Mill Holiday number 2

[dallasm1]

Great pics Bob. Nice to see everything in action again. That tree almost looks like driftwood. But I guess that is normal at those temperatures! Over here in the PNW, wood will stay soaking wet for a very long time. I can see where you would need a large amount of oil at all phases of the cut, just to keep everything moving in that large, dry wood.

 

[FELLNORTH]

BOBL, what kind of oil do you use for milling?
beautiful pics by the way, the more i see of the land scape down under the more i think a visit is in order

 

[BobL]

Monday it was 116F and last night it was 50F and today it was 60F and raining all day so couldn't start cutting till 5 pm. Used the time to sharpen two chains and service Huds Huskys.

This was the second slab from yesterday - pity about the dry soft heartwood but potentially still a lot if useful timber in it. I will split this in half maybe tomorrow.

This was the first slab left in the rain overnight

Close up of the grain from the first slab.

To move the slabs Hud has a tractor with forks or,

A 23HP hydraulically drive gizmo that can lift 500 lbs - perfect for handling slabs in tight spaces.
He has all the attachments, trench digger, post hole digger, grader, tracks, forks, leveler and a bunch of other stuff

Very smoothly driven by Sandi.

 

[BobL]

The next few slabs were similar but still lots of dead heartwood.

Then about 1/3 of the way thru the wide end reached 50" of cut.

Resident dawg Barkley made an excellent cutting buddy.

The dead heart looks like it is petering out at the far end an moving well to the right at the front.

Grain is also getting more interesting.

Close up

Hopefully the next few will be as nice or nicer.

 

[BobL]

BOBL, what kind of oil do you use for milling?
beautiful pics by the way, the more i see of the land scape down under the more i think a visit is in order

Stihl bar and chain lube in the saw and canola on the Aux oiler

 

[FELLNORTH]

THANK YOU BOBL, NICE PICS AGAIN

 

[Can8ianTimber]

Wow that is some amazing wood. I think that first slab would make a great coffee table just like it is. That is really beautiful. Do you have the oppertunity to mill that kind of wood very often?

 

[BobL]

Wow that is some amazing wood. I think that first slab would make a great coffee table just like it is. That is really beautiful. Do you have the oppertunity to mill that kind of wood very often?

Cheers Canadian, I agree - It has "coffee table" written all over it.

Huds property is about 250 Acres - about half bush, half pasture and has dozens of these old jarrah logs littering the bush and pastures. The area was milled over 100 years ago and going on the stumps that are left, some of them were mighty trees. Most of the old jarrah laying on the ground will be termite ridden, so not worth milling but it looks like we occasionally find a goodie.

Opportunity wise I could come here and mill as often as I like - the main problem being it is 300 miles away from where I live. It's becoming a milling haven. Hud and Sandy have spared no expense setting up their property. They have a big workshop, and are about to clear an acre of their gravel pit as a permanent milling site. The plan is to buy a 40 ft container and erect a 33 x 16 ft shed along side it to be able to mill underneath as it does rain quite a lot here, they get about 40" of rain a year.

 

[woodshop]

...The plan is to buy a 40 ft container and erect a 33 x 16 ft shed along side it to be able to mill underneath as it does rain quite a lot here, they get about 40" of rain a year.

Well I envy you there Bob... acres of trees to mill, space to mill them and store them out of the weather... milling heaven. So Bob, I hope you live long enough to use all this beautiful unique stuff you're milling. I think I should come down there with a container ship and relieve you of some, kinda help you out a little there... no?

 

[rayvil01]

Pretty Wood!

Wonderful pics of some beautiful wood.

I notice you were setting and using the rails for the second and subsequent slabs. Do you get a better cut doing that than just using the flat surface of the wood itself at that point?

 

[irishcountry]

Bob one day you have to build a solid body electric guitar out of some of that stuff you did a great job on the acoustic so I bet for you an electric would be a walk in the park I could just imagine a Les Paul style body with a bookmatched top or whole body with a nice nitro finish UGGGGH!!! Your creating alot of jealously on this side of the pond!!!

 

[BobL]

Wonderful pics of some beautiful wood.

I notice you were setting and using the rails for the second and subsequent slabs. Do you get a better cut doing that than just using the flat surface of the wood itself at that point?

Cheers Ray! Yes I do believe the rails give a better finish.

Well I envy you there Bob... acres of trees to mill, space to mill them and store them out of the weather... milling heaven. So Bob, I hope you live long enough to use all this beautiful unique stuff you're milling.

Mee too!

I think I should come down there with a container ship and relieve you of some, kinda help you out a little there... no?

Anytime!

 

[BobL]

A few distractions today.

We had these critters visit, there were 3 pairs and they never sit still in one spot for more than ~3 seconds. Man are they are QUICK! so getting a photo of any kind is hard work.

There are dozens of pairs (blue is the male) of these living in the nearby bush. They often appear together for about 3 seconds and it looks like the female is continually giving the make a hard time.

 

[BobL]

Bob one day you have to build a solid body electric guitar out of some of that stuff you did a great job on the acoustic so I bet for you an electric would be a walk in the park I could just imagine a Les Paul style body with a bookmatched top or whole body with a nice nitro finish UGGGGH!!! Your creating alot of jealously on this side of the pond!!!

Sounds like the go!.

 

[BobL]

Here's the BIL mill auto cutting on the slope.

8 pin sprocket pulls over 10k while auto cutting in 30" hardwood.

And here is what I do while it's auto cutting.

It's not quite as fast at cutting as me putting a little more pressure on the rakers saw and dropping the revs to ~9500. I guess I could always put more slope on the log .

And here's the easiest way to move the BIL mill back to the shed.

 

[olyman]

Be glad it wasn't THIS one!

Rob

HOLY BUCKETS--what,and where at??? sheesh

 

[mtngun]

8 pin sprocket pulls over 10k while auto cutting in 30" hardwood.

That's darned good. Even 9500 is darned good. And with an 8 pin no less ! ! !

Thanks for the data.

But I'm jealous. Your saw is faster than my saw !

 

[BobL]

Disaster - this morning in the bush while cutting up and moving logs with the tractor I was clambering over several logs and I stepped down from one log onto what I thought was another small but solid log underneath. But the only part that was solid was the narrow piece under my toes and my heel went straight thru the rest, over extending my right calf.

This was the tree I stepped off.

I had the full weight on my heel and heard and felt the top of my calf "crick" and whamo - I think I have a torn calf muscle!. It feels like I have a permanent cramp and I'm hobbling around cussin like a spoilt brat!

I'm now sitting up back at the house with an ice pack strapped to my leg!

Dang ! all that good wood out there to mill too.

 

[htpd43]

Bob,
I sincerely hope that its just a strain or some other minor injury - actually i hope it turns out to be nothing! what am i going to do if you aren't milling and posting pics? Keep us posted and Get better quick!
Lou

Oh and that little skid steer you're using - is it a toro dingo by chance? i have the opportunity to pick up a used model for $4k. i'm seriously considering it.

 

[irishcountry]

Oh no !!! I'm with HT I hope you just pulled a muscle and didn't tear anything! I have snapped my achilles and let me tell you no fun!!! Keep us posted hope your back up and running in no time take it easy til then!!