Sawing Walnut Part 3

[Drilling Man]

  When i started milling this walnut tree, somehow i got started milling it from the top down!  That''s the opposite way i usally saw, as i always try to mill out the "highest" grade lumber first, and that's almost always in the butt log.

  Anyway, now it's "finally" time to mill the butt log!!  So off i go to get the butt log that's behind some other logs.  This is where the grabble really shines!  It allows me to reach over other logs, and pick up just the log i want without moving the others...



  So i carried the butt log to the mill, and set it into place...



  As you can see, this is a really nice log, and i have it rotated to where i "think" i'll get the highest grade lumber...



  Once i opened it, it was plain to see, this log is going to produce some really nice lumber!



  So i took a couple 5/4 boards, and turned the log...



  Then after takeing the second slab off,  i took more 5/4 boards...



  With that done, it was time to turn the log again...  My mills cable log turner sure takes the work out of turning logs or cants!



  With the log turned, i took the last slab off...



  And i started takeing more 5/4 boards off the "cant"...



  This "cant" sure was putting out some niiiiiice lumber!!  Check out how clear this cant is...



  UNTILL i hit these nails!!  So much for the sharpness and set in this band!



  So i removed a bit of wood around the nail, and snapped on some visegrips, and pulled out both nails.



  Here they are, the heads were still in the board, so i popped them out of the board and laid them next to the nails...



  And, here's the lumber from this log...



  As you can see, i'm starting to get a very nice stack of walnut, and many of the boards are clear and wide!!



  Well, that's it for "part 3"...  Next time there will be a few limbs to deal with!

  DM

[Glanceblamm]

Some beautiful wood for sure...I can see some green foilage in the background of some of your pic's and was wondering if you (or the mill) prefered the higher moisture content of summer cut wood verse winter cut?

Tough break on those nails. I have had them take the edge off of a chain saw blade right now but this was mainly the staples that had been pounded in years before to secure old fencing.
We once found an old sheath knife in a particularly gnarled section of wood that was revealed when that little 18" log was split!...it appeared that the knife had been placed in what was probably a handy fork at the time then forgotten or neglected and the tree grew around it.

Good pictures and narrative as usual & looking forward to seeing how you deal with those limbs & the inner-twining grains.

[Graybeard]

Nice. What does a saw set up like yours run? Of course just having it without a tractor large enough with the appropriate set up to handle the logs is useless more or less but it would sure be nice to have such a setup especially if you have folks with trees to give away or sell cheaply.

The fellow about a mile up the road from me sure must have it all as he cuts a lot of lumber up. He has set up quite an operation up there and has a huge shed area to work under and store his lumber in after it's cut up.

When I first moved here I had a bunch of large trees mostly pine taken out and cut up but the fellow who cut it then had a huge older saw with a circular blade perhaps 60" to 72" in diameter run by a truck engine. He made a complete mess of my lumber and didn't deliver anything to the specs I asked for. I sure wish that back then when I had trees to cut up I'd had someone to do it who knew what he was doing and had done it correctly. He let the last and best batch of large trees I took to him lay on the ground until they were infested with bugs/worms and ruined. Ya live and learn who not to trust I guess.

[Drilling Man]

Some beautiful wood for sure...I can see some green foilage in the background of some of your pic's and was wondering if you (or the mill) prefered the higher moisture content of summer cut wood verse winter cut?

  Many of the logs i mill are FREE logs, so i get them when i get them, and don't worry about what time of year it is...

Nice. What does a saw set up like yours run? Of course just having it without a tractor large enough with the appropriate set up to handle the logs is useless more or less but it would sure be nice to have such a setup especially if you have folks with trees to give away or sell cheaply.

  Actually, Norwood offers a log loader package as an option, so you can winch/roll the logs right up on the mill...

  The model of mill i have i believe starts out at about 6K with a Honda 13 motor...  Then you buy the options you want, and bolt them on...  Best part is, you can buy them later, and they will all bolt right on!

The fellow about a mile up the road from me sure must have it all as he cuts a lot of lumber up. He has set up quite an operation up there and has a huge shed area to work under and store his lumber in after it's cut up.

  One of these days i'm going to build a mill shed, i've just not got too it yet...

When I first moved here I had a bunch of large trees mostly pine taken out and cut up but the fellow who cut it then had a huge older saw with a circular blade perhaps 60" to 72" in diameter run by a truck engine. He made a complete mess of my lumber and didn't deliver anything to the specs I asked for. I sure wish that back then when I had trees to cut up I'd had someone to do it who knew what he was doing and had done it correctly. He let the last and best batch of large trees I took to him lay on the ground until they were infested with bugs/worms and ruined. Ya live and learn who not to trust I guess.

  I've seen a few of those type of guys too...  Many times they just get too many logs in, and get waaaay behind, or just don't give a crap about quality...

  Thanks guys, i'm glad you like the picts...

  DM

[Rolling Stone]

Great pictures Drilling Man!
I live near Knoxville,Tn and have had several Wood-Mizers since 1987. You have given a great spread of pictures showing the operation of  this family of saws. I started with a 14HP manual mill, graduated to a 22HP hydraulic mill and presently have a 15HP electric/hydraulic mill. I'm kind of new to this but if I can figure out how to post pictures I will try to show you some of the things I have done with my mills. Well, this time only things I was starting to do, moving logs to the mill.
Rolling Stone

[Drilling Man]

Great pictures Drilling Man!
I live near Knoxville,Tn and have had several Wood-Mizers since 1987. You have given a great spread of pictures showing the operation of  this family of saws. I started with a 14HP manual mill, graduated to a 22HP hydraulic mill and presently have a 15HP electric/hydraulic mill. I'm kind of new to this but if I can figure out how to post pictures I will try to show you some of the things I have done with my mills. Well, this time only things I was starting to do, moving logs to the mill.
Rolling Stone

  Nice picts., thanks for posting them!  Looks like you have a great mill and some big logs!!

  DM

[Rolling Stone]

The big logs aren't worth the effort to saw them. It's just a shame to let them go to waste. I won't saw them for anyone but me. It takes so long to move them around to saw We usually trim around them to get to the size that we can split them in two. Then we have to take 1/2 off the bed and saw the other half. This makes it easy to quarter saw while you're turning the cant. The biggest we have sawn was 32" at the little end and 20'6" long. We made it all into 2 x 12's for exposed rafters. My loader wouldn't lift it, the saw wouldn't lift it. We had to place it on the bed with a 977 Cat track loader. Pick it up and turn it with the loader the first 2 times. I can't remember right off but it seems like we got 1000 bdf or something like that out of the tree. Do you have any problem getting good blades? Try Cooks Saw and Machine, Newton,Al for the best available, hands down. They have several kinds. If you decide to try some, let me know and I'll recommend what works for me. That isn't what they say is the best.
Later,
Rolling Stone

[Drilling Man]

  Yeaa, big logs sure can be work!!!

  As for bands, i like to keep things simple, so i use one band for all of my sawing rather than changeing bands for hardwoods, softwoods ect...  I'm having very good service out of Norwood bands, so i've been sticking with them.  I set and sharpen them myself...

  DM