You Don't Really Appreciate A Good Sawyer...

[Tree Feller]

until you try sawing for yourself.

Before I got my mill, I would haul logs to a local sawyer. I'd leave a trailer loaded with logs and when I went to pick it up, the lumber would be neatly stacked on the trailer. He was fast and only charged 0.23/bf for Pine and 0.32/bf for hardwoods with no minimum number of logs or even log size. He would saw a 6" log and never bat an eye although I never took him one that small. Other people did, though.

What was really impressive, at least now that I have run a mill a bit, is how consistent the lumber was that he sawed out. The thickness hardly varied at all (I know because I jointed and planed enough of it) and I don't remember ever seeing a wavy board. I stayed with a dull blade one log too long today and the lumber from it started looking about like a Ruffles potato chip.

I didn't always take that sawyer the best "logs", either but he never complained. I would always get more lumber than I expected.  That kind of service is easy to take for granted if you haven't tried it for yourself. Good sawing seems as though it would be easy...it's not.

I have much more respect for that sawyer's abilities now than I did when I was hauling him logs and picking up great lumber. Little did I know...

[LeeB]

Follow his example and you too will soon be the good sawyer grasshopper.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Good post Cody. Good thoughts! 

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Thank's Cody,

I enjoyed that on several levels...I wish him and you both well, and may your logs all saw true.

Regards,

jay

[drobertson]

This is how I have always sawn, and always will,  bring me your logs and I will saw them, period, and only expect the best useable lumber,    david

[hackberry jake]

Good thread! I took quite a few logs in before I got my mill. They always did excellent work. I took in a walnut log and first cut he hit metal (an old fence) with his circle saw. He kicked the log off and broke the news to me gently. He knew I was excited about that log. He never got mad or charged me for the metal strike. Truth be known, the biggest reason I got a mill was to save kerf losses on nice logs. I would've been better off financially to just keep taking logs to the big mill. I do enjoy milling though.

[Seaman]

Had a really good one close to here several years ago. Took him some pine once and he hit a big nail. He let me know about yard trees when I picked up my lumber that time. I offered to help pay for the damage, he paused and looked at me real hard, the told me I was the first person in 25 years to offer to pay for damages.
I was real careful what I took him after that!

[bandmiller2]

The skill of the sawyer is the profit margin in a mill.We had a sawyer like that local,you can tell alot by looking at the slab pile,his had nothing but bark. Frank C.

[francismilker]

Good thread and some good thoughts.  I too used to take logs to a mill several miles away and was always pleased with the outcome.  He was very efficient and never complained about logs. 

I hope to get that efficient but it's a work in progress.  Some of my outslabs look like they could be used for car ramps! :D

[WDH]

Yes, when you do it yourself, you quickly see the skill and experienced required to produce consistent quality lumber. 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Yes, when you do it yourself, you quickly see the skill and experienced required to produce consistent quality lumber.

Axe 3 : 16

[Happycamper]

Great thread,
  One of the reasons I bought a mill is, a while ago I had a Mizer mill fellow come into my yard to mill 20 16' pine logs. I ended up with as someone put it (Ruffles Chips). Too wavy for the most part to run through the planer. Perhaps too fast,too dull etc. and he worked by the hour so no need to rush. I do understand now how critical it is that everything is right with the mill and the operator to produce quality and I will strive to do this.
                                             Jim


 

[yellowrosefarm]

Yes, when you do it yourself, you quickly see the skill and experienced required to produce consistent quality lumber.

Amen brother! It looked so easy from an off bearers viewpoint. When I got my own mill a friend of mine stopped by the day after my first attempt at making boards. He looked at the pile and said "gosh, those look terrible".

[Nomad]

Yes, when you do it yourself, you quickly see the skill and experienced required to produce consistent quality lumber.

Amen brother! It looked so easy from an off bearers viewpoint. When I got my own mill a friend of mine stopped by the day after my first attempt at making boards. He looked at the pile and said "gosh, those look terrible".

     Now that would be a wake-up call! :D

[LeeB]

I bought my first mill because what I took to others came back as junk. My first efforts were'nt great, but better than I was paying to have sawn.

[Justin@Wv]

It is always easier standing back watching but when you finally take the reigns and your on your own, what you can accomplish is so rewarding its amazing!!! What a deep post, makes me want to strive even harder!

[YellowHammer]

My first experiences with bringing wood to local sawmills was similar to LeeB. I'd bring them a bunch of hard earned logs and come back with a bunch of wavy useless junk.  Three different sawyers, three bad experiences.  So I bought my own mill to provide wood for buildings on the farm, and have since gone into busness sawing and selling lumber.  I have tried my best to make sure people have a positive experience, whether they buy something or not.  One of the most memorable days I've ever had was when two different customers, on the same day, thanked me for being in business and providing a service they hadn't been able to find elsewhere. 

With all the great information I've learned on this Forum, a thanks from my customers is a thanks to all of you, too.  I'm definately not as good a sawyer as I'd like to be, but maybe when I hit my first million bdft like some of the members here, I'll start getting the hang of it.

YH

[scully]

Even if you have been around a mill for a long time and have had lumber milled ,I don't think you ever realy know all the things the guy sawing has to deal with untill that day you start floppin logs onto your own mill . In a short few months I have seen how profit is lost ,what it is like to mill a big log only to have it fall apart into shake {No $there!} Knowing how to plan each and every cut to get the most BF ,destroying a blade or 3 ,all of it ! It makes a man humble real qwick ! And working alone ! You learn what kind of drive it takes real fast because every second counts if your gonna ever make a dime ! God bless the saw man who knows his trade ! our unsung hero !

[Norm]

When I bought my mill I had never seen anything but a circle saw which scared the daylights out of me. I'd had it a year before I found the FF, I quickly learned how little I knew.

[customsawyer]

Thanks for posting this. I enjoy sawing because the logs, lumber, mill, or customers are still trying to teach me and I am still trying to learn.

[Tree Feller]

Thanks for posting this. I enjoy sawing because the logs, lumber, mill, or customers are still trying to teach me and I am still trying to learn.

Jake, I think the day we quit trying to learn, in whatever endeavor we choose, is the day someone should just pull a shroud over us because living will no longer hold much allure.

[SwampDonkey]

Yup, new sawyers have lots to learn. I bought lumber one time from a fellow who built his own mill and figured he was instant sawyer. His lumber was anything but consistent. When it was planed, it might be an inch on the ends and 3/4 in a couple dips in between. ;) I see the rest of the stack he had is still outside after 10 years with a nice black color on it and mill is parked in the willow brush and goldenrods. I know a local logger tried the milling gig, had a mill shed all made and ready, sawed a few weeks and sold the mill. It was a Peterson I think. Some fine gentleman in BC bought it he said.

[Magicman]

That was a nice testimonial Cody.  It also provides a quality goal for you and your sawing.