A day at the mill

Beautiful grain in that old growth wood!

Even though i work at the mill regularly. Most often twice a week.

Not every log is nice enough for some photos.

This fir butt was being cut up for tongue and groove flooring. I was cutting full dimension 2x6!


Notice the purple streaks in this wood.


Here is a photo showing the purple in the board


Here is another photo showing the clear purple full dimension 2x6


Next i hope to show off some beautiful red cedar!

Nice! Amazing to watch, and beautiful results.

I'm thinking that your results aren't from a random slice-and-dice though. You must be reading the log and acting accordingly. Any insights?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Nice! Amazing to watch, and beautiful results.

I'm thinking that your results aren't from a random slice-and-dice though. You must be reading the log and acting accordingly. Any insights?

thanks douglas.

So most of the wood i cut is for someones order. This log above happened to be for full size 2x6. This was someone elses log and they chose to have it cut from that log.

So with my mill we have certain sizes we cut with. So for a nominal 2x4 the mill goes down 4 inches because of the 5/16 kerf on the edger blades.

So with that in mind. I can measure a log and take off about 3 inches due to the bottom slab wood. And than i can basically cut from there.

The fir log above got 3 passes of full size 2x6 and than one pass of full size 2x4

There is definitely maximum efficiency with every log. So this means we do not waste 2 inches of the log because some one wants a 2x10 from a log which could make a 2x12.  we could cut 3 passes of 2x4 or 2 passes of 2x6  etc. from the log which will give 2x12.

I am not sure if this makes any sense. Putting it into words is somewhat challenging.



Another thing to look for is the size of the knots on the tree. Another is to try and cut what ever tree where it makes sense. Sometimes a 24' log with a banana in it is a waste. It would be easier to do  a 10' and a 14'. It all depends on the log. Another thing i look for is the growth rings. Usually the slowest growing is the best. Last year we got a bunch of fir logs from a dry northern slope. All of the wood was beautiful and straight. Next to no knots and grew slowly. However the red cedar which came from that area was crap. It had powder worm in it which left a bunch of small holes throughout the whole tree.

Hopefully some of this answers your question.

Alright!

Time to show the Beautiful Red Cedar Log i was talking about. The beauty of it was that most of it was being cut into 1x12 and 2x12s.


Here is the butt log.


Here is a photo of the growth rings.


Here is a lovely 2 x 12 board for Fasica boards.


WOW WOW WOW one of my favourite photos.. Looks like contour lines on a map.

This Mobile Dimensions Saw is so amazingly superior to all the other mill types, it is mind blowing. Where did you get this one? How much? Are these available in the North Eastern US? Are there any other manufacturers making a similar saw? Maintenance on the saw, is it very involved? Blade inserts expensive? Thank you for sharing your work and inspiring others to follow. Every where I look I see trees downed and rotting away, this appears to be the tool to recapture some of that bounty.

This is remarkable... nothing like this around me.

My neighbor has a mill that looks incredibly similar to this one. He knows all the old-school tricks to keeping them working. I get the job of clearing the sawdust off the metal panels he put below the area where the log sits so it would be easier to get the sawdust out. (I use it to mulch the duck yard in the winter when there's too much rain to do anything else.)

If you ever need hints or help trouble shooting, please speak up as he said he would be happy to consult. He's almost allergic to computers - but he has a son who thankfully isn't.