cutting plaques.

[twobears]

 i,de like to cut a bunch of plaques out.i plan on building a jig to hold my short logs.but,before i do i thought i,de get some input from you fine folks.
 is there any old posts on the subject?? or can you folks give me some ideas on it??..thanks.

 delbert

[Furby]

Not sure what you mean by plaques and short logs.

Cutting short logs (guessing you mean really short) can be dangerous.
Just yesterday I was cutting a piece of birdseye curly maple firewood on the mill to get a couple small boards out of it and it came loose and was thrown into the drive wheel.
Drove the blade behind the band wheels, took off the blade guard and the chunk of wood landed several feet away.
Nothing was broken, but I dulled a blade. I did get the chunk cut though.

Cutting short logs can be done and I do it all the time, just be REALLY carefull!!!

[Jeff]

There used to be a plaque company in Frederick Michigan where we would og get rejects for campfire wood when we camped at Otsego Lake near Gaylord. One thing I learned about Plaques from visiting there as a kid, it that they are cut on a bias to give the plaque a oblong, tapered shape. This was done for a reason. Just a slab, or cookie will always check and always crack.  Cut on a bias, or angle, you now have a different grain structure that has more of a chance to survive what I think was a pressure bath first, then on to drying. This was over 30 ago so my memory aint the greatest.

[isawlogs]

  I do alot of those on my mill .. having the hydraulics makes it a lot easier .. wedge the peice in there at an angle and saw away, makes nice slabs for cutting boards and for making signs .

[Furby]

Have done that as well.
If doing that, it will take long logs as there is a lot of waste on each end.
I have some cherry with no checks at all, both on a bias and as a round cookie.

[isawlogs]

 waste , aint sure about that , I use the short logs that have bends in them and dont have any boards to say , whats left is fire wood ... So I dont see it as waste .. if you where to take a good log and do this .. then yes , I would agree . 

[Dale Hatfield]

I tried some cherry wood cut this way as the wife does woodburning both kind. one for her plesure and the other keeps me choppin. Anyhow  the cherry split right to the center. The Lin /Basswood  didnt nor did the elm. Cant remember what else I sawed up.
I usually take a log with a bad crook and cut it in half and  drop the log  through the frame and clamp it. Then saw.

Dale

[twobears]

 thanks for the replys.i plan on using basswood and i now have a idea for a jig to hold the log.

 delbert