Whatcha Sawin' 2020 ??

[Larry]

I just finished day 6 helping a neighbor sawmill/friend get caught up.  He said it might take three days when I started. :D

First two or three days was sawing out oak construction lumber for some kind of large pagoda.  I hated that, as I don't saw enough dimension lumber to get efficient.

Next was 4/4 grade lumber which is my bread and butter.




I don't get the credit for stacking on this job, thank goodness!

Think I just about have all the walnut logs sawn.  Funny thing is, I think the logs are reproducing overnight.

A quick glance at some of the remaining logs.  I was scared to walk down and see how far the piles go back in the woods.




I start about 9am and quit as soon as it gets hot, normally around 1 or 2.

My friend also has an air conditioned shop where he builds all kinds of expensive resin tables along with selling the supplies to others.  I usually hang out in there learning....

He just finished up this wine bottle holder which I think is exceptional.





 

[Magicman]

I understand how you feel Larry about "scared to see how far the log piles go back."  Sometime it seems to never end.  You are looking good!!



 
Luke and I had to wait out another flood....Thankfully bark and sawdust makes good "gravel".  The sawdust in the background was at our previous setup.


 
but after it passed we still managed to saw a few logs.  This is a crazy bookmatch.


 
Your imagination can go wild with these two boards.  smiley_dizzy


 
We are now down to these 10 logs in this location and 26 more in another location.  We have sawn 14 logs here, and 100 logs total.


 
Framing lumber on the right and Red Oak 1X's on the left.  In the left background is what we sawed before we moved the sawmill.  


 
A closer look at those 5 days of sawing.  Depending upon the weather we should finish Tuesday or certainly Wednesday.  We will be glad to put this 98 mile road trip job behind us.

[Andries]

Great work MM and Luke!
That's a showcase for a strong work ethic.

[WDH]

MM,

Sure hope that lumber does not stay there and rot.  I would hate to know that I had to move all that.  It is in the  weather and there will be air flow problems.  Customers do not realize just how much work there is and facilities required for the lumber after the logs are sawn.

After you saws em and leaves em, the customer has to deal withs em. 

[caveman]

WDH,
that is one of the things I really appreciate about MM's business model. He is able to get the cash and dash. 
We get to fall, load, haul, unload, sort, stage, saw, sticker stack, dry, display, sell, load and rotate stock that did not sell or find a use for it.
I really like it when folks bring good logs to us.  We saw them and flat stack the lumber right back on their trailer. Unfortunately this is not the norm. 

[Magicman]

Yes sadly it goes that way many times and I fully predict that it will in this instance.  The customer cleared ~5 acres and had no sale for the trees/logs so he decided to have them sawn.  The SYP were huge yard trees with three 8' logs and no tops.  The Red Oak is mostly low quality Water Oak that stinks when sawn.  He has nowhere to put it and actually no use for the lumber except to build a 10'X10' out building from lumber all bucked to 8'.    I have already sawn over 7500bf and my prediction is that the great majority of this lumber will sit and rot.  Yes it does happen in many instances.  I have gone back to repeat customers and seen previously sawn lumber sitting and rotting.    I ask no questions except "what is your cut list"?

I sawed this job LINK producing 12,103bf of Cypress that is still stickered out in the open.  The lumber was all loaded onto trailers and hauled to the kiln operator who refused it until it had been air dried so it was brought back and was being stickered (Reply #30) when I left.  It's still there.  :-\

caveman, you are correct.  Most of my customers are landowners who have logs and no specific need for the lumber but they do not want the trees/logs to go to waste.  If it's SYP which the great majority is, they say saw 2X4's and 2X6's 'cause that's what I generally need.  If it's Oak they say, "saw lumber".

My very first year of sawing put me out of the lumber business and into the sawing business.  I had no sheds and no lumber handling FEL so the decision was simple.  No sheds, no lumber, no inventory, sell nothing, saws um and leaves um, "cash and dash".  (your words)

The other business decision which I have gotten more comfortable with during the past few years is "have sawmill, will travel".  No matter how far nor how big/small the job.  Pay my travel/setup and lodging and I will be there.  I sawed well over 100Mbf last year on road trips.

[Patrick NC]

 

 
I was sawing an order of 8/4 cedar this morning and this one jumped up off the mill and fell off on the ground. First time I've seen cedar do that. It actually broke off from the bottom one about 4 or 5 inches before I got to the end. Maybe I can make a rocking chair!😂

[Magicman]

I have seen ERC do that but it is a rare occurrence.  Most of the time ERC is well behaved.

Now let me tell you about that crooked pith off center SYP log that I sawed yesterday evening.  I told Luke that it was a "bad log" and that I shouldn't saw it, but I did anyway.  Probably half of it went into the slab pile.  Bowed, twisted, and any/everything else that you can think of.  Just bad.  :-\

[WV Sawmiller]

  I don't saw much ERC so have not seen that. I have seen it out of ash and hickory. A little spring in some of my poplar  but not that much. Good luck with the rocker. :D

  I had a neighbor wanted to cut out some curved seat pieces for an old rocker and wanted to just get a thicker piece and saw it out. I told her I did not think that would be very strong as she would be cutting across the grain on thin wood and suggested she cut it thin and steam and bend it to the shape she wanted as I think that is the more normal practice. Maybe if she'd had this piece ....

