Whatcha Sawin' 2020 ??

[doc henderson]

sometimes I make a big M or zig-zag, so i can stack them in order and then remove in order.  for wholesale a tag or number makes sense. I do have plastic tags I use for firewood (date cut or split and species)  and these can be written on and a short staple to hold them in the end grain.  or write on the wood.

[Banjo picker]

Got in several hickory logs a customer is going to make flooring out of.


 They have been cut a while.  Blown down in a storm.
I cut the one on the arms and got 63 1 x 6 s out of it.  Its raining today so the rest of them will get cut as soon as I get back from seeing my dr.  Got an 8:15 appointment to get my meds refilled.  Tim

[Bruno of NH]

Looks good Tim
Hope everything is well at the Dr's

[WDH]

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Didn't saw any lumber but did cut down one big ash tree I have been watching a couple of years. I went to cut a small dead ash by my firewood shed and a 12" top had fallen out of this big one into the trail. I dragged it out of the way and went and cut the other one as planned. I put a new chain on my rebuilt Sthil 441 and it was cutting so good today I decided I'd go ahead and cut the big one. I guess it was nearly 30" at the base. I cut my notch and bore cut through from both sides but it set down on the back instead of falling forward. I went and got John and 200' of 1/4" cable and put it on about 6' high. I ran the cable out and John could not pull it down. I went back and moved the cable up another 5-6 ft higher and pulled and that worked and it fell where I wanted. I cut up most of the top and big limbs and it seemed pretty solid so I cut off 1-8' and 3-10' logs. I moved one little cartload of firewood out of the way then remembering we have rain on the way I pulled down the 8' & 2 smallest 10' logs. I tried pulling the 10' butt log but it was on a steep side slope and it got away and got hung up. It was near dark so I'll get some long cable and a snatch block or two and work it down the hill. I have one customer who buys my 4/4 ash a few boards at a time for furniture projects and we were commenting my stock is getting awful low. If they are good and solid I may cut the 10' logs into boards and then make 1" strips and cut in half at an angle making 2-5' tomato stakes out of each. They sold pretty good this summer and I sawed up some hickory stock at the end of the season. Of course I still have one uprooted hickory at he top of the pasture that I could make into tomato stakes too (or firewood :D).

[Banjo picker]

The only one that has actually caused any trouble is the biggest log on second row.  I thought I had hit metal...sparks flew and it sounded like a metal strike... I was only about 18 inches into the cut, so I backed the saw out of the cut, and was so sure it was a strike, that I got the saw out and cut into the log at the end of where I had stopped.  There was an old knot hole there, and there was no metal there.  I had thought it must of been a deer stand or something as this was not a butt log.  There was nothing there.  I then went and looked at the blade, and it was ok.  Just super hard knot hole.  I finished the log.  Customer is coming in the morning to get whats cut so far and I will finish the last three on the deck tomorrow afternoon.  I will be watching the blade pretty close as I was planning to get the other 3 logs with it.  Had just put in on after one sharpening.  Seems ok though.  Tim

[caveman]

Banjo,
I would love to have that hickory.  Hickory has paid the bills this month for us.  I will take all of the pignut hickory and pecan we can get right now.  So far, for us, it saws easier than some of our challenging species.  We are scheduled to saw some old growth longleaf pine in the morning and we still have some fat live oak logs to saw.  Sometimes the liveoak saws great and sometimes it is a beast of an opponent.

[Banjo picker]

This is the old scalie bark....shak bark or what ever you want to call it....good eating hickory nut.   No need for water. Will make beautiful flooring.  Although it got plenty of water this morning, and the rest of the day as well.

  I cut one log this morning.  My mill shed is 30 feet plus wide with the mill on the west side.  Rain was blowing  in from the east over 20 feet.  I gave up,  there is better times a commin as an old song said.  Tim

[caveman]

John and I had a job we should have been done with before lunchtime today sawing longleaf pine but we were still at it at 5 p.m.  This stuff grew slow, dense and was felled with a loader.  We got it done and sawed a really incredible log into 1"x4"s but the boys we sawed for are good folks and we want to make sure they get top quality lumber.  Time to call Richard and order more blades.

 

[97redjeep]

 

 

 

 

 
Cut up some what I believe to be Russian Willow this evening for a fellow coworker, who is a stellar cabinet maker, can't wait to see what he comes up with this!!!!

[97redjeep]

 

 

 
and trying hard to get a couple of these that will fit on my mill Ha Ha Ha

[rastis]

During the hurricane that came through last month we had a branch come down from one of our big maples. Got around to slabbing it yesterday

 

 

 

    

[Bruno of NH]

Today I started on a tri axle load of 8' and 10'long spruce/hemlock logs.
It will all be 2x4,2x6 and 4x4.
I have lots of orders for them.
Small logs but I don't pay much for them. Im getting lots of complements on how well my lumber is sawn. I owe that to all on this forum that have helped me.br>
 

 

[Bruno of NH]

 That would make a nice table top with the curve.

