Makin Sawdust

[Admin]

Man I'm always making sawdust of one form or another. For the last several weeks I been cutting firewood but now that both sheds are full, I'm making lumber. We sawed most of the day yesterday and pretty near a full day today. So far we've sawn up about 2500 board feet of pine. I'm figuring there's at least 3500 left in log form. Here's a few snaps from the project. Not sure yet if this is work or play.



16' and only 2 little pea size knots in it.


Miling up a ton of Adirondack siding for the camps.


I let a lot of logs sit for a year or better so that they turn blue stained and get bug riddled. This makes really rustic looking lumber which I prefer.


Going to make a ton of siding, boards and some wide bar top slabs for tables and stuff. Also some 5/8' thick stuff for weasel boxes and fisher cubbies. I bet I'll be sticking and stacking lumber for a week.

[patricimo54]

What a great machine! What would something like that cost a man to own or rent? Looking good JC ;D

[stickbowhntr]

I wish you were down here to cut logs and make work for me.....I got as lot of timber that I coul dcut that would make soem great logs for a home.Several 36-44" ACH pines. Mayb e 15-20 of 'em.If nothing else 2 x 4's and 2 x10's etc...

[Admin]

Aug 16, 2011 16:25:31 GMT -5 patricimo54 said:

What a great machine! What would something like that cost a man to own or rent? Looking good JC ;D

Its not my saw mill. My mill is fine for whacking out a few logs here and there but mine has no hydraulics and is all manual. I hire this guy and he saws for me at .14 a bd ft. I actually get a better deal cause he usually buys my artwork in trade for a good part of it so I make out good on the deal. I'm the tail man on the job and I bust my ass but do enjoy the project. These trees were endangering my barn so they needed to come down anyway. I have about 60 more pines to take down, but not getting to it anytime soon. These LT40 mills I'm pretty sure sell for around 40 grand but you can get them used from anywhere from 10 grand and up. For a landowner like myself who just wants to bang out a bunch of lumber from time to time, it's really best just to hire someone to cut for you. You'll only get a couple hours of milling before changing the blade and unless you sharpen your on blades you'll be spending constantly. At only 140.00 per thousand board feet, it's really affordable to use his saw and diesel fuel. If he's cutting timbers or cabin logs for me he charges me 35 bucks an hour. We can spit out one hell of a stack of timbers in an hour. ;D

[woodsman416]

That thing is too COOL! ;D

[TrappinTommer]

Looks like a ton of fun JC. ;D

[trapperbud]

JC you've always got some kind of cool project going on . ;D

[maritimer]

Looks like a very productive day. ;D

[Canadian trapper]

Nice set up you have working there KC. Two years ago my Father in-law came home from a trapping rendezvous with a portable saw mill./ The one he bought uses a chain saw for the cutter. He bought the mill and a new stihl chain saw with a 4' bar. So far we cut a few stretching boards and a dozen 2x4. It's a lot cheaper to buy the lumber but he said he's always wanted a mill? Anyway a new toy to play with.
The Canadian Trapper

[Admin]

Aug 17, 2011 5:46:09 GMT -5 Canadian trapper said:

Two years ago my Father in-law came home from a trapping rendezvous with a portable saw mill./ The one he bought uses a chain saw for the cutter.

How accurate do those chainsaw mills cut? I've always wondered about those and would like to see one in action. I bet theu're a lot of work but sure would be handy for remote cabins.

[Canadian trapper]

The mill he bought was commercially made and it cut pretty accurate. He made a few (lynx,marten, fox) boards for me, I just sanded a little and they came out great. It would be easy to haul everything into a remote area. The next time I go out to his place I will take a few pics and post.
The Canadian Trapper

[Admin]

Well another day of making sawdust is behind us. Today I zipped up a few wide slabs for bar tops.
I tried one out just to make sure it worked.



Mostly just a bunch of s**tty logs left so it should be an early day tomorrow. Then a few days o sticking and stacking.

[patricimo54]

I am loving this thread. You are helping me see potential in the by products of me clearing road and home site on our Ozark property.

What is the proper way to stack/store logs and how long can they be stored?

[trapperandhunter]

looking good jc !

[Admin]

Aug 17, 2011 21:07:05 GMT -5 patricimo54 said:

What is the proper way to stack/store logs and how long can they be stored?

I don't know much about storing anything other than pine for lumber purposes. Pine borers will enter the bark of the logs in a very short time and start boring holes through them. Personally I like the look of the bug activity and the blue stain that occurs when the logs sit around for any length of time. For exterior trim I use clean wood that isn't riddled with holes but for interior I love the rustic look. The majority of these logs have been sitting in a pile for about 3 years. Maybe only a dozen or so were freshly cut. I try to keep them off the ground by stacking them over a couple logs perpendicular to the pile.

Here's what we sawed the last few days. The Adirondack siding is 5/8" thick so there's more there than it looks. Tomorrow I start sticking and stacking for proper storage.