Let's mill out some Hickory...

[Promac555]

Since I was doing this milling job on contract, I had to suffer the zillion degree outside temperature since it is the dead of summer here in the land of cotton.
My mill is a 30" Alaskan Mark III powered by a Husky 372 with a 28" bar and the auto-oiler. I sharpen my blades (@10 degrees) with a sweet 1974 Bell Industries grinder and rotate them often as I ease my mill through
the wood from hell. Hickory can produce really nice boards though. Enjoy the video !

 

[rarefish383]

Video is not loading. I milled some Hickory planks a couple years ago and they were the hardest thing I've milled. I wound up giving them to a friend and he cut them down and made a banister in his house with them, Joe.

 

[Promac555]

Hi Joe -

Sorry the video wouldn't load for you. Sometimes that happens to all of us and it's frustrating. It was shot with an iPhone and it's in a .mov format if that helps.

What I do when milling super hard logs is to keep my saw/bar/chain/mill EXTRA super clean.
Two cuts on a 7' long Hickory log is almost a full tank of gas, so that's when I take a break and use the super long air hose that's attached to my compressor and blow my equipment squeaky clean. That also cools off the rig and I have noticed that helps a lot. I also have invested in multiple ripping chains and put a fresh chain on at the first sign of the mill slowing down through a cut.

Slow and steady gets it done.

I just shake my head when I see videos of guys in the Northwest ripping - effortlessly - through what looks like balsa wood.

Here's another video of me with a pretty puny Hickory log.

 

[rarefish383]

I got it. When I clicked on your image it opened a little box at the bottom of my screen that said open, clicked on it and it opened. I just milled the Hickory I had to see what it looked like. I probably split 5 cords of it for my brother in law. I've got to pick up a Redwood log Tuesday morning and then I have a 40+ inch Black Walnut to take down in January. So, I'll be staying away from the Hickory for the foreseeable future, Joe.

 

[Promac555]

I got it. When I clicked on your image it opened a little box at the bottom of my screen that said open, clicked on it and it opened. I just milled the Hickory I had to see what it looked like. I probably split 5 cords of it for my brother in law. I've got to pick up a Redwood log Tuesday morning and then I have a 40+ inch Black Walnut to take down in January. So, I'll be staying away from the Hickory for the foreseeable future, Joe.

Hi Joe -
You live in Maryland and get Redwood? Sweet - that will mill out easily and might yield really nice boards.
Hmmm - Black Walnut - sharpen all ripping blades first and be patient. Joe - you might get awesome boards out of the Black Walnut but that's a slow sawing job like my Hickory was. Slow - but a nice reward if you are lucky.
One thing - if it's a "sick" Black Walnut tree - wear a respirator, so you don't get sick after you saw it.
Good luck -
- Stuart
p.s. Get a video of your Black Walnut sawing job and post it here - I bet it will be great !!

 

[rarefish383]

In another thread, some one said it was probably "Dawn Redwood", so I googled that, and that is what it looks like. It's not a California Redwood, Joe.

 

[john taliaferro]

Hickory -Pecan is close to what they mill on the other side of the pond . Pine is like milling empty cardboard boxes . Every one should mill pecan- hickory once .

 

[rarefish383]

The Black Walnut is not a problem, I rather like milling it. I picked up the 3 Redwood logs yesterday. As soon as I can get my cell to up load to photobucket I'll post pics, Joe.