Custom Sawyer's sawmill

Tom · September 15, 2009, 08:45:13 PM

Yeah but he keeps spending them. .......the talents. :-\ Bible joke. ;D

Georgia Boy · September 15, 2009, 10:07:08 PM

The cool part about it all, I hope some of those logs are coming from one of the tracts I bought.
Take care,
Georgia Boy 8)

customsawyer · September 16, 2009, 04:19:39 AM

I am starting to think that we might have found a herd of "wise guys" (in the voice of curly). ;D

SwampDonkey · September 16, 2009, 04:30:18 AM

Just wise tales. ;D

WDH · September 16, 2009, 07:36:14 AM

Quote from: Georgia Boy on September 15, 2009, 10:07:08 PM
The cool part about it all, I hope some of those logs are coming from one of the tracts I bought.
Take care,
Georgia Boy 8)

Hey Georgia Boy. How are y'all faring in this wood recession?

Georgia Boy · September 16, 2009, 10:20:43 PM

Well WDH, It's Wednesday and we got cut off at West Fraiser in Augusta, Macon's down this week, IP-Savannah is not running very well, and I all but stepped on a snake this morning in the river swamp marking SMZ's. Other than that business is fine considering the market condition's in the area. I stay super busy but don't seem to be making any money, just burning gas and cellphone minutes. I will be so glad when the lumber market starts a up tick.
Take care :-\

customsawyer · October 04, 2009, 08:31:16 AM

I thought I would bring this one back to the front since Dave was asking about 24' ext with hyd. on them. If you look at the second to last pic you can see that the toe board rollers are up on the ext. but the side supports, log turner and clamp are all hyd. as well. Having the hyd. on the ext. makes turning these 40' logs alot quicker.

Dave Shepard · October 04, 2009, 09:03:19 AM

Thanks for bringing it up! I'm a ways off from a bed extension, but I will surely want to have it hydraulic. I bet you could spend a lot of time walking back and forth trying to manually adjust everything on that long extension.

customsawyer · October 31, 2010, 01:06:55 PM

Hey Dave I was going through some of the old stuff and was wondering if you ever got that extension?
Also wanted to show off to some of the new talent around how we do it down south. ;D

Dave Shepard · October 31, 2010, 03:01:07 PM

No, no extension yet. I'm busy with some serious timber frame work right now, so we haven't done much milling lately. Been going in directions I never expected in the past.

ex-Engineer Wannabe · August 14, 2012, 01:11:15 AM

I'm not sure where the red oak you're milling into beams comes from, Custom Sawyer, but the saw logs we have up here aren't often straight for over 40 feet. Assuming that your logs are like ours, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind describing how you go about milling a long timber out of a red oak saw log.

Thanks for your time,
EEW

DR Buck · August 14, 2012, 05:50:22 PM

Quote from: ex-Engineer Wannabe on August 14, 2012, 01:11:15 AM
I'm not sure where the red oak you're milling into beams comes from, Custom Sawyer, but the saw logs we have up here aren't often straight for over 40 feet. Assuming that your logs are like ours, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind describing how you go about milling a long timber out of a red oak saw log.

Thanks for your time,
EEW

First you got to put them on the log straightner. :D :D

customsawyer · August 14, 2012, 06:20:25 PM

ex-Engineer the hardwood that we have down south is a little different then what you have up north. First off it grows a lot faster due to the weather. This lets it get bigger quicker. I had 5 logs last week that I was able to get 2 timbers out of each. This requires a 12"X24" cant. There is a reason that the lumber from your hardwood brings a higher price.

When you have a log with some sweep in it I place it at a 45° angle. The first face I open lets me release some of the stress in the log. The second face lets me release the rest of the stress. The first face will have the horns of the log off to my upper right as I am running the mill. If the log is to big to get all the stress out in the first cutting it will need to be worked around all the way twice. Meaning that you will have to hit all four faces twice. I hope this helps, if you have more questions fire away.

ex-Engineer Wannabe · August 15, 2012, 08:20:14 AM

Sawyer: Are you saying that you rotate the saw log so that the worst part of the bend is at a 45-degree angle relative to the mill controls? In other words, are you saying that the worst part of the bend is in the upper-right quadrant (relative to a circle), as you look directly down at the end of the mill?

If I'm understanding you correctly, this means that your first cut is in the side of the bend. After making the first cut, do you put the first face down on the bed of the mill (180-degree rotation) or do you place it against the supports on the operator side of the mill (90-degree rotation)? :P

I was just watching the video on your website again, Sawyer, and I was marveling at how quickly you change blades on your mill! I've never seen an LT70, so please forgive the question ... Did the factory actually put the debarker out of the way on the LT70? If so, that must be great!

customsawyer · August 15, 2012, 06:48:59 PM

I think you understand what I am saying. If you put a clock face on the mill I put the horns at about 2:30 and the hump at 7:30. By doing this I am able to get the stress cut out on the first two faces, letting the log straiten out a little bit. This works best if you are able to get the saw head to clear the horns on the first face. If not then you have to plan on making at least two full rotations of the log in the process of cutting it. Keep in mind that I have a edger behind me. I rotate 90°. Woodmizer did put the debarker where it is located. I hope this answers your questions. Keep on asking till I get them answered.

ex-Engineer Wannabe · August 16, 2012, 02:16:43 PM

Please excuse my ignorance, Sawyer, but I need to ask you a very basic question: What are the 'horns' of the saw log?

beenthere · August 16, 2012, 02:35:54 PM

ex
Imagine the horns on a long-horned steer. A sweep in a log will be very similar. ;)

Magicman · August 16, 2012, 06:46:37 PM

And the "hump" is the opposite side from the horns.

gunman63 · August 16, 2012, 08:12:46 PM

is that the "hump" or the "rump",, mmmmmm rump roast, see the post turned to food 8)

ex-Engineer Wannabe · August 18, 2012, 12:57:30 PM

Thanks for defining the milling terms, folks. ;D

Sawyer: Is the debarker on your mill totally out of the way when you have to changes blades? It's certainly not on our mill and, judging by what I saw on your website video, you're changing blades very quickly. If I'm seeing this correctly, they clearly made a nice engineering improvement in the design of your mill.

customsawyer · August 18, 2012, 06:36:02 PM

I liked the debarker on the LT40 better as it stays engaged in the log better than the one on the LT70. It has been several years since I have ran a LT40 but if I remember right when I changed blades on it I would just push the debarker one way and then the other to get the blade on.

BandsawWarrior · August 18, 2012, 08:03:17 PM

seriously that's one fine hoe you got there. I bet it works really well for doing all kinds of stuff. Did it pick up that big timber easily or did it grunt?

cheers

customsawyer · August 19, 2012, 09:59:16 AM

I really like that backhoe. It handles 99% of those big logs. Some of the bigger ones make it grunt a little but it has impressed me with what all it is able to do and how well it has held up. There are many times when the back tires are coming off the ground and I have to stick the hoe out to counter balance the whole load. How the front axle hasn't just popped out from under it.

ex-Engineer Wannabe · August 30, 2012, 12:21:45 AM

I've been meaning to ask you, Sawyer, and the last couple of posts just reminded me ... What model is your backhoe? Do your forks fold away like the ones we have on our machine?