More WO MIlling

[John TenEyck]

The second WO log was about 25" dia. and just over 8' long, so this one I milled full length. Cutting those two 6/4 cuts out of the center as I did with the first log made the width of the boards cut from the remaining sections around 6" or even less, so this time I took a different approach. I started by taking a slab of the top, turning (with brute strength and awkwardness) the log 90 deg, taking another slab off the top, and then a cut through the center.

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If I took the top half off the mill like I did with the 5' long logs I would have had a lot of trouble getting it back up on the mill, so I put two ratchet straps around it and turned it 90 deg again.

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So then I started taking 4/4 and 6/4 cuts. I stopped for the night like this.

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As I got closer to the center I got some really nice QS boards.

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And here's most of the boards before I cut the remaining bark edges off.

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After cutting the bark off those that needed it most boards were 8 - 11" wide.

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I got some really nice wood out of this log, mostly rift and quarter sawn, which I much prefer with white oak. I'm thinking of some nice A&C style projects a couple years down the road. I'll have plenty of wood.

John

[Scott T Smith]

John, it looks like you had a nice recovery from that log.

[John TenEyck]

I think I got around 160 BF Scott, which isn't bad compared to the Doyle scale considering I'm losing more to the kerf with a chainsaw. There were a few knots in some boards but a lot of it was really nice clear wood.

The last log was another 10+ footer so I cut it in half and have one of them on the mill now. Tomorrow's going to be another fun day. My sawdust pile is getting pretty large.

John

[Danny Hamsley]

That white oak has to be tough on a chainsaw mill.

[John TenEyck]

I don't notice it being much worse than red oak actually. The hardest stuff I've milled is pignut hickory. Oh boy, 4 chains to cut a single log once. I'll never mill any more of that stuff. It was ugly, too. I would say I can mill about 150 sq. ft in red/white oak before having to change chains. With that hickory, it was less than 50 sq. ft. In any case, you learn how to sharpen chains if you want to use a chainsaw mill. My 42" bar takes a chain with 135 drive links and it takes about 10 - 15 minutes to sharpen. Plenty acceptable for a hobbiest. And as long as you don't hit metal a chain lasts a long, long time, easily 25 sharpenings. One of my chains costs around $40 which means my cost for chains is about $0.01/sq. ft. Gas costs more at around $0.02/sq. ft, and bar oil around the same. All in, my cost for milling including maintenance and repair costs is probably around $0.10 sq ft. Drying costs run about $0.10/sq ft also. My logs are free, so I'm getting custom cut wood for about $0.20/sq ft. Of course, it ain't all good but even if I cull out 25% it's still darned cheap, and the culls go in the wood stove. And I tell myself that it keeps me in shape, but tonight I'm feeling pretty beaten down after wresting lumber all day.

John

[Danny Hamsley]

Producing your own lumber is a very satisfying thing. To take a tree and make a nice project from the lumber that you sawed and dried is special to me. You are doing a fine job.

[Cody Colston]

That's some fine looking lumber, John. You've been busy!