Whatcha Sawin' 2021 ??

[GAB]

106 mile road trip sawing ~64 X 18' Longleaf Pine logs.  






And might fine logs they are with most being 16"+ top end.


 
A skidsteer e/w a grapple to move the logs to the sawmill.


 
Two college kids are the tailgunners shown here knocking some loose bark from the logs.

This will be sawn for the customer's new home.  Today's cut list was for 2X6's and 2X8's and after traveling and setting up I still managed 2500bf.  We will hold back the larger logs to be sawn into 1X4's & 12's for the B&B siding.  I will saw 1X7's for flooring, ceiling, and wall paneling.

I will saw this week and then due to some personal non-sawing commitments I will have to skip the next week and then resume sawing the following week.

Thankfully these logs have "seasoned" for a couple of months and are not as sticky/sappy but I am still having to lean on the LubeMizer.  I used 5 gallons of lube today which is very unusual.  

Lynn,
     Is a LubeMizer a worthwhile addition?  I deleted it on my order and have no idea if one could help or not.
hugs,  Brandi

Brandi:
I have the lube mizer system on my mill and I also have used an entire jug in a day (water and cotton spindle cleaner mix)sawing eastern white pine.  I cant imagine not having that option.  
GAB

[TimW]

106 mile road trip sawing ~64 X 18' Longleaf Pine logs.  






And might fine logs they are with most being 16"+ top end.


 
A skidsteer e/w a grapple to move the logs to the sawmill.


 
Two college kids are the tailgunners shown here knocking some loose bark from the logs.

This will be sawn for the customer's new home.  Today's cut list was for 2X6's and 2X8's and after traveling and setting up I still managed 2500bf.  We will hold back the larger logs to be sawn into 1X4's & 12's for the B&B siding.  I will saw 1X7's for flooring, ceiling, and wall paneling.

I will saw this week and then due to some personal non-sawing commitments I will have to skip the next week and then resume sawing the following week.

Thankfully these logs have "seasoned" for a couple of months and are not as sticky/sappy but I am still having to lean on the LubeMizer.  I used 5 gallons of lube today which is very unusual.  

Lynn,
     Is a LubeMizer a worthwhile addition?  I deleted it on my order and have no idea if one could help or not.
hugs,  Brandi

Brandi:
I have the lube mizer system on my mill and I also have used an entire jug in a day (water and cotton spindle cleaner mix)sawing eastern white pine.  I cant imagine not having that option.  
GAB

GAB,
     What makes it so much better than the standard lube installation?  For me, more sap equals more drip of the water and Dawn mix.  Every now and then, when the blade starts making that sssssssssssssssssss sound, I open the valve and let the blade get lubed enough to stop the sssssssssssssssssss sound.  Works, but is time consuming resetting the valve to drip just right.  So.......why is the LubeMizer worth installing???????
hugs,  Brandi

[Dave Shepard]

I like my LubeMizer. I have a wireless remote, so it shuts off as soon I stop the head from travelling forward. Having said that, I haven't used lube in years. It doesn't self prime if I run it out water. I think one of the check valves may not be working.

[GAB]

Brandi:
Please correct me if I am wrong as I do not know your system.
I think your system lubes just the top of the blade where as the Lubemizer system shoots on both sides of the blade.
The system has two settings flip the switch up and you can adjust the frequency of squirts applied.
Flip the switch to the down position and it is a continuous flow until you stop it.
If the switch is in the center then the system is off.
GAB

[WV Sawmiller]

   I got a late start this afternoon after mowing the yard because I thought it was fixing to rain, and then I started building on my first composting toilet. I cut 3 treated 2X6X8s into 2-48" and 4 - 44-3/4" pieces and nailed them together to make a 4' square base then I covered it with 1" ash, nailed on at a 45* angle so the floor is done. I checked my spruce stack and only had 2-2X4s then found 2 more poplar 2X4s so I went over and sawed one of my small 8' spruce logs I had cut for planters and made 5 - 2X4s and one 2X6 out of it. I decided the log was better suited for outhouse framing than log planters which were about to bankrupt me on the royalties associated with making them. : I also sawed a 6' poplar butt log and got 13 more 2X4s out of it so I am in good shape on framing for a while. I did not get any pictures as I left my camera because I had not planned on sawing. I think I have plenty of 3/4" spruce siding but have another planter log I can cut if I start to run short.

