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A question for swing blade sawyers

Started by Bothy_Loon, November 02, 2011, 02:44:42 PM

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Bothy_Loon

Yesterday I had an enquiry for a mast for a boat.
I have done this job before, but now do not have the large horizontal mill that I used to square off the bottom of the tree.
The tree in question will be 69ft long Douglas fir & needs to be roughly 30+ inches through the butt.
Bottom 10feet has to be milled into a 20inch square leaving the rest of the trunk to be rounded down to make the mast.
Would a swing blade saw, ie Lucas mill be able to do that job?
I have the tackle to move the log & turn it.

Ianab

Just clarify, you are able to cut the whole whole log into a 20 x 20 square, then the top part gets rounded off to form the mast?

If that's the case, a Peterson WPF with a heap of extra track would do it. The track sits on the ground and can be extended as long as needed. Moving and turning the log is an issue, but nothing a couple of forklifts can't solve.



Not sure how you would do it on a Lucas or WPF style mill? I guess you might be able to put the log on a carriage / rails and push it past the  stationary saw blade? Swing the blade and push it back the other way... Boat winch maybe?

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

logboy

You would have to do some messing around flipping the log over to mill each face, but yes, it can be done.  I say messing around, but in reality you just saw it like a bandsaw does. Take boards across each face until its flat then flip it (the opposite way we normally saw). The tricky part is figuring out how to take boards off starting in the middle of the log.  To do that orient the log so the long end to be turned is sticking back toward the sawyer.  Remove the splitter guard so the blade can be plunged straight into log horizontally. Start cutting at the start point (10 foot in) through the end of the log, then pivot the blade and make the vertical cut back to the 10 foot mark.  Obviously you would need to make cut in the wood with a saw to separate the lumber from the log at the the 10 foot mark. Do one side then flip it. Rinse and repeat.  You need a sawyer who knows their Lucas, is patient, and is comfortable with a tape measure because its a different way of sawing and requires some finicky setups.  I've made oversized beams this way.  Your other option is to find a Lucas Slabber and just make one cut on each side to the 10' mark.  Then there is no blade pivoting.  Care still needs to be taken to make sure each face is square.
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

logboy

I should mention that you can do it Ian's method as well, it would just take a lot more track to do it. With my method a standard swing-blade mill can do it with no extra equipment.
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

Bothy_Loon

Sorry, I did not explain myself too well!
It is only the first 10ft or so that gets milled to 20inch square The rest of the tree will still have bark on before it goes to be rounded down. That is why I was thinking swing blade as it does not need a long track to mill the 10ft bit.
The last time I did this on the bandmill it was tricky getting the 20inch square to line up with what would be the exact center of the mast at 69feet up! The tree did have a very slight bend on it.  ;D

Ianab

Ahhh...

Chainsaw slabber would be my choice then.

A bit of work lining things up, a builders laser level might be the trick there?

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Bothy_Loon

Quote from: Ianab on November 02, 2011, 04:15:45 PM
Ahhh...

Chainsaw slabber would be my choice then.

A bit of work lining things up, a builders laser level might be the trick there?

Ian

That was also in my thoughts. Might be easier to find one around here too. ;D

sgschwend

I would put it on my mill frame with a fixed support at the far end.  My frame is 42' long and the Brand X sawhead cuts referenced to the frame bed.  Use my forklift to pick up the log and rotate it and then reset it.
Steve Gschwend

sjgschwend@gmail.com

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