First time cutting pine

[woodman58]

I got my new mill a little over a month ago. I had lots of logs lined up for delivery. Well, it fell thru. Had a new mill and no logs.I finally found an other logger but, I have to pick them up. No big deal. I picked up a load of pine and a load of oak. Cut the pine today. I have never cut pine before. Got lots of wavy cuts. Tried going slow then increased speed each cut. Some cuts were straight but most were wavy with the same speed as the speed with straight cuts. Speed did not matter. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

Update: I have a Timberking 2200 with 49HP diesel. Changed blade and tension is set at 1300 PSI.

[Magicman]

How about adding your sawmill to your profile so that we will know/remember.   

I always look to the blade when I get waves.  Sharpness, sap buildup on the blade, and tension are the first things to check.

[thecfarm]

Pine? Lots of pine out there. The pine,whitepine,in my area,cuts easy. Well I say easy,some of those dead knots might make a wave.

[Magicman]

What about pitch buildup on the blade?

[woodman58]

I have not noticed any pitch build up. Using water and soap.

[Magicman]

Large knots?

[DPatton]

I too recently acquired a new mill and have been sawing a fair amount of 20 foot long 12" to 24" diameter red pine logs. My mill is a TK 1600 and during the course of a good days sawing in pine I have to change the blade two or three times in order to maintain straight cuts. I'm by no means an authority on blades or sawing but it has been my finding that in pine if you watch your cut edge on the exit side of the cant closely it will give you signs that your blade is becoming dull when it is producing stringy or frayed wood at the exit edge. It seems that once the blade is dull enough it is producing a wavy cut no amount of slowing down you saw head travel speed will correct the problem. Try putting on a new blade and see if your mill will produce a straight cut in the same log your old blade was producing wavy cuts in. Then you will know for sure.

[Ox]

The Linn Lumber 1900A says for tension to be around the 2200 psi mark.  Is your tension high enough?  I personally never run mine that high, but maybe you need to?

[xlogger]

My tension gauge is broke so I'm not sure how many pounds I run on my 2000. But measure the spring after you tighten it and see if it's about 1 7/8" when compress. Is the pine spruce? They do give lots of trouble.

[ladylake]

 

Make sure you have at least 1/4" down pressure on the blade. helps keep the cut straight.  Most pine cuts nice and straight, wide spruce does not, I have the best luck with a 3/4 pitch blade, 4° hook and plenty of set cutting spruce.  Steve

[fstedy]

If the wood is really sappy look on the top side of the blade for sap buildup. Best way I found is to make a scraping  knife from a sharpened  10" piece of old blade and hold it on blade while running slow to scrape sap off. Please only do this from behind the blade. You may have to do this every several cuts. Works with Pitch Pine that I cut regularly and its very sappy. Good luck.

[AnthonyW]

If the wood is really sappy look on the top side of the blade for sap buildup. Best way I found is to make a scraping  knife from a sharpened  10" piece of old blade and hold it on blade while running slow to scrape sap off. Please only do this from behind the blade. You may have to do this every several cuts. Works with Pitch Pine that I cut regularly and its very sappy. Good luck.

I have been pondering the idea of attaching a metal wire brush (like a welding brush) inside the housing between the log and the wheel to not only keep the pitch down but also knock of some of the saw dust. I notice a lot of saw dust getting impregnated on the drive side wheel band.

P.S. On my Woodmizer, this would be between the log and the drive wheel on the mast side.

[woodman58]

Ladylake has it right. It was the downward pressure from the guide rollers. Thanks everybody.

[Chuck White]

If the wood is really sappy look on the top side of the blade for sap buildup. Best way I found is to make a scraping  knife from a sharpened  10" piece of old blade and hold it on blade while running slow to scrape sap off. Please only do this from behind the blade. You may have to do this every several cuts. Works with Pitch Pine that I cut regularly and its very sappy. Good luck.

I've done this myself, using a putty knife, funning the blade real slow.

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I don't think the wire brush would work very well, because I think it would fill up with pitch and sawdust really quick.