[Southside]

Brandi - my 35 does not have the lube mizer, and my Super 70 does so I can tell you first hand that it's worth having.  Time savings is one advantage, lube expense is something, not much, but something, however having my boards come off the mill with zero sawdust, because I am not using too much lube, and keeping a clean band at the same time makes it worth having.  

[Magicman]

Is a LubeMizer a worthwhile addition?

Absolutely not but I would not be without it.  I bought my sawmill used and it did not have the LubeMizer and I added it.  It is especially worthwhile sawing this sappy Longleaf Pine.  I am continuously watching the blade and the instant I see a buildup I can increase the pulse frequency or switch it to continuous to remove the blade buildup. 



 
Here was my spectators for this morning. 


 
I have hit lotsa bullets but this one was apparently flipping because it entered the tree backwards.  No it did not completely penetrate the tree.  The flat tail was toward the inside of the tree and the point toward the bark.  That plus it is the only jacketed/lead core bullet that has ever wrecked a blade.


 
This is the butt of a ~20" log.  Notice the growth rings and you will also notice the pitch.


 
Yup, the side support roller was long overdue for a polishing.  That also wrecked a blade. 

We are making steady process but it looked like another dozen or so logs were brought in last evening after I left.  We will stop sawing Thursday and I will leave the sawmill on location.  We plan to resume sawing on June 7th.  I did not get a tally on today's sawing but it was average.

[Southside]

You are making me drool over the nice vertical grain flooring in those logs MM. 

[Crossroads]

Last month I got the side support twice in one day, I was on fire lol 

[TimW]

Brandi:
Please correct me if I am wrong as I do not know your system.
I think your system lubes just the top of the blade where as the Lubemizer system shoots on both sides of the blade.
The system has two settings flip the switch up and you can adjust the frequency of squirts applied.
Flip the switch to the down position and it is a continuous flow until you stop it.
If the switch is in the center then the system is off.
GAB

GAB,
Correct on mine just squirting one side.  I read up after posting to you, on the Lubemizer, and think I will go ahead and get it.  I can see the switch in squirt and continuous is way better AND faster.
                    hugs,  Brandi

[WDH]

Lynn, I can see what Southside sees, and that is scary. 

[trimguy]

OK I got to ask, what's the difference between vertical grain and quartersawn? Is it because one is hardwood and one is softwood, are you a little more particular about the grain instead of the fleck , or is it a marketing technique ?

[Wudman]

OK I got to ask, what's the difference between vertical grain and quartersawn? Is it because one is hardwood and one is softwood, are you a little more particular about the grain instead of the fleck , or is it a marketing technique ?

They are the same.  Pine does not have the ray fleck, so you are just sawing for the vertical grain effect.  It is a premium product.


Wud

[trimguy]

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

[GAB]

Brandi:
If you acquire and install a lubemizer system make sure and purchase some spare 2 and 4 amp fuses.
Having a system down for lack of a 2 amp fuse is a bummer.
If I was in your position I would leave the current system as is and add a second one so that in a worst case situation I could do either the gravity flow or the lubemizer system by just changing the hose to the blade lube jug.
GAB

[Magicman]

I would not even consider leaving the old system and I really doubt that it would be feasable anyway.  I would hate to have to saw without the LubeMizer.



 
My day started out very well with nothing but large straight Longleaf Pine logs.....until!  Do you see it?


 
A closer look!!  Yup, this will ruin your morning's sawing.


