milling technique

[spencerhenry]

i run a woodmizer lt40 super with diesel. i have developed my own technique for cutting, but every once in a while i wonder if it might be faster or better some other way. i mainly mill beams, and the 1x and 2x that i generate sometimes sits a while.
what i normally do is cut a slab, cut 1x until it looks like i will have the size beam i need when i cut the other side, and then roll the log and put the flat down. then i set the accuset to a program which will cut 1x or 2x and leave me with the size of beam i am looking for. then i turn it 90, and start the process over again. one reason i like this method, is that i am only cut 2 sides with bark instead of 3. i am guessing here, but i think it makes my edging go quicker, because i get boards as soon as i have flattened 2 sides.
what does everybody think? what do you do?

[Dan_Shade]

that's how I do it, I just cut slower

still trying to figure out an easy way to edge the flitches, though

[UNCLEBUCK]

I dont know a thing about bandmills but it sounds like you got it happening pretty DanG good spencerhenry . As for me I have no technique yet but sooner or later I will .  :D

[woodmills1]

If you work alone put the flitches in the loader arms, then when you are done lift them level with the bed and slide the whole stack over to the stops.  Then use the turner to stand them up.  Take a pass then back the clamp way off and flip the flitches either one at a time or the whole pile if not too heavy.

If you work with help a little trick is to make 3 piles of flitches that are close to the same expected finished width, that way when you go to edge them you won't be taking a hundred passes.

[spencerhenry]

usually i am too busy to edge as i go. or maybe its just because i dont like edging. so i have a good sized stack of flitches on the back side of the mill, and i devote one 3 or 4 hour session to edging. you are right on the similiar sizes. makes edging go alot smoother if the pieces are similiar in width. i also have a program set up for edging. i mill all my 1x at 7/8. the program starts a 10" off the deck and drops for 9,8,7,6,5,4. works ok. would really be nice to have an edger.

[twoodward15]

You mill all of your 4/4 material 7/8 inch thick?  Does anyone ever have a hard time getting 3/4 material out of it?  Personally I'd be upset with that.  A lot of times I will joint and plane a board, then let it sit for a few days and do it again.  There wouldn't be enough wood to do this on your boards.  An eighth is a lot of material, but if there was even the slightest twist/cup/bow in the board it would have to be cut into shorts.  I guess if it works for you then go for it.  It'll certainly help on the yield out of a log!

[Tom]

I cut my 4/4 at 1 1/8th, or more.   IF I am cutting sheeting lumber to be used rough, I may cut it 7/8. 

Most of my "one inch" Eastern Red Cedar is cut 7/8 because the customer wants as many boards as he can get and usually only planes one side.   If he has to use a thinner board, it doesn't bother him.   Doty red cedar will usually get cut a full 4/4 or even 5/4 to be used as bottoms in cedar chests, etc. 

Most rough lumber is cut on the actual scale, shy the kerf.  It allows the use of common fasteners, most of the time, without sacrificing the strength of rough lumber.   One must be cognizant of the fact that thicker 2x4's require the builder to use longer nails to achieve enough penetration.

[ohsoloco]

I prefer to turn my logs 90 degrees when milling.  Since I edge on the mill I think it's easier to edge one side instead of two.  If I'm cutting beams out of knotty softwood I also have to leave some extra material to I can go back and smooth out the faces after I'm done.  The opening face is always the worst as far as waves.

[spencerhenry]

i cut what anybody wants, but what i mill without a special order, is 7/8. the material i have surfaced has no problem ending up at 3/4, actuallly when i want a s2s 1x, i mill at 13/16. 99.9% of the lumber i sell is rough, and most all of the customers i have expect 1x to be 3/4 anyway. i am not milling 4/4 i am milling 1x, not much of a difference, but there is a difference. i think 2 flats and then boards is probably faster than 3 flats and then boards, but have never timed it. yes, i have twice as many flitches with bark both sides, but i dont have ANY with one side. probably doesnt matter in the volume i am talking about, was just seeing what others do. biggest reason i started doing 2 flats, was to eliminate i cut into bark, may make my blades stay sharp longer.

[woodbowl]

The technique I use is to saw 2 or 3 logs before doing any edging. I can scissor the flitch on top, hang the end onto the next log or two in line and flip the remaining end for an 8 foot valt if needed. A group of flitches from 2 or 3 logs seem to be the best time/yield method for me. Rather than trying to get just the center of the flitch, I try to sneek up on it 2" at the time. Say I had 14" of flitch and I had good wood at 12". I would drop down to 12" and get a good edge on however many flitches that qualified. Everything that made a good edge, gets fliped over to clean up for the next side. Everything that didn't clean up stays. Dropping down 2 more inches. My next number is 10". Same thing, if it cleans up on one side, it gets fliped over. If it cleans up on two sides it comes off. Say I don't want a 10" board. When I get down to 6", I'll throw it back on and make a 6 and a 4. If I have too many boards at that number, I'll wait untill I get to 4" and put the 10" on then. (note: I have added bed rails on jackstands. All my logs are on a bed approx. 30" off the ground. I'm speculating that something simular could be done with 3 groups of flitch using the loading arms.)

[Brucer]

I rotate 90 degrees. That way I have flitches with two live edges only coming off the opening side. Two sides have flitches with one squared edge. I've got a manual mill, so there's no loader arms to toss the flitches onto. Instead, I drag them off the end of the mill onto a pair of portable horses. Once I've got a good sized pile, I sort the flitches by size, edge all the ones with one straight edge, and then clean up the ones with two live edges. Sorting by size really speeds up the process.

Sometimes things work out so I can get a clean board the same width as the timber I'm aiming for. When that happens, I rotate the flitch with the cant and clamp it between the side stops and the cant. That way it automatically gets edged when I'm sawing the cant.