Whatcha Sawin' 2021 ??

[WDH]

"Calf roped"  ;D.

I am old enough and Southern enough to know what that means!

[Dave Shepard]

I have no idea what it means, but it doesn't sound complimentary. 

[Resonator]

"Calf Roped" - As a calf is tied up and brought down, to give up in surrender, "tap out", or "cry uncle" in defeat.
(Looked it up on the internet, must be true). ;D

[WDH]

When you holler "calf rope", you are giving up or stopping resistance.  

[doc henderson]

"Calf Roped" - As a calf is tied up and brought down, to give up in surrender, "tap out", or "cry uncle" in defeat.
(Looked it up on the internet, must be true). ;D

yes Res.  "defeat" is where you tie the rope on the calf!  

[Old Greenhorn]

I ain't been calf roped, but I have been hog tied, pretty similar. (Trying to keep that rodeo theme going)
 I don't often post here, my milling is not of a caliber close to the other big guns here, but I thought I would drop one in.
 I got back to the mill around noon today after working in the shop all morning. They need about 1,000 BF of fence boards and another order for 1x10's. I have taken about a week off the mill to let my back get back to normal (HEY!, It could happen) so I figured it was time to get back on that horse. (keeping the theme going)
 Anyway, there was a few logs queued up and I knocked off the first one and the slabs were a bit of a load on the lower spine. The first one had two piths for the price of one. SO much for cutting to the pith, but I guess I had 2 chances at getting it right....... or wrong.


 

Got about 14 1x12's out of that one, but the next one up was a bit intimidating. Not so much to mill, but to handle those slabs, my back was already putting up quite the [complaint]. I got it up on the mill and came up with a cutting plan and got it rotated right, but decided this would put me out of commission for another week if I went ahead, so I let it sit. But as I shut down and kept looking at it, I had to wonder. Does this butt(log) make my mill look small? :D


 

ANyway, I'll give it another shot tomorrow. I gotta get a machine down there.

[doc henderson]

yes Tom, It be-hooves you to get the machine.  then no lifting, just an end at a time and some sliding and moooooving.  there is a lot at "steak".  it is ruminated that it is easier with equipment.   smiley_bull_stomp   ;) :D  @Resonator @Old Greenhorn  @WDH 

[Old Greenhorn]

I should have known better. It gets pretty deep in this thread sometimes. It might be coming from the bull in the previous post.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   Remember if you are sawing - you determine how big/heavy those slabs are going to be. If you know they will be too heavy to handle alone there is nothing wrong with making 2-3 cuts to keep them manageable. Also I know you have a wall on the back side so you can't park MHE there but how about at the end of the mill? I park my little tractor with the forks right behind me so I don't have to carry slabs any distance and could even park it next to the mill so I could just slide the slabs on to the forks. I think it was Jake (Customsawyer) who sagely advised "Never lift both ends of a board at the same time" and that applies to the slabs too. Do everything possible to set up so you slide or roll heavy slabs and boards into location instead of lifting. 

[doc henderson]

I move the flitches by sliding, but occ. I can put them on the edge and get under them with the forks.  if I can saw through a cant,  i lift it on the toe boards and lift it all together.
and yes, I did put a bull emoji in the last post.  

[Magicman]

Yup, same as 'belly flopped' which is what happened again today 'bout 3:00, but not before we sawed and stacked 20 logs leaving only 4 for tomorrow morning to finish this job.  That was much better than yesterday's 13 logs.


  
I haven't scaled any of yesterday's nor today's sawing.  All of this is 1X10's, 8's, & 6's.  There is a small whack of Oak to the left of the SYP.

[LeeB]

Not so much to mill, but to handle those slabs, my back was already putting up quite the [complaint]

If you use your drag back, you can drag the slabs back a little at a time and cut chunks off with a chainsaw to keep pieces at a manageable size and weight. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Tom,

  Remember if you are sawing - you determine how big/heavy those slabs are going to be. If you know they will be too heavy to handle alone there is nothing wrong with making 2-3 cuts to keep them manageable. Also I know you have a wall on the back side so you can't park MHE there but how about at the end of the mill? I park my little tractor with the forks right behind me so I don't have to carry slabs any distance and could even park it next to the mill so I could just slide the slabs on to the forks. I think it was Jake (Customsawyer) who sagely advised "Never lift both ends of a board at the same time" and that applies to the slabs too. Do everything possible to set up so you slide or roll heavy slabs and boards into location instead of lifting.

Yes, having one side of the mill blocked off is a fact of life for me, otherwise life would be easy. I never lift a whole slab, I can't. It is always one end at a time and I usually slide them off and cut them in half or at 5' max for the OWB. Still these things can weigh over 100 pounds sometimes. I don't like taking extra cuts, they waste time. I try really hard to get to productive wood in as few cuts as possible. SOmetimes I miss and have to waste a cut, but if I can get a narrower board off off to edge later I will take that off and edge it later. Some of these logs are big. mis-shaped, or swept a bit. You tend (as you know) to get some slabs that are 2" thick at one end and 6" thick at the other as you clean up these logs.
 I generally slide these slabs off (many time I have to shove an axe in to lift one end so they will slide) and let them flop onto the deck then drag them onto the next log on the arms and cut it in half (5'), then carry them about 15 feet to the pile. It's not so bad, really, but my back is tender now and I am trying to work into this gently. It's just very slow going with all this 'stop & go' nonsense. A tailgunner would be nice, but they have him working on big dollar jobs right now.
 We are looking for roller tables on CL all the time and when they show up, we will add them and make life easier.
 LeeB, my specs on the slabs are 5' to fit the OWB. Using the drag back would bring the slabs to the wrong end of the mill. I put slabs out front and the lumber behind me as I go. Making 1x12's now the process is not to use the drag back. I cut one board, bring the mill head back, and as I am cutting the next, I grab the previous board and stack it. This keeps the mill moving faster. The drag back slows me down and causes too many issues I just find bothersome. But that's just me. I do use the drag back on 8/4 lumber though, just not 4/4.

