Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

    Please forgive me if I have offended you (again ) by my improper terminology and by failure to notice/comment on the extreme extra and diligent effort you have obviously been placing on your written communication.

    Thank you for your sincere efforts in this matter.

[SawyerTed]

A friend and customer builds custom countertops, bars, tables, floating shelves, mantles and other live edge items.  He has me trim and flatten his thick pieces on my sawmill.  

He found an unusual log about 4 years ago.   It turned out to be an American Chestnut tree that had fallen many years ago (maybe 80 years ago).  

 It was suspended above a spring by the rootball on one end and the top branches on the other.  Somehow the log was in just the right conditions not to completely rot.

Today he brought some pieces to be trimmed that he had rough milled using a chainsaw mill.   He had to use the CSM to cut the log into small enough pieces to get the lumber out of the hollow.  





It's not everyday a guy gets to mill American Chestnut.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   I returned to my neighbors site where I am sawing yellow poplar on shares for him. Here is the new stack of logs he had pile for me. I told him I need 1,000 bf of 4/4 X 8' long and it needs to be 6: wide or wider. Many of these will not make a 6" board or only 1-2 and the rest of the log becomes an 8' 2X4 or 1X4. There are a few 12' logs I saw into framing (mostly 2X6) and even one 16' log in the stack.

    I am sawing and stacking by myself. I sawed about 6 hours and produced a whopping 596 bf of assorted boards. Only 288 bf will be used by my customer so the rest goes into stock for the customer to use.
   The short stacks are 2X4s and 1X4 (which I stacked separately) and the taller stack us 6" and 8" 4/4 for my order.

   Here are a few 12' 2X6's and 3 16' 2X6's. 

    It is slow going but no rush on it.

[Magicman]

It's not everyday a guy gets to mill American Chestnut.

Wowser Ted, what a sawing honor!! 

Steady as she goes Howard. 

I returned to my customer and we finished the SYP framing lumber.  No pictures of the lumber yet nor the hydraulic hose that popped.  All that is left to saw is the Red Oak into 1X9's.

[caveman]

John and I sawed some pine and two cedar logs this morning (well, we had to finish a few logs after lunch).  The logs the guy brought us were a variety of lengths.  I have been sawing dunnage for a local company out of mostly live oak with some red oak (laurel oak and water oak) and pine mixed in.  Some of the live oak would have made good trailer boards but my neighbors bucked them to shorter lengths even after I volunteered to help them.  They got anxious and impatient.

The pallet of live oak had my truck doing a Carolina squat.

[Magicman]

I finished my SYP & Red Oak job this evening. 
 

We started this morning with this 40" butt 12' log.  Yup it twas a mouthful but the cantilever head paid off big time again.  I lowered the side supports about half way down and did the scoot as far as possible and let the remainder hang out on the loader side.  We had a couple more logs from this same tree that were over 30".  We hit 4 nails in one pass in the above log so only one blade trashed.

No lumber pictures but we actually sawed 17 hours and stickered 4752bf of SYP and 1881bf of Oak for a total yield of 6633bf. 

My next scheduled sawing is the 18th & 19th so I am off next week. 

 

[NewYankeeSawmill]

I have been sawing dunnage for a local company out of mostly live oak with some red oak (laurel oak and water oak) and pine mixed in. 

I was thinking about trying to cut/sell some stuff like that. I've got a lot of big pine tree's around the place, and am situated between I-40 and I-75, there's a slew of truck-stops and trucking companies around here...
How did you pickup that account? Was it a sales call, or knew a guy who knew a guy...?
I'm tempted to make-up some flyers and post them in the shower-area's of the local truckers stops: Custom sizes, free delivery to Pilot fuel station?

[caveman]

A friend of mine has a management position at a local company that uses a lot of dunnage.  He mentioned to me previously that they buy a lot of material from several sources.  I assumed the margin was very low.  We sawed the first pallet and told him how much we would need to make it worthwhile for us to saw.  They were happy with the price and the product.   

This occurred after I made a very bad decision.

They had gotten a GN trailer load of used crossties and wanted them cut into 2' lengths.  I did that for them with a chainsaw, collected the waste and palletized all of it.  After that, I told them that I would not be doing that again.  I walked nearly 13 miles that day and did not leave my yard and spent more time sharpening saw chains than sawing.  The rocks, metal and mud were a deal breaker. 

[richhiway]

You are a busy man M.M. Howard that was a good story about the Alex Webb cabin. He is a hard working craftsman.
We have been having a warm dry spell, not typical for this time of year in upstate NY. I am enjoying it.
Mostly working on my workshop shed and using the mill to trim lumber. Made six key racks for Christmas presents. Built a work platform for the tractor forks yesterday.
I am retiring from work in December so plan on sawing a lot more.
Doc. Had to go to the emergency room recently, wife had abdominal pain. She is OK but the place was overwhelmed. I drove volunteer ambulance many years ago, I see things have not improved. You are a special breed to be able to help people and put in those horrendous hours. Take care of yourself. 

[richhiway]

A friend of mine has a management position at a local company that uses a lot of dunnage.  He mentioned to me previously that they buy a lot of material from several sources.  I assumed the margin was very low.  We sawed the first pallet and told him how much we would need to make it worthwhile for us to saw.  They were happy with the price and the product. 

This occurred after I made a very bad decision.

