Kicked Some Ash Today

[hautions11]

I got the 084 back, so I decided to attack a little more Ash. I have two logs partially done in the back yard that I wanted to finish. They are now light enough to block-up and get a little help from gravity.

The first board off the larger log is really nice. 24" wide and very clear. Next to this board you can see the start of my stickered pile with 10 boards in it already,

Four more boards pretty much finished off the two logs I have been working on. The longer ones are 8 ' and the other two are 7.5'

I have two more logs staged up but both of them have some issues. The larger of the two has two huge branches that I have cut off. It may generate some spectacular grain patterns. The other one is only about 12" in diameter. If I get enough wood from the balance of the logs, I may leave it for fire wood.

I cut another dead ash down in my neighbors yard and saved the bottom 8' of it for milling. It looks very clean, so that was my next set-up.

This log is sitting 200 feet from the other tree, so I do not have to carry the 084 very far. I will continue the pics in the next thread.

 

[hautions11]

Kicked some ash Cont.

I always love the first cut off of a log. This one yielded some beautifull wood. There were almost no knots or blemishes at all. The widest point in this log is a little over 19". I was able to time some of these cuts and they ranged from 4 to 5 minutes. The set up is the 084, a 32" bar converted from 404 to 3/8 by changing the bar tip and Stihl RM chain with the safety links ground down and the cutters ground to a 10 degree angle.

Here are some action shots through one cut off of this log. Early in the cut.

Nearing the end of the cut throwing a pretty good rooster tail.

And the part of the cut we all love, breaking out on the end of the log, so we can finally stop pushing.

Here is the board that came off of this cut. They are getting nicer and nicer as I go down through the log.

Continued...

 

[hautions11]

Cont.

Here is all that is left at the end. The initial cut still hooked to my 2 X 4 cutting guide and the sliver at the bottom of the log. This log yielded eight really nice boards overall. With a chain sharpening break and a couple of water stops it was less the 2 hours start to finish.

The final score for the day was 14 boards and a little over 150 bd ft. My pile will have about 250 bd ft in it right now. The next step is to open up the log with the two big branches comming out of it. Until I open it up it is hard to say what is in there. Other then that log I only have a 4-5' section of the trunk that is any good. The nice 8' trunk section has a 4' long rotten area caused by a large hole in the side of the tree. Look at the log in the upper right section of this pic and you get a good idea.

A fun day overall.

 

[Ekka]

Nice pics, looks good. Job well done.

Just be aware when embedding a series of pics like that you may drop ya views and comments a lot coz the sum total of all those pics was 1.3 meg to download. I run broadband and noticed it took a while but many others would have just hit the back button.

 

[johnb]

Love the post!!

hi love the post and the photo's i got regular old dial up and it took a while but worth it. i have a Woodbug chainsaw mill and been milling for about 4 years off and on. i need to get motivated to make some barn rafter material and I think you may have got me off the couch. thanks keep up the milling. The Hoosier

 

[CaseyForrest]

Nice work there Hautions.

Do you notice a difference in speed between your 064 and the 084? Can you run the chain on your 084 more agressive than on your 064?

Im still waiting for the free logs you all keep talking about to come my way.

 

[hautions11]

Thanks John and Ekka. Ekka I knock my pictures down to ~150 KB, so 10 of them should be 1.5 Meg not Gig, unless I am missing something. I can make the pics about 72 kb by limiting them to 5 X 7 image size rather then 8 X 10. Last post, I split the posts up, but I found they quickly were seperated and most people never saw the second post.

John, get off of that couch! If this fat old man can do it, you can too. I have not had dial up in forever, just as a point of reference, how long is a long time to wait for these pics to download? Where are you in Indiana?

 

[woodshop]

Well... at the bottom of your post you say "Just a novice, so never listen to me!"... but from the looks of your posts lately, I'd say you better change that to something that more closely resembles the truth. You seem to have gotten csm milling down pat. I see you on your knees though, and cringe. I used to be able to do that, and sometimes still do, but I pay a price. My knees are banged up from years of doing that fixing cars and whatever else.