 
So I finished sawing the log on the sawmill and then had lunch.  Yup, first time that I have ever made a ham & shrimp sammich.

So my customer got back with a skidsteer tire and we were up and running again.....until...


 
Yup, grapple through the "new" tire.


 
Not only did it let all of the "magic" air out, it also ruined the evening's sawing. 


 
I don't think that I sawed but 3 logs today, so certainly no tally.  The above is what we have stickered; 1X8's on the far left then 2X8's, 2X6's, 2¾X14 slabs, and 6X6's. 

Maybe with the skidsteer back into operation we can get some sawing done tomorrow, then I will be off until June 7th.  The sawmill will stay at this location.

[TimW]

Seems like there should be a physical stop on the grapple to prevent just that tire damage.
How was the sammich?
I agree about removing my old system.  I would think some of has to be reused anyway.
hugs, Brandi

[Andries]

Two skid steer tires in one day. There's no patch for that!
Yikes!
Somebody said a few FF days ago: "You'll remember a bought lesson much long than a taught lesson." 😖 
Switching over to forks might save somebody a lot of aggrivation, and money, plus that red face feeling, when showing up at the tire shop twice. . . . on the same day.

[Magicman]

Seems like there should be a physical stop on the grapple to prevent just that tire damage. How was the sammich?

I would agree about a stop but who knows what adaptations might have been done with/to the attachments to connect that grapple to that skidsteer.

The sammich was most excellent.  Guess that I shoulda taken a picture of my evening meal.  Blackened rainbow trout with a "New Orleans" something with shrimp on top.  Also most excellent.

Yes Southside and WDH, those logs are also "most excellent".

Two new jobs came in today and them wanting to know how quickly I could get there and I have no idea how I am gonna do those that are already on the book.  When I finish a job I call the oldest which is how it works.

[GAB]

Magicman:
In reply to your following statement:
"I would not even consider leaving the old system and I really doubt that it would be feasable anyway."
Those of us living in the glaciated north (@WDH term I believe) sometimes only need to saw one or two logs and not 
wanting to have to rewinterize the lube pump just use the gravity system.  I added it to my mill strictly for that reason.
Not winterizing the lube system I believe is why I'm on the third pump.
GAB

[Magicman]

Thankfully I do not live in the Glaciated North but I still use a freeze proof lube mix in the Winter, which would not freeze anyway, and also purge my LubeMizer with RV antifreeze when I stop for the day.

I am surprised that you choose to not use a freeze proof lube mix in the Winter. 

[Peter Drouin]

I cut every tree that grows in NH. And cut dry. from time to time I turn on the water for 1 or 2 cuts then off comes stuff on the blade. 5 gal every 8 weeks or so. What a lot of sawers do is cut too slow and dulls and gums up the blade.
And I have recut longleaf Pine dry too.


 
But I will say it can be painful sometimes :D


 :D ;)
This blade hit iron so I left the pitch on.
99% dry cutting.

[samandothers]

Big bummer on skid steer tires.  Though it seems if it caught one side  it would catch the other side.  Maybe cut off the offending grapple tooth or grind it from canine to molar.

By the way, initially I thought it was pine grubs with ham.   

[TimW]

Magicman:
In reply to your following statement:
"I would not even consider leaving the old system and I really doubt that it would be feasable anyway."
Those of us living in the glaciated north (@WDH term I believe) sometimes only need to saw one or two logs and not
wanting to have to rewinterize the lube pump just use the gravity system.  I added it to my mill strictly for that reason.
Not winterizing the lube system I believe is why I'm on the third pump.
GAB

What...........does..............winterize...............mean? ???  Ya gotta remember, I leave my water hoses out all year. ;D
hugs,  Brandi

[Ianab]

What...........does..............winterize...............mean?  

Folks living in the seriously cold climates have to prepare their vehicles / equipment / houses for winter. Things we take for granted freeze up, like diesel fuel, water pipes, brass monkeys etc.