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Sawing Menu

Started by Magicman, January 22, 2010, 09:19:50 PM

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Magicman

I never know what I am going to find in the "Wack" when I arrive at a new "saw site".

Today it was Cherrybark Red Oak, SYP, QS White Oak, and Beech.  That DanG Beech is some hard stuff.






Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

red oaks lumber

so  the smaller trees still in the woods are they sons of beech? or can't you see their family tree?
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Magicman

Some are a Son of a Beech, some are a Son of a Birch, but this one was as hard as a Son of a......Gun..... :-X   ;D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Frickman

I run a circle mill and I like sawing beech. It must saw different on a band mill.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

nas

I have sawn quite a bit of beech lately and found it is hard, but cuts nicely.  Here is one I cut for benches on a rooftop garden.  My daughter is "lying on the beech ;)"




Nick
Better to sit in silence and have everyone think me a fool, than to open my mouth and remove all doubt - Napoleon.

Indecision is the key to flexibility.
2002 WM LT40HDG25
stihl 066
Husky 365
1 wife
6 Kids

Magicman

A beech bench... :)

That was the largest beech that I have ever sawed.  I was surprised at how much the wood grain resembled cherry.

It had been cut for a couple of weeks, and the lumber was dripping wet.  Heavy?....yes.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Chuck White

I haven't sawn any beech yet, but my brother has some on his property, so I may try to get a tree from him later this summer!
I know it is "VERY" hard once it has cured. 
Lots of the beams in the old homestead barn (gone now) were made of beech.  You couldn't drive a nail into it unless you predrilled!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

nas

Quote from: Magicman on January 23, 2010, 10:28:18 PM
A beech bench... :)

That was the largest beech that I have ever sawed.  I was surprised at how much the wood grain resembled cherry.

It had been cut for a couple of weeks, and the lumber was dripping wet.  Heavy?....yes.
Yes it is heavy.  The landscaper was going to lift those benches on to the roof with a hoist that could lift 500lb.  I told them they'd better think again as I figured they were between 700 and 1000lb each(10 varying diameters).  They said "no they are around 300lb".  Well I'm just the dumb wood guy and he is a landscape architect so what do I know ??? ::).  They paid to close the road and have the benches delivered only to find they couldn't lift them :D :D.  Had to have them delivered back to there yard, rent a crane and pay to close the road another day to lift them up. ::)  To think that they wanted beech as opposed to white oak because it was 30ยข/bf cheaper and they were on a tight budget. smiley_headscratch

Nick
Better to sit in silence and have everyone think me a fool, than to open my mouth and remove all doubt - Napoleon.

Indecision is the key to flexibility.
2002 WM LT40HDG25
stihl 066
Husky 365
1 wife
6 Kids

Magicman

He said that it was a pine job.  I got there and there was some SYP, plus Red oak, but mostly Spruce pine, AKA "Cedar", "Walter", "Bottom White", or "Turkey"  pine.

He wanted only dimension 2X4's, so he got a whack of 2X4's..... ;D  I finished sawing  what he had cut, but he's cutting more.  I'll just go back next week.


The first whack o logs, SYP, Red oak, & Spruce pine



A whack o 2X4's
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

ljmathias

Seems like a waste- making 2X4's out of all that beautiful wood.  Why not just buy those from a big lot store and use the homegrown wood for neat stuff?  Least wise, that's what I do.  Can't justify cutting a 2X4 when I can buy one kiln dried that I pick from the pile at less than $2 each... my time is worth a lot more than that, plus I get to make something I like out of the logs.

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

Magicman

When the customer wants 2X4's......you saw 2X4's...... ;D

In this instance, he had mostly Spruce pine logs.  There is no selling market for Spruce pine.  Yes, by the time he hired tailing labor and paid me, he could have bought new 2X4's.

Now here's his thinking.  He hired me and the tailer for a day giving two people a day's work.  He got the amount of 2X4's that he needed.  And, he got rid of those Spruce pine logs.  Everyone is happy..... :)

Don't you wish everyone thought like that.  BTW, I regularly saw for this customer. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Cedarman

Magicman, when you saw 2x4, are they store bought size or full 2" x 4"?
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Magicman

Dimension, same as store bought.  Actually 1 9/16 X 3 9/16.

