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How Yellowhammer Sees and Saws Stuff

Started by YellowHammer, May 19, 2022, 11:28:31 PM

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YellowHammer

I guess I might start putting a bunch of my sawing videos in one topic, maybe make it easier for people find them if they care to.

Here is me sawing cherry, discussing several techniques specific to this species, including avoiding pith and sapwood.  I also demonstrate how I edge wood with a minimum amount of movement on the sawmill, how I eject flitches to the loader arms, as well as "throwing" wood.  

Anyway, I made this video in response to several questions I had in sawing cherry, so I hope it is useful.

https://youtu.be/2cmfN89MoUY
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

zippski

I watched this earlier this evening. Excellent advice. Great video technique as well.

Need more dog, though  :D
Leigh


Leigh
zippski

Old Greenhorn

Wow, that was another one I have to watch several times. I have been trying to use those flip techniques more and more, but the key is in practice. On the 50 it is not exactly the same, but fairly close. Each time I saw I take one or two or your trucks and work on it. I find that I avoid using the chain turner once I have a cant because it tears up softwood pretty good and I lose boards. As of yet, I am not doing much hardwood. I have to get that fast flip working better for me and the reverse flip is still a work in progress.
Thanks again for helping me (us) stretch out our skills.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Lostinmn

You may not get rich making videos, but please know it truly enriches all of our skills and we really do appreciate you doing videos like these!  

??? :P ;D


I can't count the "learn from mistakes" I've been fortunate to skip thanks to the generous sharing of knowledge from forum members.  Although I still find my share of mistakes to make, the learning curve is significantly faster!

Thank you and I look forward to your next video!

Andries

Thank you Chip, for getting Robert to slow down production for a bit, while he makes these videos.  ;D
Up here in the far yonder, we don't see walnut or cherry, but the same techniques are used to produce stable lumber from oak, ash and elm. The video lays it out really well, with quips like "we're not just slicing bread here". New sawyers will get a lot from the dialogue.
Also, Logrite isn't looking to you as a potential customer for their"mill special" cant hook. you've got the hydraulics warmed up so that walking and hand flipping are at a minimum.
Thanks again, you and Martha are a great team, both on and off camera!
LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

moodnacreek

That is just grade hardwood sawing, the right way to do it.  I used to do that all the time if the logs looked good. The fad here is live edge so alot of my sawing is done wrong to get what sells even if it must be resawn. The cherry sap wood will really pull bad and the heart left in will hump the planks. Yellow Hammer is showing the correct way to do it to get boards.

Cornerstone

Excellent production Yellowhammer. I really appreciate the free (for me... :D ) education. Every time I watch one of your videos I feel like class is in session! Thanks for taking the time to do these.
Case 580SK backhoe, New Holland L228 skid steer, Kubota 900rtv, Home made band mill, 1968 Chevy C50 Dump Truck, 1972 C10, 2009 Dodge Ram 3500 4X4 dually, all sorts of motorcycles.
Ephesians 3: 17-21

John S

2018 LT40HDG38 Wide

KenMac

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again at some point, but that two plane clamp is the biggest ( and maybe the only) advantage to owning a Wood Mizer saw. I love my Cook's, but that thing is the ticket!
Cook's AC3667t, Cat Claw sharpener, Dual tooth setter, and Band Roller, Kubota B26 TLB, Takeuchi TB260C

Larry

Classic grade sawing.  Learn how to do it properly and it puts money in your pocket.  Robert did excellent with the demo, explanations, and video quality was super.

When I bought my TK-2000 12 years ago it would not do the reverse flip because the OEM two plane clamp was to short at 6".  The very first mod I did on my mill was to replace that short ram with a 12" ram.  I feel that move is so important I would have traded mills If I couldn't have made the mod.  Besides what Robert showed, I used the reverse flip to slide off 200 pound live edge slabs in a similar manner.

One comment regarding sapwood.  4/4 I saw exactly as Robert shows for the reasons he talks about.  8/4 in 24" and bigger logs I have not been wasting the sapwood for the last couple of years.  Boards from big logs dry flatter and it seems 8/4 also helps.  People have been blitzing me wanting sapwood cherry.  You can see a couple of examples in the woodworking section of stools I have been making.  Been also using it in tables.

 

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

YellowHammer

I appreciate all the positive comments.  There are many very knowledgable sawyers here, and I learn from your comments and take it all to heart.  Hopefully, some of these videos help others get up to speed quickly or answer some questions.  
Thanks for watching!
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Walnut Beast

Great job of the video! Looking forward to the Walnut video!