4-5 min/8ft comes to around 3 sec/inch. Nice... I can get that on 12 inch hardwood with my 395xp, but wider stuff takes longer, more like 4-5 seconds per inch. With your bigger saw, you are obviously faster on the wide slices. Proving again what has been said over and over here, that with a csm there is simply no substitute for raw power. That little extra power of the 084 over the 395xp shines through.

Only thing I would do differently from what I see in the pics, is trim off that bark before stickering, as that's where the majority of the bugs and their eggs are. Sure would hate to see that nice pile riddled with beetles next summer.

Where is your help this time... everybody conveniently had homework to do?opcorn:
Nice post, thanks.

 

[dustytools]

No way I was gonna hit the back button. Those are some beautiful pics Hautions, As always. Question about your guide rails, How do you adjust the length on them? Or do you try to cut the log to fit? Just curious. Great job.

 

[hautions11]

Casey.

The speed difference is amazing. If I have a 4 minute cut with the 084, the 064 would be almost 8. The chains are the same 10 degree grind. The 064 actually uses Bailey's and the 084 has Stihl RM with my 10 degree grind on it. The drop in speed while in the cut is different. The 084 maintains chain speed even when pushing pretty hard. The 064 you often have to hold back a little to keep chain speed up. When you get down to 10-12 inches the 064 runs pretty quick and feels like the 084 at 20-22. I still have not played with chain grinds much. I remember somebody trying to make the special grind by removing the top of the cutters, but got rough cuts. I really need to get this ash drying so I can use it, so I have not been experimenting too much with these logs.

Free logs, I definately hve more then I can cut. The bigs oak at the lake still has 15-20 boards wrth left. A neighbor down there wants me to take 2 cherry's. Keep your eyes peeled and they will show up.

 

[hautions11]

WS my help was out buying, buying ,buying,....dresses for the winter snow ball!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure she would have rather been eating sawdust while milling. (Yea right)

I do see a big difference between 064-084. It is the torque of the big saw that gets the fast cuts. I have had 2 knee surgeries, but I don't mind kneeling if the ground is soft.

I did coax Max out to take the action shots.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Good deal Im pondering either a ripsaw or an 880 when taxes come back. Still unsure which way to go.

That was me that played with those chains buy cutting some tops off. Dont let my experience discourage you from trying the same. The chain I modified did cut quite a bit faster, and Im sure if everything had been equal between all the cutters, the cut would have been allot smoother. Ill dig up the thread.


Here ya go...

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=36369&highlight=power+dremel

That is granberg style, and I know if I had spent more time on the chain, it would cut just fine.

 

[hautions11]

Guide rails

Dusty, I can not adjust my guide rails. The hteory is you put multiple counter bored holes at various lengths and move the brackets to suit the log. I have not gotten around to that yet. and my boards are too short. If you look at the pic, one end is 8" short of the end of the log. I lag that end down with wood screws. I need 10' boards and holes every 3-4 inches to make them work correctly. Right now when i get to the end of my rails, I sweep one side of the bar to the end of the log and then sweep the other side out using no rails and guide it by hand. the cut is a little rougher but it works OK. too busy milling to work on the equipment.

 

[computeruser]

Great pics, as always! Keep on sharing them, they're really quite motivational - as much as I like cutting up firewood, the idea of getting lumber and building something useful and beautiful is quite tempting.

Maybe santa will bring me a mill this year, considering I've already got the saws for it.

 

[hautions11]

Casey, I tought you did the chain. This winter when there is more time in the shop, I definately want to try that. I have guy at work with a pro grinder that will do my chains for $4. I showed him the sketch and he said he would like to try it. I should give him one next week.

I really don't know about the ripsaw vs big saw debate. I love the WS set-up and it seems to cut real fast and uses a small saw. A lot more prep, but a lot less wasted wood. I am by nature a real cheap a$$ and I have $395 in my saw and $100 in my mill, both ebay items. I saw a ripsaw for $700 a few months ago on ebay, but they don't come up very often. I do this to suport projects, so after the ash I will be in the shop making stuff rather then milling, but I like the ability to be able to do it.

