What? No bandsaw milling threads?

[Sawdust Man]

Just a bit more cedar today.
l really like sawing cedar..... cuts like buttah!

 

[Loony661]

Just a bit more cedar today.
l really like sawing cedar..... cuts like buttah!View attachment 394934View attachment 394935

One of the best looking woods, both before and after finishing. Such a beautiful grain contrast.

 

[Sawdust Man]

One of the best looking woods, both before and after finishing. Such a beautiful grain contrast.

Yup, I really enjoy cutting it.... just wish they grew bigger, like real trees instead of bushes.

 

[Sawdust Man]

Making oak 1 x 10s today....
Still getting bad/rough cuts, I replaced the guides and checked / adjusted the alignment.......but no noticable improvement.









Hit 1,300 today.....

 

[Mastermind]

Making oak 1 x 10s today....
Still getting bad/rough cuts, I replaced the guides and checked / adjusted the alignment.......but no noticable improvement.
View attachment 395349View attachment 395350View attachment 395351








Hit 1,300 today.....


View attachment 395352

Wheel bearing maybe?

 

[Sawdust Man]

Wheel bearing maybe?

That's my next thing to check.
This mill has a really expensive bearing on the drive side.... I figure it's probably shot..... because money....

 

[Sawdust Man]

The third cut with a brand new blade.
Was a nice chunk of wood too.
Zero stain on the ends of the log to warn me of the impending disaster.... and nothing showing in the bark either.

 

[Lnk]

The third cut with a brand new blade.
Was a nice chunk of wood too.
Zero stain on the ends of the log to warn me of the impending disaster.... and nothing showing in the bark either.
View attachment 396404View attachment 396405

Don't you guys use a metal detector. Pick up an old minelab or whites. Pays for itself in a couple blades.

 

[Lnk]

The third cut with a brand new blade.
Was a nice chunk of wood too.
Zero stain on the ends of the log to warn me of the impending disaster.... and nothing showing in the bark either.
View attachment 396404View attachment 396405

Spacing looks like woven wire fence.

 

[Sawdust Man]

Don't you guys use a metal detector. Pick up an old minelab or whites. Pays for itself in a couple blades.

I have in the past, guess I need to get another one.

Spacing looks like woven wire fence.

I'm thinking no trespassing sign.
90% of the nails I hit are in groups of four, spaced accordingly, and about face high.

 

[JIMG]

I finally had a chance to open up a big elm with the weekend warrior mill today.
My pics never seem to do justice to just how dramatic a freshly sawn slab can be.

 

[Sawdust Man]

I finally had a chance to open up a big elm with the weekend warrior mill today.
My pics never seem to do justice to just how dramatic a freshly sawn slab can be.
View attachment 396849
View attachment 396850
View attachment 396851
View attachment 396852

Those are pretty nice....what are the dimensions?

 

[JIMG]

9 feet long, 3" thick, must be over 34" at the flare since I had to trim it to get by. I would have cut them at 4" but I'm solo and they get heavy quick even just getting them onto the forks.
I'm going to strap them and sticker them at 12" or so to see if I can minimize movement while drying.
They should make mighty nice furniture tops in a couple years (unless I get a kiln built).

 

[Sawdust Man]

9 feet long, 3" thick, must be over 34" at the flare since I had to trim it to get by. I would have cut them at 4" but I'm solo and they get heavy quick even just getting them onto the forks.
I'm going to strap them and sticker them at 12" or so to see if I can minimize movement while drying.
They should make mighty nice furniture tops in a couple years (unless I get a kiln built).

Nice, definitely heavy!
Ida guessed 24" x 2"
Pics are deceiving.

Will be interesting to see how much warpage you get..... hopefully not so much as to be unusable.



On the subject of kilns....

Back in Oregon I built a simple 8 x 24' room into my shop for drying lumber.
I heated it with a woodstove and ran a dehumidifier & a half dozen box fans, I was drying 2k bf in two weeks from green down to 5% mc.
We were drying Alder (similar to poplar) mostly at 2.5" thickness, with a bit of 1" and some 3" mixed in.
My target temperature was 140° it would drop to around 80° in the early morning, then I'd stoke up the stove and get it back up to temp within a couple hours.
We'd burn around 3/4 of a cord of spruce to dry a batch of lumber running the ol' stove wide open & usually red hot all day.

What impressed me the most was how little degrade I got considering the rapid drying time, it really wasn't any worse than air drying.

 

[JIMG]

I just measured that slab at the flare and it's only 30" after trimmed. Around 26" at the narrowest. So you were pretty close for only a phone pic to go off of.
As for kilns, that set up you had in Oregon sounds like it was a winner. I cant get below around 12% air drying under tin around here.
I had the idea to put together a solar type. I have a walk in freezer in a pile of pieces behind my shop I had planned to use for it. I do have a spare wood stove, though. Maybe a hybrid...
Did you use a typical homeowner type dehumidifier or something more stout?

 

[Sawdust Man]

Solar/wood combo would be smart.

In the PNW around 15% was about all you could get with air drying, which is not enough for interior work.

We used a pretty serious dehumidifier... like around $700 worth back in about 2012, it would take out 5-10 gallons every 24 hours with fresh green lumber in there.

Air movement is a huge factor when drying lumber, so whatever you do try to include lots of fans.



A side note on temperature for drying...

At around 140-150 degrees all the bugs die (in all stages of their development), so if you have powder post beetles or the likes in any logs/lumber, get it up around 145° for a few hours and you'll be bug free.
Basically you have to get the wood up to those temps all the way through the boards.... it doesn't have to be that hot for any specific time, just long enough to get those temps to the core of the wood.

 

[foragefarmer]

Making oak 1 x 10s today....
Still getting bad/rough cuts, I replaced the guides and checked / adjusted the alignment.......but no noticable improvement.
View attachment 395349View attachment 395350View attachment 395351








Hit 1,300 today.....


View attachment 395352

Did you check your drive belt tension? I have an LT40. If the belt is loose and slipping it can cause blade chatter.

 

[Sawdust Man]

Did you check your drive belt tension? I have an LT40. If the belt is loose and slipping it can cause blade chatter.

Good thought.
I checked it, & seems okay to me.

I'm thinking woodmizer sent me a bunch of blades with bad set.....I found some blades I bought further back, and they're cutting just dandy.
All the new ones are diving even though my blade guides are tilted up slightly.... these older blades I'm running right now are climbing a tiny amount just like I'd expect with how my guides are set currently....and I'm not getting any chatter.

Anyways, I ordered a blade setter today so I'll check the offending blades when it gets here and see what's up.... I'm betting they're outta whack.

 

[Sawdust Man]

Today's white oak milling... trailer decking...




Red oak 1x10 order we finished last week.....



Leftovers/culls...





And some heavy duty chicken coop boards a neighbor ordered recently.... oak 7x9s

 

[Mastermind]

My neighbor wanted some 2x4s sawn. Brought me a pile of packer poles. LOL