Found this black locust log and rather cut firewood i asked buzz-saw about milling it. 10' long, 16" diameter without bark. We met up last night, ended up cutting in half and struggled to load his trailer. No rot or ants in the stump end but noticed checking when i bucked it in half. Any advice on how to mill ie orientation of log on the mill etc. I understand we wont get wide boards, but at least some 1x8, 1x6 etc. Calling JB Sawman
Fun times buddy. Still in the trailer and most likely will be for the next couple days. Interested to see who might have some input to your question. Being a " noob" to the mill anyone's input would be appreciated.
Im still laughing at your "18 mule team and two asses needed to move the log" comment. I still have those two white oak logs at my friends uncut and same size. Gonna be heavier, but can back right up to them.
Honestly, BL makes crappy 1x material. It is SUPER heavy for anything you would normally make out of 1x. I have some sitting out in the barn and it gets passed over all the time. Most of the stuff I want to make out of 1x needs to be able to be easily picked up....this stuff is not. I would try to get a couple 4x4 or some 2x stock out of it.
We can do that. Just need to offload whats on the wagon now and then will be ready. Whenever you want to give it a shot let me know.
I'm sure our official FHC photo-journalist buzzsawBRAD will be there when it gets sliced and diced , this is his baby; I'm just the helper on this one. Not sure when it will get done but will make sure there are some pictures. BRAD .... it's all you buddy !
That is a nice locust log !! I use a 10 degree blade for milling as to milling locust just try to get the center parallel with the deck of the mill locust has strange grain patterns and is usually very stable . As to lukem's comment on locust being crappy 1x material Most of my sales are 1x6,1x8 for decking it is heavy but very durable I just finished a 2500 linear ft order for 1x6 decking for a customer One other thing if you do not saw right away paint the ends of the log asap it gets very hard on the ends and makes it tough on the blades saw it soon as possible . If you are using standard carbon steel blades do not expect to get more than 300 bd ft from a blade I use bi-metal and usually get 500-600 bdft from a blade use a good amount of blade lube also ENJOY JB
For us novices JB. How many board feet in this log? Would he be wise to mill this first or last after cutting what we have on deck for the next milling session which is just a few logs?
That log is @ 90 bdft on doyle scale your actual yield might be more but I use log scale as a guide only because Locust always seems to have surprises like that hole in the center of your log might be just small or it could open to a large pocket it is always different when sawing it does not really matter which you saw first as long as your blade is sharp locust will let you know right away if you are dull just keep in mind it is real hard so feed speed will be slower even with a sharp blade but a dull blade will lead to wavy cuts . One other thing the sawdust is very fine like powder and it does bother some people gives them allergy symptoms I always wear a dust mask anyway Have fun !! JB
Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. I did find the Doyle chart and it said the same. Does that give a percentage for waste or is that every usable bit? I glanced at it quickly.
The log scales do not allow for defects ,crooked logs ,rot,etc but most scales were made with circular saws in mind so your yield is always more with a bandsaw due to the thin kerf most of the time I always end up with more footage than the scale hope this helps JB
The question i have is the orientation of the log in relation to the horizontal bandsaw blade when slicing with all those checks. He normally will make a pass and put that flat edge down, then slice away. I seen to prefer live edge, but with one straight edge i have the option to run it though a table saw or use a circular saw to remove it should i choose to do so. Looking at the ends of those logs, how would you slice it up with a bandsaw mill JB? Is your mill round blade of bandsaw?
Probably can't do live edge unless only on one side. Too big for my small mill. Max diameter is 18 inches and without getting the tape out I believe it is too big in diameter. I knew I should have gotten the larger mill.
May have to debark part of it? No live edge on it. Just make 1x stock. I grabbed those three ash logs. One nice like the first, the others minor issues but decent. On my truck. Any plan for the weekend?
One thing I might suggest concerning orientation. Consider the pith waste,,,I always do anyway. Usually you’ll get tangential cracking all the way up any board with the pith in it. I always tell the sawyer to get the pith at same height off the bed on both ends so we slice it out in entirety in one 2” board. I then toss that board in my firewood pile. JB sawman may have more info on that. I just find that the most unstable part of the log prone to cracking and cupping. Everything else that came off the log I had cut up was surprisingly stable. Well except the cookies. They’re stable as long as they get air on both sides. Stack them without air and the tOp one will cup. Usually gOes back to flat within a week or two once you Get air on both sides again. some pics just to wet your appetite. cut her up boys. only pic I took of the first cookies smoothed up and oiled. Not the nicest examples. I started with the uglies just to see how it would work. Blew up a couple running them through the planer too LOL you forget which direction they need to be run and they’ll let you know real fast