using lumber that had been cut on my bandmill!
Got a load of cherry lumber delivered to my shop that had been sawn on a circle mill. The customer wants me to make 3 blanket chests out of it for them ;D. The tree had come from their property and they had a local circle sawyer cut it up.
I haven't used circle sawn lumber since I had bought my Mizer in 84!
I had to go find my leather gloves in order to handle this truely rough lumber, something I've grown unaccustomed too.
Well I quess I'd better get busy running this stuff through the planer so I can see how the grain runs and get the boards matched up properly :D.
The middle board was cut on my Mizer and is still rough ;D.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20rgh%20cherry%20o.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20rgh%20cherry%20ao.jpg)
This post isn't meant to start a debate, it's just an observation from a fellow wood enthusiatist ;).
What the heck............... >:( ;) :D
Hey show your work to us when your done ???
QuoteWhat the heck............... >:( ;) :D
That's exactly what I said when I first saw the lumber! :D :D
QuoteThe tree had come from their property and they had a local circle sawyer cut it up.
:D I'll bet he didn't have to change the blade a couple of times, or fool around with soapy water or diesel oil to get his mill to do the job. ;D ;D
Ed
As a circle mill operator I agree that is some rough looking wood. All it really tells you is that the sawyer needs to address his blade problems. Wood that rough is not typical of a well tuned circle mill.
It ALL looks the same when it comes outta the planer....cept the cirle cut wood only took about 6 seconds to cut ;)
Good point Buzz. I wouldn't know how to work without a few splinters in my arms anyway.
Yeah, I know what ya mean about getting spoiled with handling your own lumber. I am so used to running my own accuratly sawn circle mill lumber through my planer, I was miserable a couple weeks ago when I took on a job drying 3600 bft of a customers lumber and turning it into flooring. It was all sawn by a lady sawyer a couple hours from here on a bandmill, and was the poorest sawn bunch of wood I ever saw :oI think every piece was a diferent thickness, really a job on the first passes on the planer. Lot of pieces started out at one thickness, and tapered to another.Most of the stuff seemed sawed through and through , with pith ruining several boards, running right down the middle.She needs some sawin videos or sumthin :D I just ran some wide bandsawn ash today, and that was some nice stuff. Like already stated, ya gotta keep your stuff tuned up. I keep my blades sharp and , using carbide teeth, turn out very smooth lumber, nuthin like them pics ;)
Im a bandmill guy myself but have seen some pretty uptown circle sawn wood. My buddy Julius with the D&L can cut almost as smooth as my band. It might even be but the curved saw marks are easier to see. And Mark Ljungh here in town cuts with a Lucas and has got it figured as his wood is very smooth as well. Like it was said earlier, keep her tuned up for maximum performance. In the right hands, tweeked to the max, just about any mill of any type can cut excellent wood from good logs. ;D
Percy,
I could not agree more with your comments. :) :)
Ron
I certainly agree that a well tuned circle saw will cut an excellent board.
In this batch of lumber that certainly isn't the case! This really surprizes me because the sawyer that cut this wood has been running his mill nearly 40 yrs. that I know of.
The boards in the above pictures were actually some of the better ones, they get worse :(.
Quite a few of the boards have extreme tearout in the surface as though they were run through a dull planer. The tearout is so deep that it makes that part of the board useless.
Here is an example.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20cherry%20tearout%20o.jpg)
I didn't start this thread to take pot shots at circle sawn lumber.
I'm just very disappointed in the quality of the sawing.
I was excited when the customer first contacted me about making these chests for them but after seeing the lumber, my enthusiasm is somewhat dimmed.
I'll post some pictures of the finished chests :).
Also, I'll post a bunch of pictures and text as I wade thru this project on my web site under project photos when I get time to build another page.
Brian,
No offense taken. I just hate to see stuff like that. That guy really needs to take a look at his mill. I have used wood off my mill that all I had to do was sand it smooth.
B_B,
I wonder how dry the logs were when they were sawn? If the guy sawed them dry with a dull blade would explain the tear outs.
D_F,
I don't know too much history on this lumber other than it was sawn 4 yrs. ago and was sticked in a barn to A.D.
When I got it, I put it with some of my A.D. lumber and finished drying it in the kiln.
I suspect that since this was a custom sawing job, the sawyer waited until his blade was getting dull like you said before sawing it in case there was any hardware present.
I know what you mean by spoiled.
It took some tweaking, but, I have my chainsaw mill set up now so I can cut almost veener sized slices with it under 1/16 of an inch. Of course I end up wasting 3/8 of an inch of wood doing it :-D Though I have made some interesting things.
The wood now comes off my mill smoother than anything I can buy at Home Depot. I had someone who saw the wood ask me what planer I used after I cut the wood with the chainsaw.
I just finished cutting some mantle pieces of pine 12' x 4" x 7' clear on at least three sides. Try finding a piece of pine at Home Depot clear on two faces.
The last wood I bought at Home Depot (YellaWood - pressure treated) was so twisted and warped I gave up trying to screw it together at proper 90 degree angles for a firewood crib I was building for someone. I think they must cut down baby/sapling trees and use each one for a single 2x4 going by the growth rings. Next time I am going to use my free green white oak.
.
or maybe he hit the hardware in that log.. and kept going anyway. Why stop and sharpen when you probably going to hit something else ::)
It does look pretty rough alright and the tearout is pretty unusual. I might get a bit of that when I'm chewing through crossgrain around knots, but never down a good face.
Ianab,
There was no hardware cus I checked the boards real good! Don't want anything like that going thru my planer :o.
rebocardo,
I get a really smooth cut with my chainsaw mill too. Now if I could only get the work factor, factored out! :D :D.
