this weeks flavor... poplar

[woodshop]

Milled up half of a 30" dia 15ft long poplar log on Sat. Nothing special... no need to comment... just posting yet more pics for those who still enjoy seeing what a csm/Ripsaw combo can do. Wasn't particularly careful to maximize yield but still got 250 bd ft from this first 7 ft log. Most of it I milled 9 inch wide 1 1/8 thick, and about half is quartersawn. When making drawer sides and bottoms quartersawn or riftsawn poplar is much more stable.

The log before I bucked it and started slabbing with the csm:

Move first part of the log aside with floor jack and slab 9 inch sections with csm. Then flipped those upright to mill with the Ripsaw

Halfway... poplar has deep furrowed bark that holds lots of grit, had to change chain for bottom slice as I toasted it on first cut.

Done... nothing but lots of fine sawdust from the csm and Ripsaw

Reward after a 1 1/2 gallons of mix, 2 quarts of bar oil and 6 hours of burning calories... 250 bd ft of poplar

 

[dustytools]

Well done Woodshop!

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

Nice!

 

[smithie55]

Woodshop,
It seems like you are always getting into some pretty decent looking wood.
Another great post.
Always enjoy seeing what you got goin on.

 

[MJR]

I am very envious. The tree is on the ground, limbed, and the logs are stacked neat. You can drive your van right up to the logs, park in the shade, and picnic on the fresh cut grass. Please say you got a bug bite or two….

 

[Locoweed]

I've got a 95 van just like that. They are versatile vehicles. I loaded 2400 lbs. of concrete mix and brought it home from the lumber yard, vacuumed it out, put the seats back in and took 2 couples with us to a restaurant.

 

[Woodsurfer]

Always nice to see some fresh milling pics especially when you are stuck in the office pushing the paper...

Keep 'em coming!

 

[woodshop]

I am very envious. The tree is on the ground, limbed, and the logs are stacked neat. You can drive your van right up to the logs, park in the shade, and picnic on the fresh cut grass. Please say you got a bug bite or two….

...naaah... I'm not usually this lucky... this happens to be one of those deals where you can say " it doesn't get any better than this". My brother-in-law owns a construction company, and he cleared these logs from one of his sites and had one of his tri-axles drop them off at his place in the back for me to mill. Couple of poplars, couple of white oaks and a red oak plus a few smaller ash logs. little over 2000 bd ft rough estimate if it's all good. Never know until you open up a log what you're gonna find. One of the red oaks he brought me turned out to be full of ring shake end to end. Bummer. Made good firewood though. No, I am not complaining... anyway, enough in that pile to keep me busy for a while. Just need the weekends free to mill it.

Locoweed, I agree the Astro van, and also the Aerostar if you can still find a good one, are the only full framed small vans still available to my knowledge, and they are not making either one anymore. It will fit a full 4x8 piece of plywood and still close the back doors, and it can haul 300 bd ft of wet milled lumber along with my mills and equipment, and still get 22 mpg highway going home. Throw the two rear seats back in and it'll seat 8.

 

[HandLogger]

Mills and such

Howdy Woodshop,

I was reading a book recently and saw, for the first time, a reference to a chainsaw powered bandmill. From there, I did a web search and found some photos you posted on this forum back in September of 2006. I'd like to discuss your experiences using this type of mill, but I'm not sure how to contact you directly. Can I leave you an email address or something?

Hope to hear from you ... :newbie:

 

[BobL]

Thanks Woodshop, I really enjoyed looking at those pics - looks like you were walking/working in a park!

 

[drivadesl]

Nice work. Something about seeing a big ole log like that, transformed into a nice neat slab o wood makes me want to try it some time. With all that milling, when do you find the time to actually do wood work? Thanks for posting.

 

[drivadesl]

Oh, and forgot to ask: what power head do you have on the ripsaw and are you satisfied with it?

 

[woodshop]

Nice work. Something about seeing a big ole log like that, transformed into a nice neat slab o wood makes me want to try it some time. With all that milling, when do you find the time to actually do wood work? Thanks for posting.

Well you hit the nail on the head... that's the rub. Still have a day job for another 6 years or so, thus weekends are the only time I can mill and or get anything serious done in my woodshop, and I find it hard to do that balancing act. You only get 4 weekends every month!!, and ya can't mill in the rain. Well... you can in light on and off rain, but even then what a mess.

The Ripsaw uses a powerhead in the 60cc range, in my case I use a Stihl ms361 which has worked perfectly without batting an eyelash on the Ripsaw since I bought it back when Stihl first introduced that great saw. Can't say enough about the 361, it just works as a good saw should. I keep it clean and feed it only good stuff, and it has not let me down. For more info on my Ripsaw and how I use it, go get a cup of coffee and click on the thread below. Any questions just ask.

http://arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=19709

Beautiful Fall day here in PA, I'm going to be milling some cherry today.

 

[BobL]

For more info on my Ripsaw and how I use it, go get a cup of coffee and click on the thread below. Any questions just ask.

http://arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=19709

Woodshop, what a great thread ! - I really enjoyed reading it and seeing where you and others are comin from. We should set up a best of milling thread and I reckon that should go into it.

 

[Al Weber]

Nice Job

Well done and a nice haul for a little work. I wondered where you had disappeared to late this summer. I've been learning the tricks of the RipSaw on the one I bought used early in the summer. I've managed to saw about 300 bf of hard and soft maple, about 100 bf of ash, and about 150 bf of aspen since July. I appreciate the hints you gave me in previous threads as I managed to get some nice boards that are now air drying. The maple started about 20% and after about 2 months in the loft of a vented pole barn, they are down to about 11-12% so by next spring they should be dry enough to use.

I did have a question on your source of bands for the RipSaw. Do you buy from the manufacturer or do you use one of the blade suppliers? I'm going to need to buy a set soon. I've sharpened several and had good luck with doing so but I know they will only take 2 or so sharpenings.

Keep us posted on the cherry job.

 

[woodshop]

Well done and a nice haul for a little work. I wondered where you had disappeared to late this summer. I've been learning the tricks of the RipSaw on the one I bought used early in the summer. I've managed to saw about 300 bf of hard and soft maple, about 100 bf of ash, and about 150 bf of aspen since July. I appreciate the hints you gave me in previous threads as I managed to get some nice boards that are now air drying. The maple started about 20% and after about 2 months in the loft of a vented pole barn, they are down to about 11-12% so by next spring they should be dry enough to use.

I did have a question on your source of bands for the RipSaw. Do you buy from the manufacturer or do you use one of the blade suppliers? I'm going to need to buy a set soon. I've sharpened several and had good luck with doing so but I know they will only take 2 or so sharpenings.

Keep us posted on the cherry job.

I get one good sharpening, and sometimes 2 sharpenings from each blade. However, unlike larger bandmill blades, the smaller Ripsaw blades don't last as long and when resharpened, don't last as long as a new one. The flip side to that, the advantage of smaller blades with less set is that your kerf is about half of what the larger bandsaw blades make. I actually measured mine to be little more than 1/16 inch (measured exact thickness of cant, make 5 cuts and measured cant again, divided difference by 5). I get my blades from Ripsaw, always 12 at a time since it's cheaper that way and in my case, I will use them.

you asked about my cherry logs yesterday... alas the best laid schemes o' mice and men go you know where... got caught up in another project making space in a barn for storing my milled lumber, and thus never got out into the woods as planned. Those three small cherry logs are still there, up off the ground waiting to be milled. Another weekend.