remilling a reclaimed timber

[Greg]

Hey guys,

I put my new Bailey's ripping chain on my saw this weekend, and remilled a 12' hand hewn beech timber down to the required size and to give this future floor joist one nice flat surface. Mind you, I was using the Granberg mini mill, not a slabbing/Alaskan setup.

I was quite surprised how difficult it was. Despite the fact it was a brand new, sharp?, ripping chain, I felt like I really had to push through the beam, instead of just guiding the saw through it. It was so slow I though for sure I had hit a nail - but that wasn't the case!

Of course, my only comparison is to some green spruce and pine logs I milled a few weeks ago. Also, the sawdust thrown off the 150 year old timber was extremely fine, not the big chips like I was used to seeing. I am assuming the vast difference in effort from my first try was due the fact it was a much harder wood, and it was so dry. Gawd, I'd hate what it would have been like the if this old white oak....

I got it done, but it wasn't pleasant. I wish I could tell better how much of this is related to the sharpness of the chain...

Probably not a real common thing to do, but for anyone who's done this - Is this experience something I should expect to encounter with old dry timbers everytime? Are my expectations too high that I should be able to rip through a 12' beam fairly easily & quickly??? FYI, it was a ~ 5 x 9", ripped down to about a 5 x 7".

Cheers,
Greg

[Jeff]

The older and dryer the harder she will cut. Beech can be hard to mill even when green.  

The oldest and dryest log I ever sawed was a big white oak. Favor the boss was doing for some farmer. The log had been stored without bark in a barn on sticks for 10 years. I ended up toasting the saw.  The guys might have suggestions about optimum chains and setups that will help, but old and dry translates directly to hard and TOUGH!

[EZ]

I sawed some old oak barn beams(8x10) for a guy last summer. Before I started sawing I acted like some professional sawyer thats had been sawing old beams for 30 yrs. He said he check the beams with a metal detector & they were all clean, I throwed the first one up on the mill & as soon as the blade hit the wood, that awful sound of metal was ringing in my ears. I shut the mill off & in the end of the beam was a C shape object that someone hammered in, on both ends. After we pull all of them out everything went pretty good, except I only got about 200 BF per blade.
EZ

[craigc90]

 My brother resaws barn beams into flooring . The wood is not just harder because its dry the growth rings are tighter too because most hand hewn beams are first growth lumber. A first growth Poplar beam is like cutting a green White Oak. 150 year old Chestnut and White Oak is like cutting metal.He denails but it seems like you miss a nail in at least every other beam. He has been using bimetal blades but it only gives you a little more life between sharpening. He only cuts salvage wood. I had the mill last fall and was cutting green logs and he couldnt believe how easy they were to saw.

[Kevin]

Try a full skip ripping chain that hasn't been modified.

[woodbeard]

Kevin, when you say "hasn't been modified" do you mean that the cutters are left at 30 deg.?
Thanks,
George

[Kevin]

The angle of the top plate will vary the type of finished surface on the board being milled.
The modified chains with clearing cutters and scoring cutters are not the best ripping chains.
You'll kill many a bar before their time using them.
The best ripping chain I have found is Oregons RA out of the box but you'll have trouble finding it.
The Stihl chain is ok but the top plate is a different angle and leaves the finish on the board slightly rough.

[woodbeard]

So, if I am refiling standard crosscut chain, what would leave a smoother finish, 0 deg, 5deg., or something else?

[Kevin]

0 to 15 will give you a good finish but I'm opposed to reshaping a factory chain as long as I can already purchase one as is.
Reworking a factory grind isn't good for the chain.

[Greg]

Kevin,

Unfortunately the Oregon full skip ripping chain (27 RA) you mention only appears to be available in the .404 pitch. I've got .375.

They apparently do have a .375 x .058 ripping chain (73RD) that will fit my bar, but it is not full skip. I might try a loop of that just for grins. What exactly does full skip accomplish, basically reduce heat right?

Since I'm not dragging the chain over wide slabbing cuts I'm thinking this wouldn't matter much for my application, redim. beams. Feel free to disagree,

Greg

[woodbeard]

Greg, what saw size and bar length are you using? I think you may be right about not needing full skip, especially in a 5" cut where you would end up with only 4 cutters in the wood. Have you tried 3/8 low profile chain? I would think that smaller cutters would be better for super hard wood like you are cutting. .325ga. might even be an idea worth considering.

Kevin, how does changing the angles on a chain affect it negatively?

George

[Kevin]

You can get RA in 3/8, I'm not sure about .325.
Full skip will give better clearance for the fibers, I've tried most chains and you probably will also until you settle on one.
If you're grinding on the cutters to redesign them into something you want, chances are you'll destroy the hardness in the chain.
It's not worth the hassle or the experimentation when I can buy what works over the counter.
I can use it right out of the box as is, resharpen to the same specs and it stays sharp longer than anything else I've used.

[Greg]

You can get RA in 3/8, I'm not sure about .325.

Kevin,
Please tell me where/how you can get RA in 3/8. I've looked through the oregon chain catalog. and RA seems to be only available as 27 RA - which is a .404 chain.

I agree with you completely about filling down manufactured chains. It may even work, but I don't have the time to fool with that. I am barely functional in keeping my existing chains sharp!

That's why I'd love to try this RA stuff right out of the box. I might just have to change bars to use .404 pitch to accomodate. One additional problem with Oregon ripping chain, it seems you can only buy it in 25' rolls ;-( All I need is a measly 84 dl (24" bar) loop.

PS, my saw is a 65cc Jonsered.

Thanks a ton, guys...
Greg