Not to be tough on the circle guys but that pic is typical of circle sawn softwoods in our area. Even the old time sawyers.
I have seen some very nice circle sawn stuff used in a 60 yo barn I helped dismantle. Have also seen terrible bandsawn stuff at a wood worker friends house.
Hey everyone,
pretty sure it's summed up by;
regardless of machine type - Band or Circle - it's the operator and their responsibility to operate their respective machinery at it's optimum.
We've all had good or bad examples of each mill type, so it's hard to say its the type of mill hardware
What do you all think? :)
sigidi
Very well said, that is what I think. 8)
sigidi,
I can't agree more with your statement.
This lumber was poorly sawn and if I was the sawyer I would be embarrassed to have anyone else see it.
Hey Brian,
that's why I'm using all my cut timber for myself at the moment :D
I'm only 10 hours into my cutting experience and am terribly worried about giving some junk to a customer, so until I'm totally happy (which my wife says will be never!! :D ;D) I'm not selling any timber to a customer.
I think it'd only take one bad board to make a name for yourself.
sidigi,
I've cut my share of bad boards and still do at times, although it is less frequent then in the past. But I think the reason for that is because I'm not sawing as much :D :D.
One thing I've noticed selling retail is the customer will let you know when they think your trying to stick 'em with a bad board.
It is then up to you to decide ( because it's your reputation at stake ) whether the board is really bad or they're being ultra finicky.
I have not mastered the art of good usable boards right off the mill. More to it than I would have thought. I get really frustrated sometimes trying to use my own lumber.
I had some of my trees sawn by a local portable mill guy. And I thought I can do better than that. Bought me a mill learned real quickly it ain't easy. Learned a lot but still gotta lot to learn. The learning doesn't seem to end. Like the different tree species, how to run the mill, how to adjust your mill, different blades and on and on,
Most all my sawing is for my use. Tying to please me is hard sometimes.
My hats off to you guys that do this for a living and turn out good boards. If any of you guys ever become traveling trouble shooters, please let me know.
I have learned alot on this forum. I would be lost big time without it.
Ken
Brian - Do you always go around hitting hornets nests with sticks?
Thanks for the welcome in my newbie thread. Know your area fairly well. My college sweetie was a Varysburg babe. Would enjoy a mutual benchmarking road trip. I am intimadated by how shiney your equipment is on your web site though. Mine had been ridden hard and put away wet. Maybe some winter day when it's too cold to saw?
QuoteBrian - Do you always go around hitting hornets nests with sticks?
:D :D No, not
always, once was enough :o.
Some say I tend to be confrontational, not true I say :D.
Just not a crowd follower ;).
The only thing used hard by me is my credit card, that's why my equipment still looks shiney :D.
Winter isn't too far down the road, I've got some walnut to saw then its hibernation in the shop till May of next year when it warms up again :).
Looking forward to meeting you 8).
DextorDee,
Don't become discouraged! If your having a particular problem all ya have to do is ask and I'll bet most of us have experienced the same thing and might even have a solution for ya!
Best solution for Dexter is MOULTRIE , Ga, on the 19,20,21st of THIS month. Look for the whack of FF hats standin around one of the many mills. ;D ;D
with new teeth the D+L would be hard to beat. you can sure tell when they are dull. but it only takes 5 min. max to sharpen
duke
Bad as I hate to admit it (I sure ain't posting no pixs!) I've got some cherry I cut on my bandmill that looks almost as bad. I've still got some of it and I keep it as a reminder to keep track of my blades, 'specially the ones whut cut nails!!! ;D
C'mon Bigdog we all friends here... :D ;D
Well, this is what I made out of some of that rough circle sawed cherry lumber.
After a lot of tweezer use at first, a lot of measuring an cut'n an fit'n, I found this rough wood to be a lot like some people, the roughness was only on the surface :D.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20cherry%20chest%20o.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20cherry%20chest%20ao.jpg)
Brian thats a fine looking Blanket Chest, you must have found a few good pieces of that cherry, especially that front piece.
Very nice!
That is SUPER nice 8) 8) 8)
Very nice work Brian. :) Hand cut dovetails? ???
Truely a thing of beauty Brian!
QuoteVery nice work Brian. :) Hand cut dovetails? ???
Yup! The only way, unless you're in a hurry :D :D.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/bai%20hand%20cutting%20dovetails%20o.jpg)
Very nice Brian.(https://forestryforum.com/smile/thumbsup.gif)
Nice quilt too. ;)
Brian,
Looks to me like there are too many defects in that chest to ruin your good reputation by giving it to your customer. Just crate it up and ship it down to me for proper disposal. Remember to pad it well as cherry can be explosive. I'll make sure that you don't get blamed for building such a thing. Your reputation will be safe that way.
Just trying to help a fellow forum member.....
VA-Sawyer
Good work Brian. It always gives ya a good feeling when you can turn somebody's dream into reality.
Were you able to scrape together enough wood to make all three of the chests?
Brian,
Great looking chest. I think my wife has one of htose on my 'honey-do' list somewhere.
Larry,
I'm working on the 2nd chest now. It looks like I might have enough for a third one but it will entail gluing up a lot of narrow pieces which I want to avoid if I can.
The customer wants a fourth chest and has stated that they're going to cut another cherry down and have me saw & dry the lumber. So I will probably wait on making the 3rd one.
Va-Sawyer, the guy I'm making these for is a judge. I don't think he'll ruin my reputation but he might throw me in jail though :o.
Thanks for the compliments!