Nails?

[Evin]

Hi All,

I've just started doing some cutting and I have run into nails? My 394 keeps on going, but I hate having to stop and refile the chain. I'm cutting some oak on my property and the nails are buried about 2 inches in from the outside of the wood. What is the best way to determine if there is nails inside the wood?

 

[SilverBox]

Metal Detector.

 

[striperswaper]

check your chain...

 

[Backwoods]

Set of witching rods.

 

[deeker]

What my metal detector does not detect.....my bandsaw blades find. Everyone of them.

Love the statement..."no nails in it, I checked". Just write the check for the blades before I start....

 

[dingeryote]

Metal detector/studfinder works OK.

The problem comes with the larger trees when felling, and any tree when down.

Sure as farts stink, the place ya wont check cuz it's on the bottom, will have an ugly in it.

Chains that are 2-3 filings from the trash come in handy for this sorta thing.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[BlueRider]

If the tree is in a suburban yard you pretty much have to assume it will have some metal in it. Once in a while you will get lucky and find a clean tree. Nails are not a big problem unless you end up ripping them rather than cross cutting them. Usually when I hit a nail it only affects 4 or 5 teeth and it really isn't necessary for me to sharpen immediately. Just for the record I am using simi-skip 404 with 122 drivelinks so my milling chain has 61 teeth, having 6 dull teeth isn't even something I notice. Drywall screws are a different animal and they can rip teeth right off of a chain.

I posted a list of stuff I take with me when I go milling under the sticky at the top of the forum threads. In my list there is a wood chisel and a pair of visegrips (my ax is actually an old crate maker’s hatchet and has a hammer face and claws on one end). They are for removing nails and screws. Even after the damage is done I still like to remove them because I might not see them once the wood is dry and I don’t want an imbedded nail to damage my planer knives or a bandsaw or table saw blade.

 

[Evin]

Thanks for all the replys. I will try to get a metal detector and or use my stud finder.

 

[Brmorgan]

Yep, metal detectors are a must with yard or roadside logs especially. Hitting a nail is a good way to ruin a day. Wait 'til you hit one of these:

Won't ruin a chain anyway.

 

[A. Stanton]

Get a part time job with TSA (thousands standing around) at the airport and ask to borrow one of the metal detector wands.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Yeaaa, i hate when that happens!!

What's really bad is when you hit glass insulatiors in a log!

Rob

 

[2dogs]

You have to explain to the customer in writing prior to the job that there will be a charge for nails. My friend with a Lucas charges $25.00 per nail and that barely covers his cost. For him he has to pay shipping both ways. You may also want to not mill the butt log or at least say the bottom 6-10 feet.

Like some of the guys have said a metal detector can miss nails. Still you should have one because it just may pick up something big like a railroad spike or piece of pipe (or maybe a bullet). Good luck!

 

[BobL]

Also NEVER believe what the property owner tells you. I was once milling a 18" branch from a tree in which there had been a Cub house. The owner was sure the cub house had not been connected to that branch. 2 slabs later - crunch, the chain had found a 1/2" coach bolt. Luckily that one was quite soft and the chain went through it with minimal damage. Four teeth were affected and I just tidied them and left them. It took ~ 5 rounds of filing to get past the damage.