[LeeB]

Not sawing yet but will probably start tomorrow. I've been clear a little bit just out from the house for a greenhouse and a wood shed. Not much usable but a couple of decent cedars and the really nice one. The saw has a 20"blade. Got three nice 11' logs and one that more that was 14' from the top but I'll probably cut it back to 8' to get wider boards. The butt log was 18" small end, next log was 16" small end and the third was 12" small end. The last log tapered off fast and wasn't real great but I'll get a few boards out of it. I can always use cedar boards.


 

 

 

 

The log in the grapple is the second log. 

[Magicman]

I sawed for a many times repeat customer today.


 
I was sawing for him in May and he got called to work so these had to wait.  The SYP was sawn onto framing lumber and the Oak into 1".


 
Some of the Red Oak was kinda far gone but...


 
It still turned out some fine lumber.  He wanted "lumber" so no effort was made to capture anything special.  Sadly I did not get a picture of the best boards.

We sawed 1837 bf in 7 hours so it was a good day.  What I intended to saw next is still too wet/muddy so I may just go to the Cabin and do some "tractoring".

[Go-fer-wood]

Wow, that's impressive.  

[Haleiwa]

White pine for shed siding and a few hemlock for framing lumber.  Easy trip, only a half mile from home.

 

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Well, my teenage helper backed out (again) last night after 8:00 pm for my job 51 miles away today so I left to do it alone. I got a late start and it was after 10:00 am before I set up and actually started sawing. The logs were mostly 16' or so and really pretty small diameter. I cut 3 -4X4's from my cut list and the rest were 1-1/8" thick and from 4-10 inch with most 6" widths. 


 First log - 18' beast


 Stack at start of sawing - less the log on the mill


 Stack at end of the day - a little after 6:00 pm - less log left on the mill overnight to inconvenience anyone trying to steal the mill.


 About 410 bf total not counting the sticker material in front and a bunch of 4' stickers on the back side. I am having/agreed to do the sawing, off-bearing, stacking and stickering on this as the customer is a NH resident and this is just their vacation/retirement home where the logs are located and adjusted my rate accordingly (although I may revise it before accepting another such job :D). These long boards are heavy and awkward to handle. The mixed lengths are delaying my stacking as I plan to start with the longest boards on the bottom and try to make one big, 4' wide, stack so the shorter boards help provide weight to help the lower boards dry straight. Hopefully the weather cooperates and I can finish sawing most if not all the remaining logs tomorrow and finish stacking and stickering on Friday.

[caveman]

Howard, it looks like you got a lot done and done well.  Your helper kind of hung you out to dry.  Some of my former students are running crews doing irrigation and plumbing work and they post on FB among their friends about day jobs available.  Most of the time they are able to get folks to operate the Georgia draglines.  

[WV Sawmiller]

Cavey,

   I assume a "Georgia dragline" is a shovel. :D I have not heard that term before, This kid is a good worker and has grown into a big strapping young man the past couple of years and I tend to forget he is a 15 y/o kid with other issues and priorities. With an adult I'd have expected a much earlier call rather than waiting till after my truck is loaded and the mill is hooked up and too late to look for someone else. I need to find a good helper I can depend on but it is so seldom I provide the help I don't look - and I am a dinosaur who does not do FB. Most of the adults you see available are in and out of jail or druggies and not someone I even want on the place so that limits my search. Why could the Old Greenhorn have just retired closer to me. Of course probably couldn't match his pay scale anyway. ;D

[mike_belben]

During the hurricane that came through last month we had a branch come down from one of our big maples. Got around to slabbing it yesterday

 

 

 

    

Beautiful work carl!  I love the sweep.  




Wife bought me a used 12" lunchbox planer off FB yesterday for $150.   Ran a few things through it last night and am feeling pretty good about the results.  Especially considering the stuff was sawn on a chainsaw mill made from scrap streetsigns.  

[alan gage]

During the hurricane that came through last month we had a branch come down from one of our big maples. Got around to slabbing it yesterday

 

 

 

    

Beautiful work carl!  I love the sweep.  




Wife bought me a used 12" lunchbox planer off FB yesterday for $150.   Ran a few things through it last night and am feeling pretty good about the results.  Especially considering the stuff was sawn on a chainsaw mill made from scrap streetsigns.  

Planers sure are fun. Probably the closest thing to magic I have in the shop. Be careful running bark through them. Lots of embedded grit that can quickly dull the knives.
Alan

[mike_belben]

Youre right.. Ill have to keep that in mind.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

 Final log stack at the end of the day. I hope finish tomorrow. That big maple at the end has me worried and if I have to I will move the mill over next to him and use my Magic Hook to load him as a last resort if I have to. I hope to get the 5/4 X 12" wide stair treads the customer wants out of it.

 I did not do a tally but estimate about 350 more bf . I spent way too much time cutting and salvaging dunnage out of the scrap pile and getting it set up and leveled/straight, etc. I stacked the 16' and 18' and 5 - 4X4 posts then started on the 14' stuff. I even stacked the 8' and 10' & 6' I had with the 16 as it worked out well. I cut a little more after stacking. If the rain will hold off one more day I should finish. 

   It was very windy from late morning through mid-afternoon and i was even concerned I might have some unexpected additions to my log stack. Of course all that wind was blowing right into my face when sawing and I bet I coughed up 12-15 bf of sawdust at the end of the day. :D