Milling lumber woodshop style

[woodshop]

Tree what are you going to do with that Persimmon... I love that stuff as its VERY hard and dense. Same family as Ebony btw. In fact, on some older trees, the very center of the heartwood is dark black like ebony, but usually only a small streak of it. I have used it on some jigs where I need a piece that will take lots of wear, like the bottom catch of my pushsticks. It just doesn't wear 'cause its so hard.

 

[Tree Machine]

Woodshop, like so much of the milled wood I've got around, There's just no down-time in my life to do the things I like to do.

I was born the son of a contractor, and have been working with wood my whole life. It was always a fantasy that some day I could make planks from logs and create beautiful things from them.

Well, wish hard enough for something and it may come true. The milling of wood, the reclaiming / recycling of logs that would have otherwise been turned into firewood, I just love that. So much that I did it a couple dozen times. Now I am faced with the byproduct of the milling- the wood.

That's all. I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with it.

 

[woodshop]

The milling of wood, the reclaiming / recycling of logs that would have otherwise been turned into firewood, I just love that. Now I am faced with the byproduct of the milling- the wood. That's all. I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with it.

Tree, we seem to share a common mentality, and that much we do have in common. Hate seeing a cherry log worth over $1000 in lumber being cut up for firewood, or fed into a chipper. Difference is I am old enough to think about retirement, and what happens then, and my stash of milled wood figures in to that. I plan to go full time with my woodshop to supplement my income, and thus the wood I mill, assuming I can keep it from bugs and rot, will feed that. I too am running out of storage space though. 6000 bd ft of lumber takes up a good bit of space and I live in the burbs, not a farm with acres of space for a pole barn full of lumber. Looking at options. As for time to do those things you always wanted to do... my take lately had been, TAKE the time, MAKE the time. Yes it costs money in other things not done, and other avenues might suffer, but years from now you will be glad you did. It boils down to priorities, like so many things.

If I wasn't a good days drive from you Tree, might try and buy some of that persimmon from you if you were selling.

 

[tawilson]

Hey guys,
Nice day and I broke my tractor and parts won't be in till Thursday so I decided to fire the mill up. This was only a practice run today. Things went pretty well. I had only used the mill a few times last year and I was real rusty. I'll get tuned up over the next few days. This is one of a couple dozen pine logs that were given to me. I've also got a dozen hemlock logs also. My mission for now is boards for shelving. I figure if I put up enough shelves maybe I'll get a little more organized. After I get the bugs worked out and a new blade on I'll start on the maple and cherry I've got sitting around.

 

[woodshop]

I wish I had the room for a mill like that, I would go into hoc to either make or buy one. Hemlock... maybe you will have better luck, but the one hemlock I milled and dried had lots of shake, along growth ring lines, lots of cracks and splits, and was weak wood. Difficult to work in woodshop. Maybe I just got a bad log.

How fast can you push that thing through pine? Ever timed it?

 

[tawilson]

No, but I'll time it today.
Not a woodworker but I am sure hemlock would be hard to work with. Brittle. We've framed a few sheds and built a dock out of it. Screws work better than nails. Shake and splits weren't too bad. Don't know for sure but I think the older/bigger trees are more susceptible.
If the owner of this mill ever wants it back I'd have to come up with another for sure.
The pine was cut last year so I wasn't sure what the condition would be. Looks pretty good, still has some moisture in it, some stain but I don't care, not as many bug holes as I thought there would be.

 

[rb_in_va]

Here is a shot of some poplar that a friend and I milled with my Alaskan in Va Beach last summer. The slabs on the right are straight from the mill, the piece on the left is after planing. I don't know what the piece in the middle is, but it doesn't look like poplar to me.

 

[woodshop]

nice slabs rb, I'm still and probably always will be a sucker for large thick slabs of wood. One reason is that although they take a long time to dry, when done, you have lots of options for that wood down the road. You have some 12 or 16/4 if you need it (like for my large nuts and bolts for ex), or you can always resaw and make some thinner stuff. On the other hand, when I mill 5/4 its dry in a year or so, but it's never going to be more than inch thick boards under even the best conditions after running through the planer.