[WV Sawmiller]

#)*&^$! lost another post!
  
   I returned to my on-going solo job and sawed a dozen or so logs for 915 bf and moved the mill to the opposite of the logs because I either had to move the mill or the sawdust and slab piles which were starting to interfere with my sawing. 


 Set up this new stack for 12' lumber. 3' wide stacks. 

Remaining logs - started with about 60 and some of these are only 5-6 ft long so 1-2 more days at most if all goes well. 

10' boards on left. Same stack but doubled in height today. 

8' boards on right. Stack is too high to keep stacking so I stopped. A couple of boards to be stacked tomorrow when I make a new stack.

   I came across a 6' log with a hollow end so I cut to 4' and "Brandi-ed" it into a new stack of stickers.

[Southside]

Howard your post isn't lost. I can see it clear as day. Third picture you posted, under the lumber stack, it's right there. Actually there are several under there. Must be where all your lost posts go.  :D

[WV Sawmiller]

 SS,

  "May your teenage daughter join a heavy metal rock band and may your son start dating the drummer."  :D

[TimW]

SS,

 "May your teenage daughter join a heavy metal rock band and may your son start dating the drummer."  :D

DanG, no need to get snippy.  He found your post after all.
    hugs, Brandi

[VB-Milling]

The first one had two piths for the price of one. SO much for cutting to the pith, but I guess I had 2 chances at getting it right....... or wrong.

Same thing happened to me the other day.  I think I handled it incorrectly

[VB-Milling]

We are looking for roller tables on CL all the time and when they show up, we will add them and make life easier.

I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.  The ones I have are invaluable to my little operation.  Might be worth going outside of your normal CL search area and driving a ways for the right ones.

[Southside]

SS,

 "May your teenage daughter join a heavy metal rock band and may your son start dating the drummer."  :D

DanG, no need to get snippy.  He found your post after all.
   hugs, Brandi

Funny, I don't remember "Grumpy Smurf" back in the day.  :D

[SawyerTed]

Still these things can weigh over 100 pounds sometimes. I don't like taking extra cuts, they waste time. I try really hard to get to productive wood in as few cuts as possible. 

I'm with @WV Sawmiller, more thinner slabs are better.  In the end those extra cuts are really saving time.  That extra time saved cutting thick slabs can be lost in down time due to a sore back or other injury from handling them and if nothing else handling those heavy slabs wear me out.  I had the same thinking back when I started.  I wanted to get to the target cant with as few cuts as possible.  I had lots of slabs that were very thick.  It caused the work to be harder when it didn't have to be.    
I changed the way I cut slabs when my wife started helping.  It took more time for two of us to handle the big slabs than for me to make two or three cuts to make thinner slabs.  Plus after a few mishaps, it dawned on me how dangerous it was for both of us, not just her, to handle those heavy slabs.  Thankfully, the mishaps didn't result in anything serious or lasting.  
Now on portable jobs, I still make more cuts to get rid of thick slabs.  If a customer complains, I cut a thick one or two and usually their tune changes.   They see that we can get rid of three short or thinner slabs quicker and safer than one big one.  When I am sawing with one helper, I can saw more hours without feeling completely exhausted since I don't have to help lift those thick slabs. 

[Magicman]

I finished this job this morning and moved to & set up for tomorrow's job sawing all framing lumber.


 
3637 bf of mostly 12' 1X6, 1X8, & 1X10.  Two nail strikes.

[btulloh]

X2 on the thinner slabs. Helps handling but also makes them usable for very rustic or temporary siding. I also sell or give them to guys for building blinds. Reduces my waste and helps my back.  Win win. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Still sawing 14 miles from home. The tall/completed stacks are 10' and 8' X 48" wide and 30 rows high. That is as tall as I can comfortably reach and then some.


 

 My 12' stack is growing including a few 6' boards from a couple of short logs. Same with the new 10' stack with some 5' logs.

Slowly whittling the stack of logs down. I think I finished 8 more today and looks like 17 left including the little one on the mill. I had one large, pretty 13' on the mill and after a couple of slabbing cuts I heard a funny sound. It was hollow and I ended up cutting it down to 8' so that cost me some time. Another big hump backed log I ended up sawing through and through so more flitches to edge and they were big which also slowed me down. Oh well, I still cut, stacked and stickered about 830 bf today including setting up 2 new stacks which eats up time. Like they say "How do you eat an elephant?" That is what this job is about but this elephant's days are numbered.

[Magicman]

Mighty Fine Howard......Mighty Fine!!  8)