Quarter Sawing small log

[Bibbyman]

A new customer brought me two small white oak logs.  I could have told him he wouldn't get much out of them but I suspect it wouldn't do much good as he had me saw up an armload of cherry logs the week before.

Then he calls back a couple of nights later and asked that we quarter saw the BIG one!  The BIG one measures about 9" one way by 10" the other and is 4' long.

Got any ideas of suggestions?

[Kevin]

At the risk of asking what might be a less than brilliant question ...why cant you just put it on the bed and cut it?

[Tom]

I think I would recommend to him that the log is too small to produce enough vertical grained boards to make it worth-while if the standard method of quarter-sawing is used.  But, If it is sawed "through and through" and if you are lucky enough to get a small heart shake then you will be able to get some Vertical grain.  

I might even suggest that he get it "flitch" sawed and then get some 1/2" stickers and put the log back together with them in it and tie it together with some plastic tie wraps.  That would make it special.

If he persists wanting to do the impossible it may be time to recommend that he find someone else.  Lord knows "you don't want to screw it up".

Frustrating, isn't it?

[Bibbyman]

Tom caught me on this one. I bet everyone out there has had customers that didn't have a clue.

I once had a customer who wanted me to square out some white oak logs into 6x6 posts.  It took about 6 calls before the whole deal was committed to and the date set he would deliver the logs.  I was waiting for him at the appointed time when an 85 Dodge mini-van came down our privet drive.  Who is this?  I thought.  He pulled up and introduced himself.  He had seven white oak "logs" in the back of the mini van!  The larges wasn't much over 6" diameter on the little end.  Even though the load did make the back bumper on the mini-van about drag the ground, they were only stacked side buy side - 7 across.  One of the first things he asked was if I thought I could make two 6x6s out of some of the bigger ones!  I told him there was only a coupe that would make a face on all four sides.  Well,  he said to make them as big as I could get.

Later in the conversation,  he revealed that he was an inspector at our local nuclear power plant!!   I thought seriously about moving.

[CharlieJ]

Sounds like you might get some nice 1/2 to 1" wide lumber out of those!

[Kevin]

That`s what I was thinking, 4, 1" boards off each "log".

[CharlieJ]

I recently quarter sawed a 30" log. The widest boards I got were about 6", and they get narrower
as you go. So with a 10" log the return diminishes very quickly.

[timberbeast]

If I have 6 inch "logs" laying around,  I slab once,  then I make a 3x3 with next pass and sell them as landscape timbers.  Two passes,  3 bucks.

[Kevin]

Timberbeast
Do you debark the edges or sell as is?

[timberbeast]

Kevin,  they are clean 3x3s,  unless I get some wane.  I run a Mobile Dimension Mill.  It is kinda hard to explain,  but it has one vertical blade and two horizontal,  the top horizontal is adjustable,  and the whole mill can be moved vertically or horizontally.  I have 4-foot endstands,  so I can throw a 40 inch log on and cut it into anything I want without turning the log once.  They have a website,  just try a search on Mobile Dimension Sawmill,  and you should find it.  Mine has a 1700cc Volks engine,  and I don't have the trailer package,  it sits on 12x12 cedar bunks,  right in the woods.  It's a cool mill,  but pricey.  Check it out!  It isn't a bandmill,  so you lose lumber with the kerf,  but it's fast as hell.  I can do one of those "logs" in less than 2 minutes.(the small stuff),  incuding offloading and throwing the slabs on the pile,  alone.

[Bibbyman]

I’ve been putting in a lot of time thinking about this and here’s what I thinking of trying:

1) I’ll put a flat on all four sides.  Then turn the cant 45 degrees and put four more flats on it – using a small carpenter’s triangle as a gauge on the first cut. This will make an octagon.

2) Then I’ll take the top off one board above the center.  Then turn over so I can get a good clamp and take the now top off again one board above center.  Then spit the two heart boards.

3) I’ll put the two tops back together inside to inside and stand them on them mill.  Then repeat step 2 making four boards out of them.

