Whatcha Sawin' 2020 ??

[Magicman]

I answer all calls even though voicemail or the machine will answer those that I miss.  My website generates too many inquiries not to.  
Odd area codes have become normal.

It's easy to click the junk calls off.  

[mike_belben]

@mike_belben I've never seen a mill like that one. Did you make it yourself?

Yeah, i made an alaskan first but couldnt stand to make lumber with it.  This was the fastest thing i could whip up out of the junkpile and it has gotten me by.  Real mill build is still a ways off. 

[richhiway]

 

 

I am going to cut this big Maple today. I am cutting it on shares with a logger.
He wants slabs. Looks like it might make some pretty ones. Everyone have a good day.
I could use Lynn's rugged grandson today! 

[SpaceBus]

@mike_belben I've never seen a mill like that one. Did you make it yourself?

Yeah, i made an alaskan first but couldnt stand to make lumber with it.  This was the fastest thing i could whip up out of the junkpile and it has gotten me by.  Real mill build is still a ways off.

That's pretty cool. If I were good at welding and had the equipment I might have made my own. Unfortunately I needed a mill so I could build stuff so I can have a place to put more tools to make more stuff  :D

[Hilltop366]

@mike_belben I've never seen a mill like that one. Did you make it yourself?

Yeah, i made an alaskan first but couldnt stand to make lumber with it.  This was the fastest thing i could whip up out of the junkpile and it has gotten me by.  Real mill build is still a ways off.

That's pretty cool. If I were good at welding and had the equipment I might have made my own. Unfortunately I needed a mill so I could build stuff so I can have a place to put more tools to make more stuff  :D

No reason you can't make it out of wood.

[mike_belben]

Yeah it takes a lot less than you think to cut lumber with a chainsaw.  Mine has no bearings, the carriage just lifts right off the track, and it more or less floats all over the powerhead side rail until it grabs into the wood and snugs up.   A shopping cart on some planks would work if there was an edge to stop the saw from being pulled into the log.

The hard part is clamping small logs securely enough for them to stay.  I have to make a few tiny mods to get more options for locating the clamps just right on every size of shortwood that i put on it.  

I guess its sort of a chainsaw scrag mill.  I try to recover and upgrade as much out of my firewood logs [release culls from my woodlot] as i can with it.  i need sawdust to keep making compost to feed the garden. My wifes craft business is growing into wooden placques and rustic signs n stuff.  Making lumber is pretty important for livin off the land. Fences, shelves, coops etc.

[firefighter ontheside]

I cut some small walnut this morning and quarter sawed some sycamore.  The sycamore logs were about 20" diameter but only about 6' long.  Still, it made for some pretty boards.

 

[mike_belben]

How exactly does one QS? The only thing ive ever quartersawed is cucumbers bound for the pickle jar. 

[firefighter ontheside]

I use a modified method I found on woodmizer website.  You don't get all q sawn, but what you get is good.  The rest is more like rift sawn.

[tule peak timber]

I've spent the last two days under architectural review for the NNRH wall I'm building. Fit , form , function, color blending, grain matching , pattern conformity on a section of this 37 foot high X 155 foot wide curved reclaimed wood walnut and cedar wall that will be installed at the start of 2021. In the picture are the designers, architects, principal contractors and installation leads.
Very intense 2 days, but very productive and all ended on a good note. Tomorrow I can go back to work, !

 

[richhiway]

 

 

 

That Big Old Maple did not disappoint. 

[Magicman]

rich, it may not have disappeared but you made is smaller.  ;D

Luke and I are making our log whack smaller.


 
23 logs when we began, some of which were bucked into 3 logs.
 

 
How it looked today when we left plus there are 4 logs staged at the sawmill.  Hopefully we will finish Monday.  The above logs are 34"- 36" and 16' - 18' long and will take some time sawing.



Today's sawing headed toward the stickering location.


 
We will leave this job and travel to another that looks to be 30-40 logs.  Red Oak, ERC, & SYP.
All short stuff and the customer has a tractor so we will setup in the shade somewhere.  This one is 81 miles and the next is 98 miles from home.

