Slabbing Assistance

[Fla._Deadheader]

  It's time to bolt on the Slabber Bar and make tables. Any helpful advice on best way to approach the task of Slabbing ??  I have been contacted by others wanting info on how I rigged up, so, this will benefit others as well.

  Is there a "Best" RPM ??

  Saw in both directions, or pull or push only ??

  How much lube and what kind ??

  Ever have chain break ??

  How hard to feed with 20 HP ??

  ?????????????????????????????

[Part_Timer]

I've only used one a couple of times but here is what Burlkraft and I saw using his.

The best rpm is full out

we only pushed but did notice that if you push hard and try to hog it it will make lines on the slab.  If you just keep the pressure on the bar and let it do the work they come off very smooth.

we used stihl bar oil and just let it drip steady on it.

20 hp should be fine just a bit slower than my 25.  It took us 5-7 minutes to cut a slab 36" wide by 14' long out of white oak. 

The one thing we did do was keep putting wedges in both sides untill we got past the middle then pulled all of the first ones out.  then my son stood on the end of the slab so that when the chain cut through the end the middle wedges were a pivit point and the slab popped up and out of the way of the chain so we didn't have to worry about knocking the chain off..

[rathbone]

I have a slabbing attachment for my Peterson ASM and a few months ago I slabbed out a 45" white oak.  The log was quite dry and I took 3" slabs out of it.  It was slow going, it took about 2 hours to slab the entire log.  My mill is set at about 3400 rpms and the more HP you have the better, 20 HP is fine, just make sure you go full out and push so the engine is working hard but not lugging, just keep your rpm up in the powerband.  Steady drip on the oil flow, use the proper oil depending on temperture.  I'm not sure what kind of mill you have but make sure you have it anchored as solidly as you can as my mill tended to shake side to side depending on the hardness of the log.  It really came out nice though.  Make sure you use your metal detector every pass or at least every other pass and keep your chain sharp. 

Rathbone

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Here's the logs. Side sway is very possible.I have the WPF Peterson. This high, it WILL sway. It does with the 8" blade.  : :

  This log will be made into slabs, and other lumber for legs, columns, door frames, etc.




  This one is over 6' high.  ;) ;D ;D 



  Out of sight on the other side, is another chunk of limb. It should make good slabs.  I'm thinking on turning the short length of log facing up, and sawing slightly across and down the whole 9' length of the hidden limb and trunk, as 1 slice ???     Suggestions ???

[Murf]

     Suggestions ???

Yup, labourers, lot's and lot's of labourers......   :D

Oh, and a shady tree ta sit under while ya watch 'em work ta make sure they're doin' it right.   ;D

Mebbe even a cold glass of lemonade, but not too much ice or you'll get a brain freeze.  :

[Fla._Deadheader]

  It's probably 150' and uphill, to where we can load the pieces on the truck ???

[Norm]

I don't know anything about slabbers but I am slobbering a little on the keyboard in anticipation of what's inside.  :D

[Burlkraft]

Yeah...What Part_Timer said..... ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Ga_Boy]

Harold,

With logs that size, it would be best to have two people pushing the mill.  One on each side keeping constant pressure but not bogging the engine.

I have not tried this but Dan Shade has told me that shims work better than wedges.  Dan has cut lots of slabs with his Alaskan, I have only used a WPF slabber.   Just wanted to throw that out there for consideration.   I am sure Dan will chime in with his thoughts.

For that big crotch, do like you are saying lay that beast so you get the good grain pattern.  I've got one like that that I am still trying to figure out how to mill it, It's 7' wide and I do not want to trim the edges and I do not have the $4K to buy power heads and a double head bar..... :-[

Like stated above, anchor the rails. when you get in to a full width cut the rails will slide to the right on you and the mill will bind on the bar supports.  I used my tractor, I backed it up to the rails locked the brakes, dropped the bucket and it sat there.

MY WPF is the 10" and when I get the power head up around shoulder height it wobbles.   I think this is just the way it is; a lot of weight suspended up high.




Mark

[Captain]

Well Mark, cheer up.  My first slabbing mill will be capable of 7 feet, or at least that is the plan.  The LogRites have a big project in mind for it.  Maryland is not too far of a stretch...

Harold, you need to take a look at the current WPFs and make a cross brace like they are equipped with.  Totally eliminates the side sway in the small frame WPF.

Captain

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Mornin Cap'n. Cross brace for the tracks ??  That's where I get the sway.  Usually take 2 bites per cut, until I can take deep vertical cuts with the Disk Blade.

  I have thought REAL hard about extending the frame to do wider cuts on larger logs. Problem is handling wood in bad locations. Not a lot of trees left in open flat fields down here.  ??? :

[Ironwood]

FDH,

As far as chain breaking I have worried of this also but never had a problem. You should be able to cut in both directions and then you will evenly wear the bar.

As far as oil, the more the better to an extent. If the bar is crazy long then use an auxilary oiler. My set up is "homebrewed",  yours may already have the oiling required.

  Sounds like fun in the jungle. Good luck.

[TexasTimbers]

Reid,

I have not seen your setup before, but had the same basic idea.
I have two 18"  #70 I beams (overkill but I bought them right) set aside to join together make an overdead like yours on which to mount my bandsaw powerhead. It will have a probably 32' net saw length capability. I never thought of mounting a chainsaw mill on it.
How did you do it. Is that channel or barstock with a braket that attaches to each 385?

