My customer wants 1 x 12s and 1 x 4s 14 ft long from it. If I taper saw it will be my first so I am looking for specific advice. Note location of piths and the ingrown bark; other than the extreme butt flair on the top side of the log, the taper is fairly uniform. The small end is about 1.5" off the bunks but the rest of the log makes bunk contact.
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Well I can see why you are asking for a second opinion on that one. :D
I could throw in an opinion, but likely I would be wrong or not entirely correct. I struggle with these decisions also. I would ask somebody Like @Magicman (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=10011) or @YellowHammer (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=11488) for a consult on that one.
I will say you should expect some hidden stresses in that log that may release as the boards come off. I think I would try to get the 1x12's from the top and bottom of the log as it lays in your photos and leave the 4" in the middle, then flip it and take the 1x4's from that center section. BUT do not follow this suggestion, let's wait until the real Sawyers weigh in.
Offset pith from end to end and that bark inseam don't lend well to 1x12's.
If I were to guess I would say that tree is from a side hill and you are likely to get bow in wide lumber.
You can not get good lumber from bad logs so you have to sometimes get what the log gives you. The customer has to understand that and I very often quote it to customers. In this instance, I would saw for bow rather than crook.
Lay the log on it's side, horns toward one side of the sawmill. Forget the pith and center the log by raising the top end so that the center is equal to the center of the butt end. Establish your 12' cant target on the top end and saw down to it. It probably would be easier now to turn 180° and saw down to your target but you may have to knock the horns off it they interfere with your 4 posts. Some if not all of your side lumber will bow but that is just the way it is.
I don't see this particular log as unusual nor challenging, just something that you have to get out of your way so that you can get back to good logs.
Thanks MM, That's clear.
Thanks from me too Lynn. I like this question and conversation because out of all the stuff I have had to learn about milling since I started, by far the most challenging is planning how to mill each log and picking your opening cut, because then you are committed. There is no simple formula, no charts, no cheat sheets, no books that will make this step perfect every time. Each log is different and requires thought. Sometimes it is a 10 second look, then just send it, and sometimes I look at that log for a longer time than I should trying to figure it out.
I would expect this log will yield a lot less than the owner expects and the quality will not be too good in many of the boards, but as you say, good lumber from poor logs ain't a happening thing (sorry, I paraphrased).I think if this log were mine I would try cutting it short or trim the resulting wood to minimize the bowing and hope there is enough to plane after drying.
Good conversation.
MM gets up earlier than I, so I'm a little late.
Actually, I said "Nice!" when I saw the log, except then I said "darn" when you said you had to mill to customer specs, as that really limits what options you have.
The inclusion throws an unknown into the mix.
The wood will be stressed so it will certainly bow, but with such long thin boards (4" x 12'), bow isn't a big deal, and getting the board balanced within the axis of the pith in the bow direction would be key, because the idea is to avoid twist.
So try to isolate and keep the stress in the bow plane only. Avoid crooks, would be bad in this instance, as with narrow 4" boards, even a little crook would take a lot of usable meat off the the long, narrow boards, and bow in such long thin ones will flatten out by gravity when they are flipped over anyway.
So using the toe boards cant the thing up. Take whatever opening faces to get a few narrow boards and start taking wide side wood off until you get down to a 12" cant. Then take the 12" cant all the way down until you get it narrowed to 4" and then flip it and take the rest as 4" until everything is gone.
The real unknown is the inclusion on the butt flare, you'll just have to play that one by ear, it could screw up the boards from that face, so stay away from it and take as much as you can from the good sides until you have to deal with it. That may be where you get a few extra 4" boards, unfortunately.
Now, if I was sawing this for myself, i.e. not for customer use with targeted widths, and going random width cleaned up with an edger, this guy screams high grade vertical grain sawn wood due to its unbalance. I would take that whole wide side down and get vertical grain off the entire side, let it crook when it dries and straighten it up on the edger later. Probably 2/3rds of the log would make make very flat, very high quality VGS wood. However, there would be very few 12" wide boards so that's why I wouldn't use this technique for customer lumber with this log. This log is an example where post drying edging can make a huge difference and why sawing to customer specs can affect the quality of the resulting lumber.
Thanks for all the input - now I know to keep expectations low. I'll start sawing it when family routine Dr appts are done.
I don't think it'll be that bad.
Things went pretty well sawing this log. I oriented the log so the streak of ingrown bark was parallel to the 12' wide boards to be sawn so the bark would be in as few boards as possible. (Turned out to be 2 boards). I ignored the pith and leveled the log according to the geometric center. I sawed down to open a 12" wide face, flipped the log to cut off the sides and the butt flare, flipped back to the 12" wide face and sawed 11 full size boards. Boards showed remarkably little crook - maybe 3/4" over the 16' length. (In opening post I said the were 14s but they are 16s). Thanks to all for helpful comments to get me started.
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That old Cook's sawmill still can turn out some mighty nice looking lumber with you skill at operating it. I would say you were very successful figuring out how to get the ugly out and making the rest look great. Thanks for sharing the pictures. GF
8)
Well done Sir. thumbs-up
looks great! :o :) :D
You did a good job, especially in isolating that butt crack. The boards look nice. smiley_thumbsup smiley_thumbsup
Looks to me like you did a great job given what you had to work with.
Quote from: YellowHammer on August 24, 2021, 01:58:57 PM
I don't think it'll be that bad.
That forecast pretty much sums it up. I fretted too much about it.
I cut some 1 x 1 stickers from the slabs and they bowed and crooked so much they may be nothing but firepit kindling. So far, that's the only misbehaving lumber in this log. (fingers crossed)
Did someone say butt crack?
Quote from: barbender on August 28, 2021, 12:44:11 PM
Did someone say butt crack?
A logger said to me. "Hey Dave- not every log can have a nice butt".