First Day Milling

[Woodsurfer]

After years of planning, I finally got my setup together... used many things I learned from the gang at AS! Here are some shots of my first days milling.

I nailed together a guide for the first cut and got ripping. This is some yellow birch I cut in the spring.

Lucky for me I saw this spike before I setup for the second cut. Can you see it? Yikes! :jawdrop:

My worksite is pretty rough. All rocks and roots, getting in the way. My 36" mill and saw need some room to move! I used levers and scrap wood to get the logs off the ground and get some clearance. This birch is really heavy wood!

Started to get in the groove after a few cuts. Made mountains of dust. Using Woodsman Pro ripping chain .404 on 32" bar, made steady progress, about 1/2" per second on a 15" log.

Here's some of the widest boards, cut 4/4. Nice clear wood, 16" wide.

 

[Woodsurfer]

The chain picked up some residue, but was still cutting well after 12 cuts. I will sharpen it, but should I clean it too? How?

Here's the payoff for seven hours of work/fun, dirty sweaty clothes and a sore back...a good stack of boards all sealed and stacked in the loft for the winter. Yahoo!

 

[hautions11]

1st Milling

Awsome Job! Great pictures and a great first effort. It is very intoxicating. I still walk outside and stare at my various piles of drying lumber. Welcome aboard!

 

[04ultra]

Very nice ..Great pictures...

 

[oldsaw]

Looks good. Learning curve is very steep. Your second time out will go even easier. Welcome to the club.

Mark

 

[woodshop]

Excellent job, welcome and thanks for posting all those good pics. Hautions is right, it is intoxicating. I too find myself just sitting on my back steps staring at all my nice neat piles of drying boards. It's almost eye candy. Oldsaw is right on too, every time you go out milling you get better at it. Got any plans for that birch? Make sure you have some air flow to that stack so you don't get mildew stain forming, often where the stickers meet the boards.

 

[smithie55]

Howdie great to have another enthusiaste on board.
Good pictures!!
The residue will burn off or get brittle and chunk off.
I think part of the enjoyment is the effort, as well as the end result.

hautions11
I still walk outside and stare at my various piles of drying lumber. Welcome aboard!

Ya got that straight huations11, There's nothing like a stacks of boards that you hewned with your chainsaw & sweat.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Great job! What's your plans for it?

 

[stihlatit]

Wow...very nice.....I envy your newest wood hobby......hopefully one day.....Hmmmmm.

 

[Freakingstang]

Thanks for the pics. I should have my setup up and running by the late fall. I've got a couple nice cherries, a small hickory, and some good ash that need milled up instead of hacked into firewood pieces.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Woodsurfer, good deal, it looks like you got the bug.

As for the residue on the chain, its normal. Im not sure if cleaning it makes a difference, I dont.

 

[Woodsurfer]

Thanks for the comments! I got a big step up the learning curve by absorbing all I could from the experienced guys on AS.

This wood will become tables, picture frames, drawers in cherry pieces... My family will like stuff made from it since this is off our family cottage land. I carved my initials in that particular tree almost 40 years ago! It had a clothsline attached once, that explains the spike.

Anyway, there's lots more yellow birch, even bigger...it's down on the ground so I've got to get at it! It may sound strange, but there is a crotch I'm looking forward to slicing open. Never thought I'd say that!:biggrinbounce2:

Glad to hear I can leave that gunk on the chain - got enough to do without picking and scraping at that! There's also maple, hemlock and cedar lurking in them there woods...

Dave

 

[Woodsurfer]

PS, Dosen't my wife take some great action shots? :angel:

Thanks Sweetie!

 

[carvinmark]

Welcome aboard... Looks like you got the bug too!!!! HA HA we got another one!:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
Mark

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Welcome aboard... Looks like you got the bug too!!!! HA HA we got another one!:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
Mark

Hahaha! The bug has mutated and become airborne! Soon there will be a mill in every backyard!

 

[Adkpk]

I'm going to try using kerosene for my chains and other various cutting tools. Heard it works well. I have cut up yellow birch just like that, the pics are on here somewhere, and a crouch at that. The crocth is doing well and did split just where woodshop said but none the less it is still very usable. But the backache, man don't you love it! For the love of God, the bachache. I am using my birch for the floor in my cabin. Good luck and happy backache, I mean happy slabbing!

 

[Adkpk]

Smithie have you thought about screwing that v-rail to a separate board. That way you don't have to screw it and unscrew it over and over agian. I don't know maybe your into screwing? I'd rather just move the board from cant to cant.

 

[oldsaw]

You know, I really like his guide. I keep wanting to make something like that, but my 2x8 doesn't take up much space. Maybe I'll have to make one with threaded inserts that I can break down and assemble quickly.

I'm telling you, its that fine ripped sawdust that's doing it. Highly addictive, and you see wavy patterns in the boards, and say "wow, man, what color, look at the patterns...totally psychedelic maaaannn" (in my best Tommy Chong voice...okay, maybe imagine Tommy Chong's voice, my imitation is horrible.)

Being under the influence of ripped sawdust does have a few side effects. The desire to buy a bigger saw, bigger bars, a truck, and a shed to put the stuff in, a bandsaw, more tablesaw accessories, more router bits, a winch, and other stuff. I don't have the truck yet, so there must be hope...hey, a Windstar van is classified as a truck, isn't it?

Mark

 

[woodshop]

Being under the influence of ripped sawdust does have a few side effects. The desire to buy a bigger saw, bigger bars, a truck, and a shed to put the stuff in, a bandsaw, more tablesaw accessories, more router bits, a winch, and other stuff. I don't have the truck yet, so there must be hope...hey, a Windstar van is classified as a truck, isn't it?
Mark

Darn right a minivan can pass for a truck. Heck all you need is enough floor space to slide 6-8 foot long rough lumber, and something that will carry at least 1200 lbs of cargo, which most all minivans will. My Astro (with the rear seats pulled out) safetly holds 300 ft of wet, just milled lumber, plus the csm, the Ripsaw, couple other saws, toolboxes, custom horses etc. Sure it would be nice to have a truck, maybe a 1 ton flatbed, but just isn't in the picture at the moment. Main problem using a family minivan as a truck full of dirty saws and wood is cleaning it out before the wife complains about it.:biggrinbounce2:

 

[woodshop]

The crocth is doing well and did split just where woodshop said but none the less it is still very usable.

Adrpk, often a split crotch board, especially if it split pretty much down the middle of the crotch as many do, can be ripped and glued back together to where you almost can't see where it wasn't one board. The trick is to rip the pieces so equal figure etc are on both sides. Start with a bandsaw rough, then clean up the edges on a jointer so you get a perfect match down the middle of the figure. Makes for breathtaking drawer fronts or small tabletop.