Big posts little sawblade

[sigidi]

Got some huge posts to show you guys...

Most of you would be familiar with how a Lucas (or Peterson) cuts right?

Well my model was a 6-18, so capable of double cutting up to 12x6" (300x150mm)

I cut these 14x14 (350x350mm) posts using it...



Each post weighed around 380kg (836lb) and I cut them on my own no hydraulics, no extra workers

Want me to tell you how?

[Tom]

I'm always up for a good story, Sigidi.

What did you do, hire  a bandmill?  :D :D

[stonebroke]

 No clue. What are you going to hold up with those?

Stonebroke

[rbarshaw]

I'll bet you just cut away everything that was'nt a 14x14 post.

[ErikC]

  I have done this with my Peterson, but i don't want to spoil your fun. I will say no bandmill was needed in this operation. So tell us the rest when you're ready Sigidi ;D ;D 
By the way that's pretty wood, what kind was it??

[Ianab]

I'll bet you just cut away everything that was'nt a 14x14 post.

Yup, same way you make a dugout canoe. Cut off anything thats not a canoe.

Same way as I cut a 36x4  ;)

Just because you dont normally roll a log over while sawing it, it doesn't mean you cant.

Ian

[sigidi]

I'm always up for a good story, Sigidi.

What did you do, hire  a bandmill?  :D :D

Tom, the longer I am back the more I remember how much I like your humour ;D you got a watch yet Tom? I remember a long, long time ago reading how you didn't give customers a time when you'd be there, you'd just tell 'em you'll be there in the morning...

I gotta make sure, if I come to the states, to look you up...

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Allan Nice work Mate  ;D 8) 8) Who says us blokes with swingers are limited in section size  ??? you just have to work outside the square  ;) :D :D ;D ;D 8) 8)  Tom Band mills dont like our Cat 1  hardwoods very much Mate  ;) :D :D  it took me awhile and a fair amount of trial and eror to get mine to saw well in it   : ??? Erik it looks like Ironbark to me Mate  ;)

Ive done it afew times myself I notice your using wedges did you also use a large framing square  ??? i was lucky as where i use to do it was on hard stand so id just make sure there was no loose stuff under the beras and level them bigest section size was 2'x2' and 6' long for a letter box  ;)  and longest was about 10 meters 33' in 12x12s on the old 6" lucas i started on using two setts of tracks  ;)


Regards Chris

[sigidi]

So most of you have the gist of it - except Tom, he's got no DanG idea!!! we don't have bandmillers over here...

First thing I did was level the mill. I did this post on the second day and took out a level and framing square. The day before I battled away on the first post, but changed my tack on the second day. ( I know someone is gunna say something like "it took you a day to cut one post?!" but it wasn't the cutting which took the time it was the setting and making sure I didn't bugger up the log)So I took the level to the bottom rail of the end frames, blocked them up to be level, then I took the level to my bolsters and made them level.

Then I marked out what I wanted from the log. I worked it out by going 7" up from the heart of the log at each end, then adjusted the rails to run in line with it.



using the 'top' face of the post as a reference I then worked the rails back 'up' the log in 2" steps until I came to the top of the log. I cut off 8/4x6 (thanks to Tom for explaining the US way of saying lumber measurements) from the top until I got my 14" (350mm) face clear of sapwood.



So this will be one face of the finished post. Next I added two 'stops' to my log supports, so I had a reference of where to stop the log when I tried to roll it 90 deg



then I rolled the log to sit against my 'stops', slid a bit of waste under the side to keep it against my stops and again started at the point 7" from the heart, measured up in 2" layers until I got to the top, then came back down slicing more 8/4x6 until I got the 14" (350mm) face clear of sapwood



Now with a 90 deg corner ( I checked it with my framing square just to make sure and it was pretty close) I just rolled the log over onto the first face I cut, measured up the full 14" (350mm) from that face, raised the rails in 2" layers again and chewed my way back down cutting off 8/4x6 until I had the 14" face.



the last thing to do was roll it over again onto the second face I cut



and repeat it until I had my 14" face again - thus giving the square post.




The customer wanted 2 posts 450x450 (18") to begin with, our local mills could/would only do 300mm(12") posts and I thought I could squeeze out 400x400 (16") but to keep it clear of sapwood I had to go down to 350mm square. I started with two logs which where 600mm (24") diameter with a fairly centered heart so the DanG things ended up straight.

After all my buggering around I ended up being 5mm out of square, I was pretty bummed by being out 'so much' until it was pointed out to me by my lovely Wifey that was only a 1.43% error.

[thecfarm]

Watch out for that sly Tom guy.He's knows more than he lets on.  ;D

[sigidi]

  I have done this with my Peterson, but i don't want to spoil your fun. I will say no bandmill was needed in this operation. So tell us the rest when you're ready Sigidi ;D ;D 
By the way that's pretty wood, what kind was it??

