To mill or not to mill

fishfighter · May 03, 2016, 08:13:50 PM

Congrats on the mill. I have the 126 a bit over a year and it has been great.

Those pavers should work if you have a level area. Loading logs on the mill will push the mill over somewhat to the side. What I did is cut some 6x6 and used them to put my mill on. You can screw down the adjustable feet to them. That helps from pushing the mill to the side when loading.

Once I did that, I built a small house at one end to park the head. If you do that, make the open no less then 9', 10' would be better.

Now, I had built a trailer and doing a auto feed to the mill. :D

Timster · May 03, 2016, 09:12:58 PM

I plan on building the trailer next year using the plans that they provide. As for the mill area it is leveled and compacted. I was toying with the idea of bedding some PT 6x6 in stone to mount the mill on, think rail road ties, then paving the area with pavers. Unfortunately it has been raining for the last week. If the rain stops I will finish prepping the work area. First building will be a shed for the mill.

fishfighter · May 03, 2016, 09:28:21 PM

It's been super wet this winter/spring down here in the south. That is the reason I built the trailer. ;D Got tired working in mud. Once I finish building my camp that I'm building, then I will start building a full size mill house.

Timster · May 06, 2016, 07:47:00 AM

Was out gathering some more logs before the restoration and found these two birch logs. They are not the typical nice strait birch logs I have come across. Do I have something here that is atypical? I don't know where to start to saw them up and don't want to ruin anything that may be unique or valuable.

fishfighter · May 06, 2016, 05:29:16 PM

Don't know about those, but, the real good logs you have, you really need to seal the ends to keep the logs from checking. Old paint helps if you have some.

Timster · May 06, 2016, 07:16:42 PM

I bought 5 gallons of Anchorseal 2, however it hasn't stopped raining since I got the stuff. The logs were cut last December do you think its too late to seal the ends? How long do I have to let the logs dry before I can put the sealer on? Some of the logs have started to check already I hope its not too late to seal them. Any suggestions?

Got the tracking info for the mill, its on the way 8)

fishfighter · May 07, 2016, 06:45:12 AM

Just go in with a chainsaw and whack off a few inches, then paint. Now is the time to saw the logs to length before moving them to your staging area. A lot less you will have to deal with later.

Keep in mine to have a plan for what you want out of a log. No scene cutting a log for lumber you may never use.

Timster · May 10, 2016, 07:08:44 AM

Got a call from the trucking company new mill comes this afternoon 8) I will have to start another thread for my new adventure

fishfighter · May 10, 2016, 07:28:01 AM

Forgot the weight, but it's all one package and you will need something to move it. ;D

Timster · May 11, 2016, 09:24:35 AM

Had to get the mill on my rolling pallet, it was to heavy to lift with my small tractor :

.

Now its time to finish the dirt work for the sawmill area. 12" compacted fill, geo mat, 2" compacted sand and 2" pavers. I only want to build this once :D Yesterday I ran out of back.... :( Logs in the background are watching anxiously.

Timster · May 12, 2016, 06:07:40 PM

Put down three inches of crushed stone as a staging area. Time to change direction for a few days. Dirt work is done for now. Time to assemble the mill!

Timster · May 24, 2016, 07:32:13 PM

Almost there. After setting up the rails I decided to add another forty square feet of pavers to give me more room to walk around the mill.

Should be finished with the assembly tomorrow. Trying to decide what to saw first 8)

gww · May 24, 2016, 07:37:30 PM

timster

QuoteShould be finished with the assembly tomorrow. Trying to decide what to saw first

Oh boy, pick hickory, pick hickory.

Na, just joking, You have been busy.
Have fun
gww

Timster · May 24, 2016, 07:41:39 PM

The only hickory I have is already cut, dried, split and boxed for the smoker, however may need some more after the weekend ;D

Dad2FourWI · May 25, 2016, 10:43:38 PM

Looking like a pretty nice setup!!!

Weather looks like a beautiful day... did you say you had something on the smoker?!? :D

I love it when a plan comes together!

-Dad2FourWI

Czech_Made · May 26, 2016, 06:51:03 AM

Nice setup.

