sawing bowing cants

[xlogger]

I've been talking to a couple of members here off line about cants turning up or down while cutting boards off. Has anyone here use small spikes low down on the log stops to pinch the cant from bowing while cutting. What are the pros and cons on this? Do they mess up the boards when you turn the Cants over?

[slider]

It's best to just keep flipping the cant until the tension is gone or this movement is going to get worse in the drying process .That's how it's been with me.

[giant splinter]

XL
I have used small log tongs inverted and rigged  from under the frame of the mill, in that particular case the log was not going to let me pull it off. I have to agree with Slider on flipping the log/cant around till it is cooperating.
I had boards jumping up off the cant as much as 2" behind the blade as it approached the end of the cut, at times it was enough up pressure to split the  grain out leaving only saw marks on the cant and a 1" wide tear out chunk behind.
I suspect this can be damaging to the mill as well as unsafe for those around it.

[Magicman]

I just keep flipping the cant as boards are removed.  Sometimes after each board.

[mesquite buckeye]

Good call, Magic. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[Peter Drouin]

Sometimes when the thing moves I grab it with the clamp and pull it down




  

 

I put on some fangs, but you have to be careful or you will rip the corner off the cant  :D :D :D :D :D

[Finn1903]

Sometimes when the thing moves I grab it with the clamp and pull it down
I put on some fangs, but you have to be careful or you will rip the corner off the cant  :D :D :D :D :D

been there, even without the fangs I have taken a chuck out of the softwoods with my clamp.

[ladylake]

Seems like if the cant can be held down in the center until the final cut all of the boards would come out the same thickness from end to end, no skinny ends and thick middles.  They come off a stressed log like a banana  no matter if you turn often or not.   .   Steve

[drobertson]

bowing cants can be a real pain, flipping will help but they will still at times continue the fight, I have often had someone stand on the center while I clamp it to help get it flat, and I have clamped them and beat them flat with a heavy mallet, either way just part of working with wood I suppose,   david

[Magicman]

Many times I have pulled a cant down and clamped it, taken one board off, and the ends pick up.  Gotta be flipped again, held down, clamped, and one or more boards removed.


 
Quite often I will have the customer stand on a cant to hold it down for clamping or use this.

[elk42]

 magicman

This will work well. It's 32ft syp

  

 

[Peter Drouin]

this works too :D :D




  

  

  

  

 

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D ;D

[Brucer]

I try to plan my cuts so I can clamp a cant before it starts to bow and then saw all the way down to the deck without unclamping. That isn't always possible, of course :(.

When the cant insists on bowing, I try all the tricks listed here -- plus one more.

If the ends are raised less than 1/8" each (or a total of 1/4" max), I will clamp the cant in the middle, then raise the far toeboard just enough to pull the front of the cant down to the deck. Then I insert a small wedge between the far end of the cant and the deck and lower the far toeboard. Next I will saw 1/2 way down the cant and stop the mill. Go to the far end, remove the wedge, and 90% of the time the far end will drop down to the deck. Then I just have to finish the cut. The other 10% of the time I will have to drive the wedge between the cant and the deck at the front end in order to push the back down to the deck. Tedious but it works.

[hackberry jake]

I always have crazy thoughts when it comes to issues. I try to think outside the box, but if a sawmill were made with something like spring steel. You could flex the bed to match the cant and then all boards would be uniform. Or I guess we could just keep flipping... yeah that sounds easier.  ???

[customsawyer]

When taking boards off the whole cant I will clamp it then leave two or more boards on top of the cant. The weight of the boards will hold the cant down. ;)

[xlogger]

On my mill I leave the boards on when sawing the cant all the way down and then stop remove them (work alone). I only use the board return on removing slabs most of the time. So sometimes the weigh helps. I think cooks mills have some spikes on their log stops. Are there any cooks sawyers here that have them? Not sure how much they tear up the lower board or if you do flip the cant will they mess it up also. I cut mostly cedar and try getting the widest board I can, so flipping really does not work for me. Most of my cants are only 6-10". Ricky