Computeruser, I thought Casey would have converted you to the darkside already. As you can see in the first pic, I cut a little firewood too. That is where the rest of the ash and oak ended up. I always hated cutting the 10-20' of straight trunk in to firewood.

 

[woodshop]

I really don't know about the ripsaw vs big saw debate. I love the WS set-up and it seems to cut real fast and uses a small saw. A lot more prep, but a lot less wasted wood.

Well... as I use both the csm AND Ripsaw together, as I think they compliment each other extremely well, I can say the hautions is pretty much on target. That being, it eventually comes down to how much $$$ you want to lay out, and what return you want to get back from that. If you do it hautions way, used big saw, you will definitely have a mill that is WAY cheaper than a Ripsaw. If you go out and buy an 084 or equivalent and a csm brand new, then the up front money not that far apart. But from my perspective, it's kindof apples and oranges comparing a csm and Ripsaw. Each has it's niche, just as the Logosol equipment does. Having a Ripsaw, I wouldn't slice up the whole log with just my csm, as the Ripsaw cuts much faster, gives me smoother cuts, and I get a extra board for every 5 my csm alone would give me. On the other hand, squaring up that log into a cant so all my Ripsaw cut boards are trimmed and ready to sticker is MUCH easier to do with a csm. Think of a Ripsaw as a band mill that you can bring to the log. Not as powerful as a big bandmill, slower cutting, but still having some of the advantages of a bandmill (4-500 bd ft in 6 hours cutting when everything is dialed in, smoother faster cuts...) However, unless you plan on milling thousands of bd ft, as I have and plan on continuing to do, you might not want to dish out that cash any more than you would consider buying a larger bandmill on tracks. Example... for around $500 hautions is milling lumber.

 

[oldsaw]

You're kind of telling my story, but you got in just a bit cheaper than I did...maybe. I paid $425 for my 066 to my door, and $130 for the Alaskan (new), but got two "free" 36" bars, one of which was a Stihl .404, the other a 3/8" Oregon. The 36" Oregon was worn when I got it, but still has a little life left as my "little" milling bar.

Instead of the rails, I use a 2x8x8' and limit my log length to 7.5 ft, coincidentally, the amount of space I had available in my old garage for the wood rack. I want to do the Uni-Strut thing like Casey, but just can't part with the $80 right now...too cheap, and too many other things needing money. Although I might change his design a bit and buy only two rails.

Again, nice work. One thing that I do, on bigger logs especially, is to put a couple of wedges in the kerf 2-3 feet before the end of the cut. Keeps the board from falling on the bar at the end of the cut, so you get cleaner end cuts. Tuck them in your back pocket while you saw. I agree with Woodshop, you have earned your chops. You are a "no nothing" no more.

Mark

 

[046]

thanks for sharing... just missed an low hours 084.
MS880 is way out of my budget.

what model chaw saw mill are you using?
nice results! what percentage is correct equipment VS operator skills?

 

[hautions11]

046 my o84 is about 14 yrs old. It was a tree service saw that was still owned by the original buyer. It was used only occasionally and had a new Stihl piston rings and bearing installed recently. Operator skill is not a huge percentage of the equation. A good first cut is importantant, but it is not that hard. I do like the 084 as it is relatively inexpensive, has the manual oiler, and is pretty available in the market place.
My long bar came from Dean at Wash hot saws($20 + ship) and I found a bunch (12) RM 32" chains on ebay for around $100.(brand new) A local guy puts the 5-10 degree grind on them and I am milling.

 

[woodshop]

what percentage is correct equipment VS operator skills?

I'll take a stab at that one... my experience has been that once you get the equipment dialed in and get past that initial learning curve,
those first few runs down the log where you are clueless and don't know what to expect, which with the help of people on AS is shortened greatly, then the rest comes with common sense. This stuff is relatively easy from a skills perspective. So... I'd say 80/20, maybe even 90/10.