Milled the 26' Douglas Fir 8 X 12 beam today

[Brmorgan]

First off my neighbor came over around noon to help me get the log up onto the supports. It wasn't too difficult with a couple jack-alls and my floor jack.

Since I took so many pictures I kept them down to 800 X 600 for you dialup folks.

Those blocks look undermatched to the log! But it's so bloody heavy it isn't going anywhere.

From the "high" end with all the machines out of the way.

I marked out the 8X12 I wanted to cut with the heart boxed in the center. I marked the lines using a level instead of a square; I find it more accurate.

Debarking took less than 10 minutes with my little offset broadaxe because the tree had been dead standing for a while.


And here are the little buggers responsible:

 

[wigglesworth]

Looks like fun. Keep them pics coming

 

[Brmorgan]

Got the end blocks on and the string pulled taut from end to end to find the level.

All the lag bolts are driven in to the level. I only have an 8 foot 2X10 right now for a guide, since the longer 14' 2X8 I was using last year didn't make it through the winter in usable condition. This was the first time I've had to really make sure I put the lag bolts in certain intervals. I had to position the guide four times to make the cut.

Guide board is secured down for the first 7' of cut.

Thought I'd give the 041G a try on the mill. It sure looks good mounted on the mill, eh? It felt good too, but wouldn't cut worth a dime with the chain that was on it. It was sharp but was a bit loose in the bar, and was cutting super rough too. So, since I was a bit pressed for time, it was back to the tried-and-true 066 & 24" low-pro combo.

Just a little over halfway through the first cut. The wood had a bit of tension and the top cutoff piece was wanting to spring up from the log as it was cut off. Not wanting this to throw off the cut accuracy, I bolted it down to the log right away.

 

[Brmorgan]

Top cut complete! Just flipping that slab off was no easy task. :help:

Damn, that's some nice wood, if I may say so myself. I love opening up these Fir logs.

The chain was cutting unbelievably smoothly. The diagonal mark across the center of this picture is a stop/start mark where I had to shut down and move the guide board. Otherwise it was a flawless cut, minus the foot or so that I tried at the beginning with the 041G.

Just to see how accurate the cut was, I stretched a string from end to end. It has about 3/16" of deflection over the length. Well within the tolerances of a 26" beam in my opinion, and plenty good enough for what I'll be doing with it.

I found a bunch of random lengths of 2" X 4" aluminum rectangle tubing in a scrap bin a while ago. A couple 8-9' sections are straight as a die, so I thought they would make good guides for the vertical mill. They're very similar to the RipSaw guide pieces. They worked very well, much better than the boards I'd been using before, and I don't have to worry about them. warping etc. as long as I take care of them.

 

[Brmorgan]

Now it's starting to look like something! You can see my offset axe in the foreground support block. It's an antique 2lb broad head that's offset and flat on one side, to use for squaring timbers etc. I found it in a scrap bin as well, just had to buy a $10 handle for it. It's great for one-hand use for taking knots and high points (and bark!) off of logs. I have to be really careful with it though. It's very sharp.

The third side was a little bit trickier to cut since I was pushing uphill. I was too lazy to turn the saw around in the mill. :bringit: It wasn't really that bad though. The mill slides really well on the aluminum rail, and the chain was cutting like a hot knife in butter and was almost self-feeding even slightly uphill. I was wearing a heck of a lot of sawdust after that cut though.

All done! I was trying to stand the beam up on the bottom slab using a cant hook, but it started to roll off and there was no way I was going to stop it! It's a pretty nice chunk of timber though. I don't know how long it will be until I get around to actually installing the beam in the shop, but it'll probably be a month or two minimum. I have to wait for the ground to dry out and the weather to warm up a bit more so I can drag some of the stuff I have stored in there (boat etc.) right now outside for the summer.

I cut to my lines pretty accurately. It'll be interesting to see how much it cracks and moves since it's been dead for a fair while already. It isn't super dry, but I've had pretty good luck milling dead standing wood as far as movement is concerned. There's a little bit of dry rot in the lower-left, but the beam is more than two feet longer than what I need, so there's lots of room to trim that off.

 

[BobL]

Dang that looks like fun day out! (especially from behind this desk I'm sitting at)

 

[SilverBox]

Looks good!

 

[huskyhank]

Good job and thanks for the pictures and words.

 

[FJH]

Now it's starting to look like something! You can see my offset axe in the foreground support block. It's an antique 2lb broad head that's offset and flat on one side, to use for squaring timbers etc. I found it in a scrap bin as well, just had to buy a $10 handle for it. It's great for one-hand use for taking knots and high points (and bark!) off of logs. I have to be really careful with it though. It's very sharp.