Erick, it's Aussie bluegum (Euc. Tereticornis) or just to confuse everyone (including Aussies) forest red gum. Our Eucs tend to have many different 'common' names, most often dependent upon which part of the country you live in. Forest red gum is a common name used in the southern states of Aus and bluegum is commonly used in the northern states:( but there is also a few species which are referred to as 'bluegum' to make it even more confusing

We where given a whack of logs https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,41851.0.html all ended up being bluegum, so for a little while I had some logs to play with ;D

[jdtuttle]

After all my buggering around I ended up being 5mm out of square, I was pretty bummed by being out 'so much' until it was pointed out to me by my lovely Wifey that was only a 1.43% error.

I've always said women are smarter. They just don't always let on :D
Nice job,
jim

[Meadows Miller]

And ill add about our hardwoods some of em look the same if you not standing next to em as you would have noticed form My last post Erik  : ;) :D :D Allan I knew id buggerd up as soon as i saw your first pic with the bit off bark on in your  second last post I should have waited Mate    ;) :D  :D :D ;D

Dont worry Tom there are afew overhere but most of them are in pine and softwoods Mate  ;)

Regards Chris

[pineywoods]

Looks to me like if you gonna be doing that kind of sawing, you will need some good sturdy level bolsters with built in 90 deg backstops and a log turner.  Sorta like a bandmill  :. If I had a swingmill, I'd do just that..

[ErikC]

 The Brand X guys probably have it easier on this one. One way to make this easier is, throw a couple of bearers down, blocked up high enough you can saw into them, get them good and stable, then just saw the top off, they will match each other and the mill perfectly. I used lag bolts to fasten a 2x4 for backstop, it only takes a couple minutes to take on and off and won't move on you. If it is shorter than the dimension of post you're after it never gets in the way during the process, once on and once off.
Sigidi, turning that was probably no fun, was it? Looks heavy.

[sigidi]

Jdtuttle, are ya saying I shouldn't have let on? ;) Wifey tells me all the time 'no-one will notice if you don't point it out!' but I have a habit of building stuff and pointing out to people where I 'buggered' up. I'd much rather point it out first than them see it and say something about it...

Chris, I'm with you about the look of clean timber without any other indicators of species - we get that kind of red out of so many different species, it'd be hard to tell without getting much closer pic of the grain - like you said the bark is a giveaway most often. I've picked up some smells associated with certain species I cut often enough and I've even gone so far as tasting the timber to help ID it

Pineywoods, these where the first ones I had to do in almost 6 years of making sawdust with my Lucas. I agree a stable, level, true bench like a bandmill would be great to use for this application, but for many other applications it would add much more time and trouble to things as compared to the Lucas.

Eric, turning them??? you have no idea!!! I generally work on my own, slice the board off, tail myself, remove the bottom flitch on my own, roll the next log in by myself, set the mill up and pack up everything myself too. I don't have any skid steer loader, no crane truck or any hydraulics to help move these logs. Each log was 2.8m long (customer wanted 2.7m about 9' posts, so I tried docking the log as close to square as I could, so they could stand the posts easier too) each post ended up being around 380kg (836lb) and the logs started around 909kg (almost 2,000lb) so moving them around as a log was okay as you don't have to be too gentle you can just get it moving, but turning them 90 deg and doing it with precision - then holding them in situ on your own that is the part where the old brain has to do some thinking.

Admittedly I now have a 'jig' in mind to do this a lot easier and quicker in the future... although with my new https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,41819.0.html mill I can do much bigger posts than before without needing my 'jig' 8) ;D

[jdtuttle]

Jdtuttle, are ya saying I shouldn't have let on?

Not at all, you should always tell the customer the truth. I'm just saying you've got a good lady there. Cups half full not half empty ;) and who else but a smart person would come up with

until it was pointed out to me by my lovely Wifey that was only a 1.43% error.

jim

[Tom]

Good Show, sigidi!   

I've seen that done with smaller logs at the shows and thought, "what a pain in the bohunkus".

But you use what you got and it's admirable that you guys figure out a way to get it done.  Those swing mills are handy devices.  I always thought I would like to have one as a second mill for the big pines around here.

Turning and leveling logs and cants is an everyday occurrence on a bandmill and I'll have to admit that I would get a little jealous when I saw y'all just cut a log from top to bottom.  When the log is sitting on a bed that is already level with the blade, squaring is a lot easier.  We tend to grow ourselves bigger than you swing millers.  I figure it's to help with all the log turning.  :D :D

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Allan I reckon the next Thing on the List after the new 10" inch Lucas  ;) ;D 8) will be a loader or a tray truck with a crane for yourself Mate crane trucks are a good option as they are alittle more portable  ;) ;D 8) 8) are good dad and i are looking for an old one to mount on the rear of the Acco so we dont have to float the chamberlain around to jobs and log pickups which will save two trips on most jobs  and leave the loader in the yard  ;)  ;D 8)

Im Also with your wife 5 mm (1/5of an inch ) aint nothing to sweat over on somthing that big  ;) ;D 8) and you never know what the timbers going to do anyway  ;)

Erik Ive always thought if i had a fair amount to do id weld up a heavy steel frame with skidds that id mount the mill on aswell (even a container flat ) but for prolonged runs like that the best way would be to go on a concrete slab with a shed i reckon  ;) ;D 8)

Regards Chris