I've been a visitor to this site for some time and have learned a great deal from all the wonderful contributors. I have wanted a sawmill for a long time and have the loan of the neighbors LT10 for the winter. Great folks. They are a hard working Russian family with lots of kids. I asked if they were interested in doing some sawing for me and they said"No, we bring to you and you saw". The boys brought it over and set it up. All I had to do was level it. In the past I always hauled my logs to sawyers. I use our local spruce, birch and cottonwood for furniture. I sawed a few cottonwood and a birch log a few weeks back. I have a small woodlot with some mature birch I'll harvest this fall and a friend with several very large solid cottonwoods in need of removal. I'm looking forward to quite a bit of sawing this winter. This is a great site and thank you for all the good information.
It was raining off and on the day I was cutting. My contractor buddy stopped by and I conned him into pulling boards. His gears were spinning thinking of the possibilities.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0279.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0272.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0273.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0269.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0270.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0281.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0048_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0053_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0057_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0058_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0060_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0065_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0079_28Small29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21968/IMG_0056_28Small29.JPG)
Interesting! I wouldnt mind trying out cottonwood or birch!
Good looking mill!!! :laugh:
It's good to meet you Mart. I can see you've done some milling and it looks like you have some very nice boards.
Very good pictures......really good. smiley_thumbsup
It's a good little mill. I am going to offer to buy it from them. My contractor buddy is already scheming to get a bunch of cottonwood for paneling. He is a small jobs contractor, garages, sheds, cabins and remodels. He gave up the headache of houses years ago and makes more on small jobs than he did as a full scale contractor. More time to himself as well.
I work in the North Slope oil fields two weeks on/two weeks off. It gives me ample time to enjoy Alaska's hunting and fishing. Momma keeps me pretty busy with projects and remodel work. I get a little time in there to cut some logs once in a while. Seems to be no shortage of folks who want to get rid of some trees. I miss the hardwoods of the Northeast where I grew up. We really only have spruce, birch and cottonwood here. There are some other coniferous species in other areas but not in my area. Birch is far and away the nicest wood we have for furniture and cabinetry. I've done dressers in spruce before and it's pretty nice. This is the first cottonwood I've cut so am looking forward to playing with it on some furniture projects.
I have worked some in the past with a friend with a mill. He kind of showed me the ropes and I've picked up a tremendous amount of information here.
Mart
I do have a question on the cottonwood as far as shrinkage. I've heard it shrinks considerably so have been cutting mine at 5/4 to make sure I have plenty to end up with 3/4 inch finished stock. Should I go a little less or is that a good place to start with cottonwood?
Mart
mart,welcome to the forum. You really scared me with them white pictures. I thought it had come all ready. Than I came too,and you said it was raining. Last years pictures. ;) Welcome to the world of sawing.
Actually those log loading pictures were from a few years back when I loaded a bunch of birch with a parbuckle to take to a friend's mill. We actually have snow up here on the North Slope right now but none at home yet. Won't be long though. This next two weeks off I have to get my lay down area cleaned up and the mill moved because it's where we plow snow to for the winter. Need to be ready for the snow and have to have a place to push it.
Mart
Welcome aboard Mart,
The little 10 is a dandy mill, I learned a ton on mine.
You close to Palmer Ak?? I have family there.
Best
DGD
Yes. I'm in Wasilla, about 15 miles from Palmer.
Welcome, mart. You'll like it here. Do you know Sarah and Todd? You might want to show your location in your profile, so we can easily find it. It will get lost in this post, and never surface when it's wanted.
Enjoy our group. You've found the best forum on the Internet.
Hello mart, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. :)
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Mart!
Wasilla is a nice community! We had lots of friends who lived there when I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB!
FYI: There is a Wood-Mizer dealer in Anchorage!
I bought my blades from the dealer in Anchorage. Nice guy. If my neighbors don't sell their saw to me, I'll probably end up with a new LT10 from him.
I have met both Sarah and Todd. I used to buy raffle tickets from her at the gun shows when she was a hockey booster mom. Nice folks.
Mart
Russell,
What part of way upstate NY are you from. I grew up on a dairy farm in St. Lawrence county. DeKalb Junction to be exact. My dad is still there and in fact we'll be back there this month to visit.
Mart
Welcome Mart,
I have no experience with cottonwood but, I've seen pictures of very nice paneling. In addition to the shrinkage, I've read it likes to move a lot. Read - plenty of weight on your stacks while drying.
Great introduction and pictures, mart.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum. :)
Great job on the pics/intro! Welcome to the forestry forum. We moved down to the states from the "Great Land" several years back. Still have family in Palmer/wasilla and Fairbanks. There is a lot of untapped resources there (Alaska), does the state still have the annual subsistence timber allotment on state timber lands? In the interior a resident was allotted 25 mbf per year, they specified the areas that you had to go to get your trees, but it was a pretty good deal, IMO. Nice looking stacks of boards you have for there!!
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Mart.
Great pictures and introduction. Thanks.
Sounds like you're living the dream.