The third side was a little bit trickier to cut since I was pushing uphill. I was too lazy to turn the saw around in the mill. :bringit: It wasn't really that bad though. The mill slides really well on the aluminum rail, and the chain was cutting like a hot knife in butter and was almost self-feeding even slightly uphill. I was wearing a heck of a lot of sawdust after that cut though.

All done! I was trying to stand the beam up on the bottom slab using a cant hook, but it started to roll off and there was no way I was going to stop it! It's a pretty nice chunk of timber though. I don't know how long it will be until I get around to actually installing the beam in the shop, but it'll probably be a month or two minimum. I have to wait for the ground to dry out and the weather to warm up a bit more so I can drag some of the stuff I have stored in there (boat etc.) right now outside for the summer.

I cut to my lines pretty accurately. It'll be interesting to see how much it cracks and moves since it's been dead for a fair while already. It isn't super dry, but I've had pretty good luck milling dead standing wood as far as movement is concerned. There's a little bit of dry rot in the lower-left, but the beam is more than two feet longer than what I need, so there's lots of room to trim that off.

Nice beam ! But Judging by the look of that log and the fact that the slab was curling up, chances are shes goina twist on ya abit . Your likly not buildin fine furniture with it so its likly going to work out.

Good job!

 

[TraditionalTool]

Nice work, Brad!

 

[blsnelling]

Is it difficult to keep the vertical mill vertical throughout the length of the cut? It seems to me that it would be easy to tilt the saw. Of course, I've never even seen a vertical though. Just curious.

 

[Can8ianTimber]

Good job man. I like your idea of the string line and bolts to make sure it is level. You just have to make sure you don't put them too deep. I remember the first time I milled I cut through 2 nails that I placed in my support block.

I have some dead standing at my place that I want to do the same thing with so I really appriciate the detailed pictures and naritive.

 

[rarefish383]

I remember the first time I milled I cut through 2 nails that I placed in my support block.

Me Too, Joe.

 

[mtngun]

Is it difficult to keep the vertical mill vertical throughout the length of the cut? It seems to me that it would be easy to tilt the saw. Of course, I've never even seen a vertical though. Just curious.

The two brands of vertical mills that I have tried -- the HF, and the Granberg Mini-mill -- are indeed top heavy and tippy, and you have to make a conscious effort to push the mill flat against the guide board.

That said, the vertical mills are timesavers, and Bmorgan's beam is a case in point. After making the initial slabbing cut with the Alaskan, the other three edges could be cut by the vertical mill without any setup -- and setup is the big time-eater for chainsaw milling.

To make the same beam using only an Alaskan would require two setup operations rather than one, plus readjusting the depth of cut on the Alaskan.

Good thread, Bmorgan, and thanks for the 800x images.

Gotta love Douglas Fir -- it's not a sexy wood, but it sure is useful.

 

[blsnelling]

The two brands of vertical mills that I have tried -- the HF, and the Granberg Mini-mill -- are indeed top heavy and tippy, and you have to make a conscious effort to push the mill flat against the guide board.

That said, the vertical mills are timesavers, and Bmorgan's beam is a case in point. After making the initial slabbing cut with the Alaskan, the other three edges could be cut by the vertical mill without any setup -- and setup is the big time-eater for chainsaw milling.

To make the same beam using only an Alaskan would require two setup operations rather than one, plus readjusting the depth of cut on the Alaskan.

Makes sense to me. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Brmorgan]

The two brands of vertical mills that I have tried -- the HF, and the Granberg Mini-mill -- are indeed top heavy and tippy, and you have to make a conscious effort to push the mill flat against the guide board.

That said, the vertical mills are timesavers, and Bmorgan's beam is a case in point. After making the initial slabbing cut with the Alaskan, the other three edges could be cut by the vertical mill without any setup -- and setup is the big time-eater for chainsaw milling.

To make the same beam using only an Alaskan would require two setup operations rather than one, plus readjusting the depth of cut on the Alaskan.

Good thread, Bmorgan, and thanks for the 800x images.

Gotta love Douglas Fir -- it's not a sexy wood, but it sure is useful.

You forgot the most important part - trying to turn a log that weighs over a ton by hand! Wouldn't be such a big deal if it was on a bandmill's rails but there was no way I was going to turn it on the support blocks I had it on.

