iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Newbie having issues with wood, and his Wood Mizer LT28

Started by Kyblacksmith, July 27, 2014, 10:05:53 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Kyblacksmith

Hello Folks!!!

First of all, it's great to be a new member of the Forestry Forum!!!!

So last fall I bought a Wood-Mizer LT28 off ebay. My plan was (and still is) to mill all the lumber I need for my off grid house on my homestead here in south central Ky.  Myself and another gent cut, topped, and limbed 60 Yellow Poplar tree's in a 7 hour day, and I have  been milling lumber since.

My initial plan was to mill up 8x8's and build my house "Post and beam" style, but with a lack of man power and funds to hire workers that plan went down in flames. So I started milling 2x6's and started building it "stick frame" style.

Now my Yellow poplar logs were cut last winter when the sap was down, and they sat on the ground in front of the mill for 4 months. They seem to be seasoned pretty good for that amount of time.

My issues with the mill is that when I cut a 2x6 I measure 1 5/8" thick (once they shrink they are exactly 1.5 inches) on the ends, but in the center they some times grow up to 2" thick!!!!!!  I'm not sure what is causing this. The timbers aren't bowed, and I am using new Wood-Mizer blades.  Any idea's???

Also whenever I mill lumber over 8' I have a extreme issue with the lumber bowing..... BAD!!!!  If I set some of my 14' 2x6 on edge they will be bowed up 1.5-2", and they are that way RIGHT OFF THE MILL!!!!!  Is there a way of going with the grain of the wood where it won't do that?

I thank you all for any advice you can give me.   Have a great day!!!!!!!

Chase

mad murdock

Having never milled poplar, I cannot say for sure, but I have built things with it(dog sled, other small things). It would not be my first choice for structural lumber, my father built an old garage using poplar a long time ago, and I remember it not having a straight board in it. I think it moves and distorts a lot during drying, but like I said, never milled it. I hope you get it figured out, I am sure someone on here has the answer you need :). Welcome to the Forestry Forum BTW!
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

NMFP

Welcome,  first off, how are you sawing your boards?  Grade sawing or are you live sawing?  Without pictures to validate exactly what's happening, I am assuming that your not stress relieving the logs in that it sounds like you are sawing one face till its wide enough, turning it 180 degrees and sawing down to a 6" thick can that has 2 live edges .  Then turning it 90 degree and sawing 2x6 material.  Is this the case?  if so, you are putting the stress in the boards instead of relieving it.

As far as bands, it shouldn't matter as long as they are sharpened, set and cambered correctly.  Poplar is easy to saw.

Do you have any pictures?

Thanks NMFP

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Kyblacksmith

Quote from: NMFP on July 27, 2014, 10:30:09 AM
Welcome,  first off, how are you sawing your boards?  Grade sawing or are you live sawing?  Without pictures to validate exactly what's happening, I am assuming that your not stress relieving the logs in that it sounds like you are sawing one face till its wide enough, turning it 180 degrees and sawing down to a 6" thick can that has 2 live edges .  Then turning it 90 degree and sawing 2x6 material.  Is this the case?  if so, you are putting the stress in the boards instead of relieving it.

As far as bands, it shouldn't matter as long as they are sharpened, set and cambered correctly.  Poplar is easy to saw.

Do you have any pictures?

Thanks NMFP

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM DOING!!!!!!!
I didn't know that I had to "relieve pressure on the logs".... 
How do I relieve pressure on the logs?
I will get some photo's up as soon as I can.  I tried to post some earlier, but I couldn't figure out how to do that to save my life  LOL

Thanks!!!!

glassman_48

Kyblacksmith,
Welcome to the forum,,,,,,,keep the questions coming,,,,,,I am learning a lot!!!!!    Welcome again

36 coupe

Tulip poplar is not a true poplar.Its latin name does not have the word populus in it.Cotton woods and aspen are poplars.The roof of my mill shelter is all poplar.Your mill has a problem if is sawing off level.Try an oak log and see if you have the same problem.Are you using water during the cut?Ive found that poplar from good straight trees is usually stable. I had a 2x10 poplar plank that was straight until it got rained on.Aspen grows here but its called poplar or popple.Your blade has to be sharp and tight and not heat during sawing.You should talk with Woodmizer staff on this.

beenthere

QuoteI didn't know that I had to "relieve pressure on the logs".... 
How do I relieve pressure on the logs?
I will get some photo's up as soon as I can.  I tried to post some earlier, but I couldn't figure out how to do that to save my life  LOL

Relieving stress is what you want to do with yellow poplar. Do that by making cuts that are balanced about the pith center. The stresses that develop are in tension as the tree grows and lays down new annual layers of wood, and this tension in some logs builds up to the point that boards can split at the ends and end up looking like banana peels. Also causes a log to move on the mill as successive boards are taken off just one side.

For dimension lumber, there have been known success live sawing flitches (un-edged slabs) and stickering them to dry, then sawing out the desired widths from those flitches. Seems to relieve some of those stresses that cause the errors in thickness and undesireable warping (bow, crook, twist).

Some y.poplar logs saw just fine with little problem with stress, but a lot of them do not behave as well as other hardwoods.

For picture posting, go to your bio and set up your own gallery. Then put your pics in there by following this primer in the "Behind the Forum" found here
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/board,16.0.html

If the pics are in .jpg format in your computer, then use the "Click here to add Photos to post" found just below this posting window.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Magicman

Hello Kyblacksmith, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  Running a sawmill is the easy part.  Recognizing and relieving stress to obtain uniform lumber is the tricky part.  Never split a pith and take boards off of each side.  Also, you may have to flip the cant 180° several times as you reduce it down to your target thickness.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

slider

Welcome Kyblacksmith.I concur with the others on here about popular sawing well with some logs and bad with others .Some logs you can blow through without a problem and others will make you put your thinking cap on.If you see large cracks in the end of your logs you are going to deal with stress.Like they said keep flipping until things settle down and try not to split the pith .The last batch I sawed had cracks in the ends just after they were felled .

 
al glenn

thecfarm

I had a boss at work that would just saw any way he felt like. Said it did not matter about turning the log.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

ladylake

 

  For dimension lumber, there have been known success live sawing flitches (un-edged slabs) and stickering them to dry, then sawing out the desired widths from those flitches. Seems to relieve some of those stresses that cause the errors in thickness and undesirable warping (bow, crook, twist).


  That's what I recommend to my customers that want 2x4 's from the bigger logs, 2x6 can be made from smaller logs ok but might require a skim cut .   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Thank You Sponsors!