[Fla._Deadheader]

Right now, no oiler. I plan to tiewrap a 1quart plastic bottle, with snout on it, upside down, so the tube directs the oil to the bar. Bar is 60". Do I need oil on both ends ??  Does the oil affect the wood ??

  Nice setup, Reid.  How long is your bar ??

[Ironwood]

Kevjay,

  It is 1" or 1 1/4" SS all thread. The powerheads are 394's. I will be electrifying the unit in the future. I hate the noise / fumes and such. It runs 40'.

FDH,

As far as oils affecting the wood, I have not had that problem. You would be surfacing the slabs at some point right? The bar is just over 5'.

I have collected a number of bandsaw wheel pairs to eventually convert to a blade ( 30", 36", 54") but for now the chainsaw works 

[Part_Timer]

FDH

The stock oiler hangs in a small bracket on the far side and drips oil just past the nose of the bar.  It's just a small bottle hung upside down with a small ball valve to control the flow.  Not much of nothin to make one.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Thanks P_T. Kinda figgered sumpin like dat.  ;D

  I been considerin lektrik drive, myself.

[TexasTimbers]

Thanks Reid, awesome setup.
I just wondered if it was permissible to go through the bar with the allthreads or should I fab a bracket for the powerhead?

[twoodward15]

hahaha quart bottle, that's funny.  If it's possible, put a nipple in the bottom of a gallon jug and run a hose to your bar.  Fill that bottle out of another  with a funnel.  A quart doesn't last long when you are milling like that.  Get some big hose clamps or zip ties and anchor that thing.  Put a shot off valve in and you'll be good to go.  I know it's easier to anchor the quart bottle, but it just won't last long enough.

[Fla._Deadheader]

   : :  I WAS figgerin on cutting the bottom, to make like a "Flapper" lid. Then, I can just add to it as needed  : : ;D :D :D :D

[Dan_Shade]

I was kind of hanging low, hoping to learn something

I've used an alaskan a bit with my 066, but many here have a lot more experience.

oil is a good thing, i'd use an auxiliary oiler, sharp chains are everything too.  with that hard wood, you may want to sharpen every pass, maybe halfway through a pass...

I don't have much to add, milling those big logs is different than the little logs.  using the spacers vice wedges is mainly if you are going to roll up the log and take a second cut to quarter the log.  You also don't have to be concerned of a flat spacer pushing back out of the kerf, either. 

Did you make your slabber, Harold?  where did you find your bar?  i've been scheming a huge slabber for quite some time....  the problem is a track, you guys with peterson's are halfway there!

[Ga_Boy]

Shoot Dan, tracks are no problem at all....

Call Posner's and have some 1.5" angle iron delivered and you got tracks.  I have some extra rollers when you are ready.

I have cleared and leveled a pad for a stationary milling site.  I'll set up 40' of tracks for the power head, this way my Peterson tracks will stay in the trailer for mobile jobs.  I even took the time to clear out 4 sites for lumber stacks.  Now all material is stacked and stickered as it comes of the saw.  Now if I just had a 2 sided planer to surface it before it was stickered....Some day.

[Part_Timer]

Mark

Why would you surface it before you sticker it. ???

[TexasTimbers]

PT,

There has been much debate about planing &/or jointing (dressing the edge) green wood prior to stickering; a.k.a. pre-surfacing. I'll just try to throw some general concerns out there because my view lack experience whci is the most important thing you look for in this kind of consideration. Mine is book knowledge, and incomplete ate that but I do think I can offer some valid points until someone else comes along with imperical data.  :P

I think the discussion has to start with species. Some species lend themselves to pre-surfacing much more than others. I think sycamore and sweetgum for example, are two bad choices for candidates of pre-surfacing. Unless you douse them with Holy Water, cross your fingers & toes, and appease the Sitcker Gods, then the movement you'll see with those two species will necessitate more surfacing one they are dry to take out the cupping/twisting, and then you probably have to straight-edge a good portion anyway but of course that doesn't affect surfacing just jointing.  So for species with lots of movement it means losing thickness you probably didn't allow for in the rough cut.

Now qtr sawn sycamore, doesn't move as much so now you have to ask Arky and guys who have lots of experience with that what is the deal on that.
Of course there are alot of species that move more than what are cinsidered the more stable ones.

Presurfacing has lots of benefits though. It reduces checking, supposedly gives the wood increased strength once dry, and reduces drying time according to some but not others.

The only experience that I have that I can tell you for certain is a fact, is that when you plane green lumber, the chips pile up inside the planer alot more than when dry because they are MUCH heavier. I have been planing some WET box elder and my 2HP dust collector is not strong enough to keep the chipos form liling up inside the planer. I have to figure something else out on this.

I can send you some links to other articles which discuss this in detail. I have a big box full of articles i have printed off the web, many from here many form elsewhere that discuss this and other relevant topics on green wood. There is alot to know about it and I don't know much.  :-\   :P  :P  :P

[Ga_Boy]

PT,

Kevjay covered most of the benifits.  Here is what I was taught in Kiln Operators School.

Presurfacing gives you material of consistant thickness and allows for uniform drying.  It basically cleans the saw dust and dirt off the boards allowing the moisture to come out in a uniform mannor.

All of this is supose to provide a better grade of material out of the kiln. 


My instructors stressed quality, a quality product will always sell. 





Mark