That board in the middle sure looks a lot like a chuck of cherry, one thats been sitting in the sun a little while, got that darkish reddish hue.

 

[Tree Machine]

Yum.

 

[rb_in_va]

I talked to the guy that has the wood and he said the piece in the middle is poplar too. Anyone see the current issue of This Old House? There is a story of a guy that used a downed cherry tree plus a few others he had taken down by an arborist. Then he had them milled by a local sawyer and used them to build stairs and other things in his house. The stair treads looked really nice. Later, Roger.

 

[Al Smith]

Well,I hope to be in the milling business by this fall,myself.I am in the ongoing process of building a bandsaw mill,rubber tired version,with a 34 hp engine for power.I've never ran a bandsaw before,but have sliced a few with a big circle mill,years ago.Then again,I've never built a bandmill,so it's going to be a works in progress.I've never let lack of experience stop me yet,so this will be no different.Ah,so much junk,so little time

 

[rb_in_va]

Al,
You are a machinist but have never run a bandsaw?

 

[tawilson]

Al,
34 hp should have lot's of beans. Any hydraulics? Don't be afraid to through a few pics at us along the way.

 

[Al Smith]

Roger,I meant bandsaw mill .Yes on the hydraulics,load ,feed,etc.etc, from a second source,remote operation,board dragger.I'll toss in a few pictures,not much to show yet but the track frame.

 

[Tree Machine]

you might not ever HAVE to run a mill to build one

Would it help to see a video of one running? I have video of the last milling session we did most recently. I would have to dig it up, but if it would help, I'll put a piece together.

I have to keep video files under 2.0 meg, either that or I need to hyperlink to a site from where the video is streamed. That would be the best route to go. It's time and work, so let me know if you think it would be important or not.

 

[Al Smith]

Thanks for the offer.I have been around them,just never ran them.I have looked at several,of which I'm basing my design on the best aspects of all I've seen.For my needs,portability is not the issue,as the logs will come to the saw,therefore,only a transport axle will be used,for the initial set up.I'm in a unique position of having access to many good saw logs,from several tree services ,delivered free,to me,in addition to a few of my own.I already have several thousand bd ft,sawed,and drying,but my sawyer became engrossed in other endeavors,thus the building of my own unit.I have a hunch that with emerald ash borer creeping in,and sudden oak death,that I'll have more logs than I know what to do with.On that note,I would prefer to keep the trees , than cut the lumber,but would rather have the lumber,as the firewood.Thank you much for the offer of the video,but I won't need it.

 

[Tree Machine]

Ok, cool. What you're attempting to do is very cool. If you weren't such an engineering techno tool guy, I would dissuade you from building your own mill, and instead, buy rb in VA's LT-40 Woodmizer.

But, you're probably one of the most capable anywhere to hybridize a custom mill, so you're seeing the planets of opportunity align to create a mill setting and free log supply that would be ready for the future.

Smith, that's frickin brilliant.

 

[rb_in_va]

Ok, cool. What you're attempting to do is very cool. If you weren't such an engineering techno tool guy, I would dissuade you from building your own mill, and instead, buy rb in VA's LT-40 Woodmizer.

TM,
You've got your Rs mixed up again! No problem though, maybe Ryan will give me the mill. I will park it in one of the 2 parking spots I have at my condo. The condo association would love that!

 

[woodshop]

Al, I would be very interested in seeing pics of that mill in progress... wow, 34hp. Sounds like you and I already have one thing in common, that is more logs and also milled wood than we know what to do with right at the moment. I'm banking lots of rough lumber for when I can retire, and get into woodworking full time. Main concern is keeping my stash bug and rot free, but doing a pretty good job so far. I use a paint roller to put on a coat of clorox bleach before I sticker the stuff, and havn't had a major borer attack since I started doing that. So it seems to work, its cheap, and quick and dirty. The theory is that the bugs lite on the wood, taste the clorox residue and then don't go any further.

 

[scottr]

Clorox

Dave , do you use the clorox bleach full strengh ?