Sawmills

Bix,
Re: the stump that you guys are milling "cookies" off of, Did you cut that at the graft point? Where the 2 species collided? If so, why? I think that cutting that tree to the ground then milling slabs that include the graft union would be spectacular! In my mind it seems to be the most valuable part of that tree. The pic makes it look like you ignored that or treated it as a defect. Does that make sense? I wasnt there! I dont know the circumstances? So that is just an observation... Oh, and those are still beautiful pictures!
 
And it looks like your saw is not sharpened quite right yet. Under 10 degrees on the cutter, nearly flat if you dont speak degrees... It should not be jumpy at all
 
Bix,
This is a sugar maple log. I have a slabbing attatchment for my lucas mill. I am learning... you can see I need to work on my chain angles as well. But if you get em right then the cut will be sooo smooth it can be finished with a sander
 

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Bix,
Re: the stump that you guys are milling "cookies" off of, Did you cut that at the graft point? Where the 2 species collided? If so, why? I think that cutting that tree to the ground then milling slabs that include the graft union would be spectacular! In my mind it seems to be the most valuable part of that tree. The pic makes it look like you ignored that or treated it as a defect. Does that make sense? I wasnt there! I dont know the circumstances? So that is just an observation... Oh, and those are still beautiful pictures!

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Yep that makes perfect sense, good questions... if I could do it over I would have put a deep, narrow notch and dropped it from the very bottom and slabbed out the black. But it was the second day on the job and I needed to button things up by the end of the day. We hand-loaded the tree, as we didn't have a tractor (so the cookies went right into the truck). I was a little short handed, and didn't have the right saw with me to cut from the very bottom. So I just worked with what I had.

Looking at how dark those cookies turned out, had some beautiful purple colors to it, I'll have to post some pics... it would have been spectacular to slab it and show the graft. One cookie shows the graft and is really neat. I'll make sure to slab it when the next one comes around.
 
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that looks bad a*s bixler

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THANK YOU!
cool.gif
 
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And it looks like your saw is not sharpened quite right yet. Under 10 degrees on the cutter, nearly flat if you dont speak degrees... It should not be jumpy at all

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We cut the cookies first, and hit some mucky stuff and little rock too... This slowed it down quite a bit, but we slabbed that trunk all the way down to the dirt.

The saw was sharpened by the shop, and it seems they did an okay job. We had the hand-file on it halfway through slabbing because it was just not cutting. Turns out we hit some metal... I've got a pic of it... it's about 5 inches in from the bark... must be pretty old. Took nearly an hour, hit the rakers too... that got us through the rest of the day.

I'll remember "under 10 degrees" for the cutter for next time, it would be nice to get those slabs really smooth.
 
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Bix,
This is a sugar maple log. I have a slabbing attatchment for my lucas mill. I am learning... you can see I need to work on my chain angles as well. But if you get em right then the cut will be sooo smooth it can be finished with a sander

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That looks real nice Chep, would make a nice bar counter! So much to learn, I love milling.
 
Great photos! I hope you kept the cookies. There are some techniques for drying them without cracks, and working with the cracks that do develop. Check woodweb.com and do a search on drying cookies and cross sections. It'll be a while before you're ready to surface those slabs (a year or two, depending on thickness). Stack them off the ground with spacers between them to allow even air flow. To surface them, see if you can find someone in your area who has a Lucas or Peterson sawmill with the planer attachment. You've got yourself some pretty unique wood!
 
I'm limited to a 28" wide cut on my portable sawmill (though I can handle a 34" diameter log), so I still use a chain saw to slab the big stuff. Here's a photo of how I dry logs when I slab them. This is the "European" method. You basically re-construct the log with 6x6 or larger pieces underneath to support the stack and keep it off the ground. You should have one every 20" or so with 1" thick boards. Then place 1" thick "stickers" between rows, stacked directly above the ground blocks. A lot of people put straps around the pile and ratchet them TIGHT to keep the wood from warping. The advantages are that it sheds water, and you keep the log together in sequence so you can bookmatch pieces later. It does take more space and time, though. Rule of thumb is 1 year drying time per inch, though that depends on how you're going to use it.

Cedarstack_01.jpg
 
Looks great Oakie, I like how neatly stacked they are. Those cookies I cut turned out great. They look around 4-5 inches thick, I was able to put a thick coat of anchor seal on most of them. It was probably 4 or 5 days after sitting in the hot sun, small cracks started to show, but not too bad. They sure are heavy. They may take a couple years to dry so I'd like to tuck them away somewhere for a while, but I also like keeping an eye on them. Storage is tough around here, not much flat ground, I've been thinking maybe slabbing some of them in half?

What is bookmatching pieces?

I like how you stacked that wood. It seems if you stack it that way, you can strap ratchet them together and lift them with a tractor.

Also that anchor-seal soaked up quickly on the face of those cookies. $25 for a small can, seems like a special product though, I better pick that stuff up in bulk. I'm going to try a roof sealant on some board ends. Do you throw a tarp over those to keep them out of the rain?
 
Thanks for posting the photos of that walnut tree. That looks like a good way to cut cookies with and Alaska sawmill. Anchor seal will really slow down the drying of those cookies, especially as thick as they are. you can buy it in bulk directly from U-C Coatings (uccoatings.com) up to 55 gal drums. I get it in 5 gal buckets. Yeh, you need a place to put them where you can come back in four or five years.

I should have those stacks strapped down. Just a matter of taking the time to do it. I don't like to use tarps over wood piles, because it can inhibit the flow of air through the pile, and trap moisture in the top layers. Stacked the way they are, with the rough slab on top, they shed water well enough to not need a cover.

Bookmatching is pairing up two boards that were cut next to each other from the same log, sort of like opening up a book. It gives a symmetrical grain pattern that looks great for tables and cabinets. Here's a photo (same as on the 2nd page of this thread.

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff490/dboyt54/Sawmill/Wlnt_Crotch_15s.jpg

Good luck. Hope we can meet in person some time.
 
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Nice Brian, walnut looks great, nice slab'in....thats looks like Tommy boy helping you..lol

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Thanks Scott, it's a lot of work, it was just me and Tommy boy the second day, we took care of the trunk, that kid can lift some wood!
 
When my Dad was wood turning he used melted candle wax for sealing small pieces. He got lots of old candles from a couple of restaurants. Melt it in a double boiler and be careful.

For bigger projects he used latex paint slathered on thick.
 
It's great to see some of this wood going to good use. Great work guys! We are doing a renovation at our house and were able to use lumber from trees we removed to build a porch. The roof and handrails were made of Poplar and the decking was a mixture of hardwoods: Red and White Oak, Hickory and Locust.
 
It's great to see some of this wood going to good use. Great work guys! We are doing a renovation at our house and were able to use lumber from trees we removed to build a porch. The roof and handrails were made of Poplar and the decking was a mixture of hardwoods: Red and White Oak, Hickory and Locust.
 

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