4) The four corners left may be a little tough to clamp.  I may have to use a piece of junk board against the backstops to saw the “point” off to get a clamping flat.  

5) Getting a flat,  I’ll turn them up to rip off the upper corner and then turn over to got the lower corner on top. (I’ll probably give the corners to him and he can rip them out on his table saw.)

I figure it’ll take 27 cuts and 24 turns and clamps to make 12 bf of lumber.  Question is: How much should I charge?

[Tom]

Bibbeyman,

That'll work.

I think you will find the labor terribly intensive.
I would make sure he was there and acknowledged the "Pain-in-the-neck" cutting this one log was.

If he's like some of my customers, It's the only log he's got and you would be doing him more of a favor than he will realize unless he is there.  I'de make sure he watched me cut some "good" logs while waiting for me to put his on the mill or he may think that this normal.

I cut Octagonals for newal, nural, post.  However you pronounce/spell that.  You know, the post for the steps going up onto a porch.  

The 45 degree cut isn't too bad to do but making it come out clean at the end of the log is difficult.  Because you are trying to save as much wood as you can, it will be difficult to get the faces equal.

I also have problems with the Heart Shake in cutting the "dead center" boards.  If it is small and true then your best bet is to cut the widest boards at a 90 to it sot that you can get rid of it by cutting the pith out.

If there is a chance that the shake isn't true,(usually the case) then cutting the boards horizontal to it, but a ring or two away from the pith, will produce better boards.  You can't hide it in a 4/4 board.

That narrow board that will come out of the "ears" of the triangle may not be worth going after.  It may peel off of there like a planer shaving.  The tension will cause a lot of bow which will make it almost impossible to  cut that little top triangle off.

Then, this is where sawing becomes an art more than a science and you won't know until you try it.

To answer the question....$24.00 or $45.00 per hour, whichever is greater.

[Bibbyman]

I got around to sawing that little white oak log my customer wanted me to quarter saw.  I did it pretty much as I had planned but I just threw away the four little corners.  The log had some crook to it and was already sap rotten.  It did have some nice quarter saw ray flicks in it.  

[Barbara_Gill]

Hi Bibbyman; thanks for sending me the URL for this site.

I used to worry about the same thing when customers asked me to do something I thought was not in their best interest. Now, after 15 years I figure if they have enough knowledge to make suck requests and do not ask my opinion, I will just go ahead and do it. Life is much more simple that way. Who knows, maybe he has a good use for 3" quartersawn boards.  

[Bibbyman]

Your welcome Barbara,  It's good to hear from you.  

For those who haven't met Barbara,  she runs a Wood-Mizer mill back east and makes excellent hardwood floors from lumber she cuts,  dries and mills.  She e-mailed me a couple of years ago and attached pictures of her new "coverable" she was so excited about.  It was an Army surplus Dodge 6x6 with a 10,000 winch!  She was going to use it to recover logs from blown down trees.

She has a lot more info on her web site - well worth the visit.  Maybe she'll add a link to it.

Welcome Barbara!   This forum is fun!  (You got to throw in a Smiley   every once in a while though.)

[Jeff]

Welcome Barbara!

Yes, please edit your profile and add a link to your site, I would love to see it. Bibbyman is correct we have a great bunch here. I too am a sawyer, but at a little larger scale then the woodmizer. I saw about 30,000 ft a day at a large circular sawmill in mid Michigan.

[Barbara_Gill]

Thanks for the great welcome Bibbyman.  
You too Jeff. I almost missed that post. I really like the format of this forum but I haven't quite got the hang of it yet.  

[Jeff]

Looks like your doing just fine to me! Smilies and everystuff already!

[Tom]

Welcome Barbara,

That's what we need another Bandsaw mill.  I looked at your site and enjoyed the floor and that quartered oak board.  That's pretty stuff.  

Hope you are here frequently.

Wait till you meet some of the others...teachers...nurses....chainsaws....carpenters........... ...........!

Tom

[Jeff]

Tom did ya catch the cottonwood crotch pic? Beautiful! I have seen the beauty in cottonwood over the years. Barbara, we had another thread where cottonwood was called junk wood. I say NAY!