sawing defective cherry on a Cooks mill

[woodman52]

I have been doing some YouTube posting about working in my woods. I recently posted one showing me cutting a black cherry on my Cooks 3238 mill.
I talk about salvaging prime lumber out of a log that the mills would not buy, and I talk about the cutting process on my mill. I also talk about getting the best quality/grade from a defective log. Please let me know what you think. If there is interest, I hope to put out some more videos with greater detail about the process and better views of the product coming off the mill. I am not near the experts of some on this forum, but I am learning and trying to pass on info to younger folk that may appreciate it. I have learned a lot here and want to pay it forward.

Sawing a cherry log with defect on a Cooks bandsaw mill, turn firewood into high value lumber. - YouTube

[KenMac]

Good to see a Cook's mill in a YouTube video on occasion. Keep up the good work.

[redbeard]

Nice job like how you use the swing arm controls too to make better use of one man operation. Also putting a board down on loader arms makes a nice walking plank. Negotiating the loader arms is difficult stepping back n forth.
Enjoyed your video, keep them coming.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I enjoyed the video and seeing the Cooks mill in operation. I liked the features I saw and especially the sawing station/location which I think gives you better line of sight than what mine does. 

   I did not see the purpose of lowering the flitches on the arms to the ground and walking on them? I generally leave my arms at least partway up and toss the flitches on and edge at the end of the process. I agree using the loading arms as a work station is a good idea. I usually edge against the cant or stack of boards instead of a 4X4 like you use but for the same reasons. I'm sawing mobile and you are in a shop and have the 4X4 handy for such use so I can see where it works well for you.

   I liked seeing you go take measurements before cutting a board or flitch you know exactly the height to cut. I know lots of people "eyeball it" or sight down the log/flitch but that way you get every bit of wane off you want gone and don't waste any good wood. I try to do that and in the end feel it saves me steps and extra cuts or lost wood.

[Larry]

Couple of things I noticed.  On your opening cut it looks like you split the taper.  I might have taken all the taper out on that first face.  That would have given you even width boards when you went to the third face.  Might have missed something in the video.

The second thing is when you sawed the third face.  I would have sawed two flitches never moving from the console.  Than I would have used the clamp or the turner to tilt the cant to slide the flitches onto the loading arms, again not moving away from the console.  Finally turn the cant and start on the fourth face.  This one sequence would have saved a bunch of time and steps.

I have a two step rule....I never want to take more than two steps away from the console when sawing.  When edging I often break that rule.

I've filmed myself a few times and it really helped me develop.  I studied the clips and found things I could have done easier or faster.  I still have lots of room for improvement.

Thanks for taking the time to make and share your video.

[Gere Flewelling]

I agree that is good to see a Cook's sawmill doing what it does in a You-Tube video.  8) Thanks for taking the time to put that video together.  Can't wait to see the next one.  I am not skilled enough to advise you on any improvements to you technique, but just wanted to let you know that I appreciated what you have put together.  I am envious of your hydraulic mill.  Good Luck!

[SawyerTed]

Nice video.  It takes time and patience to put something like that together.  I enjoyed it very much.

Working around that big scar changes how the log gets sawn.  Good work on handling it.

When I was sawing portable, I kept a 3X5" similar to yours to clamp against to edge flitches.  When I forgot the 3"x5", I would edge against the cant I was sawing.  Seemed like it took less time to clamp against the cant I was sawing.  Depending upon the cut list, clamping against the cant doesn't always work.  Raising the flitches up on the loading arms reduces the bending over to pick them up which, in my opinion, is much worse than added steps.

[YellowHammer]

Nice video, you explain things well.  I like your setup.  What was interesting to me was that the controls are mounted so that the head passes beside the operator and that involuntarily made me cringe a little.  I assume the band isn't turning full speed when it goes by you, but it still caught my attention because I've had bands pop and send shrapnel and shards out perpendicular to the head, on both the drive and idle side of the head, when in the log or not.
  

[WV Sawmiller]

Ted,

  I know you read this post on edging against a stack of boards instead of a cant which is what I do now. I can adjust the height by removing boards to edge real low if needed. Mostly I do it because I found stress in the cant would not allow me to return it flat against the bed rails once unclamped so now when I clamp the cant the last time it is below the thickness of the last cut and except in emergencies or unusual circumstances I do not release the cant till sawing is complete.
Edging against a cant - modified the process in Sawmills and Milling

Robert,

  Good point about the possibility of a breaking band. I don't remember ever having one break and fly to the right and warn my help not to walk on the drive side while I have the blade spinning. That does not mean one could not fly out that side too.

[woodman52]

Couple of things I noticed.  On your opening cut it looks like you split the taper.  I might have taken all the taper out on that first face.  That would have given you even width boards when you went to the third face.  Might have missed something in the video.

The second thing is when you sawed the third face.  I would have sawed two flitches never moving from the console.  Than I would have used the clamp or the turner to tilt the cant to slide the flitches onto the loading arms, again not moving away from the console.  Finally turn the cant and start on the fourth face.  This one sequence would have saved a bunch of time and steps.

I have a two step rule....I never want to take more than two steps away from the console when sawing.  When edging I often break that rule.

I've filmed myself a few times and it really helped me develop.  I studied the clips and found things I could have done easier or faster.  I still have lots of room for improvement.

Thanks for taking the time to make and share your video.

I agree, I noticed, when putting the video together, that I should have taken all the taper out with that first cut. On the second comment, in retrospect I should have done what you suggested. I often don't know if I am going to cut a second flitch until I remove the first one. In this case it was pretty obvious. I need to get into the habit of thinking about whether I should wait and do a second cut before moving the flitch. If I am going to use the board return I prefer to bring back each one as I usually have time enough to stack one while the next one is cutting. Thank you for the constructive comments. Like I said - I am still learning. Often the little tips like using the log turner to slide the flitches off is not something that is common knowledge but can save you time.   

[woodman52]

Nice video, you explain things well.  I like your setup.  What was interesting to me was that the controls are mounted so that the head passes beside the operator and that involuntarily made me cringe a little.  I assume the band isn't turning full speed when it goes by you, but it still caught my attention because I've had bands pop and send shrapnel and shards out perpendicular to the head, on both the drive and idle side of the head, when in the log or not.
 

The head controls are quite flexible, I could be standing 10' beyond the head of the mill, or right beside the log. I don't cut while standing beside the head and usually stay behind it but I do cross the head on occasion. Based on your comment I will try not to do that in the future. I have had bands break but I have never had anything come to my side of the mill. It is good to know that can happen and to stay clear. 

[SawyerTed]

Howard, yes I well remember that thread.  In your last post in that thread (I just reviewed the thread) I believe you answered your own question - often the logs will dictate whether you can edge against the cant or not.  

Normally, when I edged against a cant, I was edging wider flitches (10 to 12" plus) against a larger cant. Larger cants don't tend to bow like smaller cants (anything is possible). 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I nearly always edged against the cant only after it had been cut down to slightly below the height of the narrowest board I expected to edge. Example if all my flitches were going to be at least 6" wide boards I'd edge when the cant reached 5.5", if I were edging down to a 4" board I'd wait till the cant was 3.25" high. That was when I'd have problems getting that thin cant to lay back down flat. It had rested well as a 10"+ cant due to the added weight but once that was removed, especially hardwoods, it tended to want to rise up. By just sawing to the rails then edging against and appropriate height stack of boards I still got the rigidity I needed for backing but eliminated the yension issues.