[WDH]

Cash and Dash.  :D :D :D

I have people call me with logs that they want sawn (which I won't saw as I do not have time to custom saw) and I explain the process to them and they are surprised when I tell them that the lumber takes up a lot of space, has to get good air flow (no basements), stacks need covered at a minimum, under a shed is better, and it takes a minimum of 4 to 8 months to air dry depending on species.  You have to have room.  Many say, "Oh, I did not realize that you had to do all that."

[WV Sawmiller]

   I used threatening rain as an excuse not to start on a customer's order of 11 (8-16' & 3 - 12' - estimate 1750 bf Int'l 1/4" scale) poplar logs I have staged by the mill. I even have one 16' log on the arms. I got out and made/finished 4 more sawhorses to stack the assorted cuts on as it comes off the mill/till the order is finished. Three were about 18" tall made mostly from cut off 2X6 rafters from my last barn build for legs. I did have to break into my ash stack and dragged out a couple of 15' 2X4s. I cut them into 4' lengths for the I-beam portion of the sawhorses. Each made one sawhorse top and one left over 3' piece for another leg. I finally dug out 2- 7' poplar 2X4s to finish my last sawhorse. Hopefully I can finish the order in the next few days and when done I have plenty of use especially for the short sawhorses.

[dirtmotor]

Started on the sassafras pile today went well till i hit a nail on the 4th log . i dug out the nail and eased back into cut more sparks , got the metal detector, nothing then the got chain saw and cut out the piece , there was a ceramic insulater around nail ! First one for me.

 

[Patrick NC]

Last week I found a 1" rock on a hollow knot in a big cedar log. Made an interesting noise and a mess out of a new band. That's the 2nd one I've found in this wood lot. Makes me wonder how they got there. 

[cutterboy]

It's always with a new band. > > :-[

[Banjo picker]

Sure hope that lumber does not stay there and rot.  I would hate to know that I had to move all that. 

I have 3000 board feet cut waiting on a customer to pick up.  About half framing lumber and the other half boards.  

 

 He has these logs on the left plus this trailer truck load left.  I have stopped sawing his until he picks up what he already has cut.  They will keep better in log form than dead stacked.  Tim

[Patrick NC]

It's always with a new band. > > :-[

Always. And usually on the first cut! 🤬

[doc henderson]

@Cardiodoc and i milled up the "tree of heaven" today.  it smelled great and had hardly any tension in the wood.   :D :D :D



 

It had some nice grain.  the above was from the second smaller stem.   :D



 

the bigger butt stem milled nice.  Mike just dropped the tree yesterday.  good ol anchorseal on the ends.  we will see how it dries.



 

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   Keep us posted. I have several here in the backyard I'd rather were doing something else.

[doc henderson]

will do.  please join me in welcoming cardiodoc.  he is a cardiologist I have known and worked with, (and somehow we are still friends)    for over 25 years.  He is into woodworking and he is working on improving the forest (Kansas) on his little chunk of heaven.  I have posted several of his projects as a "my happy customer"  threads.  he is now a member.  Welcome @Cardiodoc 

[firefighter ontheside]

Welcome aboard @Cardiodoc 

I milled white pine for the first time this morning.  It went well with very little waviness.  I was concerned that the knots would be troublesome.  I used lots of water and the blade stayed very clean.  We cut sixty 1x6, four 1x8 and four 1x10 from three logs.

[firefighter ontheside]

@doc henderson hardly any tension he says.....lol

[Banjo picker]

Welcome to Cardiodoc.  Always good to have another medical person on board.  Don't be a silent partner.  Tim

[WV Sawmiller]

   I finally overcame inertia enough to get started on my customers poplar logs. I have been doing a pretty good job of putting it off blaming the weather and such and mostly worried about how much stress was going to affect me in those 16' logs. Before started I moved the mill back next to the logs after my last mobile job and checked the blade tilt and verified level with the bed.


 11 logs total - 8 are 16', 3 are 12'.

 I cut the first log up into 6/4X 4" X16' then the next log the customer wanted 4- 4X10X16 for bridge bumpers. I had to cut 4 out of this log to avoid splitting the pith. I took off a 4/4 flitch and found I had a 10" face between the bark so set my SimpleSet for a 4" drop, cut off a cant, checked and found the pith was off center and took another 4" cant, flipped the cant, set my mark, got another 4/4 flitch leaving an 8-1/8" cant and split that giving me 3 FOH cants and one pith center 4" cant. I edged them and got 6-7 more 6/4 X 4"X16' per the customer's cut list and my 4 - 4X10's. I trimmed up my 4/4 flitches into 3" battens and when a couple had too much bow I just made the customer some long stickers. End of the day I had 26 of the customer's 50 6/4 X 4" pieces, the 4X10's and a handful of battens. Total 446 bf out of the 2 logs.  


 26 - 1.5"X 4" X 16' on 2 old and one new sawhorse.


 4-4"X10" X 16' bridge bumpers stacked and leveled on some handy locust posts.


 A handful of 1"X 3"X 10'-16' battens.

 9 more logs to go. I start on 1"X12"X16's and 1.5"X 6" X 16's tomorrow I guess.

@Cardiodoc ,

 Welcome to the FF and we will not hold any past association with Doc Henderson against you. We all have episodes in our past we'd rather everyone did not know about.:D

[olcowhand]

Welcome Cardiodoc,
Maybe we should only use "heart" emojis when we reply to your posts?
Steve

[Hackeldam Wood Products]

Howard, that big lumber will wear a man out. Nice work.