Wooden Saw Mill

[shelbycharger400]

I know you stated you dont want to spend any money, but go pick up some of those plastic fellin wedges. I use only one or 2 wedges on stuff 4 foot.  Now I have used 5 or 6 with 20-24 in wide stuff at 8 to 9 feet long.      12 in wide, i only tap one wedge in the drect center, after you in about 4 inches or so, or one on each side.  opening the kerf you will cut faster

[Ianab]

Or he could cut some wooden wedges that would work and fit the budget. As you are only tapping them in by hand they will last a long time, and if they get lost, cut some more.

Ian

[lowpolyjoe]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  It just so happens that i bought a 2pack of plastic wedges recently.  Still in the packaging.  I'll definitely give that a shot next time i do some cutting. 

I also bought a pack of shims from HomeDepot when i started working on this project, planning to use them to level everything out.  Wonder if they're wide enough to open the kerf... might be close.  They're pretty fragile so i don't imagine they would last very long, but there's a lot of them in a pack 

My holiday vacation ended today and i had to head back to the day job.  Booooo..... >:(

[Jeff]

So Joe, have you been looking at the sawmill manufacturer websites yet?  I think it is inevitable now. :D ;)

[Slab Slicer]

Joe, that thing is pure genius. You have th ebug for sure. I haven't been in this game long, but it gets worse.  ;D

That last log you show above looks to be some red oak, and I think it's very usable. All wood is dead when you cut it. Some has just been dead a bit longer, but is still solid.

Jeff, maybe you can send Joe a link or 2, so he check out some of those mill manufactureres websites.  ;) ;)

[Jeff]

No need to send, there's plenty to the left.

[lowpolyjoe]

So Joe, have you been looking at the sawmill manufacturer websites yet?  I think it is inevitable now. :D ;)

I've watched a TON of videos and visited a bunch of websites Jeff     Definitely checked out some of the forum sponsors.   So far my head has beat out my heart and i haven't made any impulse purchases yet :D   Who knows how long the willpower will hold out though.  I think if i had a pickup truck i would be more tempted... kind of tough to do any real work without a truck  :(

Thanks Slab Slicer - i have a few more sections of that same tree that i might cut up.  I was waiting to hear some feedback about that one log first.  Even if the boards end up kind of nasty, i can always use them for my back yard mountain biking trail.  I've got some obstacles in mind that i'd like to put together and you can't beat free lumber   ;D

[Migal]

You are doing a fine job Joe Keep the post alive   :new_year:

[lowpolyjoe]

All last week i was trying to think of how i could secure the logs better during the cut.  I drew out some designs for log stops (is that what they're called?) and today i had a chance to start on the changes.   

I had some light duty square metal tubing that i figured might fit the bill.  I cut out some channels in my 2x4 log bed with a circular saw and a chisel, then covered it with another section of 2x4.  I drilled holes in the metal tubing to fit a small piece of wooden dowel to make them height adjustable.  I got them in place but didn't have a chance to try them out.  I'm a little bummed to discover that they aren't very sturdy...  i have a feeling they aren't going to be up to the task of holding a log against the pull of the chainsaw, but we'll see.  I have to sharpen the metal tubing shown in the pics.. probably only be about 1/2 as high as shown.





My sawmilling exploits might be sidelined for a while anyway....  i cut down a tree today and when trying to cut the trunk really low i hit something hard.  I thought it was a rock, but turns out it was a piece of metal piping that the tree seems to have grown up around.  So strange.  I tried to video it but i haven't looked at the footage yet.  Anyway, it killed several of my cutters and i need a new chain  :'(  I've never seen that happen before.  I was sharpening and:  sharpen, move, sharpen, move, sharpen, move... hey ???   no cutter?





geez... my garage is a mess  :-[

[Clean Image]

Sorry to hear about your latest run in...been enjoying reading this thread and watching your efforts! I have faith since you've made it this far, you'll get past this hurdle too.

I guess some metal is more obvious than others  :D


    

[lowpolyjoe]

 

HA!

[captain_crunch]

Looked at your P/S chain get rid of that old chipper chain it never will be as sharp as a real dull chisle chain. Don't let them tell you you cant file it with round file either.

[thecfarm]

I saw that bike on the world new last week, I only caught the picture of it,by the time the wife hollered at me and by the time I got out to the TV.
I have bent a few cutters before. I have no idea how. But I just ground them off. BUT I am only cutting trees down. Not miiling with it.Might be able to save it when you are cutting trees, or expect trouble.
keep on thinking,you will get better and better at it.

[shelbycharger400]

you might be able to save that chain into a chipper/slasher setup

my best grind chain setup I had was a  chisel/ slasher combo  grind.
pair chisel, next 5 was like a slasher tooth,  but all were sharpened at a 15 deg angle and 75 deg. rakers at 25-30 thou.         I cut stuff up to 24 in wide with it,  best part was you couldnt over feed it, and bind up. 

[lowpolyjoe]

Switched back to my stock 20" bar (from the microlite 18") to get a little more usable bar length.  I bought a new chain for it and gave it a shot yesterday.   Cuts pretty good, but ripping through a 14"+ log with this little saw is rough on it.  Lots of bogging.

Went to work on the smallest of these 4 segments (all the way to the left in the pic).  Cut a few boards and started stacking on the new platform i setup earlier in the day.  I took forever levelling those blocks for my stacking platform and only realized later that i placed them farther apart than i should have.  I was aiming for ~16" supports but they're more like 20"+.  I was sort of eyeballing them and did a poor job

[justallan1]

Great job, Joe.

[lowpolyjoe]

Finally got back to work cutting up some stuff in my yard.  Been busy on other projects and the weather hasn't been the greatest.

Fresh cut stack is on the right.  Left stack was from the same tree, but cut a couple of months ago.  I notice a significant difference in color, with the old cut stuff yellowing a noticable amount.  Is that normal?  Is there a problem?



A little timelapse video.  Everything looks so quick and easy at about 20x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeXiq69M43A

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Joe, I can't help but give you a "complimentary" laugh when I watch your videos.
You got it going on Joe.
Good job. 

[Ianab]

The yellowing is normal when wood is exposed to the environment. The surface starts to oxidise due to sunlight and the elements, and pine goes a darker yellow like that. The wood should still be clean and white under that thin layer, which will plane off when you machine the dry wood.

Ian

[Jeff]

Basswood when first sawn, it quite white, but it is a species that significantly yellows within just a few hours from oxidation. No big deal.

[bandmiller2]

It sure beats a pit saw. Frank C.

[lowpolyjoe]

Thanks guys.

Hey Ian,  i just stumbled across this online... looks like it might be the museum you posted a picture from?  Looks like an interesting place:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ldf20L0Rjo

[Ianab]

Yep, been there, done that  ;D

Visited there a few years back, pics in this old thread.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,9786

Here's Lil checking out the log / tram in the video.


It's worth a visit if you are in NZ and have any interest in logging, sawmills or woodworking. Or even if you don't it's still got enough stuff that's interesting.

Ian

[lowpolyjoe]

I got a few requests through Youtube for more details on the "design" of this mill.   I did a walkaround with the camera the other day and rambled on about the project, explaining how it got created and some things that could use improvement,  etc...

Not sure if it'll be of any use to anybody, but i thought i'd throw it up on this thread for completeness.  My last attempt to use the mill did not go well, so it's out of commission for now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygiRFKzAzjE

[red]

This Wooden CSM is a great idea for low budget sawmilling.