Daninvan
ArboristSite Operative
Got down to the log dump with a few friends today after a last minute schedule change. Lucky for us as the chillier weather we had been having lifted, but the rain promised had not yet arrived. Definitely hit the weather sweet spot today!
Although these pictures give the impression of a bit of haze, it was actually a pretty clear view of the mountains today.
Selected a couple of cedar logs to mill up. First order of business was to peel off the bark. Sometimes the old fashioned ways work best! These logs had been hanging around the log dump at the beach for a while so were pretty sandy.
I nailed my guide board on the wider log and took off the first cut. Then I did the same for the other log, and reset both mills to cut at just over 2", and with four guys running two mills made very short work of them.
There was a bit of uncertainty at the start as to what type of cedar they were, but the cutting quickly revealed that as we had guessed, the larger one was Monterey Cypress and the other was Port Orford Cedar. Both are common street trees here, and while the Monterey Cypress (AKA macrocarpa) is not particularly revered, clear quartersawn Port Orford Cedar is coveted by cabinetmakers. Both are beautifully aromatic, the Monterey having a pink/orange tint while the PO cedar is much whiter. Unfortunately this piece of PO cedar was quite rustic with a lot of knots in it, which makes it considerably less coveted!
In fact there was even some copper wire buried in the PO cedar.
Despite the bad ergonomics we wound up with 9 slabs of the Monterey and 4 slabs of the PO.
Some of the Monterey Cypress was a bit rustic too, although this piece had some interesting figure in the top right.
We decided to high-grade most of the pieces and cut out the knots and other defects, my bowl buddy claimed he doesn't like working with softwoods so only took a couple, I took a few smaller chunks and the other guys split the rest.
Mills worked beautifully today despite still running some old worn out chains while awaiting my new shipment from Granberg. It was the same chain I used last time and was having to stop constantly to sharpen. Did not need to sharpen at all today, and we finished all the milling in 1 1/2 hours.
Once again we left mostly just skin and bones.
Although it had been nice the whole time, just as we left the sun came out and illuminated our pile of sawdust!
Although these pictures give the impression of a bit of haze, it was actually a pretty clear view of the mountains today.
Selected a couple of cedar logs to mill up. First order of business was to peel off the bark. Sometimes the old fashioned ways work best! These logs had been hanging around the log dump at the beach for a while so were pretty sandy.
I nailed my guide board on the wider log and took off the first cut. Then I did the same for the other log, and reset both mills to cut at just over 2", and with four guys running two mills made very short work of them.
There was a bit of uncertainty at the start as to what type of cedar they were, but the cutting quickly revealed that as we had guessed, the larger one was Monterey Cypress and the other was Port Orford Cedar. Both are common street trees here, and while the Monterey Cypress (AKA macrocarpa) is not particularly revered, clear quartersawn Port Orford Cedar is coveted by cabinetmakers. Both are beautifully aromatic, the Monterey having a pink/orange tint while the PO cedar is much whiter. Unfortunately this piece of PO cedar was quite rustic with a lot of knots in it, which makes it considerably less coveted!
In fact there was even some copper wire buried in the PO cedar.
Despite the bad ergonomics we wound up with 9 slabs of the Monterey and 4 slabs of the PO.
Some of the Monterey Cypress was a bit rustic too, although this piece had some interesting figure in the top right.
We decided to high-grade most of the pieces and cut out the knots and other defects, my bowl buddy claimed he doesn't like working with softwoods so only took a couple, I took a few smaller chunks and the other guys split the rest.
Mills worked beautifully today despite still running some old worn out chains while awaiting my new shipment from Granberg. It was the same chain I used last time and was having to stop constantly to sharpen. Did not need to sharpen at all today, and we finished all the milling in 1 1/2 hours.
Once again we left mostly just skin and bones.
Although it had been nice the whole time, just as we left the sun came out and illuminated our pile of sawdust!
