Milling Quartersawn Oak

[hautions11]

OK, my first milling project. I am attaching a few photos. This is an oak at a friends cabin that I could not just turn in to firewood. I cut 7' lengths and then quartered one of the sections. This is just one of the cheap ebay slabing tools on my 064 Stihl with 28" bar and bailry's ripping chain. It was not perfect but it was really cool learning the goods and bads. I have several more lengths to try and I am bound to get better. Enjoy the pics and I will post more preogress on Sunday. I have learned a lot from this site and got some great saws from the members. I like to give a little back and I hope this helps some of the amatures such as myself.View attachment 31606

 

[t_andersen]

I see only one pic?

 

[DonE911]

Sorry ... you are now addicted to milling

Now what are you gonna make out of your new board??

I use the baileys ripp'n chain too.... the price is right... If you sharpen it and drop the rakers a little before you cut with it you'll get a much smoother cut. I have found a 2 to 5 deg tooth works nice in white and red oak.. the standard 10 deg works better in softer woods like poplar or pine. You'll start playing with the angles eventually.... it's lotsa fun

 

[hautions11]

Mill Pics

View attachment 31663


Here is another pic. I am addicted. I cut a few nice 2 1/2 " slabs as well.

 

[hautions11]

mill

One picture at a time is lame, but you get the idea. Thanks for the idea on chain mods. I'll have to play with it a little bit.

 

[hautions11]

Milling

Special thanks goes out to TKemble for the great 064 that I bought from him a few weeks ago. I wanted semi-ugly but reliable saw and he came up with the perfect fit. I put a fuel line, input hose, fuel filter and this thing runs like a top. The quarter sawing does not require a real long bar for the slabbing work. I am going to try the Alskan attachment next weekend, as I think it will cut the boards a little more even. Looking at the tree in the picture, I'll get some decent firewood out of the top of this thing for next winter.

 

[hautions11]

milling pics

Here is one more picture. My pic editer is not knocking the resolution down. Sorry again for the large format. I'll work on that.

 

[t_andersen]

Looks like really nice oak! You can mill the boards more precisely with an Alaskan so it make sense to give that a try. Lot of work though. Did you make a "plunge cut" (with the bar nose embedded in the log) to quarter the log?
Tom

 

[hautions11]

mill

Tom, I used the simple slabing attachment and a 2X4 to cut the log in half. Tehn using the same set-up I quartered the halves. It worked fairly well. The quarters are easier to deal with due to ease of movement and shorter cuts.

Larry

 

[hautions11]

More milling

More milling this week-end. 2 inch thick slab with some very nice grain. There are some nice table legs in this piece,




\View attachment 31780

 

[hautions11]

Grain close up

Here is a closer look.



shhttp://arboristsite.com/attachmentgrain.JPGot.http://arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31781&stc=1&d=1141335231
nice grain.JPG

 

[hautions11]

Several nice boards

I am getting a little faster as I go. A couple of hours yields a nice selection of boards.



.http://arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31782&stc=1&d=1141335374
several boards.JPG

 

[t_andersen]

Larry,

your 2-inch board is a beauty! Judging from the photo of the standing boards, I'd say that an Alaskan is more precise. I attach a photo of some boards I cut with an Alaskan last year. I have also quartered oak and will post a photo shortly.

Regards
Tom

 

[rbtree]

hautions, here's your last shot, rotated, sharpened, and resized.

You can post several pics at once, by the way. And, if you want to be rude to dialuppers, as I have done here, enclose you url with

at the end.

www.irfanview.com is a good, free photo editor that allows easy resizing.

 

[hautions11]

milling oak

I moved on from the slabing attachment to a full Alaskan mill attachment. The lumber is A LOT more consistent. If I used the Alaskan for my original quartering the surfaces would be better. Some of my original OOPPS pieces were from the plunge cut surfaces that split the log. Remember I am the example of I have never done this before.

L

 

[SmokinDodge]

Very nice lumber for the first attempt. Good Job

 

[coveredinsap]

It looks good. That oak is hard stuff too. And you'll get better at it as you go. The mini-mill in your first pics is really meant for edging the slabs created by, say, an Alaskan mill...but you sure showed that it can be used for actual slabbing in a pinch.