Wallee's Milling Thread

[Wallee]

Figured I would just make a thread to share the day to day stuff I am doing around the mill. I am a huge fan of pictures and posting stuff I do so I figured someone may be interested and I am sure I will learn from what others will have to say about what I am doing!

To start off, Here is what I milled yesterday evening after finishing up the horses for the day.
 

 
 

 
 

 

And Here is some stickers I sawed, 1" by 1".
 

 

[plowboyswr]

  with interest 

[Wallee]

with interest 

I knew some would find it interesting!  Hang in for the ride  

[WV Sawmiller]

Wallee,

   Interesting so far. Can you update your profile to show what kind of mill and support equipment you are using? Will help us understand the challenges and accomplishments better.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Nice!
Glad to see another miller who is not claiming to average 2,000 ft per day on hardwoods

[bkaimwood]

Amen!!! One man band, happy to saw 600bf

[slider]

Good job Wallee.Take this for what it's worth but i started making all my stickers and dunnage the same length .Every thing is around 48 in.You get better air flow and when loading a trailer it fits .Your packs will look neater as well. It's good to see your progress and your interest in making a good product.

[Wallee]

Wallee,

   Interesting so far. Can you update your profile to show what kind of mill and support equipment you are using? Will help us understand the challenges and accomplishments better.

Sure I will update some of that tonight!

Nice!
Glad to see another miller who is not claiming to average 2,000 ft per day on hardwoods

Ha ha oh yeah no where near that!

Good job Wallee.Take this for what it's worth but i started making all my stickers and dunnage the same length .Every thing is around 48 in.You get better air flow and when loading a trailer it fits .Your packs will look neater as well. It's good to see your progress and your interest in making a good product.

Thanks! Yeah this is the first stuff I have really tried to keep neat and stacked and stickered like what I want. I am thinking of taking the chainsaw and sawing off all the excess stickers that are hanging out. Would that be a bad idea ?

[Magicman]

Good idea.  A battery powered circle or reciprocating saw also works.   

[Wallee]

Good idea.  A battery powered circle or reciprocating saw also works.   

Im liking the reciprocating saw idea! I have one of those I love running it for some reason


Also here is a video from around the mill I made. Cutting some logs to length and a little rambling at the end!

[Wallee]

Here is a question I bet tons of you can help a rookie with. I am wondering how much water to run on my blade. A slow drip? or more? Reason I am asking is because I notice I have to scrub wet sawdust off every board... That is annoying . If I run the water more it seems to not be as bad. SO what is the effects of too much water vs. too little?

[5quarter]

Wallee...nice thread. I saw dry most of the time. When sawing white oak and pine, I will occasionally have to clean the blade. when I do, I use a diesel wipe. A clean blade is a happy blade.

[Warped]

     I was using water in the beginning because I thought it was the thing to do, I've found it's not needed for what I do and run it occasionally if I make more passes than usual. Maybe that will change when I start on some white pine. Besides sawdust sticking, it freezes it to the board in the winter.

[sandsawmill14]

i just run a slow drip unless i start to see buildup on blade the i will run alot (1/8" steady stream) until i finish that log. had an ash log cause major buildup yesterday bad as pine  never had that happen in ash before

[East ky logging]

Wallee how do you like the the log clamp on your mill I seen you had one break but do they do a pretty good job.

[Wallee]

Wallee how do you like the the log clamp on your mill I seen you had one break but do they do a pretty good job.

They do a good job! I was over clamping in the beginning. I guess I was thinking of using it as a dog on a carriage when it indeed was as it was called and just a clamp. So I have been using it lately just slightly snugging up my cant and it has got a lot better.

[Wallee]

i just run a slow drip unless i start to see buildup on blade the i will run alot (1/8" steady stream) until i finish that log. had an ash log cause major buildup yesterday bad as pine  never had that happen in ash before

Do you have a lot of sawdust sticking to your lumber?

[mesquite buckeye]

This is a good idea.

[redbeard]

Wallee,  try a drying stick on the ends of your stacks 2"-4" in from the ends, it helps prevent checking if your staking bunks on top of each other. Your shins will appreciate cutting the excess lengths back. I have settled in on 42"-44" drying sticks. I try to grade them clear of knots so they don't fall apart.

[sandsawmill14]

i just run a slow drip unless i start to see buildup on blade the i will run alot (1/8" steady stream) until i finish that log. had an ash log cause major buildup yesterday bad as pine  never had that happen in ash before

Do you have a lot of sawdust sticking to your lumber?

there is quite a bit of dust on the lumber but its not wet and you can drop the board on its edge and it will almost all fall off. my feed rate may be enough faster than yours to keep dust from getting wet and sticky. today i sawed 54 7x9s and a total of a little over 3800 bd ft today  i love sawing big gum. my numbers are about half that in white oak and even less in hickory  when my wife gets her new camera i will try to get a video posted of it sawing