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Sawjob with lots of variety

Started by JV, June 19, 2008, 09:55:00 PM

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JV

Recently I received a call asking if I would saw some logs about 40 miles from my home.  He wants to build a small hunting cabin and have lumber for various projects.  Site 1 had a variety including a couple of 42" plus diameter white oak logs.  Luckily, I bought a used 56" Alaskan mill for my Stihl 084 sometime back and this was a chance to try it out.  We're at Site 2 now sawing 4"x6" beams.  So far we have sawn 20 foot 8"x8" beams, 20 foot 4"x6" beams, and a variety of 4"x4"s, 4/4, 5/4, misc., quartersawn, rift saw, flat sawn, 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" thick slabs for benches and tabletops.  Oh yes, we even found a spalted maple.
It's been really enjoyable except for the hot days.

Two large logs


Initial setup


Taking top 1/3 off for resawing


Almost there


Top off


3 1/2"x40"x99" white oak slab


More pics to follow including 8"x8" spalted maple beam and walnut crotch slabs.









John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

JV

Almost finished today, gave up until Monday.  Those 8"x8"s and 4"x6"s really got heavy by the end of the day.  Yesterday, a garter snake crawled out of a log on the mill, not too happy.  Today, we move a hard maple that was full of bees, we let them have the log.

Spalted maple 8"x8" beam


Short walnut crotch


2 1/2" slab from the walnut crotch


Inside of 1 1/2" thick bark slab, hard to see but in the upper outside portions of the slab is bark that sawed almost glossy


One of the reforestation areas in the background my customer is planting.  He is in his early 50's and has been planting for 25 years


Dave, my customer (back to camera) and friend Jack stacking and covering ahead of a thunderstorm.  Some 20" wide 5/4 quartersawn in the right stack.



I'm really beat, but it has been an enjoyable job.  He is ready to look for more trees to saw this fall.  The cabin apparently will be a cross between timber frame and Lincoln log style.
John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

beav39

sawdust in the blood

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

metalspinner

Wow!  That's some big boards there! 8)  I bet it was nice having the tractor there to help out.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

bandmiller2

JV,thats a good finish you have on those boards you must have chain sharpening down to a system,do you file or grind? I have never owned a chain mill what kinda life can you expect from a good saw,do most of you fellers freshen en up with rings every so often or is long life to be expected. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

JV

The boards in the picture that Dave and Jack were covering all came from one of the large white oaks, quite a yield.  That tree had been down for almost 5 years, but he couldn't bring himself to saw it for firewood.  When we finished that one he had a big smile on his face   ;D. 

We couldn't have done the job without the tractor but it was maxed out more than once.  A heavy duty rough terrain forklift would have been a real plus to move the bigger timbers and bigger logs.

I downloaded rip chain specs from Oregon and took them to my Stihl dealer.  He just shakes his head with some of the things I come in with, especially the Alaskan rig.  Surprising, his mechanic said he had sharpened rip chain before.  He used Stihl .404 semi-chisel and did a super job.  We made 15 cuts before hitting a nail dulling the chain.  The top plate angle is 10 degrees.  When filing, drop your hand about 10 degrees and this seems to give a good cutting chain.  I'm not sure how long the saw will run before needing an overhaul.  In my research, I found that most guys suggested running the saw a little rich for additional lubrication and longer life.  It used a tank of gas plus on one pass on the 42" plus logs (over a quart).  One thing we did find was the bar varied in length with the heat.  I had to loosen the riser post bar clamp on the nose end every couple of cuts to relieve the tension.  The chain had to run fairly loose on that long bar, much more than on a chain used for cross cutting.  I'm still learning, but I'm glad I bought the Alaskan.  It gives me a chance to make cuts impossible on the LT40.  We cut several large slabs from the second white oak 2 1/2 to 3 1/2" thick.  He saw several slabs listed on eBay and the prices they were bringing.  Now if I could just convince my wife how much more efficient the operation would be with a new portable edger   :D.
John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

That sure was a great project, JV.

Thanks for the pics.  Your are quite a versatile sawyer!
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

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