iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

OldJarheads Milling Thread...

Started by OlJarhead, April 06, 2016, 02:06:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

OlJarhead

Nope, ain't stopped, just slowed up for a spell but I ain't giving up!  OK, time to add some captions (I do that on my computer but use my phone to post the pics)...



After leaving the mountain a month (or was it two?) or so ago due to weather my customer hauled a dozen good logs down off the hill and to his home about 50 miles away from me so I agreed to come out and finish the job (despite throwing out my back last week and still fighting various other challenges).


Got set up and managed to mill up a log but it occurred to me I'd been too long away from the game and forgot things like log crayons to mark the logs with, my Rite in the Rain notebook and pen and a few other odds and sods.  Oh well, we'll figure it out but meanwhile the mill locked up -- vapor lock, which is what I suspected even though the tank was 1/2 full and it ran for one log, albeit slow and gutless I thought.


However, I got it going after a 15 minute rest and things were working well again :D  Time to ROCK and ROLL!  Lots on, Logs off!  Git 'er done!

My customer and his workers need to re-arrange some logs so I broke out my 30 year old Thermos and drank coffee while waiting.  Can't move the logs but I can watch and drink coffee (after doing a little clean up).


Milled for 5hrs (ok, milled most of that time, the rest I was waiting on the customer) and then set the mill up to leave overnight.  Helpers had to go and I was ok with the short day.


He wants to quarter saw the fir.  I've only done that a couple times and a long time ago but I work by the hour and he knows that so we'll do whatever it is he wants :D

Should be fun anyway :D


I put my conduit over the rails after lubing them to protect them from rain etc.


I will spin this door but for now know that it's all from wood I milled up for him.  The show pieces are locust.


It came out like this and thought:  locust?  really?  OK.  Nice all the same!


I didn't get a good pic here but these shelves are all blue stained pine.  Nicely done.

Truth is, the guy is a craftsman and I would love to post a lot more pics but I hate to ask unless it's wood I milled up for him.

Back tomorrow for what I hope is no more than another 5hrs and then we'll see.  He has lots of logs and projects so who knows.  For now, it was good to make sawdust despite the back, arms, neck etc :D

Cheers
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

WV Sawmiller

Eric,

   Glad to hear from you and see you didn't step off into a sawdust sinkhole and get bogged down and lost to humanity. Looks like you ave been and will be busy. Keep us posted.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Nebraska

Great to see this thread back at the top. Glad you posted another installment, and things are going ok. 

Iwawoodwork

Yes, good to see you posting, always enjoy your photos and posts. I do like the climate east of the cascades. Our daughter and son in law (ex) were in Spokane for a couple years, he was in AF at the air base there and our first grandson was born there in 1996, ended up with a couple rentals in Oaksdale and Teco Wa. so we were going back and forth from here (CG, Or.) in the valley for a few years and found Moses Lake when returning to Or. missed the turn off to Tri cities and when hit Moses Lake knew I was kind lost, did find another road south and got back on the correct road, anyway good to see your post.

OlJarhead

Thanks guys.  Had a second Kenalog and Lidocaine shot, this time targeted and under ultrasound, and it appears to have worked! :D 8)  So at least the tendonitis is under control (for now anyway).  Still have the bad discs in the neck and have to watch them and the arthritis and and and (so does everyone else right?)...but this customer has Parkinson's and in an advanced stage and puts me to shame so I can't exactly tell him no! lol

I do, however, tell any potential customer that I can't do the heavy lifting anymore.  I run the mill, they do the rest.

I am hoping to do more milling next year because this and last has been very little really. 
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

BtoVin83

That looks like the second time you've used that thermos in thirty years, mine get dented and the paint worn off. I have a fried that lives in Moses Lake

OlJarhead

Lol I think a closer look would say otherwise;)

Three down for the day, three to go.

This will make 24" x 12' slabs 2 1/2" thick with one that's 3 1/2" - hated to see the helpers struggle ;)


This is HARD work!

Um, this truck aint made for this!



Haven't tallied it up yet but it's a LOT.









4 1/2 feet wide at the crotch?  Sure, we can do that.  Who needs a 'wide' anyway? LOL

Now things are getting serious!



Seriously!

I milled that ugly crotch (maple) into three pieces that he will glue up when done.  The biggest had a nail in it and time was up so I flattened them on two sides (middle on 3) and left them until next visit when I'll slab them down for him so he can make some tables out of them.

