Do you know what this is?

[Jeff]

I don't know if I've ever shared this. It hangs above my polebarn entrance door. If you've ever been to my place, I may or may not have told you what it is or how you can make your own.

If I told you you already know but if you have never saw one before, I'd like to see your guesses of what it is.

[Old Greenhorn]

I have no idea and I didn't notice when we were there. color me clueless, my normal state.

[Ljohnsaw]

Looks like plywood that an artist used an angle grinder with a flap wheel to "carve". And then buried it in a manure pile.

[Hilltop366]

Did you wear it out with your feet?

[Ljohnsaw]

I can see that. Was it from your work station at the lumber mill?

[Jeff]

Did you wear it out with your feet?

Yup.  It was the floor of my sawbooth.  3/4" plywood.  This was the second replacement, I didn't think to save the first. From moving my feet forward and back to run peddles. Left foot opened and closed the roll case endgate and the rightfoot moved the log feeddeck ahead and the stop unloader for loading logs onto the mill.  Imaging putting a sheet of plywood on the floor in front of you, then slidding your feet back and forth until you wear clear through. Then do it again. 

[Jeff]

Oh, remember when making your own, while moving your feet, add in wagging your arms and hands and fingers and thumbs about. Id look like I had shaking palsy if it weren't for the machine beneath me.

[aigheadish]

Welp, my guess was going to be a kneeboard for gardening or something (though it seems the ground would be softer than plywood). I wasn't too far off, kind of!

[Resonator]

I was gonna guess a plywood floorboard (right before you typed the answer). 
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What brand of circle mill did you run Jeff? I've been watching a sawmill guy on Youtube who's a buddy of nuts319 (Pete). His mill has similar control "sticks" in the booth for each hand with buttons to run functions. 

[jpassardi]

Yeah, you can tell it has a few "miles" on it!

[SwampDonkey]

I've seen plywood wear like that at lumber camp facilities. Come to think of it old warming shacks at out door rinks. I think those places are extinct now. 

[Jeff]

I ran a renco from 1979 to 1983 a Morbark knockoff of a Forestall from 83 to around 1990, then a CMC until I left in 2005 or 6.  We also had a Forestall in our west building, but I never ran it, but forestall and morbark and cmc were heavily influenced by each other in design. Member @Dave Shepard s grampa built Forestall mills

[Resonator]

Gotcha. Different brand circle mill than he runs, but with similar controls. 

[Jeff]

The renco was a different animal. While an automatic mill, it had air cylinder dogs and electric carriage setworks. This mill had mechanical hydraulic controls on the vertical edger that you ran at your right elbow. 4 way control for up all blades down all blades, then also up down only top blades.  Top two ran together and were fixed at 3.5" 

[Peter Drouin]

And your head going back and forth for each cut too?? 

[Jeff]

Yup. Lots of parts wore out early

[Ron Wenrich]

My booth had a metal floor.  Its been so long that I don't really remember how I set the vertical edger blades.  I'm thinking it was on the right hand joy stick.  The left hand was for the carriage.  The center console was for computer setworks.  The right joy stick was for the log turner with the vertical edger control on top.  Foot pedals for the log deck and the stop-and-loader.

[Jeff]

Our cabs had metal floors under the plywood. I may have a scematic around somewhere on the controls. You better get good on electrical trouble shooting on mills like these.

[Jeff]

[Magicman]

Operating my bandsaw is at a much much slower pace than Jeff's video above, but even still, if I consciously think about what my hands are doing and need to do next, it messes me up.  The movements go from my eyes to my hands and it's as though my brain is not even involved.  Same way reaching for the hydraulic controls.  If I looked down, I would have to hunt for the correct lever, but my hands automatically know where to go.

[Resonator]

Yup. Lots of parts wore out early

On the machine or the sawmill man runnin' it?
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If I looked down, I would have to hunt for the correct lever, but my hands automatically know where to go.

Yup, muscle memory. Just like musicians who practice enough playing an instrument, that they can play a song with out even thinking where there hands need to go. Friend of mine plays accordion in a Polka band, and his son accompanies him. He plays the trumpet with one hand, and keyboard piano with the other. 

[DanielW]

It's a real pleasure to see a video someone operating a carriage setup from a cab who knows what they're doing and how to make good time. Quite impressive. I was at a new mill not that long ago with a new McDonough slant carriage and dual-cut band. The owner of the mill was in the cab with a stopwatch, timing the operator and trying to get him to speed up. Even with their brand new setup and dual cut, I don't think he was breaking his logs down as fast as you.

Also nice to see a vertical edger still in use. I always wondered why they aren't more popular on new band headrigs. Back in the day the concern was always not being able to keep the tip of the edger saws in the kerf line of the primary headsaw, but the kerf of the 10" to 14" bands on the new large headrigs isn't really much less than a circular headsaw. Couple that with with the accuracy of modern linear rails and servo controls, and I'd think they could be made to work with a band quite well. I suppose they wouldn't work great for dual-cut rigs however.

[Ron Wenrich]

I was quite fortunate that the crew I worked with hired guys as subcontractors for different jobs.  I was hired to saw, no fix equipment.  We had another guy who just did maintenance on equipment.  He had a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and at one time worked for DeBeers.  They also would bring in a mechanic to work on their trucks.  

Down time is expensive, and it was cost effective to get a job done right the first time.  He also could re engineer and design systems that worked better than from the manufacturer.  He designed our sawdust blowing system.  He was tops in his field in hydraulics and metals.  His welds never broke.

I sawed mainly grade hardwoods.  The vertical edger made me saw differently than without one.  When everything is working fine, they're not much of a problem.  You have to slow down to get the saws set so you don't screw up grade.  Too much wane and the grade drops, below 6" and you won't get F1F grade, etc.  Its important to know grade and how to extract it from a log.

But, when you get into big timber, you can't crowd your saw by sawing too fast.  If you do, your saw will go off line.  It can dig into your next cut and leave a kerf mark on your next face.  That's a warning you're sawing too fast and loading up your gullets.  If that mark doesn't plane out, its a defect and you lost money.  Not every log saws the same, especially partially frozen logs. 

The problem with a vertical edger on a band mill is the movement of the blade has to be very narrow.  If you're running an 1/8" band, there isn't much room for movement before you start marking up your log face or get boards where the edging strip doesn't come off.  The hardwood mills around here use a circle mill for breakdown, then send it to a resaw.  They don't run vertical edgers.

I don't think I would want to saw with a mill owner who uses a stop watch to try to speed up operations.  Especially a new install.