:38:47 PM
That sale was during Thanksgiving week until the following Monday, will watch there ads for other sales.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 03, 2023, 08:17:15 AM
Still chasin'....

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221209_102745718.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685791835)

Winter's chilly winds are definitely gone, and the hot sun of summer is here. Time to get my thread running again. Been getting caught up sawing my back log of logs, that I logged last winter. (Though I didn't keep a log of my time). ;D
Few of these pics were from back when it wasn't 90° out.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221208_150725760.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685792057)

Some of the logs I got from trees blown down in windstorms, still more to get at before they rot.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20221201_140144618.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685792082)

One of the nicer Sugar Maples I cut, was able to swing it some to were I wanted it to fall. Did have fiber-pull, but from the best place to have it, out of the stump. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/White_Maple.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685792616)

With the smaller heart center, it made some nice clear white boards. Some off the best I've cut off my land.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230525_102725453.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685793046)

One of the black ash sawn up with some interesting grain.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230524_155942123.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685793046)

New tree I'd never sawn before, pretty sure it was an Elm. Kind of a square shape, it made it easy to decide which face to set on the mill. ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230525_103229643.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685793072)

Inside the elm log, will see how much it moves drying.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230520_131436675.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685793087)

And of course I've been cutting my steady diet of white pine and spruce (plenty of it on my land). Did note that leaving the pine logs sit over winter seemed to help with the pitch. Also built a log deck again from 6x6's I had handy. Definitely speeds up the work when I don't have to load 1 log at a time with the tractor.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230601_071544489.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1685793940)

Stacked up and ready to dry. Got to send some dull blades in, fuel up the equipment, and of course shovel sawdust...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230414_100217258.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1681772192)

...maybe someday I'll have a sawdust pile like the one I got to see down south. :)
Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: caveman on June 03, 2023, 09:37:07 AM
Before I read your caption about Jake's sawdust pile, I was thinking to myself that you have been getting after it, regarding sawing boards.  

Good looking trees, logs and lumber.  Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 03, 2023, 10:57:56 AM
Only website I know of where members can recognize a sawdust pile... :D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Wlmedley on June 03, 2023, 01:17:07 PM
Really looks good. Thanks for the pictures.Makes me want to do some sawing  :laugh:
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: OlJarhead on June 12, 2023, 07:17:22 PM
Wow super thread!!!  I got to read it all today while being somewhat laid up 😉
Thanks for sharing 
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 12, 2023, 09:43:04 PM
Thanks! smiley_thumbsup
I got some new pics to put up, stay tuned... ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Stephen1 on June 13, 2023, 07:24:55 AM
I really like when someone chronicles what they are doing. especially with pics. because we all know it didn't happen unless there are pics. 
So when does the song come out?
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 13, 2023, 09:06:03 AM
Still working towards that dream, for now I just play for fun. Lots of artists who were an "overnight success" took 19 years, (or longer), to get there. Did book 3 nights this week playing a kids summer VBS show. (Hey, a gigs a gig). smiley_guitarist ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Magicman on June 13, 2023, 09:17:11 AM
I totally agree.  8)
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 13, 2023, 10:29:42 AM
Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230605_131529141.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686661836)

One of my repeat bought a nice stack of my white pine 1x10's and 1x12's. He plans on adding a porch to his cabin, some of which was built with my lumber. He hauled it in his antique 70's Ford pickup. Repainted once, it was in amazingly in good shape (for Wisconsin).

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/F_electric.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1686662166)

Just for contrast here's a pic of one of my other customers new pickup. He drove up and opened the hood... no engine. :o

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230530_090537144.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662232)

Had a new customer purchase the black cherry and black ash that I had sawn. While he was getting that lumber, he inquired about doing some custom sawing. He has land in different areas with different hardwoods, including the prized: "highly valuable black walnut tree". ;D
He brought in some logs (though some were more like limbs ::)), and I went about sawing them up.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230530_140905666.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662216)

One of the trees was "hot off the stump", the best way I like to saw them. Easy to peel the bark to extend blade life, and good and "juicy". ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230531_072146723.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662317)

Fresh enough to see the "green haze faze".


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230531_093221603.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662311)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230531_100506155.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662291)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230531_073935583.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662283)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230531_072707008.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662260)

A lot were irregular shape, and took some fussin' to get set up on the mill. But he was willing to pay for the time it took to get as many curved and crotch figure pieces as possible.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230530_104747211.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686665921)

The slabs on the left were from a tree that had been cut down for a year. (That had grown right next to the fresh cut one). You can see the difference in color.
Customer was more that happy with the wood (walnut usually doesn't disappoint), and may have more logs in the future.
Back to shovelin'. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230530_063055988.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1686662258)

Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream. :)

Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: OlJarhead on June 13, 2023, 12:25:54 PM
Hey!  Don't call a '70's Ford an antique!  I might start thinking I'm getting old!!!  :o ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 13, 2023, 12:56:06 PM
I suppose I should of said "Collector Vehicle" (he had the blue Wisconsin license plates).
Though when compared to that new all electric F150 Lightning, it was definitely "old school". ;D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: customsawyer on June 14, 2023, 04:38:07 AM
I don't have much sawdust left at the moment. I have shipped out 8 semi loads of it since the project.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on June 14, 2023, 09:53:50 PM
Well, I'm glad I got the chance to see that nice pile when I did. Before it vanished like dust in the wind.  :D
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on July 16, 2023, 02:15:29 PM
Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Bear2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528157)

...or am I being chased?! :o

This big forest creature wandered into my mill yard one evening right after I shut down for the day. I didn't have any unattended camp fires, or food filled pick-a-nick baskets, so he just kept walking along his merry way back into the woods. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Sign_brick_1.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1689528305)

Got side tracked off of sawmilling to work another project for a while. My local church was given a new LED message board sign, and I was on the committee that made the project happen. I volunteered to demolish the old brick sign that it replaced, and build a flower bed around the new sign using old bricks I salvaged. And to keep it on thread, I did use some of my lumber for form boards, and some as dividers in the flower bed.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230616_160959357.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528388)

A new customer brought me a pine log to cut, he said that it was a "sinker" pulled out from one of the local rivers.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230617_095226760.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528382)

Definitely was an old log, and it sawed into some nice wide pine boards.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230628_080757067.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528440)

One of my repeat customers brought a nice black walnut log, came from a front yard, but amazingly it didn't have any metal in it.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230707_085048368.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528451)

Made some 1" and 2" natural edge slabs.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230703_134400010.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1688493434)

Walnut seldom disappoints when it's fresh cut (especially with a little water added on the surface). ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230713_162826086.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528482)

Back to my usual line of white pine for sawing my "cabin paneling" inventory.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230711_111203483.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1689528516)

Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.


Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: doc henderson on July 17, 2023, 01:40:03 AM
I am working, but your pics relax me a bit.  thanks!

"Remember only you can prevent forest fires"!  Smokey the Bear.  
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: beenthere on July 17, 2023, 01:22:18 PM
FYI doc. Tis "Smokey Bear", not Smokey the Bear. Walt Disney created the "middle" name in a song as it sounded better. No offense tho.  

The story of Smokey Bear | US Forest Service (https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/story-smokey-bear)
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: doc henderson on July 17, 2023, 05:16:41 PM
OK so is it Yogi Bear, or Yogi the Bear?   :) :) :D :D.

my "baby" youngest brother Bruce was given the nick name Boo, or Boo Boo after the cartoon.  I had a great pediatric doc as a senior resident and her pet name for all small children was Boo.

If I ever want to make my brother mad I refer to him as "still the baby of the family".  He is 58. :snowball:

Non taken BT. :)
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: thecfarm on July 19, 2023, 05:57:39 AM
I am the baby of the family at 61 years old.  ;D
My dog was named Dew. Somehow I started to call him Boo-Boo.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/dew2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1677369575)
 
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on August 03, 2023, 04:39:53 PM
Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230712_081149639.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691090935)

(Since I started the last entry with a bear pic, I thought I'd start this one with another animal pic). ;D
Not being chased, but more like I was being surrounded, when I was asked to take down a highway billboard in a neighbor farmers' cow pasture. The black animals with red ear tags herded all around me, then turned, and walked quickly away. I asked the farmer if I should watch out around them, he said: "Don't worry, their just girls."  :-X

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230719_124743051.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691091615)

I must have done something right, my black walnut customer from reply #159 decided to make me his "go to" guy for sawmilling. 8)
Has been bringing an assortment of logs to cut, (some good, some not so much :D). This one being willow.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230719_134332851.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691091801)

Made some 2" planks. When I was 1st cutting in, the sapwood lifted off the mill so high I thought it was gonna smack me. :o

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/cedar_load.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691092074)

Also had a trailer load of white cedar logs he brought for me to cut (from up in Yooperland). :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/cedar_on_deck.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691092460)

Extended my log deck so I could fit as many as I could on ready to saw. Amazed at how light cedar is (especially when turning the logs by hand).

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230727_093642374.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691092586)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230726_113342801.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691092619)

Most of the logs got sawn into natural edge slabs, a few became 1" lumber and 4x4's. Sawed up pretty nice, only had one log that was more of a pipe than a log with rot. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230719_141603772.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691093064)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230719_141647402.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691093100)

Had some red oak logs he brought too. He was mainly interested in cutting natural edge slabs, especially ones with crotch figure.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230720_100443356.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691093445)

He had "extra" red oak logs he gave me as partial payment, and these I quarter sawed. The first few I cut sawing the log into 4 quarters through the pith. Then laying the flat face on the mill and cutting a 1" board, flip 90°, and repeat. Until all that was left was small triangle of waste wood.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230721_143735503.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691093566)

This method I'd get 8 good medullary ray boards out of each log, and some with less rays. And the best yield of board footage from a log.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230722_101758428.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1690124678)

The last log (as I mentioned in the watcha sawin'? thread) I tried the RRQS method. Had to do some playing around to get the angles right and get it to work on my mill, but I think I got the concept down.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230722_105448481.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1690124678)

Had more waste then traditional quarter sawing, but as I said, pretty much every board had good rays. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/78_pine.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691094534)

Stack of white pine (turned yellow), drying in the summer breeze, just before the sun went down.
Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.




Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on August 27, 2023, 02:08:15 PM
Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230823_145535839.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693156595)

Had what will probably be the hottest day of the year here the other day. smiley_sun
Luckily I got my lumber cutting done in the morning. As one of the forum members put it: "I never met an air conditioner I didn't like".  :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230808_073526255.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691841743)

Again my best sawing customer of this year brought me an assortment of logs to cut, recently some of that "wood the guys down south warned me about"... hickory. :o

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230809_153417439.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693156948)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230810_071713537.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693156968)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230810_071910103.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691841734)

Definitely a hard wood to saw, but I fought through it, and did produce some nice looking slabs and lumber. And some even had spalting. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230809_082423343.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693156933)

Also had me cut some white ash I cut 3x3 for turning blanks, said he wanted to try making a baseball bat. I cut multiple pieces so he could choose the best one, as some would be more of a "decorative" bat. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230808_103204323.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1691630649)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230808_135239626.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693157756)

And some red elm I cut, that he originally thought was oak. (That is until I sawed into it). ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_0842.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1693158732)

He sent some pics of different projects he's made, one being charcuterie boards. Made from various types of wood, some of which are ones I've sawn. :)

Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.




Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: TimW on August 27, 2023, 03:29:39 PM
98 is still sawing weather here.  Unless it is after dark. :D
hugs,  Brandi
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on August 27, 2023, 03:54:28 PM
I tip my hat to you folks down south, I'm not accustomed to high temps like y'all are.  smiley_sun
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: DocGP on August 28, 2023, 02:54:51 PM
Yeah buddy, you do a 6-8hr run in 106 degrees, and that will fry an old fat boy!!!

Doc
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: DennisK on August 28, 2023, 09:18:33 PM
That will even fry an Old not so Fat Guy! :D Heat stroke is a serious thing in this heat, after a while. water can"t get you caught up.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: barbender on August 28, 2023, 11:01:43 PM
 Black Angus...there's usually a mean cow in every herd. I used to accompany my Uncle out feeding on his NE Wyoming ranch, I remember being reminded about every time to "watch out for that b****!" Mean Angus cows that you didn't want to turn your back on.
Title: Re: Chasing the Sawdust Dream
Post by: Resonator on November 19, 2023, 02:33:59 PM
Still chasin'...

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/Oak_trailer.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1700417564)

Been a while since I updated my thread, here's some pics of different sawing jobs I've done since last I posted. 
Had one of my repeat customers bring in some relatively big red oak logs, biggest around 30" (about as big as I want to lift and handle with my tractor). I chain slung the biggest as far back on the forks as I could, lifted it a few inches, and had him drive out from under it.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230819_151302403.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417651)

I had cut quarter sawn before for him, and one of the logs I quartered with the chainsaw the in the same way as before. This also broke the big log down into easy to manage pieces on the mill.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230823_102901935.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417683)

Stack of 4/4 lumber ready to load.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230823_103005513.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417743)

He also wanted some sawn into 2" slabs, and cut them as wide as possible.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230822_154301294.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417816)

The center ones made a nice book match with rays. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230912_154353156.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695651427)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230914_080914187.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695651425)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20230913_140414376.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417870)


My best customer of 2023 brought some black cherry burls for me to saw up. I mad a jig out a few scrap boards, camped each burl down, and cut as many 3/4" slices as I could.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231024_093747494.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417874)

One of my other repeat customers took down a spruce "yard tree", and gave me a few logs. All he wanted in return was some slabs for one of his friends that helped take it down. I didn't get a pic, but he also bought a cookie cut off of a 130+ year old pine log I had on hand, said he wanted to put it up as a display, and mark dates in history on the rings.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231024_151804418.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417926)

The rest of the spruce he brought I think I'll cut into knotty paneling... very knotty paneling. :D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231014_150503247.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700417966)

A new customer came with a trailer load of logs, he had contacted me some time back about sawing them, but for different reasons couldn't get them hauled until recently. He dropped the trailer off with me, and I agreed to unload the logs and reload it with cut lumber.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231017_161533490.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700418020)

The load was mostly poplar, with a mix of rot and spalting. I had to slab it deep on quite few of them, and some were too far gone to make lumber. Did get some decent boards out of what I had to work with.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231020_111538625.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700418059)

Also had some black cherry logs and a red oak mixed in the load, They made some nice boards, and kept them in separate stack on top. 

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231020_111604065.jpg?<br%20/>easyrotate_cache=1700418150)

All loaded stickered and stacked, ready to ship as requested. He also wanted all the slabs for firewood, along with a couple logs that he didn't want cut. He seemed to like what lumber I cut, even got a tip. :)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47685/IMG_20231109_061143977.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1700418147)

Getting later in the year and the temps are getting colder. Will "play it by ear" (old saying) ;) how much more sawing I do before winter, will see how it goes. 
Just another day... chasing the sawdust dream.