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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2015 10:01pm
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One of my logging friends knows I have a weakness for "different" trees and saves some of the interesting logs. This week he dropped off a large cherry. This one was too big for my circle mill. A friend with an Alaskan Mill came over today and we made some nice slabs. A couple of them look like they'll make nice one piece tabletops if they make it through drying intact.
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Shadyacres
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2015 11:06pm
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That should make beautiful slabs Don. I keep thinking about getting a small mill someday. So far , I just cut the logs and take them to an Amish mill close by. But cutting them myself would really be nice.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2015 12:33am
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Great pic! I want one of those saw mills!
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old243
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2015 09:11am
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I have a band mill, our snow is slowly going away . Time to think about getting the mill opened up. I have several logs that I will cut, one is a gnarly old cherry , that should have some interesting grain. It is sometimes not the pretty logs that give you this. I never used an alaskan mill. they are the answer for the really big logs, crotches etc. Hope your slabs turn out well, they can be tricky to get dried, but nice if they turn out. Old243
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2015 09:26am
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Gotta say it, "Loggers Porn", flashing that Husky chain bar like that, you ought to be ashamed ! 
I'm sure you'll get some beautiful lumber out of that big piece. Looks like you have a few upcoming projects to do.
I have a small Alaska MK-3 Mill with the 30" kit for my Husky 576-XPAT which I am anxious to get using, unfortunately I haven't got anything that large to be cutting. Maybe that is fortunate as I'm gonna have to figure out using it first... all a part of the adventure of Cabin Life...
My job jar for today is clearing some dead fall and spring "bush cleaning" so my Husky will be warmed up soon enough.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 10 Aug 2015 10:14pm
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We've been having more fun in the woods. There have been a few upgrades, my buddy went up to a Lucas swing blade with a slabbing bar, worked sweet on this 4' red oak. We've gone in together on an old beater boom truck, these puppy's are heavy. I logged a homesite prior to the excavators a couple of weeks ago and got the hickories. I started with a farm tractor but bent a lift arm, with the log loader it was a 5 minute job... and a few quarts of hydraulic oil. Another winter job 
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creeky
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 10:33am
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ah. the spare gallon of hydraulic oil. another off grid essential.
I could use one of those slabs for a table I want to make. hmmm.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2015 10:20pm
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Yeah, some Exxon stock would probably be a good idea
The tree is going to be used to make a dining suite but I believe there will be extra, it'll be a few years till they dry... if you can figure out how to get one there!
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Don_P
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 09:55pm
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I got into some smaller cherries and a maple today. This is something I'm starting to play with. Sawing a flat natural Y braced timber. Then I'll mortise and tenon a 6x6 bolster on top. The beam can then be cut to length in the field and bolted to premade posts or it can be spliced over the bolster.
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DaveBell
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 10:17pm
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Don_P like your mill. What would you do with this burl? I'm in VA also. Burl is in WV.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 11:41pm
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They are a mixed bag, sometimes it has awesome grain inside and more often it is a rotten hole. For something like that I'd get one of the local woodturners to take a look. I've turned nicely figured small boards into 1/2" thick rounded edge cutting boards/cheese boards, sandwich servers... whatever. I use a beesway finish. It's fun watching people react to a really neat piece of wood.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2015 12:50pm
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Today was one of those mixed bags. This was a double white oak, the slab here is 36-42" wide x 6' long and I was hoping for nicely knitted together flame grain. The included bark that is mostly down the intersection of the two halves means this is really 2 boards, I might joint the two halves and butterfly them back together. Still very nice grain.
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creeky
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2015 05:49pm
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i don't know I've ever seen a board quite that dark. maybe it's the picture. but nice board. how thick did you cut the slab?
I like that center line. really talks about the life of the tree.
suppose. you could router out the line and fit it with a ebony inlay or sum'at. that would look good. i have a nice piece of purple heart I bought for a project I never got to use. swap ya for one of them cherry slabs.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2015 10:00pm - Edited by: Don_P
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We got 3 nice 4-3/4" thick slabs out of it... we actually talked about setting up at 3" but somehow cut the first one heavy and I liked it so we just kept running at that thickness. The next purchase will be a planing head that goes on the swing blade mill, it works sort of like an 8" dia end mill, clamp the slab down and work it all over the surface.
I've been debating cutting out the pith, jointing the crack back together and using butterfly keys to hold it. Or, epoxy the joint and run threaded rods through the whole thing. This will probably end up with the cabinetmaker/furnituremaker on that job once it's dry. White oak has been described as drying at the same pace that glaciers flow.*
Within minutes the surface had dried and the wood was more like what you normally see in the way of white oak. That does show pretty close to what an oil finish would look like though. Opening each log is kind of like digging for treasure.
