The Opening Face

[Ianab]

I do like seeing how MM and others set up their sawing patterns,

I can see why they do it that way, but it's different to how we would achieve a similar result with a swing blade. The 2X boards we both cut would similar. 

MM's method is probably the best if your cur list is 2" x 4"s  That's about the max recovery for the least work. But other logs / cut lists vary things. Grade sawing for example means you take the best grade boards off each face, and rotate the cant as needed. That's because a clear hardwood board is worth a LOT more than a knotty one. But if your cut list is for 2x, then that's what you aim for. The ones near the pith won't be great, juvenile wood and all that, but any build needs random shorts. A good builder will pick these lower grade boards for less critical areas.

[Magicman]

The ones near the pith won't be great, juvenile wood and all that,

Sadly, most if not all lumber yard framing lumber comes from "chip and saw" logs so it contains much juvenile wood. 

[panhandle]

I can see why they do it that way, but it's different to how we would achieve a similar result with a swing blade.

As a new Lucas Mill owner, I was hoping this discussion might include swing blade operations as well.

I would love for someone (Ianab?) to do a post similar to Lynn's about how to work through a log with a swinger.

[Magicman]

Absolutely add it here.  This is about face openings, and not necessarily bandsaws.

[Ianab]

The ones near the pith won't be great, juvenile wood and all that,

Sadly, most if not all lumber yard framing lumber comes from "chip and saw" logs so it contains much juvenile wood. 

Construction lumber doesn't need to be perfect, it needs to be "good enough". Most sold locally is machine graded for strength only, and builders have to use the higher grade wood for critical things like roof trusses. Wall studs are less critical, and "good enough" can be used for those. If building with log run lumber, some boards will be better than others. A good builder should be keeping that in mind and roughly grading the wood as it's used. 

[Ianab]

I would love for someone (Ianab?) to do a post similar to Lynn's about how to work through a log with a swinger.

I haven't got a photo sequence on hand, but I can walk though the steps I would use, given MM's log and cut list. I'm more often mixing things up, and cutting what's best produced from the log, once I see inside it. 

But before the opening cut I would get the log set up on the bunks, approx pith level. I keep some shim boards that I can stick under the small end bunk, depending on the amount of taper. Don't spend all day trying to get it exact, eye-o-meter is fine. 

Once the log is set up and chocked in place, skim the top layer off. If I need stickers, that's a place to cut them. Skim the bark off, drop 1", and cut some 1x1 sticks until you have a proper open face. Otherwise, just slab it off a bit deeper.

Once I can get my fist 2x4, saw that (or maybe 2). At this point I'm sawing 2 down x 4 across. Reason is that then any knots are in the wide face of the 2x, so a medium size knot isn't going to ruin the board. A 1" knot going across a 2x4 greatly weakens it, while a 1" knot in the 4" face is probably fine. 

So in this log, it would be 2 or 3 "layers" of boards, and then we are getting close to the pith. Switch to 4" drop and 2" wide, and run across the log like that. This is basically the same as MM's middle slice. There are going to be some low grade wood around the pith, it may still be usable, or it may be firewood, depending on the species. But you have to saw it out anyway.

Then for the last 1/3 it's back to 4" wide, and 2" deep. Carry on until you run out of log. 

But that would only be my plan for this scenario. Sometimes I'm going to cut some clear 1" boards, flat or quarter sawed depending, and some 2" from the knotty areas, then maybe flip the lower 1/3 of the log to get a live edge slab. Lots of options, and you aren't locked into even keeping the same plan once you start the log. 

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Thanks for sharing @IanaB ! I can stare at a log on the ground for 5 minutes and I think I know what I'm going to do with it. Put it on the bunks, and I can't imagine what I was thinking. Then I make the first cut and ask what I was smoking!? 

[Magicman]

I do very little planning before the log is on the sawmill bed.  Sweep that was not obvious  becomes very obvious as you turn the log and then you can examine the defects and make a decision how they can be best utilized or eliminated. 

I will turn, level, and use my crayon to establish my targets as shown before I make that first face opening.

[Digger Don]

MM, Let's not forget that you've been doing this for a little bit longer than most of us. I'm like NewYankeeSawmill, but not quite as patient. After two or three minutes, I'm thinking, "What would MagicMan do?".

[Magicman]

Sometimes you just saw that sucker, recover whatever it has to offer, and then move on the the next one.  

Remember that you can not make chicken pie out of chicken poop.  I have told many customers that many times.  Bad logs make bad/marginal lumber and that is the best that you can do.

Your joy is sawing the good ones. 

[rusticretreater]

I'm still a noob compared to you grizzled old veterans, but I have taken to planning cuts to make sure I get the best cuts I can.  I really love quartersawn, but you gotta plain saw to get them wide boards.  I do have projects where I select logs that will give me the best results.  Being a manual mill, every extra turn of the log or cant adds up.

Most crooked logs are just firewood to me unless they have a pretty good diameter.  Then they become building project wood as the wood grain patterns are a bit off.

The times I level the pith is on the straight logs and I am going for quartersawn and/or a post with the pith centered.  I do like Ianab's methods and to always be on the lookout for a cut that can make stickers.

[Magicman]

Everything depends upon the customer's cut list.

It is a very normal option to get 3, 4, etc. wide QS boards from the center.  Remove them and then saw the remainder into whatever it yields as per the cut list.

The opening face will be whatever comes off of the top with the log's pith level to the sawmill bed.

I have a many times repeat customer that I will saw within the next couple of weeks that wants nothing but QS, and nothing means nothing.