Allan
Quote from: mart on October 01, 2013, 08:46:04 PM
Russell,
What part of way upstate NY are you from. I grew up on a dairy farm in St. Lawrence county. DeKalb Junction to be exact. My dad is still there and in fact we'll be back there this month to visit.
Mart
Russell is about 10 miles from DeKalb Jct.
Go from DeKalb Jct to Hermon, make a left turn on your way out of Hermon and you'll be headed towards Russell!
You can go to my profile and use the map to see where I hang my hat!
Good luck to you on your endevour!
Chuck
Welcome to FF mart!
Nice pictures.
Nice see an Alaskan :) I'm married to an Inupiaq, so no avoiding Alaska for me. We'll be moving back up there in a year or two for retirement, and the valley is one of the areas we're considering, along with Willow/Talkeetna area, and the Kenai pen. Gonna mill logs & build cabin on site, or so is the plan.
Welcome to the forestry forum. ;D Looks like it is so hot up there that the polar bears and walri are dying from the heat. ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Thanks for the warm welcome fellas. Chuck, I should of read your location a little closer. I know right where Russell is. We used to take our milk to the cheese factory there in the mid and late 70s after our milk plant required producers to go to bulk tanks. We were still on cans and Dad opted not to change. Used to play Russell in sports. Used to hunt around Donner Hill or Mountain. I can't remember exactly what it was called.
As far as the state allotment on lumber, I'll have to look into that. I've not heard of it but will check into it.
Alaska has been a great adventure for us. My wife filled the freezer for us this year when she filled her cow moose tag. I still have a caribou tag to fill, hopefully, when we get back from NY. I get home from the slope Friday and am going to try to find a black bear before they go down for the winter.
qbilder, the Valley and Kenai are great but I really like the Willow/Talkeetna area. My small wood lot is between Willow and Talkeetna. Only 1 1/3 acres but a lot of mature birch on it. Kenai gets pretty crowded in the summer but it sure is beautiful.
The area between Willow & Talkeetna is beautiful and still fairly sparse of people, yet close enough to Wasilla for modern conveniences. I have friends in Willow, helped them build their retirement home there on Crystal lake. Man, just yapping about it makes me miss Alaska even more. God's country.
Hi Mart---2 years ago spent some helping a friend from Wasilla--Alex Conners --build a cabin down by Sterling. I worked with contractor , a Larry Peet from Wasilla we sure a great time. We even spent some time looking for gold with our metal detectors. I often wondered how many mills there were in that area. We did buy some materials from a mill by Solnotna. Anyway has a good time---You live in a great state. Don
We used to saw a lot of cottonwood when I lived in Ohio. It does shrink a lot. On outdoor applications it must be kept dry and out of contact with the ground or it rots quick. It is good for indoor use but it is a very soft wood so it dents easy. Most of it is kind of plain looking but sometimes you get some color in it. I fuzzs bad when you plane it so you need a very sharp planer to do a good job. It is a useful general purpose lumber but I think it a poor lumber for use in furniture. We used it a lot for framing, sheathing and siding but it must be painted or it will not last if used for siding. I certainly would saw it if I had it but I would not be buying Cottonwood logs. The pallet makers liked it because it was easy to cut. In Ohio it was very fast growing and could exceed 6 foot in diameter though it was not normally that big
Quote from: mart on October 02, 2013, 11:56:01 AM
As far as the state allotment on lumber, I'll have to look into that. I've not heard of it but will check into it.
Next time you are in town, go to the nearest state forestry office and ask, or you can go on their website and see if they have information there about it. The yearly allowance was 25,000 board feet of timber per year, they would tell you where you could go to get it, i.e. they had marked areas, it was up to the person wanting to claim their allowance to cut, skid, load and haul however they chose to do it. State forestry just told you where it was ok to go. I think there may have been a small administrative fee attached to cover their end of having a forester mark cut areas, and cover the paperwork end of it, kind of like getting a firewood permit from the USFS. Maybe I am all wrong on this, but we were in the FBNS Borough, and I am sure that the state forestry (DNR) office had an annual timber allowance in the interior region forestry, for anyone who chose to take advantage of said allotment. Maybe it is something that the State has gone away from. This was 20 yeras ago.
Quote from: Barney II on October 02, 2013, 02:41:03 PM
Hi Mart---2 years ago spent some helping a friend from Wasilla--Alex Conners --build a cabin down by Sterling. I worked with contractor , a Larry Peet from Wasilla we sure a great time. We even spent some time looking for gold with our metal detectors. I often wondered how many mills there were in that area. We did buy some materials from a mill by Solnotna. Anyway has a good time---You live in a great state. Don
Small world. Larry Peet is the other guy in my sawing pictures and my best friend. I am familiar with that cabin in Sterling. I've helped Larry a time or two with it.
DRB, I was planning on using the cottonwood for secondary lumber such as drawer sides and such. I have seen one set of kitchen cabinets in cottonwood. They were really quite attractive. Seen quite a bit of it used as paneling. It makes good fur forms, easy to get a push pin into.