My buddy will be into some real dark wood next week. I dug out my metal detector wand this afternoon, its a large walnut yard tree. I've yet to saw one without finding metal inside. One was a nice walnut log, looked clean from the outside, inside I hit a cluster of 5 nails and some poly clothesline. Happily I saw part of a plow sticking out of another.
*one neat thing I've done for teaching kids is to make some "straws" out of red oak and out of white oak. Have them put the stick in a glass of water and blow. They will get bubbles out of the red oak but white oak will just puff your cheeks up. The tyloses that block the cells slow drying down, they also mean it makes a fine barrel (tight cooperage) where red oak makes a tolerable nail keg (slack cooperage)
Attached is a shot of the next slab towards the center, they were grown tight up to one another but were not knitted at all in that period.
Swing on by when you get the round tuits, bring a truck
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Gary O
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# Posted: 24 Aug 2015 04:55am
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Quoting: Don_P Sawing a flat natural Y braced timber
Oh my, oh my.
gonna save my money for a mill
wunnerful, simply wunnerful
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Don_P
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 07:52pm
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The power company did some line clearing recently. They first came in with a helicopter and limbed the pines then sent in a ground crew to clean up everything under the line. Having been through this before, the chopper trimmed trees die and then fall into the line, I asked them to drop those trees and I'd get them out. I had gotten a dozen or so logs out with the pickup, snatch block and cable but the rest needed to come straight up the hill. I've gotten about a dozen logs to the mill, this pile is about a dozen more and there are about a dozen still over the edge... pretty nice haul. We'll probably make siding for a friend's shop, he owns the leaky half of the knuckleboom
The trees are eastern white pine, a wood I really like but it has structural "challenges" notice how they grow about 3' send out a spray of branches then go up 3' and do it again. There is a knot cluster every 3' structurally. Trees like this are best for non structural. As they get larger and more deep woods grown there are usually smaller branches down low and better beam timber.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 08:05pm
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Bizarre looking rig you've got there Don. What is that- a modified backhoe to make a log pulling crane? Got a closeup photo of it?
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Don_P
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 09:17pm
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LOL, it started life as a F600 dump truck but was chopped and shortened, then the Prentice knuckle boom was added, a fairly typical older ~70's-80's FOBC (freaking outside behind cab) style log loader. From the office chair up top you have, a great view, a left/right swing footpedal then 4 levers in front of you, grapple (opens and closes the jaws), main boom up and down, jib boom up and down, and grapple rotate. Under the seat are 2 more levers for the outriggers. Not the lowest cg vehicle I've ever owned. The high range switch is out of the rear but I see no need to replace it, just short hops around the neighborhood on the back roads.
ah, found a closeup, this is basically in travel position, the grapple is hooked into a heavy crossmember and the boom is down. The cylinders sticking out the sides drive a rack that spins the turret. The hydraulic tank is midship and it uses the old dump's ~25 gpm pto pump.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 09:25pm
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http://www.prenticeforestry.com/en/products/machines/self-loaders.html
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neb
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 09:52pm
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Nice looking wood slabs.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2016 11:40pm
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I'll put knuckle boom on my wish list.
Would be useful here in San Francisco Area traffic for removing the cars in front of you.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2016 07:31am - Edited by: Don_P
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This is a larger self loading truck. The valves are more modern joystick controls. The turret and grapple have continuous rotation, they can spin all the way around, and the truck has about 6 more gears, very nice.
I'm setting up a stumpkin in that pic. A large hollow log, carve a jack-o-lantern in the log, fill with kindling and have a party
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2016 08:37am
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The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.
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old243
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2016 09:55am
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I have had my mill going the last couple of day's . Had it battened down for the winter. I cut more as a hobby, once my back starts to hurt , I quit. Got a load of fire wood logs delivered and have saved some interesting chunks. There is several ash, a maple and a beech. They will be nice or they will make firewood. Time will tell. Good way to spend a few hours, with my big boy toy.
Our ash is dying in this area , so a lot of the load is ash. I really prefer ash to oak . It has a nice grain. Cutting some 8/4 plank, the only problem they are nice to have but they are too heavy to handle, Want to get them cut and in the kiln before the summer heat hits them. Have fun with your projects old243
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Don_P
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2016 10:08pm - Edited by: Don_P
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I certainly understand that part, I'm held together by old fishing line and broken golf tee's, not going to set any records... just having fun. Hydraulics are a good thing My wife calls the mill the testosterone magnet, the guys always end up down there.
