milling thread

[Dave Shepard]

Well,true.It's cheaper than a Woodmizer mill though .

I run a Wood-Mizer at work. Lotta money for a lotta of production. I do like playing with the new wireless remote option though. Congrats on the new mill, SOTC! I think chainsaw mills are a great way to recover a high value log that commercial mills don't want to buy. The big guys don't like to see "Tree Service" on the side of a truck in their yard.


Dave

 

[digga]

any of you guys ever used one of these seems like a good idea http://www.ripsaw.com/ripsaw.html

 

[sotc]

i wondered why the power head was turned that way, its a band saw!

 

[stehansen]

I just take any logs I want milled to a mill and pay them $100 an hour. One hour will mill a lot of lumber. I have it all quarter sawn in to 2 inch thick planks. I resaw those at home to sizes I need. On expensive lumber like Hawaiian koa, I usually cut it into veneer on my 18 inch, 5hp bandsaw. I then run the veneer through my thickness sander to get it smooth and all the same thickness.

I have a guy like that about 10 miles from me also. The only time I used him was for the big cedar tree that we took down at my house and I gave him the trunk in three pieces each about 15' long and 36" dia. on the biggest end. I just never seem to get a tree that is good wood. If I do then it is in a backyard and we cut it up to get it out of there. Here is my mill guy who is featured in some advertisement for wood for a guy in Grass Valley, CA. They also have a smaller circular saw mill and a band saw.

http://www.woodnut.com/circlemill.htm

 

[Al Smith]

I wish I just had half of the good lumber trees I had cut up in the past for firewood .Geeze,I could have cut up "fiddle back " maple at the time and never knew about it . One slice through a bandsaw mill would have told the tale . Geeze 50 bucks worth of firewood could just as easily been several thousand worth of instrument grade maple stock and I would have never known .

Too soon old,too late smart .I keep all the logs now that might have some value .You can always slice a marginal log to firewood.Kinda hard to put it back togther for lumber once it's diced .

 

[olyman]

I wish I just had half of the good lumber trees I had cut up in the past for firewood .Geeze,I could have cut up "fiddle back " maple at the time and never knew about it . One slice through a bandsaw mill would have told the tale . Geeze 50 bucks worth of firewood could just as easily been several thousand worth of instrument grade maple stock and I would have never known .

Too soon old,too late smart .I keep all the logs now that might have some value .You can always slice a marginal log to firewood.Kinda hard to put it back togther for lumber once it's diced .

thats was a mouthful said, al. and the truth!!!!

 

[sotc]

This is a black oak we fell a couple months ago and milled yesterday. Had to trim it down with the chainsaw mill to fit the bandsaw. I thought the included bark cool so I saved it out for demonstrations. The staining in the 4th pic is interesting, anyone explain whats happening?

 

[Al Smith]

That staining is an indication of metal in it some place .Could be a nail ,a lead slug from a rifle ,who knows .

Generally speaking the metal will be at about the lowest level of the stain .

If you don't cut into it ,which I hope you don't, take precautions before you run it through a planer or table saw .Use a good metal detecter and scan each board .

 

[sotc]

Actually Al, I meant the yellowish stain moving up from the felling cuts. Metal stains in oak around here are bright purple, we found none of that. We did hitt a rock which is why that short piece got trimmed off mid cut in the last pic.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I don't have pics, but I milled up one of the big sycamores I cut last month. Was too dang big for the mill to cut without relieving the sides with the chainsaw. Next log is bigger. Will quarter it with the saw first.

What are you going to do with those big slabs?

 

[SkwerI]

Dave, we're gonna have to all pitch in and get you a camera so you can post pics of your mill setup. I assume you slabbed them with your freshly rebuilt 394?

 

[woodworkingboy]

You guys have got me drooling here. I want that wood!!!! sotc, I tend to think that yellow staining is left after the water starts to dry out, does it clear right off if you plane the wood? Probably salts...minerals.. or something...?

I've seen one of those band saw type miils in operation, like digga posted. It was cutting a relatively small softwood log and the going was so slow it almost wasn't happening. If it was pushed too hard, the blade consistently broke. I can't imagine much success in hardwood, unless the goal is to get a suntan. I think that the blade heating up is a big negative factor.

I have a Sperber two powerhead mill, using a pair of 076s. I've run it myself with both engines, a number of times, gum tape the throttle wide open on the other end. Getting it into and out of the log defies common sense, and any manner of safety concerns.

I recommend Will Mallof's good book on chainsaw milling, might no longer be in print though. Will was a milling fool if there ever was one, came up with some good methods for working alone and making the tasks easier. He also shows some rigs that you can make up yourself, for specialty cuts. I spoke with him on the phone once, a cool guy. Wonder if he's still up in BC?

 

[rumination]

Jay, have you ever seen the chainsaw slabbing attachment on a Lucas Mill in action? Pure luxury. Not cheap, though.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Yes Leon, not personally in action, but the pics in the Bailey's catalog always get me to dreaming.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Skwerl, I use one of these, with the wireless remote. I used the 394 to clearance the side of the log so the outer blade guides would clear.

I don't have any pics from work, have never asker permission. I do have a lot of pics from the mill I learned on. First pic is my friends mill. We run it off of my WWII era genset. Next is the mill setup where I learned. Last, is some 24" White pine wide flooring boards. I've got a lot of pics from that mill. I'll see if I can get some of the mill at work.

 

[stehansen]

I can't imagine much success in hardwood, unless the goal is to get a suntan.

 

[sotc]

This bandsaw was pretty quick, went through about a slow walking pace.
The plan is to sell it. I'm going to get the slabs this weekend and sticker them here till I can offload it. Phil said we should get 2 bucks a board foot.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I was at that clients taking out that white oak and the wood we extracted was still there from over a YEAR AGO
Was a good size live oak he was gonna mill. Ends are painted. But it is really checking now. Splitting more like it. Sad.

 

[brendonv]

Millings cool.

I kinda have a plan in me head to do tree work 3 days a week, while the other 2 are spent building tables out of slabs of wood I've produced. I have one sitting in front of me with a Mountain Laurel leg work and a nice Oak top. Mom paid alot of money for it.

 

[fallguy]

I just helped a friend mill a white pine log a couple of weeks ago. It had the bark peeled and had be setting for about 5 years. The checking on the ends only went in about 4 to 6 inches. I do not have any experience with oak logs but you may be surprised at what is still usable.

 

[Al Smith]

I have cut into cull oak logs left in the woods since the late 30's .In the late 70's early 80's they might have 2 inches of rot on the outside and checked on the ends maybe a foot .Inside was the nicest oak you've ever seen .Still full of moisture believe it or not .

Oak is an interesting wood .In the log form it can last for decades before it becomes totally unusable . Cut that lve oak. Whatever is good lumber is a plus , the rest is just hard won firewood .

 

[JamesTX]

Millings cool.

I kinda have a plan in me head to do tree work 3 days a week, while the other 2 are spent building tables out of slabs of wood I've produced. I have one sitting in front of me with a Mountain Laurel leg work and a nice Oak top. Mom paid alot of money for it.

THere's a place down here that mills cedar and mesquite into various products. He will take a mesquite log and cut it into a 6' x 1' x 8" slab to be used as a mantle piece. For that he charges $750.

 

[Burnham]

Expensive slab.

 

[JamesTX]

I agree, but they are real pretty. He sands them, fills the cracks, and urethanes them.





And then sells them to stupid people with too much money ......... like my father in law.

 

[Burnham]

Bet they are.