Whatcha Sawin' ???

[fishfighter]

Got a little sawing done today. First was a red oak log that I cut out a nice 6x6x14' beam. Second one was a big SYP. 28" on the small end. Way to much work sawing one of those big logs on a manual mill. I will not do another. Well, till the next one. :D Got a few more like that I need to saw up. Got many 2x4's and 2x6's and a few 2x10's. Even pulled a nice 6x6 out the pith. Need a few more of them.

On a side note. That little up grade I did to my mill was a big plus. Heck, just putting it on a trailer was a big plus. My back is thanking me big time after today. ;D

[Magicman]

I understand that "next one" comment about the biguns.  ;D

It's good to hear that your upgrades are working out.   8)

[derhntr]

Busy Quarter Sawing Red  Oaks again. 

  

  

  

 

Saw some wide live edges and a number of QS 6 and 8 incher's. Also a few 10 inch's a a few 2X. Guessing around 400 BF last trailer load had 478 BF with every thing rounded down to nearest inch.

[Den-Den]

Cut up a somewhat ugly red oak log; this pic was taken just after the first turn.  I took several flitches off until several defects showed up.



 

[grouch]

grouch, speaking of green, keep it up and you will soon wear the green paint off of your sawmill.   8)

Harbor Freight may have anticipated people wanting to take that eyeburner green off -- it's flaking off nicely from every part not under the cover of that old barn. It should have that faded, rusty patina of a sawyer too busy to polish the mill very shortly.

I know your kryptonite, Magicman. I still have some Mystery wood on hand that's begging to be sawn into framing lumber! Cut some 1 by whatevers out of gum a couple of weeks ago. The ones that weren't cut into short pieces and nailed together are now trying to grow up to be corkscrews or curvy boat planking.

[grouch]

tnaz: Magicman is not *that* much my senior. Granted he's about a lifetime ahead in sawing experience, but by the calendar I'm only a decade behind. At least I'm not the one who built the cabin addition in the wrong state. He built that in Mississippi when it was supposed to be here in KY!

thecfarm: Doh! That's one of those "why didn't I think of that" tips. I've been carrying a tape measure and measuring each time I set the stops. Thanks!

WDH: Thank you. I know my lumber stack and storage for now is pretty pathetic. What you see in that picture is actually an improvement over what it was the day before.

The whole thing is resting on 2 chunks of old creosote soaked utility poles. On those are some gum 2 x 6 x 8s, which I don't expect to have much use for later. :D The stickers are also gum. In that end shot, all that mess on the far left are the weird pieces that I just couldn't bring myself to toss in the burn pile. They're stickered as best I could manage for their shapes. The rest (what I hope are good planks) are nearly in a single plane, but deliberately not level. The intent was for it to act as its own 1 : 12 pitch roof until I can put something over it. It's now turning into a race against the sun, so I'll have to rig a tarp over it (with air space).

I appreciate the sharing of knowledge and experience and am trying to get there.

[WDH]

The  .  Pecan sawed 9/4, air dried for 9 months, kiln dried to 8%, planed to 2" thick.  Three boards that will make a 40" wide, 8' long, 2" thick table top that it will take 4 strong men to move.

Anybody want to dance with the devil  ?   ;D



 

[derhntr]

Very Nice WDH

[Ljohnsaw]

grouch,nice sawing.
I noticed your log stops go straight up and down. Mine do the same thing. I put lines and 3"-4"-5" and so on,on my stops. 4 inches is really 3 inches and 6 inches is really 5. This way when I set it to cut 4 inch flitches I know I have an inch to spare. No more setting them too low to make sure.

I've seen this mentioned before and keep thinking about doing something.  My log stops (and clamps) are ¼" wall 2" square tube riding in ¼" wall 2½" square tube.  Not much clearance.  If I paint marks, they will bind and/or just wear off.  I though about stamping marks, but that raises the metal and I'd have to sand/grind that down but that might work the best.  Maybe just grind alternating long and short marks every inch starting ½" from the top.

But my normal M.O. is to put the stops and clamps half way up (widest part of the log) to take the first cut or two on each side (top and bottom).  Then do the same on the other two sides.  When I have a square cant, then I'm usually just an inch or so off the bed.  A lot of times I don't even clamp because the cant is so heavy.

[fishfighter]

I understand that "next one" comment about the biguns.  ;D

It's good to hear that your upgrades are working out.   8)

Thanks. I have two more big ones that I will have to split down the middle. One is 38" on the small end. Sweet butt log of short needle pine and the other is 36" syp butt log. Both are over 16'.