Ash is not particularly common here, not particularly uncommon just not that many. I've worked with it a good bit and do like it. One of the jobs of my youth was in a canoe rental shop. I rebuilt canoes after mishaps and at one point ran out of ash for the rails. I had some nice red oak so tried it. I installed the several hundred screws, thwarts, seats and end decks. It lasted one weekend and didn't take a hard knock, it was just the difference in impact resistance between those two woods. The emerald ash borer has entered Virginia but I don't believe they have made it into the traps here in any number yet. I'm afraid it is a tree not to waste.
For those who don't know, this is one reason not to transport firewood any distance, don't give those bugs a free ride to a new area.
We have quite a few beeches and like the wood. a lot of it ends up as "dimensional firewood" during drying but what makes it through is one of our strongest and toughest woods, it also self polishes nicely. I like to use it to slide big timbers around on when doing timber frame work, it acts like it is waxed. Most of our maple is red, there are a bunch of sugar maples in the western part of the county but I've never sawn one. All of those white woods dry brighter when I can mill them in the winter and get the moisture content down before the spring warmup and molds start to grow on wet wood.
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old243
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2016 09:21am
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Don , My mill had some hydraulics on it when I purchased it, I soon realized , that milling would be a lot more fun if hydraulics , were doing the heavy lifting , rather than me. I took it back to the chap that made it and had , him add some more. Presently have a log lifter, turner, log rests, toe board. Head runs on hydraulic motor so is variable speed. 20 hp Onan engine, will take a log up to 20 feet long,and about 24 inch diameter. But don't like those big ones. After I had it a couple of years I realised , that to market my lumber, I had to kiln dry it. Built a kiln, and purchased a Nyle 50 kiln, this does about 800 board feet. This has worked out quite well.
I agree that it will attract attention, great way to spend a few hours.
Regarding ash , we will be replacing a carpet in our living room shortly with a prefinished ash floor. old 243
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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2016 11:08am
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WHOA! That is so freakin cool!!!!!
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Don_P
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2016 08:51pm - Edited by: Don_P
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I moved logs and started sawing over the weekend, stayed home and kept at it today. The first pic is of my mill, realized I hadn't put a pic of it in this thread.
The next is the wood that's coming off, mainly trying to get 1z12's for barn siding but the bycatch is going into 1x8 for a temporary porch floor at work.
3rd pic is the reason I kept sawing, black turpentine beetle party. They've hatched out, smelled the sap and invited all their beetle buds over.
Last shot is what happens. The btb's tunnel under the bark and run along the cambium layer getting the highest energy food. Their larvae go on in. As they tunnel in they pick up spores of bluestain fungi and carry them in to the wet sugar rich sapwood... sapstain is the other name for this fungi. It then runs through the cells consuming sugar. Anyway everyone is in this shot, the food, the beetle, the fungi.
If I can debark the wood the beetle doesn't do damage, when it is sawn and on stickers as soon as the moisture content drops below about 25% the bluestain can't grow. Right now with all the company and temps hitting the high 70's, it is set up to explode in the log pile.
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old243
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2016 09:54pm
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Don , nice set up you have there. What are you cutting, looks like pine from here. I agree that you have to get your white woods , sawed before the bug and the stain starts. I like to cut my hard maple frozen or early .Then right in the kiln, this pretty much eliminates sticker stain. Have you tried misting your logs, with diesel fuel , in a garden sprayer, also the bottom seems to be where bugs hang out. Pine and spruce seem to be the worst. Our hemlock seems to be a bit more resistant. have fun with your project.
I have been working away cutting ash, been held up getting lawn mowers running, and other spring things. old243
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Don_P
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2016 10:28pm - Edited by: Don_P
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Yup this is eastern white pine. It started last fall with the power company limbing the line using a helicopter. Around Feb the ground crew came to clean up and I asked them to drop those trees. They are dead, they just don't know it yet, and I'm uncomfortable felling near the line. The setup was good for winter sawing. I hear you on other things getting in the way. I blew an engine, swapped it out, made it ~500 miles and lost the tranny. Soo, a couple of weeks ago it finally all came back together, the temps are up and the bugs are hatching... just another day on the farm I know diesel will stop it but have not had to resort to it... or I've just found another use for denim pine. I might be getting into some tulip poplar (not aspen poplar... this is liriodendron tulipifera) soon, looks like we might make the siding, windows and doors for this house, which the original was poplar. A friend has some poplars that need to come out so it might work out. The bug there is the powderpost beetle, there were a few of them checking out the pine but they are really looking for starch and poplar is full of starch, we'll set up a borate dip between the saw and that stacking area. I have a 16' trough ~16" wide that holds about 35 gallons and a few boards at a time. Doesn't stop blue but stops the bugs and decay fungi. The interior of that house was either poplar or oak but we've got quite a bit of hickory, and then cherry and oak so we'll mix it up inside.
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