A Day at The Mill with Customsawyer

customsawyer · October 30, 2014, 08:48:30 PM

Well I am now going to tell the rest of the story. The first break down was the z-fuses for the hyd. it wasn't the fuses fault. I had a screw work lose that holds the brass block for the contact strip come loose. When this screw hit the contact strip it bent and broke the entire bracket that the brass block is mounted to. Julio and I dove into the middle of it with a large crescent wrench and a big hammer. We got everything straitened out and welded back together with new fuzes renstalled. Started sawing and a little while later loaded the largest log of the day. Needless to say we blew the fuze again. Dive off in there with a couple more fuzes. Julio, now having experience starts taking things apart while I am grabbing tools and spare parts. I hear Julio say "whoops", I reply what does "whoops mean"? He said something about a bolt twisting off. I stepped back a bit and am thinking that I will still be milling this job on Monday. Julio comes up out of the saw dust with a bracket that needs a new bolt and a battery cable that needs replaced. In the process of closing up the truck to head to the auto parts store the customers son says, "I think dad has some of those in the shop." We go in the shop and low and behold the exact battery cable we need is hanging on the wall. It is even the right color. After a little digging we didn't find the perfect bolt but found one that would work. As long as Julio is doing the install. 20 Min. later Julio has me up and running again. When we got the mill home the next day we were sitting it up and blew the fuze again. The cause of all of this is due to the brass block being worn out and needing replaced. (Don't put off replacing that part anymore). ;)
I have since replaced the fuze block with the same one that Magicman posted he had done. ( Thanks @Magicman). So as you all can now see there is no way I would have gotten this job done with out Julio or the extra mile that the customer went. Jeff I need one of those smiles that put their hands together and bows.

Magicman · October 30, 2014, 09:14:59 PM

Good show Jake. A bad/loose connection is a sure fuse blower. Also it seems that the need to finish a job will also blow fuses. ;D

Those new fuses are listed as "slo-blow" so I imagine that they will be more forgiving. I found a good price for them with free shipping on ebay.

Dave Shepard · October 30, 2014, 09:18:51 PM

Just don't use the Safety No-Blow brand of fuses! That's what an electrician friend of mine calls a 1/2" piece of copper pipe stuffed in in place of the fuse. :D I think my connections are good on my Z fuses, but I like that upgrade. I'll have to do that at some point.

Red Clay Hound · October 30, 2014, 09:20:21 PM

I wish I had a helper like Julio!

POSTON WIDEHEAD · October 30, 2014, 10:04:39 PM

Quote from: Red Clay Hound on October 30, 2014, 09:20:21 PM
I wish I had a helper like Julio!

I wish I had an LT70 that blew fuses. :D

fat olde elf · October 31, 2014, 01:47:48 AM

The legend continues............

Sixacresand · October 31, 2014, 08:29:37 AM

Once when I visited Jake while he was milling, he quickly offered me a pair of gloves. I am sure Julio brought his own. :D Good job, Guys.

backwoods sawyer · October 31, 2014, 11:38:09 AM

Quote from: Sixacresand on October 31, 2014, 08:29:37 AM
Once when I visited Jake while he was milling, he quickly offered me a pair of gloves. I am sure Julio brought his own. :D Good job, Guys.

Got to be carefull when using Jakes gloves ;)
They are lible to work you into the ground ;D

customsawyer · November 02, 2014, 07:05:49 AM

Here are a few more pics the customer sent me.

These are the young men that the customer hired to help stack lumber.

This is the customers wife and his son's dog, Red.

The logs getting ready.

This is the customer and the tree length logs. Or the before shot.

This is some of the lumber. The after shot.

LeeB · November 02, 2014, 07:12:00 AM

Nice sticks make nice stacks.

slider · November 02, 2014, 07:28:23 AM

Jake won't admit but I think he learned that backwards sawing from his uncle Al.

WDH · November 02, 2014, 07:52:00 AM

Whew! I am glad that I went fishing :D.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 02, 2014, 07:53:28 AM

Quote from: WDH on November 02, 2014, 07:52:00 AM
Whew! I am glad that I went fishing :D.

:D

julio · November 02, 2014, 08:09:10 AM

Danny I sure wish you had been there I sure could have used some relief. It was a great day though.

mockman · November 03, 2014, 09:17:35 PM

Well, I'm the customer Jake is talking about, and I gotta tell you that that I'm probably the happiest customer in South Georgia right about now! I've been looking at those big pine trees for 20 years dreaming of having them sawn into big boards, and I'm fortunate that I found Jake to help fulfill my dreams. I had no clue as to the amount of work that went into my stacks of wood, Jake and Julio worked us like slaves, but we all had a blast!
Ain't nothing any prettier than a giant pile of boards cut from your own trees!

Peter Drouin · November 03, 2014, 09:24:41 PM

Quote from: mockman on November 03, 2014, 09:17:35 PM
Well, I'm the customer Jake is talking about, and I gotta tell you that that I'm probably the happiest customer in South Georgia right about now! I've been looking at those big pine trees for 20 years dreaming of having them sawn into big boards, and I'm fortunate that I found Jake to help fulfill my dreams. I had no clue as to the amount of work that went into my stacks of wood, Jake and Julio worked us like slaves, but we all had a blast!
Ain't nothing any prettier than a giant pile of boards cut from your own trees!