[Larry]

My partner Hank barks "Whata we gonna do with these two logs?  Way to short for the mill".  I tell Hank be patience, were gonna put them on the lathe and turn some really big salad bowls.  Hank reply's "How bout a dog bowl?".....mutts :D.

The rest of the story.  A couple of weeks ago a guy calls about sawing a 3' diameter walnut and a cherry the same size.  No problem, but than he wants me to log the trees, skid, and saw on sight.  I tell him I'm not that kind of sawyer, bring them to me and I'll saw.  Make sure the logs are 8' long minimum plus some trim.  So he finds somebody to cut the walnut, but they find out logs are heavy so they buck them a little short.  Next problem is he needs somebody to haul to my place.  I can help on this one, I have a logger coming to pick up slabs.  I'll have him stop and pick up the logs.

So, this afternoon I unload four logs something over 5' long.  He did donate three really short chunks that will make some nice bowls!

The big cherry will be another story.  My logger wouldn't cut it because its too close to power lines but gave the customer a contact for a tree service guy.

[teakwood]

A customer called me if i could address 8 6x6 posts because they were cut with a chainsaw and the chainsawer wasn't very good at freehanding . ok, bring them over, i will resaw on the mill and then plane the posts.



can you believe that?? all out of angle, banana shaped, with bark, and anywhere from 5-7.5" wide.
they are 3.4m long and the guy told me he needs them 2.6m long, so first trim 0.8m off of this very beautiful, exotic hardwood


Had to use a bimetal blade that wood was so hard


ended up with 5x5" posts, very beautiful nice ones, exceptional wood, every post still weighted 50kg, was a hard 5 hours and i my arms where tired after this workout, charged him 150$, needless to say that he was one happy camper!!!

[cutterboy]

WOW! Teakwood, those are beautiful posts. What kind of wood is that?

[doc henderson]

looks like mahogany

[firefighter ontheside]

Those are amazing!

[WV Sawmiller]

   Didn't really saw today. Went and got released from the ortho doc for my mangled hand. Then made a side trip and bought a load of used tin to cover stacks of air drying lumber. Not super but not a bad deal either.


 11 sheets of 9' 5 ridge tin pieces, 16 sheets of 12' 5 ridge pieces, 5 sheets 3' wide pieces from 6'-8' long. $200 total. I may use/sell a couple pieces to a new Hampshire customer with a lot 45 miles from here. They have the logs staged and sent me a deposit and cut list.

 Came home and delivered 8 - 1/2 tulip poplar poles 14' long each to a neighbor a mile away to repair her log fronted home. (EDIT: Lest the MM chastise my grammar and want to know what the other half were, these were small poplar logs split in half used as a sort of siding to make a wood frame house look like a log home. :D :D :D). We stacked them in her shed to air dry a while before her carpenter will remove the bad wood and replace with these. I peeled them yesterday. First time I have used my HF spud bar to peel poles. Poplar peels easy. I see it would be best with 2 people - start the bark and have one person hold slight pressure on it as the other works the spud bar under it loosening it from one end to the other. If I were doing a lot by myself I'd want a second spud bar with a short handle on it.


 One thing I noted was the poles had the fluted look like the basswood Old GreenHorn posted a few weeks back. I had never noticed that before. The wood is not perfectly rounded but a series of flat spots.

I'm packed up and mill is hooked up for a mobile job 80 miles way. I gave them suggestions closer but they called back and want me to come. Not up to MagicMan standards yet but longest distance I will have traveled to date. Ii looks like one real long day. I really like those 1200-1500 bf one day jobs 10-15 miles away but....

[firefighter ontheside]

Today I milled a few walnut logs.  I invited my dad to help for the first time since March.  He loves to help, but I wouldn't let him due to the virus.  He is high risk due to his age and his history of cancer which he is still being treated for, so he is immuno depressed.  I decided that if we both wear a mask it would be ok.  He wears a cloth mask, but I wore an N95.  I'm more worried about him getting sick than me.  It was nice to have him there again.  I got a fair number of 1x7 boards plus some other odd boards.  The log was almost 11 feet long but took a turn at about 7'.  I cut off 3' and milled that piece into some 12/4 for leg stock or possibly rifle stocks.  Then I had a very ugly, skinny walnut.  I like to mill mantels, so I made some mantels that may not sell, but you never know.

