No plan other than the work thing today ; not happy about that. Going to be a perfect day to be outside but not me ; stuck inside working on someone elses BS instead of taking care of myself. Growing old and seriously considering retirement from second job. Not sure on Sunday at this point. Maybe milling or splitting but don't know yet what is going on. Haven't talked to the Mrs to see what she has on either. Still up in the air but will let you know.
Sorry been really busy I have not checked in I would try to orient the larger check parallel with the deck Locust is a odd wood to saw sometimes those checks just go away a few inches in the problem with locust is you always get a lot of waste wood due to the crooked nature it grows but it reacts very different than other woods when you saw it sometimes you think the boards will twist because the log was crooked but they stay straight as to boxing the pith it is always a good idea to do that if possible. I have a LT 35 woodmizer My new mill is ordered supposed to be in june 2022 I upgraded to a lt40 super just to increase speed and log size another thing use a blade lube to keep band cool that is hard wood to saw and your blade will get hot Good luck
Understand that 2 more years till I retire from full time job Until then I am doing all 3 jobs full time job,saw shop and sawmill on the good side it keeps me off the internet buying more Homelites JB
Does this mean cut a square or rectangle from the center of the log? I see this on 4x4 and 6x6 PT timbers at the box stores.
The cookies I sold ar a friends store. She asked if I could make her some which is why I needed to head to the mill. The rest I shoved in my basement. No time to mess with them yet. A nice slow dry in the basement LOL
I remember you telling about the charcuterie boards. Any plans for the actual boards? What thickness?
Yes that is a good example of it I usually make a fencepost out of the middle or a silt fence stake it just depends on the log and how centered the pith is but a 4x4 usually takes care of it JB
Well it’s like this. I had a substantial log in the pile I had my eye on. It had one of those BL features where it had the vertical lobes that curled into an inclusion in the middle. Not sure how to explain it better. But sittin on my butt while wood cutting I had noticed it would make some interesting live edge if you cut those lobes just right. IE a rounded front profile on both sides of the plank not just one,,,,like a 4” tree profile attached to a large board if you will. Also has a flare at the bottom. So those lobes I cut out at 3” thick pieces. The other half of the log 2” live edge. My idea is the 3” will be the sides 9n a shelf unit. The flare will add stability. The 2” will be the shelves. May keep it, may sell it. First I’d need to build it. I almost made firewood out of it 50 times but seeing as I was going to the mill anyway,,,perfect excuse to cut it up.
Finally got to this. All things considered with all the checking the end result was pretty good. BRAD did the milling today for the first time and I was the helper , nice to sit in the passengers seat for a change. Glad that the mill is getting some hours on it with a different driver. I didn't take any pictures myself ; well I guess I can't say that , but I did take some with BRAD's camera. Hopefully he can get some posted. Nice day outside for this and looking forward to getting back out and doing more. Logs sitting here on deck here just need to make time for it !
Fixed my photo problem finally. Paper birch on treactor and left of pic. I was shocked when you let me run the mill. It was fun. Here's the pics he took. And to think all the nice locust ive turned into plain ol' firewood!
A good day learning to mill checked logs. The biggest to fit in the mill too. Removed some bark prior to cutting. Got roughly two dozen decent boards. Couple 4x12 slabs the pith center. Some voids and lots of checks and rather than turn em into firewood i will make a couple of matched slab benches. One side of a 4x12 Made one pass for 1x6 but check was all the way though and it fell apart. Almost ran out of room on my pickup as we cut! Wood was quite damp from being green and the blade lubricant. Dry breezy day dried them off quick. Temporary stack when i got home. Have to make room to dry them and needed the truck right away. Ill post pic of stickered stack tomorrow.
NP! I actually figured out what the photo problem was on my own. Technology and me go together like oil and water!
Question for the miller's...how prone is BL to checking on the ends once stickered? I havent sealed the ends.
I’m not a sawyer or well experienced with BL milling. Much may depend on how long the log was cut. BL is one of the few that begins drying in loG form. I said begins. I’ve been getting zero extra checking on the stuff I had milled. It’s in my dark and relatively damp basement so there’s that. It’ll dry down there to a certain extent. It’s stacked standing up against a wall with a little airspace between each board. Just how I threw it down there when I needed my trailer back fast Put the stickers as close to the ends as possible. They seem to help prohibit checking run past them. Cover in the shade. Sun will wreak havoc. Weight on the top helps too. All in all the log I did was pretty stable once that pith Gets cut out.
Made some room, got em stacked and stickered this evening. Both 4x12's and some slab wood for weight. Wood laths for stickers so 1/4-3/8" gaps. Outdoors in a mostly shaded area. Anyone know how soon this will be ready for use? Planning for unfinished outdoor furniture. Some flower boxes too. Should i top cover? I was going to use some thin plastic