Not sure what we milled yet but guessing 3500+ bf for the weekend (11hrs of work probably 10 of milling).
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

OlJarhead

Sorry I didn't get pics of quarter sawing but it went smooth and produced some nice fir.  When pretty smooth and pretty fast too.  It had been a while for me but I guess I'm getting this milling thing down ;) 8)

I pulled out all the stops today too using any number of tricks (like shoving the log over the stops, tossing it up on an angle and knocking off a horn, then back flat and continuing, using the scale (something I didn't use to do but do now when I have something to use it for like the 5/4 stuff I was doing), quarter sawing, making sure the check was in one board and so on and on :D  Felt darn good this weekend and am now excited to get back to milling in the spring!  (though I might get another chance this winter if I don't forget to haul the mill to my property before the roads go to crap.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

OlJarhead

FYI to mill that big crotch I used a tow strap wrapped on the log clamp (thanks MM) and some pry bars/tank bars/CANT hooks to get it on the deck and upright.  Then pushed it down the deck so it would drop below the bunks.  Next I chainsawed off the top 4-5 inches or so in order to allow the first cut to be made at the upper stop ;D

Once the first cut was done I dropped down 14 inches (just shy I suppose) and whittled the edge with a chainsaw to clear the bevel of the saw shroud then took that piece out.  This left me about 24 inches of remaining piece to work on.

At this point I began working the last piece and noticed a nail (after hitting a rock, changing the band and double checking the 'log' again).  We could not get the nail out with what we had on hand so I flattened the back side and did the same for the other two sections leaving each with 2 (3 on the center piece) flat sides and a 90 degree angle.  I then instructed my customer to remove the nail and any other foreign objects and I'd be happy to finish milling it down for him on my next visit (no sense in him paying me to remove nails etc and it was the end of the day).

All in all a fun day :)  Just wish I had some video of it!
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Weekend_Sawyer

Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

OlJarhead

Thanks :)  Felt awesome!  Too bad it's winter now and I don't often mill in the snow ;) unless it's at my place but I'm too late in getting the mill up there I think.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

sweetfarm

I just finished reading your entire journey.   What an adventure.   
But now I'm left wondering how you are and if you're still sawing?

OlJarhead

Thanks and I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

We're doing well here in WA (the dry side) and while I haven't run the mill since early winter/late fall I do plan to get it up to the cabin to start making some more paneling and D logs for a 2nd cabin and an addition.

Admittedly, some of my ailments are slowing me down (and ticking me off) but I refuse to quit!  I'll be up there again soon and might have to hire a chainsaw operator ;) to fell and buck trees for me but otherwise can run the mill and tractor so plan on continuing.

Hope everyone is doing well in this crazy time!
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Darrel

Good to hear from you Eric. Things are good here in Oregon, (the dry side) too. 
1992 LT40HD

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

OlJarhead

Hi All!  We moved!  We're back in The Tri-Cities (Pasco) again and I'm doing more milling for myself these days but who knows?  Maybe I'll get back to more portable milling too.  I just posted a video of our adventure in milling which is now over ten years!

A look back at 10 years of portable milling - YouTube
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

WV Sawmiller

   Welcome back Eric. Stay safe. Keep the sawdust flying and the posts coming.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Magicman

I enjoyed your video Erik, and it's good to see your smiling face back.  :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

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

OlJarhead

Thanks guys!  Was out falling trees a week ago but fell a big one right onto me big saw :(  That saw just doesn't like me (or I'm just not a pro faller -- true)....ahhh well, got a dozen new saw logs to get working on next week so should have some posts coming soon!
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Darrel

1992 LT40HD

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

TimW

Great video!  Keep'em coming.
         hugs,  Brandi
Mahindra 6520 4WD with loader/backhoe and a Caterpiller E70 Excavator.  My mill is a Woodmizer LT40HD Wide 35hp Yanmar Diesel. An old Lull 644D-34 called Bull

69bronco


John S

2018 LT40HDG38 Wide

OlJarhead

Thnaks!  Did another short one -- no commentary, just a mix of stuff milling small logs at the cabin.
Remote milling with the Woodmizer LT40 Hydraulic - YouTube
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

OlJarhead

2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Hilltop366


Thank You Sponsors!