Quote from: Timster on May 12, 2016, 06:07:40 PM
Put down three inches of crushed stone as a staging area. Time to change direction for a few days. Dirt work is done for now. Time to assemble the mill!

sandsawmill14 · May 26, 2016, 07:02:21 AM

very nice looking mill yard

and sounds like you figured out the proper use for hickory ;D :D :D :D

fishfighter · May 26, 2016, 01:17:26 PM

Pick yourself kind of a small log that looks like, well, you know, you get the idea. ;D

Timster · June 05, 2016, 09:49:30 AM

Milled up a white pine log that had fallen two years ago. Tree split in a storm and was held off the ground by some large limbs so it was high and dry. Bark was falling off but didn't seem to be rotted underneath. Milled up the butt log and it yielded some nice 4/4 boards. The tree was about thirty feet long and 16" on the small end so I got three logs from it. Milled the top log yesterday and it had a lot more insect and some rot. Do carpenter ants count as blade lube :

? The intent with these practice logs it to make some pallets to stack my real framing lumber still yet to come. Still have the middle log to make some more pallet stock from.

Its been raining a lot so its a slow go learning the mill and how to get the same dimensional lumber repeatedly. :

My pallet practice is yielding some interesting results. 8)

Greyhound · June 05, 2016, 02:27:09 PM

Quote from: Timster on May 06, 2016, 07:47:00 AM
Was out gathering some more logs before the restoration and found these two birch logs. They are not the typical nice strait birch logs I have come across. Do I have something here that is atypical? I don't know where to start to saw them up and don't want to ruin anything that may be unique or valuable.

Nice sized black birch logs. I have a lot of them on my property, but not that big. I have had a couple milled into lumber. It's very heavy and very strong and can look real nice with the proper finish. However, it tends to have a lot of defects, knot's, etc. In contrast, now that I put in a wood burning stove, I've found out that it is tremendous for cord wood. It has as much or more BTU's as oak, but dries in less than 1 yr here in Central PA, and burns very hot. So, if I were you, I'd cut the front, wonky log into firewood and then maybe give the back log, that looks straighter with less knots, a ride on the mill. If it doesn't work out as lumber, you can still burn it. My $0.02 since you asked.

btulloh · June 06, 2016, 09:27:22 PM

Timster, it sounds like you're getting off to a good start and enjoying the process. Hopefully the rain will give a break.

It's been a little less than a year since I got my mill and I can really look back appreciate how much I've learned since I sawed the first log. And how much there is to learn. It didn't take too long before things started to make sense and I started to get into a process, but even the first couple logs were fun and the sawdust got into my blood. Making some lumber pallets first is a real good idea. Wish I'd done that.

I have learned some things about making consistent framing lumber that may be helpful to you.

Number one is that there are some good threads on the FF that are full of invaluable information about framing lumber. (You've probably already found these.)

- These manual mills like we have take a little thought and practice to get things consistent. I think that's a good thing. Mainly because I don't have a choice, but still I think it's a good way to start out. A lot of people on here have posted various methods and techniques they use and that's a great help. I found that all of these are useful and it's best to use some or most of them at different times so that there's more than one tool in the toolbox.

- One of the things that works the best for me is using the index on the height crank. At this point I have a chart that covers all the dimension lumber I use. I can cut 2x whatever's at different times and they all come out the same (not counting shrinkage of course). But even after drying they're within spec.

- I also made some gauge blocks for 2x lumber that come in handy as well. They take longer to use, but in some cases it's easiest way to be accurate. They can also be used to quickly check stuff to see if it's in spec. (there are some pictures in my gallery)

- Using the scale, for me, doesn't get me where I need to be on dimensional lumber. Even after improving the parallax on the pointer , it just doesn't give me the consistency I want. Maybe that's just me - I'm just sayin'. The scale is still useful, but not when I want consistency.

- Everything sure get's easier through repetition. Not exactly news. I'm just amazed at how much got learned while I was having fun making sawdust. And I'm just a mere rookie. The more I learn, the more I understand of what I read from all these knowledgeable folks at the FF.

Congratulations and enjoy your sawdust -

BT