Author Topic: I had an ususual customer today. (Read 3577 times)

pnyberg · « **on:** September 13, 2011, 09:58:06 PM »

He's an artist. From what I saw, it seems he works exclusively with wood. But like most of us, he's willing to be flexible, trying to find what it is that people will buy. In his workshop/studio, I saw some sculpture, some furniture, and a lot of boxes. I'm guessing the boxes are his bread and butter, though he'd rather be doing sculpture.

He's also a sawyer. He's got a Wood-Mizer. It's an older model, and unfortunately for him (though not for me), it's no longer working. I have no idea what the model number might be, but it's aluminum...

That's probably my finger in the upper left corner again.

Obviously his experience is with a manual mill. I didn't see any scales on the mill, so I'm not sure how he managed the blade height, but he was used to thinking about cuts in a way that assumed that the kerf was deducted from the final board thickness. But he still expressed his desires in 'normal' thicknesses. He'd say he wanted a cut to be 1", but what he wanted was a board that was 1" less the 3/32" kerf. When I explained to him that my setworks took the kerf into account, he briefly tried to take this into account when requesting board thicknesses, but this was clearly giving him a headache. So, I told him that I could remove the kerf compensation setting from the setworks, and the measurements should work like his manual mill. He was one happy camper after that. (I really have to remember to put that kerf setting back to where it should be before my next customer.)

So, off we went. Artists generally don't have a lot of money, and this one was clearly interested in getting the biggest bang for his buck. Every log started with taking off a pretty big slab. Most customers would have thought that we were wasting wood, but he know that this was a way to avoid wasting time. After that, he'd look at the cant and give me instructions. Generally he'd want thicker material (1", 3/4") from the outside, and thinner material (1/2", 3/8", 1/4") toward the center. Occasionally he'd ask for a thicker slab for whatever reason. Almost everything was 'through and through' with two live edges.

At the end of the day, everyone was tired and happy. The final picture is one that he took and emailed to me.

--Peter

WDH · « **Reply #1 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:00:23 PM »

What kind of wood?

Magicman · « **Reply #2 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:09:46 PM »

Yup, two questions. Species of logs, and did you buy the sawmill

fishpharmer · « **Reply #3 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:24:43 PM »

Looks like an old LT20.

Nice stack of lumber.

Magicman · « **Reply #4 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:49:03 PM »

Right James: http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,47919.msg689552.html#msg689552

pnyberg · « **Reply #5 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:04:14 AM »

Quote from: WDH on September 13, 2011, 10:00:23 PM

What kind of wood?

Red and white oak, ash, walnut, white pine, spruce, and something he thought might be cottonwood.

Variety is the spice of life.

--Peter

metalspinner · « **Reply #6 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:10:13 AM »

Yep,
That looks like an artistic pile of wood.

Is he planning on using the thin stuff green or is he going to try and dry it? I would be curious in his drying approach for the thin stuff.

zopi · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:37:17 AM »

That is an lt20...last I heard woodmizer was wanting to acquire a few of them...but that was a few years back.

MM · « **Reply #8 on:** September 14, 2011, 11:43:18 AM »

Thats a LT20 create version. They was designed to fit into a small single engine plane to be used in remote areas. A lot of them went to missions. They make ok lumber. not anything like the mills of today. only two log supports.

terrifictimbersllc · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2011, 02:02:05 PM »

Very nice looking pile of wide boards, a testament to quality and Resharp. Congratulations. How many blades did you use that day?

pnyberg · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2011, 05:04:08 PM »

Quote from: metalspinner on September 14, 2011, 08:10:13 AM

Is he planning on using the thin stuff green or is he going to try and dry it? I would be curious in his drying approach for the thin stuff.

He air dries it. He said he spaces the stickers close together and puts a lot of weight on the top.

--Peter

pnyberg · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2011, 05:12:38 PM »

Quote from: terrifictimbersllc on September 14, 2011, 02:02:05 PM

Very nice looking pile of wide boards, a testament to quality and Resharp. Congratulations. How many blades did you use that day?

I used 3 blades. Two 9°, and a 4°. I thought the second 9° would last the rest of the day, but it wouldn't cut a large white oak properly. It was leaving a slight crown on the cant side-to-side. This is the second time this year that I've seen this sawing white oak with what I thought was a sharp 9° blade. In both instances switching to a 4° blade resulted in better cuts. I left the 4° on for a large spruce to finish out the day but still got some dips at the knots.

--Peter

5quarter · « **Reply #12 on:** September 15, 2011, 08:40:20 AM »

Very nice sawing on your part. I'm thinking that with the variety of species and thicknesses, he will soon find out what a real headache he's created...hehe.

Brad_bb · « **Reply #13 on:** September 15, 2011, 10:00:03 AM »

I was reading the story and was expecting the punch line of, at the end he realized that they were all too thick by the kerf width, and didn't want to pay.

WDH · « **Reply #14 on:** September 15, 2011, 08:06:40 PM »

Having a range of thicknesses is good for flexibility. People invariably ask for what I don't have. A mix increases the project possibilities, although I never cut thinner than 4/4 in hardwood.

5quarter · « **Reply #15 on:** September 16, 2011, 12:58:44 AM »

Of course the wider the range of species and sizes the better, just not all in the same stack. Imagine the fellows frustration trying to stack that hodgepodge of lumber in such a way that it doesn't all go squirrely on him

. Well, maybe I'm the only one who thinks that image is funny.
I never cut less than 4/4 either, but I routinely resaw air dried stock on the mill to obtain the same thin dimensions as pnybergs customer.

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