Whatcha Sawin' ???

[Magicman]

Those boxes aren't just boxes,  they are BOXES !!!

[WV Sawmiller]

  Today was 3rd day of relative decent/dry weather so I decided to piddle with the mill and make some 3/8" slats for making crates and such as I did recently. I cut some scrap tulip poplar into 2" wide and the short ones 1.5" wide in response to a customer request. I am speculating she may want them and if not I will use or sell them for crafts or such. I cut a couple small 6' "logs" into 6"X6". I left them long in case somebody wants them for dunnage or I can cut them into 2' long crib blocks like some others I have in stock. One hour on the mill which had not been cranked in about a month but fired up immediately when I bumped the starter. All told about 160 square ft of 1.5 & 2 inch X 3/8" slats. They are easy to make. Just cut 6/4 or 8/4 flitches then just edge them in 1/2" cuts on my simpleSet and yields nice thin strips.


 
Hard to call these muddy critters logs. I cut the ash for firewood till I had about a 9" diameter. 4 quick cuts on each for a 6X6. The only 8' piece is such a crooked poplar top I was afraid would hop over the side supports it was so crooked. #2 and #3 from the arms are 6' ash pieces. Rest is poplar.


 First batch of 3/8" strips. a 1" piece left for the dog board which is also a handy size.


 Total load ready for stacking. Strips and crib blocks and some 1" remnants.


 
Stickered and ready to dry. They do dry pretty quick. I put a row of 2X4s on the bottom to help stiffen the rack since I did not have a stacking pallet that size built. I will probably make one in the near future for this stack. 6X6 on top to help add weight. I covered this with some short pieces of roofing tin.

  If I were cutting for a customer I'd bill the 3/8 same as 1" so would be about 192 bf/hour at that rate.

[alan gage]

Like everyone else I took advantage of the nice January weather to pull the mill out of winter storage. You won't hear any complaints about the mud from me. Anytime there's mud in January I'm happy. It helps that my mill yard is on 8-15' of gravel.

Started with a couple questionable red oak logs I already had. This one had a funky green/aqua stain in parts of it.



I found an old forum thread where people were talking about the staining in red oak. The consensus seemed to be that no one knew.

Then a customer brought by a big red oak his grandfather had planted in the 1930's. He's going to have a desk made out of the lumber. It's either going to be a really big desk or he needs more wood projects.



As he was leaving he mentioned he had an even bigger log that had been down for 5 or more years. I could have it if I wanted. It was mostly solid and 37" at the butt and 19' long. After cutting back the rotten butt I ended up with two mostly solid 8' logs. The butt log was still 35" on the big end so it required some trimming and careful handling to get it on the mill. I was too nervous to take pictures but after some more trimmer and jiggering the carriage fit over it. Even with the blade all the way up the first cut was about 6" deep but the outside of the log was all rotten anyway so it didn't really matter. After cutting off the rot I ended up with a mostly solid 21" cant.



And I got some really pretty lumber out of it:





And then just for fun I tried slabbing a chunk of 40" walnut that was almost as wide as it was long. Trimmed off two sides with a chainsaw so it would fit on the mill.



Then I had to stack and sticker all that lumber and suddenly the mud was annoying it didn't feel so warm. Funny how that can change just by going from the sawmill to the drying shed. Also I ran out of stickers.

Alan

[Magicman]

That first picture is mighty strange and I'm not referring to the aqua stain. 

[Darrel]

Yep, there's a gator with Mt. Shasta on his snout. Talk about strange, this is it!

[Mean Dean]

Thanks to everyone for the welcome. This is some fencing I ran this afternoon for my horse using really rough elm boards from my mill. 

 

 Ok 

[rjwoelk]

I see a funny face in it very big lips. ;)

[Crossroads]

I see a funny face in it very big lips. ;)

Kinda look like Mick jager 😎

[Brad_bb]

Thanks to everyone for the welcome. This is some fencing I ran this afternoon for my horse using really rough elm boards from my mill.  

The red elm I've cut is pretty light weight once dry.  Are you going to run electric fencing on the inside of the wood fence?  Like the electric tape or rope?  With just wood, horse will lean on it or accidentally run into it(like when another horse makes it move) and eventually break it.  They'll respect the electric rope though.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sawed 2 small red oak logs hoping to get 2 really nice 1"X8"X8' for the couple who gave me the logs. None of the boards were really as clear as I had hoped so will cut another log in a day or two as the weather permits. I cut these at 1-1/16".