If it wasn't for my backhoe, there would be no way for me to flip the cants. Just jelly of y'all with hydraulics. ;D Just maybe something there in the future. ;D

[grouch]

Not sawing anything today. Waiting for my bearings / roller guides. Don't want to booger up the back edge of a blade. Been working on extending my track. I hate hacksaws.

fishfighter: Just found your "Started the build" thread early this morning and still reading through it. Don't know how you kept up the carpentry and sawing in those temps you reported for last summer.

[grouch]

The  .  Pecan sawed 9/4, air dried for 9 months, kiln dried to 8%, planed to 2" thick.  Three boards that will make a 40" wide, 8' long, 2" thick table top that it will take 4 strong men to move.

Anybody want to dance with the devil  ?   ;D



 

That may be the devil but it sure is beautiful wood. At least you won't have to worry about burglars stealing the table.

[fishfighter]

Not sawing anything today. Waiting for my bearings / roller guides. Don't want to booger up the back edge of a blade. Been working on extending my track. I hate hacksaws.

fishfighter: Just found your "Started the build" thread early this morning and still reading through it. Don't know how you kept up the carpentry and sawing in those temps you reported for last summer.

Yep, getting hot already again. :( Done hit 90F a couple times already.

This was the big one I sawed yesterday. Way to much for me to handle, but I did.



 

[cutterboy]

WDH, the devil comes in a pretty package to lure us in and I think that table will be worth" a dance with the devil" ;D
Nice work with that pecan, the table will be outstanding. Looks like my hickory....I love it.

[Magicman]

Yea, I will be glad to reach the end of this ERC job.


 
This little whack is all that is left to saw and we should easily finish it before noon, but....


 
There are two more whacks of slabs and flitches to edge, so maybe we fill finish the ERC tomorrow and maybe not.

My customer did leave Saturday evening with the gooseneck loaded with 5Mbf of random width 1" ERC headed for Saskatchewan, Canada.

After we finish with the ERC there will be a couple of weeks sawing SYP framing lumber.  There were 53 logs Friday but more came in this weekend so I have no idea what the total will be. 

[Cedar Eater]

This is one big blowdown in my cedar swamp.



I pulled the big bam that's on the ground on the left out of the woods yesterday. The even bigger one in the center took two whole days to drag out and was punky through the core at the ten foot level, which means the buttlog is probably all firewood. I did get two other sawlogs from it. I also recovered the maple just right of center and several of the Northern White Cedars and a White Birch for firewood. These trees have been down since July of 2014, but still weren't completely dead yet.

[fishfighter]

So, what are the chances of a water oak that is 18" on the butt end and 14" on the small end, that is 28' long, no branches, sawed into a 6x6, stay straight? The log is straight now. One of the oaks that died on me. :(

[Magicman]

Are you going to make a 28' long cant or a couple of shorter ones?

[Magicman]

The ERC logs are finally gone as in sawed.


 
Here is the last whack that brought the tally to 9444 bf of various widths of 1".


 
But I still have these two piles of ERC slabs seen in the background to be edged.  Those on the trailer have already been edged.

[grouch]

All that cedar and then the SYP ought to put a jingle in at least *two* pockets, Magicman.

I forgot -- is this a long-distance job where you don't get home after each day's sawing?

Also, somewhere back in the thread you talked about a customer at a very long distance (to a hermit like me) and where you got interrupted by both a dozer and rain. Did he ever get things lined out?

Don't mean to be nosey and sure don't want to offend that way; this just fascinates me.

[Magicman]

This ERC job is local as in 16 miles away.  It will probably take a couple of weeks to saw the SYP here and he has not finished hauling logs to the site yet.   

Ironically, the 236 mile away guy called this afternoon and he is ready with about another week's sawing.    I am loaded up because there are even more waiting.  :-\

[derhntr]

MM just wondering how many blades you used on sawing the ERC?

[Magicman]

The logs were very clean, but ERC is bad to dull blades.  You can see the silica in the ERC sparkling in the sunlight.   :-\

I probably changed blades at ~800 bf.  I do not recall making a full day without changing blades.  The majority of my blades were 10°, but the last two were 7° just for the heck of it.  The 7's (non-Tubo) did very well.

[fishfighter]

Are you going to make a 28' long cant or a couple of shorter ones?

Really thinking of one long cant. I know it will be a lot of extra work pushing and pulling due to my bed can only saw 16'6".

[derhntr]

MM, from the looks of the trailer with the ERC stacked on it. He needs to have you saw him some deck boards ;D