My little homebrew vertical mill jig does have SOME movement, but it's not too bad. Once you're into the cut, it kinda wants to stay fairly straight anyway. Having never used an actual Granberg mini-mill, I can't make a comparison, but mine LOOKS like it might be a bit more stable, just because of the longer supports which I designed to ride on 2X stock (or in this case aluminum tube) instead of the little inverted V-rail that the Granbergs use. I can adjust it to ride on anything from 3" to 12" wide if I need to, depending on what I have to use as a guide. If my guide board is longer than the log, I can slab the sides off the log using the vertical mill even before the top cut is taken with the Alaskan, because I can just run the vertical mill on the guide board up one side and down the other. That saves me a LOT of setup time since I don't have to snap a chalkline and line up guides for it.

Good job man. I like your idea of the string line and bolts to make sure it is level. You just have to make sure you don't put them too deep. I remember the first time I milled I cut through 2 nails that I placed in my support block.

I have some dead standing at my place that I want to do the same thing with so I really appriciate the detailed pictures and naritive.

Quite a while ago I cut clean through a 3/8" lag with the 090's milling chain. Hardly slowed the saw down at all but it sure slowed the cut! Didn't actually hurt the chain too much, all things considered.

I hit one my first summer with the mill though with the 3/8" ripping chain on the 395, and it annihilated about half a dozen teeth. Two were gone and the rest were bent or chipped beyond use. :censored:

In this case I was taking a deep enough cut that I didn't need to worry about the bolts. I was cutting almost 7" deep on the top cut, and the bolts I used were about 3-4" depending on the depth from the guide board to the log.

 

[stipes]

Great job!!!!

First off my neighbor came over around noon to help me get the log up onto the supports. It wasn't too difficult with a couple jack-alls and my floor jack.

Since I took so many pictures I kept them down to 800 X 600 for you dialup folks.

Those blocks look undermatched to the log! But it's so bloody heavy it isn't going anywhere.

From the "high" end with all the machines out of the way.

I marked out the 8X12 I wanted to cut with the heart boxed in the center. I marked the lines using a level instead of a square; I find it more accurate.

Debarking took less than 10 minutes with my little offset broadaxe because the tree had been dead standing for a while.


And here are the little buggers responsible:

Thats a long cant!!!! Wow!!!! Thanks for the pics!!!

 

[DRB]

Nice work thanks for posting

 

[Kicker_92]

Nice job, now you just need to find a better way to move them around!

 

[Brmorgan]

Nice job, now you just need to find a better way to move them around!

You suck, you know that?

LOL. I can dream of having something like that someday. I'd like to see you navigate the trails behind my house with it though! I think I'd still end up using the quad quite a bit. It would have done it a lot easier if I'd had my log arch and a tail bunk on an axle, but those projects aren't done enough for a log that size yet.


Today I went up and salvaged what boards I could out of the side slabs from that beam:

I got a good literal 2X12 from the remainder of the bottom of the cant after the beam was cut off. I also took a 2" flitch out of the top slab which has anywhere from 11-14" of good wood in it. I managed to get another 1" board out of that slab, and two and a half more 1" cuts from the side slabs. They're knotty and not the best grade but I'll find a use for them somewhere. The 2" boards are pretty nice though. After milling a couple other logs (pics below) I spent the last bit of the afternoon getting the last Fir log I had here up on the blocks so it's all ready to go when I get time to mill next. I didn't get time to set up the guide or anything; it's just sitting there on top.

I also milled this 10' long 6X6 post out of the smaller Fir log that's underneath the old green plywood in a few of the pictures of cutting that beam. It's been sitting there for two seasons now and was quite dry. The 6" cant that's underneath it is one of the first I ever milled. I let it sit too long before slabbing it up, and it's warped now beyond where I could mill it and keep things straight. Not sure if it'll end up in the firewood stack or what yet. The Birch logs are also too far gone to be of much use. It's too bad because they're spalted really well, but they're just too soft. If I had a few gallons of CA glue I could soak them and harden them up but that's not worth the effort!

I milled these 1" WR Cedar flitches out of two logs that I'd brought back from my aunt's house down south in the Okanagan a couple years back. They're bone-dry, and boy did they cut up fast!

Here's the offset axe I was talking about earlier:

It's not very big, but it's really sharp and well balanced on that short ~20" handle. The cutting edge is about 5" wide, and it's light enough that it can be swung with one arm fairly comfortably.

A head-on view to show the offset of the head:

It takes some getting used to swinging it right so that it actually bites in and doesn't just glance off the log. I've swung a normal axe thousands of times so I'm not used to approaching the log on a steeper angle when I'm trying to just skim it. When I get it right though, it cuts really smooth and fast.