In 8  years of sawing, I've only had one customer that requested full size 2X4's and 2X6's, etc.  Before he finished building that barn, he was wishing that he had used dimension.  Imagine the 4" nails that he had to use.  They were expensive and had to be hand driven.  And then if you run out of lumber, store bought won't fit.

I have a "cheat sheet" that gives me the starting points for slicing cants and sawing all dimensions of framing lumber.

When I go back to finish that job, I'll have to take a picture of the sliced cant and also 2X4's being sawed.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Don K

That's what I've got to do. Sit down and figure a cheat sheet for dimension lumber and multiple cants.

Don
Lucky to own a WM LT40HDD35, blessed to have a wife that encouraged me to buy it.     Now that\'s true love!
Massey Ferguson 1547 FWD with FEL  06 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4X4 Dozer Retriever Husky 359 20\" Bar  Man, life is getting good!

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

ARKANSAWYER


  We saw alot of pine 1 5/8 x4 or 6 wide.  The boards will shrink down to about 1 1/2 or they can size them with one pass through a plainer and they like the extra width.  They still get to use 16d nails and nail guns.  I just use the 6/4 hardwood scale when sawing for thickness.
  Also if you find people who restore old homes they like to buy full boards.  Most older homes used full sizes or 1 3/4  by 3 3/4 studs.  It is a good market and they do not mind paying for a good board that fits right in.
ARKANSAWYER

Magicman

Yup, that's one of the joys of custom sawing.  It allows you to give the customer what he wants.... 8)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Banjo picker

Those 2x4 's will give your cust. the joy of saying .....this was made from my trees...as the comericial says....priceless  8)  Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

sigidi

So let me get this straight, up there in the U S of A, you boys are asked by a customer to cut 4x2's and ya cut 1 9/16 X 3 9/16? ???

How does that work?

Here in Oz, I know we have to do things upside 'cause we 'down under' but if customer wants 4x2 I cut 4x2. I have to check with them if they want finished timber metric or imperial as there is quite a difference between 6" and 150mm...

Most often it isn't such an issue as all of it will be used together so as long as it is all regular that's cool. but if a client expects 150mm and gets 153mm it is big enough to pick up on a tape and I've had some people argue the point :( Although our grading rules allow plus or minus 3mm on rough sawn green timber, so if 150mm is asked for anything from 147 to 153 is considered ok, by the rules - not by me ;)
Always willing to help - Allan

John_Haylow

Just wondering what degree blades you used on the Beech?
John
2004 Wood-Mizer LT40HDG28

Tripp

I have been sawing all full dimension lumber. That seems to be what people in my area expect, and want, in rough sawn lumber.

Tripp

Magicman

Quote from: sigidi on January 31, 2010, 06:56:42 PM
So let me get this straight, up there in the U S of A, you boys are asked by a customer to cut 4x2's and ya cut 1 9/16 X 3 9/16? ???

Dimension 2X4's are 1 1/2" X 3 1/2"  When sawing partially dried pine, that 1/16 extra is about right for shrinkage.  Plus it works well with my "cheat sheet" that I have developed over the years.

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Magicman

Quote from: Tripp on January 31, 2010, 08:45:00 PM
I have been sawing all full dimension lumber. That seems to be what people in my area expect, and want, in rough sawn lumber.
Tripp 

As I said in a previous post, I've been sawing over 8 years and I've only sawed a full 2"X4" and 2"X6" on one job.  When the customer finished paying the carpenter to build that barn with 4" nails that wouldn't fit in an air nailer, he said that he would never do that again.  I've sawed for him a couple of times since then, and it's always been dimention lumber.

As Arky said,  I have sawed 1 9/16"X4" and 1 9/16"X 6" many times if the customer wanted additional strength and wanted to use his air nailer.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Magicman

Quote from: John_Haylow on January 31, 2010, 07:33:58 PM
Just wondering what degree blades you used on the Beech?  John 

I only have 10o blades so that is what I used.  That's one of the times that I wished that I had something different.  I'm sure that 4o or maybe even those new 7o blades would have been better.

Most of my sawing is SYP, Poplar, and sometimes Red Oak or Cherry, so I make it fine with those 10o blades.  I seldom get into seasoned White oak or Hickory.  I've sawed Beech before, but nothing like those that were almost completely hard heart.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

stonebroke

In upstate NY almost all rough cut is full size, maybe it has something to do with the snowload we have.

Stonebroke

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