Harvesting Black Walnut with an Alaskan Saw Mill

forgeblast · Sep 24, 2012

Great write up love the pics.

LogChain · Sep 24, 2012

MotorSeven said:
You sawdust is way too "fine", you should be throwing much larger chips which is slowing you down some...although on the plus side it produces a smoother cut. What degree are you filing and how often are you sharpening?? Most go between zero and 10 degrees, re-sharpen after a few slabs. I need to find my Woodbug video on rip chain sharpening for you. He does things a little different(25 degree top angle and 15 degree down angle) and files into the cutter...not away like most of us were taught. The hard chrome coating on the cutting tooth is what does the cutting. Filing away makes little jagged edges of the coating hang off the cutter which soon get broken off leaving a tiny divit on the cutting edge(dull). Filing into the cutter smooths that hard chrome and blends it into the steel of the tooth so there is nothing to break off and the edge stays sharper longer. Filing both ways the chain is equally sharp to begin with, but I found that filing "in" made the my chains go much longer between sharpening's. Give it a try...I only file "in" now on all my saws, besides how did Dad teach us to sharpen a knife....."in" right?

Rick,

You have a good eye. :applause: Truth be told, I was unable to find my rip chains (I believe I have three) for this project, perhap because they were neatly "organized" deep beneath the clutter in my workshop.

So with my TBN commitment to produce lumber, I decided to "wing it" and use a sharpened standard chain with a ~25 deg top angle--thus the "fine" saw dust you observed. I found cutting to be a slower than what I'd expected but very consistent from board to board. I ripped both logs (13 boards) without any intermediate sharpening. I thought this surprisingly good performance may have been because I was cutting walnut (?).

Also, you know a lot about the art of filing rip chains. I believe I follow your points about filing into and away from the cutter. Unfortunately, my filing skills have never matured, and I have chosen the path of ease and mediocrity--the Oregon bench grinder.

How to Sharpen Chain Saw Chains, Oregon Chainsaw Sharpening Guide - YouTube

Because the grinder motor spins in only one direction, grinding occurs into the cutter on one side of the chain and away from the cutter on the other side. The results are, however, generally adequate and require little skill. Clearly a compromise

.

-- LogChain

johnk · Sep 24, 2012

Very nice job Logchain. That was some very nice Black Walnut. I can't wait to see future posts of your projects.

MotorSeven · Sep 24, 2012

Oh, I'm with you on the grinder..have one too. But, for milling take the time to run a file a few strokes on each tooth even after grinding and after milling a few boards. It's much easier to keep one sharp then let one get completely dull. Also, maintaining a sharp chain is way easier on your saw. Many guys hit the chain with a file on every fill up of fuel. I'll have to dig around for the Woodbug video, when I find it I'll shoot you a copy...excellent info. Btw, my filing skills are also still maturing...there is a lot to learn and apply.

piller · Sep 24, 2012

Another East TN chainsaw mill operator here, I've got a Logosol mill. As for sharpening, I keep several low profile ripping chains, I have a dedicated sharpening station I made out of an 8x8 cant on a couple of saw horses with a chainsaw bar vise on top. I use two Pferd chainsaw files, one set for left teeth and one for right teeth. With a good setup and a little practice the sharpening is fast and easy.

LogChain · Sep 25, 2012

piller said:
Another East TN chainsaw mill operator here, I've got a Logosol mill. As for sharpening, I keep several low profile ripping chains, I have a dedicated sharpening station I made out of an 8x8 cant on a couple of saw horses with a chainsaw bar vise on top. I use two Pferd chainsaw files, one set for left teeth and one for right teeth. With a good setup and a little practice the sharpening is fast and easy.

Piller,

Do you think Usain Bolt at the London Olympic Games might have said something similar about sprinting?

I know I'm not there with either sharpening or sprinting.

And I know on TBN that without pictures, it didn't happen. So I thought I'd show an example of the color change that accompanies one day of drying/curing of black walnut.

The first picture shows two pieces of "green" black walnut firewood slit one day apart. The second picture shows two edges of a single piece of waste slab wood that was split one day after cutting. In both cases the color change is dramatic. The lesson here may be, "Don't judge a log (or a tractor, for that matter) by its color alone."

BTW, do any of the adventurous TBN'ers have results for the walnut hulling experiment? Pictures of your hands/feet would be good, but show more than just one digit.

--LogChain

forgeblast · Sep 25, 2012

I went to a place to get some blue plastic drums and lids. The guy was talking to another person and told us to walk around and see what he had for sale. He had some black wanuts in the hull. I picked one up and tossed it to my buddy. He didnt know what it was and tried opening it up. His hands were stained, and the guy selling the drums just laughed and told him what it was.
I have some black walnut planted in my crep land, its not ready to give off any nuts yet. Does butternut stain also?

LogChain · Sep 25, 2012

forgeblast said:
I went to a place to get some blue plastic drums and lids. The guy was talking to another person and told us to walk around and see what he had for sale. He had some black wanuts in the hull. I picked one up and tossed it to my buddy. He didnt know what it was and tried opening it up. His hands were stained, and the guy selling the drums just laughed and told him what it was.
I have some black walnut planted in my crep land, its not ready to give off any nuts yet. Does butternut stain also?

Forgeblast,

The Butternut is also known as the White Walnut (Juglans cinerea) and is a close relative to the Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). The nut hulls/husks/rinds and bark of both trees have been traditionally use for dyes. Although I have no direct experience with butternut hulls, I suspect the results of handling butternut hulls would be similar to black walnut hulls. Perhaps you (or your buddy) would like to do the critical experiment (?)

Here are links to information on butternuts

Juglans cinerea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and black walnuts

Walnut - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

--LogChain