My foray into milling - starting on the bandsaw

Hi Guys, I know this forum is more chainsaw-centric, and I have invested in a Panther II chainsaw mill however I still don't have a big enough saw to tackle larger logs - my largest saw at the moment is a 562XP.

I do however have a nice Minimax S45 18" bandsaw with a 1" Lennox carbide blade. When I'm out cutting firewood, I try to leave a couple 3' sections to bring home and so far it has been addicting slabbing them up. I envision using this wood for small projects for now - cutting board, knife blocks, maybe an end table.

Just thought I'd share a few pics of the wood. I'm loving the brown heartwood on the black birch and am pleased with the honey chestnut color of the chestnut oak. Can't wait for it dry out.

I intend to get a bigger saw down the road so I can take one some larger diameter trees but this bandsaw will have to satisfy my hunger for the moment.

 

Nice saw! I've been doing the same thing, though lately I've been using the chainsaw mill more often. I have a set of roller tables that I built, and a sled jig, that I use with it for longer cuts. That looks to have a much beefier fence than what I have on my Grizzly bandsaw. Mine likes to slip sideways, so I back it up with a piece of plywood clamped to the table. I'm also running a 1" Lenox Woodmaster CT, and it seems to cut faster than the Laguna Resaw King I used previously, though the finish I got with the Laguna was much nicer.

Slabs look great - awesome work!

 

Cool!

 

Now we're talkin'!!

Though I never get tired of felling,bucking,hauling,splitting,stacking burning wood from parents acreage & the occasional tree job I get a few times a year etc... I must confess the main reason I look forward to getting free logs from my tree service contact 3-4 times a year is to sort through all the big stuff that will eventually get milled into slabs/lumber/woodturning blocks/bowl blanks... Each time I tell him "I'll take the biggest stuff you got,even if its 3 feet diameter or big crotch pieces.If you can get it in that dump trailer with that winch,that's perfect."

Most people he delivers to only want small,knot free stuff no more than 7-8" diameter.He normally includes about 25-30% smaller stuff too if I ask,but never is anything less than 6-7".

 

Nice saw. It looks like quarter sawn flecking on the chestnut oak. Nice color too.

You can also make grilling planks for meats and fish.

Do you have a planer?

 

I know, the thought of locally sourced hardwood lumber, milled personally is pretty dang cool.

Wow you're chainsaw mill setup sounds pretty neat, do you have pics posted in any other threads? Yea I'm happy with the fence on this minimax, I have it dialed in to account for blade drift and now it is pretty much dead on. I haven't cut anything big enough that I needed a fence extension for yet. And yes, I'm loving the Lennox blade, can't slow that thing down.

Thanks guys

wow nice hookup,I bet slabbing a giant crotch can do a number on man and saw, do you use ripping chain or standard chain?

Hey I never even thought of making grilling planks! Excellent idea; I should have known you would have a great way to incorporate cooking into milling, I need to get over the smokehouse and catch up, I've been away too long. I have a 6" craftsman jointer from the 60's or 70's but a planer is definately next on the list. I'd love an old hulking cast iron one but my budget is tight right now. I have come across Bridgewood 16" and 20" planers on craigslist for $450-$750 before but I may try to snag a used little portable one (Ryobi, Delta, etc) as cheap as I possibly can just to get started. I know the quality and power is not there at that price range but just to wet my feet for now it should be fine, a crappy planer is better than no planer in my book. But I see a bigger model somewhere in my future.

 

I had a jet portable planner, once I painstakingly set it up, it did a real nice job and I was getting ten thousands or less snipe out of it

 

I did a thread on it a few months ago (deluxe sled jig on page 2 ). I was still on the Laguna blade back then; and I think part of the reason it's in need of sharpening now is from sawing through lots of bark with embedded dirt/rocks. These days, if I gotta go through bark, I like using the CSM instead - chains are very cheap by comparison, and I can sharpen them myself.

Vertical Bandsaw Lumber Mill | Firewood Hoarders Club

 

Hey Razo, where in Pa are ya? I have some firewood size chunks of tiger maple that could really use a band saw like yours!!

Bonus points for gettin' the saws in the background on that one shot.

 

Love the chestnut oak slabs..... What a beautiful piece that will make.

I have to stop looking at these threads. Love this stuff!

 

Didn't even know Jet made a portable planer, What goes into setting it up? I'll have to do some research on what adjustments will need to be made.

Did you say .... TIGER MAPLE?!?!?! haha. I live in Schuylkill County.

I too never get tired of looking at milling posts, its an addicting hobby!

Sweet I gotta check it out, thanks for the link.

 

haha yea have to make sure of that! I see I'm not the only one that pays attention to what's in the background on shots like that.

 

The two main things on a portable planer are setting the knives and setting the in feed and out feed tables just right, not always really easy because things like to squirm around when you tighten them up.
It also matters how you support the stock during in feed and out feed, with bigger planners with in feed, out feed rollers is not so critical.
With my portable planer I always used in feed and out feed roller stands also, and those must be set right also with a quality straight edge

 

Thanks for the tips! Just talking about it makes me want one more than ever now. C'mon craigslist, no whammy's

 

This is on my list. I have a decent bandsaw now, and already have a couple flattening methods (planer sled and router jig) before planing.

 

A router sled is on my list as well, what bit do you use with your router when using it to flatten lumber? A standard dado bit? An upward spiral? Downward spiral?

 

I just use a 3/4" straight bit right now. It takes a while, but does a good enough job. Once one side is flat enough I run the piece through the planer flat side down, then flip it over to remove the tool marks from the router. I only do this when there is a lot of material to remove or it is too wide to go through the planer.

For most stuff I just use wedges and some hot glue to securely fasten the piece to some 3/4 MDF and run it through the planer. Once it is flat on the top I get rid of the sled and plane the other side.

I'd like to get a bigger router bit....my router will swing it...but they are pricey boogers. I need to get a paying project to offset the cost because my tool fund is pretty low right now and I'm on the lookout for a drill press.