They had gotten a GN trailer load of used crossties and wanted them cut into 2' lengths.  I did that for them with a chainsaw, collected the waste and palletized all of it.  After that, I told them that I would not be doing that again.  I walked nearly 13 miles that day and did not leave my yard and spent more time sharpening saw chains than sawing.  The rocks, metal and mud were a deal breaker.

Might try carbide saw chain if you do it again.

[doc henderson]

Thanks, Richhiway.  I am doing ok. and my last hoorah before I retire in the next few years.  I had friends near Hudson NY, Pat and Abby Campbell if you know them. Nice projects and am glad your wife is OK.

[caveman]

Richiway, I'll say it LOUDER for those in the back, I aint doing it again.  I learn slow, but I am capable of learning.  I don't think I'll ever need a carbide chain.  Jobs requiring carbide chains are jobs for other folks.

[barbender]

I remember just being around a job my Dad did when I was about 14. We built a big retaining wall, on a driveway we were paving. The people wanted it done with railroad ties. I didn't even do the cutting, but it was miserable enough just to watch that I never felt the need to repeat the performance.

[Resonator]

Railroad ties, dirty swamp matts, and telephone poles are 3 things I do not saw.

[Magicman]

I went ahead and set the sawmill up on this framing lumber job which is 7 miles away.  Two 28" butts and nothing under 18" top end, mostly 12' & 16'.  This is all beetle killed and I saw a couple of logs that I probably will not saw.  It looks like probably ~4Mbf so a day and a half depending upon the help.  I will start Monday the 18th.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Returned to same site and here is the end of the day stacks. Just a little taller as added 497 bf of the same kinds of cuts to them. The log owner had locked the chain to the site not knowing my mill was already there and I had started sawing so he came and opened the gate and stayed to help. We aren't breaking any speed records but did saw all but 10-12 of the "logs", Some only yielded a 2X4 and a 1X4.

    The owner is going to bring down more logs tomorrow and I may resume on Thursday, weather and "Honey-do" list permitting.

[Magicman]

You are steadily knocking um out Howard.    

[terrifictimbersllc]

Phone has started ringing in last week. Go figure. 

Did a nice job today where a contractor wanted about 30 12 ft 2x6 sawn stood up and cut down the middle into 2x3. He had done a few on a jobsite table saw and didnt like that. They were full size sawmill lumber seemed dry and mostly sawn well except about half of them had 1/4 to 1/2" of crown.  The 2x3 were to be used as battens. They were screwing them in place and knew that some of them would have to be pulled straight.

I started sawing these 2x6 two  at a time where the helper pushed the crown flat while I clamped them in place. It was hard for him especially if both were crowned.  And the first two had some twist which the sawmill didnt clamp out.

After several cuts I decided to try something different.  Put a 2x6 flat on each side, he held while I clamped partly, then used a little sledge and block to tap them down.  The friction fit was great, no problem getting them all straight.  Course after the cut the top ones popped up a bit but they were all cut with uniform width. This clamping arrangement had the added benefit of providing a place for one of the boards to fall over, which didn't block the head return.



Second photo shows the third board nearest the loader sticking up with 1/2" of crown.  This was easily pounded down with this clamping arrangement.



I was given one helper who moved the material while I clamped and sawed.  A few of the 2x3s sprung worse than the starting 2x6 but only 5 or so out of the 60 I made.  The customers guys said they would have no problem using them.  Everyone happy.  I was in and out in about 2-1/2 hr. 20 miles from home, minimum charge $325 plus mileage and sales tax.  Boss was very pleased gave me a $70 tip.

[cutterboy]

I had 18 white pine logs that I finished sawing a few days ago. Five of them were short logs 4-5 feet long.





But the rest were 8' and some nice logs.






Ten 12 inch wide 4/4s


A tall stack of lumber, had to use a ladder.



An interesting note: See the stickers with green paint on the ends? I cut those the first year I started sawing, that was 2001. I know because that first year I painted the ends of the logs green and that was the only year I did.

Now it's time to start cutting firewood.

  Keep on sawing.....Cutter

[Magicman]

I would love to run a sawblade through a White Pine log. 

[Wlmedley]

Nice stack of lumber cutter. I'd say it's better than money in the bank. 

[Old Greenhorn]

I saw almost all EWP and those logs you have are so much nicer than anything I generally see on my mill deck. Logs like that make nothing but nice lumber. I did a few like that on my manual mill at home and they went from the mill into one of my loft builds within 2 days. That is pleasure milling at it's finest. Hopefully you had no heavy sap issues? Those logs look pretty fresh.

[cutterboy]

Tom I cut the pine trees in August and set the logs up on a platform to let the sap dry out. No problems with pitch.

[Nebraska]

Beautiful lumber there.

[Resonator]

Didn't know whether to post this here or in the "did something dumb" thread.

Had a guy call who never had lumber sawn before, said he had spruce logs and asked if I could saw them. I said sure bring them over, so he brought them and dropped off his trailer. First look they didn't look good at all. Looked like a guide poster for what not to saw. Dirty, crooked, small (I could just hear a guy in Alabama saying: "This a sawmill, not a pencil sharpener.")
But to be a nice guy I said I'd try to saw a couple that might be good ones. I sawed the 2 "best" logs, and that lumber looked like junk (knots, rot, etc.). I stopped there and messaged the customer to come get his trailer of logs and what little lumber I'd cut.
Lesson learned, from now on I want to see a picture of any new customer logs, before I say I will saw them.