Any Sawyers Out There ???

[scott_vt]

Mornin Guys,
I know there are a bunch of you guys out there that own your own sawmill. My question, is what is the preferred method when sawing your logs, to saw quarter sawn stock ? Do you flat saw half your log and then rotate the log 90 degrees ? Or do you split the log up the middle and go from there?

I helped my buddy setup an old fashioned sawmill and even made some parts for him to get it running but neither of us has any real experience on proper sawing techniques.

Thanks!

 

[Dozernut]

If you have a good clear log, then I quarter saw, however good "veneer" logs are not too plentiful. I usually flat cut, picking out the best side and turn the log several time to get the best board out of the log. There really is no prefered method, flat sawing is the easiest and most productive but not necessarily the best. Quarter sawn boards are the best but not the easiest. What I am trying to say is there is no single way to cut a log, it depends on the quality and quantity you expect to get out of the log. You really can't tell what kind of a log you have until you "open" it up. Some logs you think will be trash will turn out to be hidden treasure with beautiful grain and figure. While some you think will be great turn out to center rotted or full of embedded metal, you really cannot tell just by looking at the log. A good metal detector will save you time and money and cant hooks will save your back, but a turner on the mill is the best.

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Dozernut,
Thanks for your reply ! The reason that I ask is that Im always looking for somr nice quarter sawn oak, and try and use it for table tops. First reason is that it has less tendency to cup and the grain pattern can be quite attractive on quarter sawn oak. My buddy has some oak logs and I have my eye on them

Thanks again !

 

[Dozernut]

I am a wood worker too and that is why I got my own mill several years back. Where I live there are no old growth woods so a veneer log is a rarity. Flat cutting will yield a small percentage of quarter sawn boards toward the center of the log. Quarter sawing will have more waste and can produce some nice boards but requires a lot more handling. A lot of the logs are not worth the effort of quarter sawing because of the size and knots. I stock pile my quarter sawn for furniture and use the other boards in projects or buildings where warpage will not be a problem. Just curious, where do you get your mill blade hammered? That is a dying skill, most mills are band mills now days as is mine. I have worked the old circular saw mills, they are much faster but the saw kerf waste a lot of wood.

 

[scott_vt]

Hey Dozernut,
Yep, those old circular mills do make a ton of waste We have only done some limited cutting on it, but if we were actually doing any volume we would have to figure out a method of removing all the wood chips ! I was thinking some type of a conveyor assembly, maybe an old bale elevator that we could divert all the waste with.

As far as the mill, its an old Lane. There is an old timer in Vermont that still hammers blades. I dont have his name handy but my buddy has his name and phone number. Definitely a dying breed, hopefully some young upstart will learn the trade before it dies alltogether

 

[escavader]

EVENING SCOTT,
I use to be a sawyer,in a large mill ,years ago.To try to answer your question,we would saw the log according to its quality.All the best would wood usually come off the outside,so we would get what we could from the outside,and cut pallet wood,or low grade[hardwood] or cut a timber,or low grade boards from the inside.[softwood]
The most important part is know the numbers so ,you dont waste wood,so things come out right.Alot of math being a good sawyer.The newer carrages like at my company all have computers now,the dials have become obsolete.
Most of the young sawyers dont know the math,computers do it for them,however common sense and grade knowledge still apply.
Does that old lane have a wooden carrage?
ALAN

 

[scott_vt]

EVENING SCOTT,
I use to be a sawyer,in a large mill ,years ago.To try to answer your question,we would saw the log according to its quality.All the best would wood usually come off the outside,so we would get what we could from the outside,and cut pallet wood,or low grade[hardwood] or cut a timber,or low grade boards from the inside.[softwood]
The most important part is know the numbers so ,you dont waste wood,so things come out right.Alot of math being a good sawyer.The newer carrages like at my company all have computers now,the dials have become obsolete.
Most of the young sawyers dont know the math,computers do it for them,however common sense and grade knowledge still apply.
Does that old lane have a wooden carrage?
ALAN

Mornin Alan,
I knew you would jump in here eventually ! The old Lane has a steel carriage. We used old telephone poles PHD dug in for a base. The old Farmall C didnt have enough guts with the flat belt so we made a friction drive with a tire and used the PTO on a larger JD to get the HP that we needed. Its a real trip to see this thing run

 

[dmartin88]

I have a bandsawmill and do some hobby type sawing. I typically will make one cut to open the log, turn it 90 degrees, then flatsaw so I have a single good edge on each board. I can then group together like widths (from several logs) for a final trim to have all 4 edges cut. This yeilds a few usable quartersawn boards that I usually separate out from the rest- could get more but would require a lot of handling.

I'm by no means a veteran but have used a few boards I've cut in small projects. I cut mostly trees that have fallen on my property (about 3 acres with mostly red oaks) or in the neighborhood and not in to any kind of high production.

Logs aren't what most would call quality either. I hope to try a solar kilin in the spring on what I cut this winter- just a few hundred board feet more than likekly.

As further FYI, here is a link to a post on the WoodWeb site explaining a modified way to cut a log that yields quite a bit of quartersawn wood. The method is at the end of the post.

Quartersawing on a Wood-Mizer

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Dave,
Thanks for the reply and the link ! If you end up doing that solar kiln, you might think about putting it in the Projects section on this forum ! Im sure there are a bunch of people on here that would be very interested in that project including myself

BTW, excellent link!!!

 

[monkeymonk]

Just got off the mill tonite. Lots of milling going on this year. Today we did a mix of Alder, Madrone and Cedar. Tommorow will be salvaged fir.

When milling quatersawn we listen to the Log. But mainly saw it flat on the bandsaw and keep flipping and flipping lots of up dogs down dogs. after a while you don't even hit your knees! We decide as we go depending on the Log.

We mainly mill in beams. 6x4,6x6,6x8,6x12 4x8,4x12 and 1x. the 2x is a by product for us and 2x, 6x studs are really cheap by the truck load.

Were surrounded by tight grained big diameter 2nd growth Doug fir, pine, cedar with mixed old growth. we also have hardwoods Madrone,oak, and various other species. Milling any log over 36in is a pain in the arss.

Love the satisfaction Home Milled Lumber gives me