8' log with sweep. These logs have been down over a year so have to slab a little deeper but the heart was real solid.


 9'10" RO log with sweep - who bucked this log anyway? Sure wasn't a logger or sawmiller.


 Boards from 2nd log I am stacking on some spruce I had previously cut and stacked. Total bf for both logs about 75 bf. About a whopping 93 bf/hr compared to 192 bf/hr yesterday. Oh well, Mama said there would be days like that. 

[Southside]

Could have been worse WV - at least there were no hidden gems in that log!!!  

[Magicman]

So my "vacation" comes to an end for tomorrow anyway.  40 mile road trip sawing SYP framing lumber.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I sure do envy you guys sawing straight grained, comparatively soft pine into framing lumber which adds up a lot faster than our mostly hardwood 4/4 sheeting. Have a good trip and stay safe.

  Edit: Southside - I had enough mud on the outside I did not need more surprises inside. :D Did I mention I love my debarker.

[doc henderson]

nice landscape in the background wv

[Southside]

Coupe pieces of Magicmans most despised species. QS, S4S, KD, added a little mineral spirits to show the color. 



 

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

  Its actually much steeper than it looks. Can be real hairy dragging a log off the mountain side there. Its in my pasture home to my horse and mule. The green trees are an old Christmas tree Farm. Norway Spruce planted on about 5-6 ft centers. They are about 80+ y/o and I cut the big ones on the lower side for wedge blocks years ago before I had the mill. I wish I had them back now. Many on the inside are still not over 6" diameter. As they die I drag them to a burn pile. I have sawed a few of the bigger ones and would cut and saw them all if I had an order for them. The scattered logs are dead ash, cherry tops and some walnut pieces. I have several more ash logs scattered in other places in the pasture and a few more I need to cut real soon.

[Magicman]

Nothing wrong with Sweetgum as long as it is dead.  

[WDH]

Looks like the to me. 

[Southside]

No sir, Lynn is correct

[doc henderson]

WV, you have a nice place!!!

[Jim_Rogers]

This morning I finished sawing some 1x18x10' pine boards from the first big log for a customer.





Just in time for my first happy customer of the day. She brought me a piece of 6" diameter white birch log to cut into cookies for her baby shower event:



 




She didn't really understand to give me a thumbs up but she was happy with the pieces she got.

Jim Rogers

[Jim_Rogers]

I guess today is cookie day.
Another customer emailed me that he had some 4" thick ash cookies that he needed cut in half.
They were 26" in diameter.
And they had the bark on them.
But he said he was going to trim the bark off and that he could round the edges as needed.
So we created a fence to hold them upright so I could trim them to 24" wide.


 

Once trimmed they fit between the clamp and were held firm.

One cut down the middle, basically, and he was happy.



 



 
He's going to flatten them some with his router sled. And they are going to be table tops, cocktail tables for a wedding for his customer's daughters outside wedding.
These ash pieces have been down for 2 years or more. Not all of them were split.
10 pieces trimmed to size and then cut in half took one hour.

Jim Rogers

[doc henderson]

I have done a few.  I think it is easier to start with the log, but these were obviously pre-cut.  I took 2 pressure treated 2 x 6s, and glued and screwed them the long way at 90 degrees.  This lays along my log stops and holds the bottom and side of a log pointing up,  for a big one I add another 2 by board so it does not fall through, and clamp it.  I can set up for any thickness.  No pics, sorry

[Magicman]

Very good Jim so I am giving you two. 

My sawing went well today.


 
The early morning picture did not turn out too well but anyway the setup was nice.


 
Some 1" stuff.


 
And some framing lumber.  Some of that whack on the right is from my previously sawing for this customer.  1405bf today with two T7°'s.

Funny thing was that I pass an LT40 under a shed sawing about 3 miles from this customer and also this customer has a 2017 TimberKing 1220.    I ask no questions, just saw.  :D  He gave me a $25 tip.   ;D

[doc henderson]

found a few pics of cutting cookies. 

  first 3 are walnut cookies


 




 




 




 


The last pic is ERC stump cookie for cub scout flags