Durf700

great video!  I learn so much from watching your videos.  please be sure to share more whenever you can!!! 

thanks

123maxbars

Learned a lot from that video, good job Robert 
Sawyer/Woodworker/Timber Harvester
Woodmizer LT70 Super Wide, Nyle L53 and 200 kiln, too many other machines to list.
outofthewoods
Youtube page
Out of the

YellowHammer

Thanks, I can't tell if trying to explain what I'm doing makes the videos sound like stereo instructions....Blah, Blah, Blah...and the person watching goes to sleep.  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

jpassardi

I think you do a good job with the narration - to the point and informative.
I always watch your new videos.  smiley_thumbsup
LT15 W/Trailer, Log Turner, Power Feed & up/down
CAT 416 Backhoe W/ Self Built Hydraulic Thumb and Forks
Husky 372XP, 550XPG, 60, 50,   WM CBN Sharpener & Setter
40K # Excavator, Bobcat 763, Kubota RTV 900
Orlan Wood Gasification Boiler -Slab Disposer

Stephen1

I really appreciate the videos. I have been making boards and slabs out of big logs. From advise from YH. I have watched different sawing come out of the kiln and am learning. 
Yesterday, I was helping my Friend Bernard empty his shop and he gave me books on how to saw hardwood for grade. now I can read and learn from watching the video.
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

OlJarhead

Great video!  8) I had subscribed but have been too busy lately to watch much (other than making my own and sawing etc) but finally got to see this one.  As a guy who milled just ONE small cherry log (like 3 feet long) a dozen years or so ago, I found this informative and educational and I love the commentary on production sawing!

Guys like you, MM, Peter, Dean, Doc etc etc (sorry can't name you all!) have been my 'professors' in sawmill school and I'm still learning! (if ya aint learning you aint breathing I say) and the reason I am making a lot of my videos this way as well.  Gotta give back!

Cheers
Erik
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

YellowHammer

I know everyone knows how to align their mill, but in the past I've mentioned that I do things little different to spot check before I get into some hard stuff using two of the Blade Guide Alignment Tools. I was sawing some hard wood and figured I'd show folks how I double check my roller guide and blade alignment, and do a quick check on my drive belt.  The main thing is that I'm not setting my height above the bed, I'm checking for any twist in the band which indicates if there is some misalignment in the roller guides.  If there is twist, 95% of the time its from the idle side being out of alignment.

I've been spraying my videos all over the Forum, so I thought I'd start putting them back into one topic to make them easier to find.

Sawing Rock Hard Pecan! (and Sawmill Alignment Tips to Cut It) - YouTube



 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

caveman

I remember you mentioning last April about using two BGAT's but it clicked today when I watched your video, how you were benefitting from using two at once, kind of like winding sticks.  

Your mill was definitely dialed in to be able to saw pecan as fast and flat as pictured.  The debarker was running on most of the cuts.  Was that intentional or did you just neglect to turn it off while sawing, dragging back and thinking about your next move?

I know our mills are different animals (lt-50 v. wide Super 70), but the belt tensioning specs are quite a bit different.  Ours should be what you used to have on the previous mill.

Thank you for the time to make informative videos.
Caveman

sawwood

Love your videos and learn a lot. our mill is all manual so some of you tips are not for us. But how
to cut a log is great. Learning how to read the log to get the best lumber is what i have been needing.  We cut mostly Walnut and oak so getting the most from them is importin. Thanks again.
Norwood M4 manual mill, Solar Kiln, Woodmaster
18" planer/molder

YellowHammer

Quote from: caveman on January 11, 2023, 09:14:49 PMYour mill was definitely dialed in to be able to saw pecan as fast and flat as pictured.  The debarker was running on most of the cuts.  Was that intentional or did you just neglect to turn it off while sawing, dragging back and thinking about your next move?
Wow, you have great eyes.  No, it's one of the things that aggravates me about the WM joystick control, there is a debarker in/out control on the joystick, but the debarker on/off button is on the display and does not have an on/off on the joystick.  I have to take my hands off the joystick to turn the debarker on and off.  So it slows things down, and I wish they would use a "normal" multipurpose joystick switch where they have the rocker for the in/out and a button in the middle of the rocker as an on/off.  So both functions can be controlled from one compound button.  I have these buttons on my excavator as well as my skid steer.  So in order to compensate, I just don't turn the debarker off most of the time unless I have another reason to take my hands off the joysticks.  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

TSAW

Yellowhammer, I think your videos that I have seen are very informative.  The narration is good to me, I am a rookie Sawyer as I only have a couple hundred hours of milling under my belt.  I enjoy watching your videos and those of Nathen from Out of The Woods, however I always get a bit jealous watching the ease that you all move logs about with those hydraulics (one day I too will have hydraulics, just have a manual mill right now).  Keep up the good work.  Thanks  

YellowHammer

Thanks, I appreciate it.  I try to make them informative as well as not too boring.  Everything we make in the video is "Real" and made with the intention to sell.    

With all the talk recently about sawing through the pith, some of you may notice that I prefer, on some cuts, to saw right through the pith, just as in quartersawing the center boards out of logs.  However, as I usually do, I will do it slightly differently in this case and cut perpendicular the the heart check and not contain it in as few boards as possible, but saw it to crack through as many boards as it wants to.  This may sound counterintuitive, but remember how many times I say that I will saw to avoid bow but not crook?  So this is a good example.  Sawing perpendicular to the heart check will put the stress in the crook direction that I can edge later, and will make the boards come out very flat.  Flat as needed for table tops.  

Here are two of the customers with the boards being loaded into vehicles and sold today. These slabs are being loaded into a BMW, and the other QSW are destined to be a table and heading out on the trailer.  Notice how flat and straight the boards are.  






 
 


YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

TSAW

@Yellowhammer Wow did you dry the Walnut that quickly to turn around and sell it, or is it sold as green lumber?  Thanks for the added explanation, I have always sawn parallel to the heart checking as much as possible, but maybe I need to rethink this.  Thanks for the pointers, I try to learn what I can here and other places so I don't have to do everything by trial and error on my own. 

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