Whatcha Sawin' 2020 ??

Bruno of NH · February 14, 2020, 10:17:18 AM

They brought me 2 cherry logs to saw for them.
I didn't get pictures.
They were very nice hardly any sap wood at all.

Magicman · February 14, 2020, 06:37:53 PM

I am trying to knock out a couple of jobs before my shoulder surgery next Friday.

A couple of ERC Mantels.

A very good ERC log that became....

An 8X8 plus eight ¾" side lumber.

And then on to guess what?

Yup, Sycamore. And then on to....

Yup, dreaded metal,and ....

Yup, more metal. I trashed 3 blades today. One nail, one screw anchor, and this.

No matter, it was a good day sawing. I have one more job that I desperately need to saw for a several times repeat customer that is taking chemo. Hopefully he will be able for us to saw next week.

richhiway · February 14, 2020, 08:15:43 PM

Good luck with your shoulder. Speedy recovery!

kelLOGg · February 15, 2020, 07:15:06 PM

Well, it's what I'm half way through sawing - see old reply #106

It's a big job for a manual mill and being 75 yo. Stack is 6 x 3.5 x 20 and the 2nd one is underway.
Whew!

WV Sawmiller · February 15, 2020, 07:22:07 PM

Mostly piddled on my new shed build today but did throw 2 more locust poles on the mill and square all or part of 2 sides so I can put a level on it to get it plumb and as a nailing surface. I think I used .2 hours in the process.

13' locust pole. Trimmed a little off 2 sides

Started about 16' but after I squared 2 sides I cut 4' off the top end where was too thin due to sweep for my use.

Magicman · February 15, 2020, 08:15:45 PM

That is very admirable KelLOGg. Nice whack of stacks.

DbltreeBelgians · February 15, 2020, 10:13:46 PM

Quote from: Magicman on February 14, 2020, 06:37:53 PM
I am trying to knock out a couple of jobs before my shoulder surgery next Friday.

A couple of ERC Mantels.

A very good ERC log that became....

An 8X8 plus eight ¾" side lumber.

And then on to guess what?

Yup, Sycamore. And then on to....

Yup, dreaded metal,and ....

Yup, more metal. I trashed 3 blades today. One nail, one screw anchor, and this.

No matter, it was a good day sawing. I have one more job that I desperately need to saw for a several times repeat customer that is taking chemo. Hopefully he will be able for us to saw next week.

Wishing you the best on your upcoming surgery and a speedy recovery sir.

Brent

Magicman · February 15, 2020, 10:28:54 PM

Thank You Brent and richhiway, and also to the others who have offered well wishes. Da ole man is going to be OK.

I'm just hoping to be able to get that last job sawed if the weather (rain) and the customer's physical condition allows.

EDIT: Sadly the weather forecast shows rain through Thursday and not favorable for me to be able to saw that last job.

WV Sawmiller · February 16, 2020, 07:46:20 PM

Started to put some framing on my shed I am building. I had several pine 12' 2X12's I had sawed a couple years ago which will work for my top plate ( I think that is the piece supporting the rafters) but I needed a 12' 2X6 to tie the ends together and all I had in stock was 14' or maybe some 8' ones. I guess normal people would cut one of the 14' ones off but sawyers normally don't claim to be normal. :D I checked and had an ugly 12' ash log (Yellow hammer would not call it that as it had been cut wide at a crotch at the top and not trimmed well and dang sure would not roll). After several rolls and some quick gunbarreling it was ready to saw. Final yield was 6-2X6's and 2-2X4's 12' long. I went ahead and installed one on my shed and left the others there as they will become framing or rafters later this week, weather permitting.

This picture is deceiving - it is actually much uglier than it looks. :D

Actually turned out better than expected. A little wane showing on that 2X6 on front. If I were putting it in stock to sell I'd probably have edged it to a 2X4. If sawing a customers logs I'd had showed him and asked if he could use that or wanted it edged. Since for my use and I know it is fit for purpose there it sits. I ran my tally and see I need 750 bf to hit my 100K. Should be one day this week.

richhiway · February 16, 2020, 10:57:38 PM

That's what I like best about the mill. Amazing how much good lumber you can get from a ugly log. What's the new shed for?

WV Sawmiller · February 17, 2020, 12:07:56 AM

I will store my benches in there and maybe a couple of prefabbed bus stop "kits" that can be assembled quickly if need be. I also hope to set up a better display and access to my fireplace mantels which are very heavy and difficult to show to a customer. Basically I am always short on covered storage space, I got a good deal on some used roofing a couple weeks back so the stars began to align. Of course by the time I get through building I will likely find I don't have enough roofing. I've been collecting locust poles as they became available and can always go cut another one or two as needed. I have not put a lot of time into the design as I can cut the materials as needed. My build is listed over in the General Board if you want to track it there.

donbj · February 17, 2020, 12:16:29 AM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on February 16, 2020, 07:46:20 PMActually turned out better than expected. A little wane showing on that 2X6 on front. If I were putting it in stock to sell I'd probably have edged it to a 2X4. If sawing a customers logs I'd had showed him and asked if he could use that or wanted it edged. Since for my use and I know it is fit for purpose there it sits.

