Which species of wood gives your particular mill the fastest feed rate?

Started by Percy, February 20, 2017, 12:54:29 AM

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Percy

 I guess the parameters would be a straight cut before overpowering the blade, or bogging the engine while still maintaining a straight cut.

For me, it is nice fresh fallen birch. It cuts so nice and fast. Next is cottonwood followed closely by Hemlock, all green of course. The worst Ive cut is Sitka Spruce. I can cut it straight but feed rate is slow if you dont want the wave.

What wood gives the manual mills a good feed rate? How about the circle mills?? They seem to cut everything nice cept for the rocks.... ;D







GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

longtime lurker

White Cheeswood Alstonia scolaris.

Grows a big log, 5 foot across the butt and 2x40' billets don't raise an eyebrow. Not good for much structurally though it used to be in demand for pattern making in foundries because it carves so well. We cut it for (treated) fascia, and the axemen love it for a fast clean cutting woodchop blocks, it makes a nice fishing lure.

Whole tree is sapwood. Pith... 4" of heartwood... and the rest of the log is all sap. Even when it's 5' across. Cuts like... cheese. :D
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

WV Sawmiller

   ERC. Of course part of that is because the ones I get are pretty small. Buckeye followed by Tulip poplar probably next.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

scully

Using a turbo 7 I can blaze through cherry prity fast . And that is maintaining lumber quality . Soft woods always let you know if you are to fast or too dull .
I bleed orange  .

Magicman

I do not know that I realize any measurable difference between such species as SYP, ERC, Tulip Poplar.  Yes, size matters and knots matter,
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

woodyone.john

Cryptomaria japonica [japanese cedar], early on I installed the blade with the teeth backwards it cut slow but straight for a couple of metres till I stopped and had a look.Right way on its a flyer
Saw millers are just carpenters with bigger bits of wood

redprospector

I'm like Magicman. Size and knots matter, but the difference between Ponderosa, White Fir, and Douglas Fir (green) is very little. Aspen is like butter though, I just don't get much of it.
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

Percy

Quote from: Kbeitz on February 20, 2017, 02:14:45 AM
I would think that balsa wood would win this question.
I never cut Balsa. It grows around there?? any pics?
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Percy

Of course size and knots would matter as said, but some species are a joy to cut and others, not so much. I wanna hear about the fun stuff, like Kbeitz' balsa wood.
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Brucer

Western Larch (green). It cuts smooth and easy -- until you hit a pitch pocket >:( >:(.

Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

JustinW_NZ

Local kahikatea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacrycarpus_dacrydioides

have had the speed knob on the '40 super wound right over and cant go faster on this stuff - big wood too..
also agree that japanese cedar is soft as anything :)

Cheers
Justin
Gear I run;
Woodmizer LT40 Super, Treefarmer C4D, 10ton wheel loader.

Solomon

Logs from the all famous invisable tree are the undisputed champion for fast sawing.
They are very light weight, no struggling with a Kant Hook, all you have to do is think it on to bunks, and there's no clamping  or turning involved whatsoever.
Don't even start the motor, it saws itself and then it off bears , stickers and stacks itself as well and no flitches to edge either.
And it all goes like clock work in a dispensation of time the is so short that it cannot even be measured,  something like a sextilionth of a nanosecond.
Easiest species I've ever milled.
Be advised though,  There's no money in it,  I just have not been able to convince anyone of the intrinsic value in it.
I don't know ........   I guess if you can actually see something, it kind'a helps the credability along.
  So let this be a lesson to you, and remember what you Mother said a million times    "I can't keep anything nice in this house" !!    And ,  "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it"!!!
Ya'll have fun sawing up that knarley pecan with the fire hydrant growing in the middle of it.   smiley_swinging_board     :)
Time and Money,  If you have the one, you rarely have the other.

The Path to Salvation is narrow, and the path to damnnation is wide.

Kbeitz

Quote from: Percy on February 20, 2017, 11:23:49 PM
Quote from: Kbeitz on February 20, 2017, 02:14:45 AM
I would think that balsa wood would win this question.
I never cut Balsa. It grows around there?? any pics?
I never cut it on my mill. Only with a pocket knife.
I bet you could cut it on a mill with the blade on backwards.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

ncsawyer

Cypress, Atlantic White Cedar (everybody around here calls it juniper) and poplar are on the top of my list.

When you are cutting hickory and pecan, almost ANYTHING else seems like a welcome break!  I was cutting a bunch of hardwood yesterday, and after cutting some white oak and a hickory, I was excited to get a red oak on the mill!  Even a 30 inch red oak cuts like a dream compared to hickory and some of the white oak I was in. 
2015 Wood-Mizer LT40DD35
Woodmaster 718 planer
Ford 445 Skip Loader

Percy

Quote from: Solomon on February 21, 2017, 05:26:35 AM
Logs from the all famous invisable tree are the undisputed champion for fast sawing.
They are very light weight, no struggling with a Kant Hook, all you have to do is think it on to bunks, and there's no clamping  or turning involved whatsoever.
Don't even start the motor, it saws itself and then it off bears , stickers and stacks itself as well and no flitches to edge either.
And it all goes like clock work in a dispensation of time the is so short that it cannot even be measured,  something like a sextilionth of a nanosecond.
Easiest species I've ever milled.
Be advised though,  There's no money in it,  I just have not been able to convince anyone of the intrinsic value in it.
I don't know ........   I guess if you can actually see something, it kind'a helps the credability along.
  So let this be a lesson to you, and remember what you Mother said a million times    "I can't keep anything nice in this house" !!    And ,  "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it"!!!
Ya'll have fun sawing up that knarley pecan with the fire hydrant growing in the middle of it.   smiley_swinging_board     :)
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Larry

And the winner is without doubt.......BASSWOOD

Maybe 15 years ago I was PM'ing a member who sawed a lot of basswood.  He said he had tried grinding bands to a 15 degree hook angle.  I did the same and you talk about fast.  I had to run to keep up with the carriage.  The bands didn't stay sharp very long and I backed off to 12 degrees.  Only had to trot to keep up :D

Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

YellowHammer

Another vote for basswood.  It cuts a lot like styrofoam, maybe easier.....
I believe I actually hear my mill laugh with pleasure when I start loading the basswood logs on the deck and I once cut a board so fast I didn't even have time to engage the blade...:D




YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

killamplanes

Basswood pretty nice cutting, sycamore and soft maple nice to. Hickory , w/o, and Osage are on the other end of spectrum. Those of us with under powered mills (me) are effected the most...
jd440 skidder, western star w/grapple,tk B-20 hyd, electric, stihl660,and 2X661. and other support Equipment, pallet manufacturing line

Solomon

I occaisionaly get guys that carve stuff  (mainly duck decoys)   asking for bass wood.
I've never run accross any of it here in Hampton Roads.
I'm about 15 min from Down Town Norfolk Va
Time and Money,  If you have the one, you rarely have the other.

The Path to Salvation is narrow, and the path to damnnation is wide.

moodnacreek