Metal in logs

[casey v]

Hi All,

I am concerned with hitting nails, etc, in logs that I am milling with an Alaskan Mill. What if anything can be done to lessen the liklihood of this? Never mill the butt section of a suspicious tree? What damage can a nail do to the saw chain? To the mill operator?

Thanks casey

 

[Lumberjack]

To the mill operator? Not too much.

To the mill? Rock out your chain.

To lessen your chance? Perhaps a metal detector.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Stay away from residential logs.

 

[Marky Mark]

From the 200 plus cords of wood I have bucked and plit from tree guys dropping of at my house I can say I have hit 2 nails so far. If you look at the log you'll generally see if a nail, spike, cable or clothsline hook was in the tree from the bark seaming over it. There's a post on the chainsaw forum where a guy cut through a railroad spike

Become a good filer and you won't have to worry about your chain.

 

[scottr]

Metal detector

Casey , I bought a Lumber Wizard hand held metal detector for about $80 .

 

[rb_in_va]

I have heard that debarking the tree can help to spot areas that might have embedded metal.

 

[scottr]

Stain

Roger , I've seen the black/purple stain on the end of oak logs that indicates iron or steel in a log .

 

[scottr]

Lumber Wizard

Dan , it works well for me , it only scans to a depth of 5" in wood . I've been using it for almost 3 years . http://wizarddistribution.com

 

[woodshop]

I bought and use a mid grade metal detector ($109) and it has saved me several times already. Only bad part is that you get going, get milling, scan the log, and then go to work, and forget to keep checking. I have found tramp metal deep in some yard trees, that did not get picked up by initial scaning, which only goes down 5-8 inches or so. With the 395XP on the Alaskan mill, its just a matter of a few minutes sharpening when I hit a nail, but with my Ripsaw, it means my bandsaw blade is toast... finis.

 

[casey v]

Thanks All,

I am new to milling and am concerned about doing damage to myself and my equipment. My brother is having five Doug Firs taken out of his back yard. The faller will take the tops out and fall the last 40 feet as a log. I will be milling the trunks. My brother says he hasn't hammered any nails into the trees, but you don't know what the previous owners did. I will be milling the wood into mostly 2x4 for the construction of a wood drying shed. I already have more than enough W. Red Cedar for the siding and the roof.

Thanks Mike

 

[Lumberjack]

You wont hurt yourself normally. I have never heard of someone getting hurt by hitting a nail in a cut.

Your chain will need to be filed, thats about it.

 

[disandat]

What about carbide??? We use it in the construction business, does it work in logging???

 

[canguy21]

The carbide teeth will break off and fly everywhere. The chain is very expensive and the cutters have to be replaced.