Something I've used as a guide when custom sawing full size regarding wane was if a store bought 2x6, 2x4, etc could fit inside the wane it was good to go. Most liked it.

Should have worded it most agreed to it, if they didn't it got cut out or down a size.

Magicman · February 17, 2020, 07:49:33 AM

My general rule for wane on framing lumber is that the wane covers less than half of that face and there will always be three good corners. (If the customer asks for no wane, then he gets no wane.)

I have purchased "store bought" framing lumber that would not meet that criteria.

alanh · February 17, 2020, 08:25:08 AM

Another 60+ 1x8x14 cut and staged for planing, 98 down, 52 to go for this order

WV Sawmiller · February 18, 2020, 03:52:29 PM

I needed some more framing for my shed project and some long stuff would be very helpful so I decided to max out my mill with a 21' cut. The longest I had cut to date was 20'6" for some headers for my first lumber shed/pole barn. I had one customer who wanted some 20' red oak 2X8's one time. I had one ash log about 28' or so. I bucked off 2 chunks of firewood off the butt then about 5' off the end to get my 21' log. I made sure the log ends were both cut square and when I loaded it to stay between the marks on the mill. I noticed I could remove the rubber bumper on the end for a couple more inches but left that for my ace in the hole. The log had some sweep and was only about 14" SED. I hoped to get a couple of 21' 2X12's but the best I could do was 1-21' 2X10. I did get one board that has 12' 2X12 on one end and 9' of 2X10 on the other I had more stress than I expected although that is pretty common with ash I have sawed. The cant rose up so bad the dog board was nearly an inch off the rails in the middle with thick ends. I did get a couple of 21' 2X6's. I found logs that long slow me down as I have to be so particular to stay within the marks with every flitch edged. It started drizzling rain so I did not get a chance to go ahead and use any of my new framing today. Maybe tomorrow afternoon will work out.

Full length of the mill. The arms raised it just fine. I had to be careful to raise the head when loading and turning.

A couple of 2X6's and an ugly 11' 2X4. John won't carry but a couple of these at a time. Did you know - 21' ash 2X6's are heavy!

Old Greenhorn · February 18, 2020, 04:22:20 PM

I milled some 2-3/4 x 10" x 17' green maple back in June and I can tell you those were heavy! I got them up out of the woods by myself, but I was glad the customer brought a helper to load them on his trailer. He was complaining about lifting and swinging then 6 feet onto the trailer, I just laughed. (He HAD to have them right away, but didn't get them on his truck for 3 months).

WV Sawmiller · February 18, 2020, 06:07:01 PM

OGH,

I think most of us have tales like that where somebody had to urgently have some special item and we leap through hoops to provide it then they show up weeks to months later or, worse than that, not at all. I really do try to live up to the Services part of my business name and am bad about doing such. I had a guy (a budding blacksmith) show up one time basically wanting a locust stump to mount his anvil on. I put him on the back of my ATV and rode up in my woods and showed him a 3' locust stump with some old barb wire fence in it where I had deliberately cut it high to avoid the wire. I cut it and he was thrilled with it. He was there to okay the item but if it had been a phone order he probably would not have liked it. I guess we bring it on ourselves by not charging a premium for "expedited services". If they really need it that bad they should be willing to pay more. I think they tend to think we are so desperate for the sale we will go out of our way to fill the order and don't appreciate the true spirit of what we did. A simple thank you for going out of your way to fill my special order would sure go a long way. Okay, no more venting (till the next time :D).

SawyerTed · February 18, 2020, 06:36:49 PM

Expedited orders ought to get a 33% added aggravation fee. A gentleman contacted me yesterday wanting 32 white oak 2x8x16 by Friday. I quoted the price figuring an extra helper. After back and forth for two hours, he said it was more than he expected. HELLO?!? Custom cut, rush order of long heavy lumber! I'll make more selling 1x6 fence boards than those 2x8 anyway. What is it about people who think white oak should be cheaper than the big box store's pine sticks?

WV Sawmiller · February 18, 2020, 07:03:28 PM

Ted,

Is 33% enough? :D I guess what we should do is quote a normal delivery price and an expedited delivery price and let the customer decide like Amazon and others do with their shipping rates. If they really need it they can pay the expedited price but maybe next time they will place their order in a more timely manner - likely not. :D :D

SawyerTed · February 18, 2020, 07:22:06 PM

No 33% isn't enough! The guy was surprised that I didn't have 2x8x16 white oak already cut. To top it all off he was miffed when I explained I custom cut lumber orders and have almost no inventory.