New sawmill...

[/pine]

Finally got the new mill...It's a Hudson Oscar 336 Pro....

 

[mark02tj]

NICE!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

That ought to keep you busy for a while!! lol

SR

 

[oosik]

I checked out that sawmill on their web site - that's a nice unit. /pine - I have a few questions.

do you mfg lumber for your own use, to sell or both

how do you cure the lumber

what % losses are normal when you make your own lumber(checking, splitting, cracking, etc)

Thanks for your time/answers........

 

[TnAndy]

Careful.....sawing is more addictive than a lot of pills.

 

[TnAndy]

how do you cure the lumber

what % losses are normal when you make your own lumber(checking, splitting, cracking, etc)

.

Knot (hehe) Pine, but I'll chime in a few answer until he gets back.....

I air dry all my lumber first, stacking on 1x2x50" sticks, and either put in a shed, or covered with roofing metal for about 6mo-year. If the use is regular construction lumber, use it right from there.

If the use is trim, flooring, cabinet or furniture, air drying will only get you to a bit under 20% here, which is fine for construction, but not low enough for furniture use. I move the air dry into my dry kiln in my shop, run by an old window AC unit, and take it on down to 6-8% MC.

As for cracking/split on the ends, saw your logs an extra 6" in length, and that will handle most of it. Some species, like yellow poplar, are worse than others to end check, but generally the loss isn't too bad. Good thing to do for valuable logs is end seal them with special products just for that, OR what I do is use any old paint I have left over or laying around, and slap a couple coats on the log prior to sawing. (Easier than painting individual boards AFTER sawing)

This log for example. Black paint on the end of it.....more to highlight how lap siding is made on a bandsaw than to stop checking, but gives you an example.

 

[oosik]

TnAndy - Thanks for the reply. You have quite a setup there. Nice pics give a good idea of what you are doing. I'm impressed.

 

[/pine]

I checked out that sawmill on their web site - that's a nice unit. /pine - I have a few questions.

do you mfg lumber for your own use, to sell or both

how do you cure the lumber

what % losses are normal when you make your own lumber(checking, splitting, cracking, etc)

Thanks for your time/answers........

I have several projects that I will be sawing lumber for...lots of white pine for siding and t&g paneling...my partner in this venture (has lots of experience with band mills) has a large stock of walnut logs to saw...and we plan on cutting/selling whatever timber frame material we can...

On a side note...one nice thing about having a mill is being able to saw any size lumber...my current project is a two floor addition to a small cabin I have...and I need floor joists that will span 14'...normally not a problem but head clearance is critical (between existing basement floor) and the upper floor system (needs to match existing cabin floor)...so instead of using dimensional lumber...I plan on cutting 3X white oak joists...to the ideal widths...

We plan on both air drying a lot of it but we also use a building and electric dehumidifiers, fans and or a wood stove for drying material that will be planed/surfaced for interior paneling, cabinets etc...

It's been a very dry late summer/fall here and some of the logs we have stock piled have been splitting so we are waiting to see...

 

[2LaneCruzer]

There's a small sawmill about 30 miles from me where I have purchased lumber in the past; he uses solar kilns to dry his wood. That was news to me; I wasn't aware that wood could be dried in that fashion...but it seems to work!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Solar kilns have been in use for many many years, they work just fine, just a little slower in getting the moisture down...

SR

 

[oosik]

The reason I find this so interesting - I know of very little like this in all of Ea WA. Everything comes from elsewhere and is sold at local lumber yards or big box stores. The ability to mill lumber to your own needs is unique. Not even the most exotic custom built homes in our area can say any of the lumber came from this area. Let alone, say, that the walnut siding, in the rec room, came from local mills.

 

[/pine]

This is going to be a fun and interesting venture...I would not have tried this on my own (old dog, new tricks)...luckily my partner has been doing it a long time, his dad and older brother have both owned similar mills....we also have an array of commercial grade planers, shapers etc...

Other than the equipment for moving, handling logs etc...and you have a mill...the biggest commodity is space (even better if it's close to level)...here in the mountains we are really working in tight quarters and level areas get filled up fast...

I'm going to be moving the mill as soon as I can get some pads poured and I move the (firewood) splitting operation to a nearby out of the way location...

A few things on the wish list are some hydraulic log manipulators...and a fast and furious debarking technique...

One thing I have taken note of since we ordered the mill is...it changes the way I look at trees...!

And finally...I'm looking forward to seeing how tough black locust is to saw...it is abundant here and in most cases will long outlast pressure treated pine etc. for typical applications...

 

[oosik]

Ha, ha - "...it changes the way I look at trees...!" You mean it turns the mighty oak into a quaken aspen.

 

[TnAndy]

Solar kilns have been in use for many many years, they work just fine, just a little slower in getting the moisture down...

SR

Solar is slower, but you get a better lumber most of the time.

Problem with conventional high temp kilns is they want to get the MC (moisture content) down fast.....time being money to the big guys....and you get drying defects like case hardening. Ever rip a 2x4 and watch it bind on the saw blade as the kerf squeezes shut ? That is case hardened lumber....the cell structure in the wood collapsed because it was dried too fast. You'll find this in a LOT of the big box store lumber.

Solar dries at lower temps, and allows the lumber to 'relax' at night with lower temps. Slower as SR said....but better for the lumber quality. I have in mind to build one as one of my 'round-to-it' projects.

 

[SirReal63]

Very jealous, if I had a timber base here I would be sawing my own. I managed a sawmill/treating plant for several years and been in the forest products business all of my career. At our sawmill in East Texas we used steam driven kilns to get the benefit of slow drying wood without the wait. If it had been economically viable to air dry we would have, quality was of more importance than quantity for our wood, but cash flow demanded turning product so the steam kilns were only offline for maintenance.

I am envious of you, it is a dream of mine that will never be fulfilled.

 

[Stimw]

If you haven't found it yet you need to check out- www.forestryforum.com
Any/every question you might have will be ask and answered there!
There are some SERIOUS Sawyers there and a bunch of amateurs too. A really good group of people.
I bought a HF Mill about 4 years ago and have had a lot of fun with it.
I haven't had time for it because I was moving and working on my new property for the last year.