I cut about 300 bdft of cedar today after doing housework (BLAH!). After cutting a few boards two small tree frogs popped out of a hole in the middle of the board. They where not harmed but I found their 3 brothers in the next cut. Boy those little beasts make a mess when you go thru one! :o
Things I've learned so far.
1. You can NEVER have enough stickers.
2. The reason I never have enough stickers is because I hate cutting good boards into stickers.
3. Cut ALL logs to proper length prior to milling or you will cus yourself when stacking.
4. If the neighbors know I'm cutting cedar, I will have no waste left, including saw dust (they cleaned up every scrap I produced!)
5. People will stop, sit and watch you saw every board you cut. Even people I never met before.
I'm sure I forgot something, Oh tried my first woodmizer 1.25 x .42 9 degree and absolutly loved it. It made my mill perform so much better it was like a new machine.
OHH another one.
6. 12 inch wide boards are great but I have enough so stop already and cut 6" wide. (Everytime I can get a 12 incher I cut it, but this is all for my use and I have a boat load of 12 inch cedar boards)
i'd love some 12" cedar!
after a while, you just bite the bullet on the sticker problem, and take a nice clear log and saw the whole thing into stickers then sit on it's stump and cry. then you know the "harmony" of running a sawmill :)
today, I cut a bunch of stickers from the boards that needed edged, it worked out pretty well.
I'm going to run to a cabinet shop tomorrow and see if I can get some scrap plywood. I hated sawing good stuff into stickers.
I have a log I want to ask for advice on. Its a really nice oddly shaped cedar. It has large lobes on the sides that from what I see will produce alot of waste. I'll run outside now and get a photo and see what you guys think.
i thought about the plywood idea for stickers, but I feel that real wood is probably better. unfortunately, you should use clear wood for stickers, because they'll crook and go all crazy at any knots.
after you get several hundred of the durn things, you might be lucky enough to end up with a rotating pool.
picking a nice board out to saw into stickers is kind of like picking which chicken you want for dinner when you only have 5!
It's been 9 1/2 minutes since Modat said he was heading outside to take pics. He still ain't back??? :)
Sam,
I bought 2 sheets of 4' x 8'- 3/4 CDX plywood last weekend. I had HD rip both in half, then I cross cut them both at home. Of the 8 2'x4' sheets I ripped them into 5/8" inches wide stickers. Total, this gave me almost 240 4' stickers. It was only $17 per sheet. When I stack, I make sure ply's are on the side. There is probably a reason not to do this, & i'm sure someone here will inform us of why.
Shawn...
7. You know something is broken because you see it laying in the sawdust as you walk by it. Pick it up quick or you loose it in the sawdust.
8. If a neighbor ask you to do something, say NO! they'll only complain about it later!
ahh sorry it took so long couldn't find my flashlight.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13024/bcedar1.jpg)
tis a bigone. I plan on counting rings soon. 35 inches at the big end
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13024/bcedar2.jpg)
See that huge lobe? I have no idea on how I'm going to cut this with the least amount of waste.
Quarter saw it! Thats how I cut my red oak. Takes for ever! But what beautiful lumber.
I bet his wife was showing him the short cuts on the house work he did today and now he's doing it right. ;)
Modat your the only guy I know that would complain about having to many 12" wide cedar boards. :)
Tag Sam your it.
Tom
Quote from: Part_Timer on October 15, 2006, 10:34:11 PM
I bet his wife was showing him the short cuts on the house work he did today and now he's doing it right. ;)
Modat your the only guy I know that would complain about having to many 12" wide cedar boards. :)
Tag Sam your it.
Tom
Nah I did pretty good on the house, Mandy went to Nashville for 4 days and left me a list with another list of bad things that would happen to me if I hedged my responsibilities :o
Those 12 inchers are nice but I use the 6 inchers more often, but dangit everytime I make a cut I see another 12 inchers that just looks too nice to pass up :D
My advice to you is to through that ugly thing on the trailer and haul it up here so I can show you the proper way to saw it. I could cut you some 16" if your tired of 12".