[Magicman]

Lest the MM chastise my grammar and want to know what the other half were,

I say nothing??  

Luke and I are kinda on a roll. 


 
We sawed some Sweetgum....


 
And then some more, 6 Sweetgum logs total.


 
And then skidded up the largest log.


 
The "log weight calculator" said 7174 lbs, but it was not that heavy because it had lain for a year.  37" butt and 16½' long.


 
Even so, I added the Magic Hook to keep the log tight against the log loader hinges which transfers some of the weight and makes loading monsters much easier.


 
Luke, my customer, and two questionable tail gunners shown with that log.


 
Nineteen sawed and four logs left on this job to saw Monday.  I'll have a bf total when we finish but I do know that we sawed 1398bf today.  After we finish we will move to the job that is 98 miles away from home.

[JustinW_NZ]

Hi all!
Bit late to this post but busy here in NZ.
Landed a job with 300tons of eucalyptus and 100 tons of macrocarpa.

Fitting other jobs in as needed but this is chewing a lot of time this year!!

[teakwood]

WOW! Teakwood, those are beautiful posts. What kind of wood is that?

I can not legally say what type of wood it is, you wouldn't know the species either, but it's not mahogany.
The guy came with a pilot car to see if there were any police on the street, i did the job quick and he took the wood away again the same day. 

[cutterboy]

Teakwood, no more questions from me. :D But it must be difficult to saw while looking over your shoulder. ;)

[WV Sawmiller]

   I am a worn out puppy dog! I left the house before 5:00 am, drove 75 miles to what turned out to be basically an urban site. i was running ahead of schedule so I stopped for a bathroom break at a travel center on I-77 just south of Charleston WV. It looked like all the big truck parking spots were occupied and I had flashback to my short lived OTR trucker and trying to find a parking space when it was late and you were too tired to be on the road. My hats are off to those guys and gals. (Is that still a politically correct term?)

 The site was on a street about 100 yards long just south of Charleston WV. The logs were next to a deserted building soon to be demoed. I set the mill up next to them right on the street. Man, setting up a mill on level asphalt is a piece of cake! I could get used to that.


 

 The customer had a warehouse of sorts on the other side of the road. Logs included maple, sycamore (First I have sawed), RO, Poplar and Cherry. A mix of 4/4 edged boards, 9/4 LE slabs, assorted beams, framing, etc. The short stuff I squared to whatever each would make and sometimes quartered the resulting cant into 3X4 or 4X4, etc for future furniture legs and such.

 My customers business partner was there to help off-bear and learn. Turns out he has a mill just like mine also bought from NC WM. He has only sawed for his own use and was like a sponge soaking up tips I have picked up from you guys here. He liked the cheat sheet idea as to saving cuts and ending on a pre-determined mark saving a cut off almost every log. He really liked the Magic Hook. He liked the technique of laying a finished 1X4 or 1X6 or such down to edge/clamp a single 4/4 flitch. He was there all morning but left when I had to drive to a gas station for a bathroom break - not woods and cat holes in town and no customer bathroom on site (Oh the woes of urban sawing). Another neighbor was on site with a small Kubota tractor with a FEL and bucket and backhoe. He got several pieces of the wood for his projects/use and helped move some logs and clean up, especially the sawdust. The local mayor came through and checked up on us to be sure we would finish today and had permission from the owner to use the lot where the logs were staged. He also wanted to be sure we were going to clean up the site when done. I bit my tongue and did not make any comments that would get my customer in trouble.


 

 

 

 This is what was left on site at the end of the job - temporary stacking till he can organize it better. I finished, tallied, collected, packed up and left about 8:00 pm Just over 1752 bf. It was hot and a couple of times I thought I was about to over-do it but all went well. I drove home, disconnected the mill and in the house at 9:30 pm. The tools and bands and such are covered and I'll unload them in the morning. I did leave my cheat sheet for my off-bearer/student at the end of the job. I'll print myself a new one.

  Oh yeah, to top it off 2 miles from home on our county road a big old doe ran out in front of me and I came so close to hitting her I bet there is hair in the left side of my front bumper.

[teakwood]

How much does a hard day like this bring for you guys? after expenses