Sawing A Hickory Log Into Lumber

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't get a lot of hickory logs to saw, so when i had a chance to get a few, i took it. There's two kinds of hickory in my area, "bitternut" and Shagbark"... This one is a shagbark which is the more desirable of the two.

Here it is sitting on the mill ready to saw. On the right you can see the cable winch log turner too. It works very well, and makes short work out of turning even big logs.

I started out by sawing a slab off, takeing a 5/4 board off and turning the log.

Hickory saws fairly hard, but my band mill is more than up to the task with a Vanguard 23hp motor powering it. It's surpriseing how little fuel it uses too for haveing that much power.

Anyway, after takeing more slabs off and more 5/4 boards off, i worked my way around the log. I then put the first boards back on to be edged as i sawed the last slab off. Edgeing this way works very well!!

This isn't a top grade log, but i did get some decent boards from it. Too bad the pict. quality is so low or you'd beable to see how dead flat the boards are!

It didn't take too long to saw this log up, and here's the tally...

Now that i have the log sawed, it's time to get that lumber on stickers!

I'll leave it on stickers for at least six months to air dry. Then when i figure out what use it will be for, i'll move it onto stickers in my shop to finish drying it down to the desirable 6 to 8% moisture...

Well, time to roll the next one on the mill and start all over, and here it is!

Hope you enjoyed the picts..

Rob

 

[Husky137]

Cool pics, Rob. Stickers are for saps, ohhh wait a minute I think I have that backwards.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Husky137]

From the pics it doesn't look the headrig will clear the log turner. Is that just an optical illusion?

 

[CaseyForrest]

Ive got a couple Shagbarks laying at work, about 24" diameter, 10' long. The only thing holding me back is the horror stories about how hard they are!!

 

[begleytree]

Ive got a couple Shagbarks laying at work, about 24" diameter, 10' long. The only thing holding me back is the horror stories about how hard they are!!

those stories have merit
-Ralph

edit: how do you keep the milled lumber from warping while air drying outside?

 

[CaseyForrest]

Ralph, here is how I do it.....

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Nice stack. What are your plans for it? I like the range of colors in Hickories. Is Shagbark as much trouble to keep flat as Pecan?

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Glad you'all liked the picts... I'll try to answer a few questions...

Husky,

NO the headrig won't hit the turner. It does slide in and out, but when it's slid out (like in the pict.) and they turned away from the mill, there's plenty of room for the head to miss it.

begley,

The way i keep the warping down is to do like i'm doing in the pict... My stack of stickered lumber started out with low grade oak on the bottom... Then i put higher grade oak, then the hickory, and keep on going up with the oak. The weight of all the oak on top will control the hickory.

Aggie,

I have never sawn pecan, so i don't know how it compares to hickory for air drying.... I also don't know right now what i'll use the lumber for??? I'm sure some day i'll wish i had some, and i will..

Casey,

You in for a 60 mile road trip with those logs??? You haul them here and i'll saw them up for half? You in for it?? PM me if you want to know where i live. I hope they haven't been laying on the ground for a long time, as PPB just love hickory!!!!

Rob

 

[Ianab]

We are not hearing much about the swing blade mills here at AS. Maybe they don't measure up as advertised?

No they work fine
But with smaller logs they dont have a great advantage over a bandmill. They will cut them fine, but then so will Rob's little Norwood. When you start getting into the 3 and 4 ft dia stuff that you cant move, then they start to shine

Cheers

Ian

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Swing blades are pretty good mills i especially like the Peterson, but swing blades have the problem of higher cost, and also it's not easy to get boards wider that 8" out of them.... They also have a wider kerf than a bandsaw band too....

They have some good advantages over a bandsaw, but for most folks they are not big enough advantages to get them to buy one over a bandmill...

You "really" need BOTH!! HA HA HA

Rob