Sorry Sam I need someone to pick on tonight and your number was drawn. Not the lottery but you'll just have to live with it. :D :D
Quote from: Part_Timer on October 15, 2006, 10:40:03 PM
My advice to you is to through that ugly thing on the trailer and haul it up here so I can show you the proper way to saw it. I could cut you some 16" if your tired of 12".
Sorry Sam I need someone to pick on tonight and your number was drawn. Not the lottery but you'll just have to live with it. :D :D
Part_timer you can pick on me all you like, it doesn't bother me. I've been married 11 years now and I'm used to much worse than that :D I'd be happy to bring it up to you but the only way I have to haul it is with my log arch and its not real steady at speeds over 20 mph ;D
I wish I had these when you needed cedar during that hopkinsville lumber show.
Modat, for goodness sakes please flat saw the cedar. At least flat saw what you can get to.
Here is how my rustic furniture customer wanted it sawed.
7/8 thick. wide boards. some natural edge, some one squared edge, when the cant was square, cut clean boards.
slabs 2 or 3 inches thick (he put them on the tablesaw and cut natural edge trim from them)
cut a few 2" wide boards for table tops
He saved most of the limbs and little logs that were too small to saw and used them for legs.
He saved interesting looking knots and little pieces of wood for drawer pulls.
He saved any edgings for trim. (he used it in the house and on furniture, mirror and picture frames, etc.)
He usually sanded one surface and seldom wanted a full inch board.
Quote from: Tom on October 15, 2006, 10:45:02 PM
Modat, for goodness sakes please flat saw the cedar. At least flat saw what you can get to.
Here is how my rustic furniture customer wanted it sawed.
7/8 thick. wide boards. some natural edge, some one squared edge, when the cant was square, cut clean boards.
slabs 2 or 3 inches thick (he put them on the tablesaw and cut natural edge trim from them)
cut a few 2" wide boards for table tops
He saved most of the limbs and little logs that were too small to saw and used them for legs.
He saved interesting looking knots and little pieces of wood for drawer pulls.
He saved any edgings for trim. (he used it in the house and on furniture, mirror and picture frames, etc.)
He usually sanded one surface and seldom wanted a full inch board.
I've been leaving about 30 percent of my boards with natural edge. So far I've sawn everything 4/4 but I think I'll do a few 2 inch thick full slabs out of this one. Having so little experience at milling I'm not in a hurry to cut this one. I have one more tree this size I need to cut down in the next couple weeks and three around 20 - 25 inches. These bad boys are tall though.
Thanks for the advice, I'll end up drawing a picture with trial cuts at work. I really want to get as much out of this log as I can and I can't wait to see the grain pattern.
That's all right maybe next year. I think they are going to move it back to London. I'm not sure but they were talking about it.
If we do that show again and the both of you can show up dinner is on us.
Why would you q saw cedar? I've done oak that way and understand why but what advantage is there in doing it to cedar.
I was wondering about the qsawing statement myself. I couldn't see how that would make cedar look better and I'd have more waste. Oak I can understand, its fantastic qsawn.
Quote from: Modat22 on October 15, 2006, 10:16:32 PM
I'm going to run to a cabinet shop tomorrow and see if I can get some scrap plywood. I hated sawing good stuff into stickers.
That works for me. A local shop lets me get all the sticker material I want. The only problem is that much of it is a little thinner than I like, but it is KD and free 8)
No matter how you saw that ERC , the boards will fall apart at that ingrown bark area. :(
In this area I have found few ERC that are as big as the ones you have and most of them are rotten in the center.
I have found the cedar that I like the best for furniture is the top logs of big cedar that have all the knots.
Bob
Two months ago I cut four 30" diameter ERC for a customer. Yesterday I went to look at a job and the guy has 12-15 14ft ERC all 14" and larger and round. No in-grown bark! I'm just waiting to find the nails and fence wire in them for him. :D
On the stickers, just cut them from the 1st outside boards as you square up the cant. These are mostly the lower grade wood anyway.