Today's milling

[openspaceman]

On 12/04/2022 at 20:46, openspaceman said:

Ring shake in old chestnut not at all unusual, often  associated with spiral grain to make the boards somewhat suspect.

 

Sometimes the ring shake is conical and will sound out in a metre or so, we would try and sound it out and cut a disc out of the sounded end then break it  and look for greying in the split grain which indicated the shake was still present.

Still on the subject of shake in sweet chestnut here is a picture, it's just a bit of branch wood that I am splitting for firewood.

 

You can see the grey patches mottling the sound wood where the shake is a bit random and not showing much in the end grain.

 

This is of course a separation within the wood; when you are felling  you often become aware of it as a tannin rich liquid seeps out of the cut from where it has filled the shake in the standing tree.

 

 

Incidentally I used to sell  sweet chestnut for export to Portugal in the early 80s, their buyers were blissfully unaware of ring shake as it seems it does not occur in their trees but also they were milling thin random width boards for draw bottoms as well as table tops (and castanets 🙂) so they may have worked around it..

[Squaredy]

On 16/04/2022 at 23:30, Macpherson said:

I had in the past thought of using engineering lathe type coolant or white water as an alternative on my mates Norwood for the same reason, but never got round to it and he didn't take the idea onboard as him being the ' rough and ready ' type and not that bothered about a poor finish  of cut, cheers.

I started using windscreen washer fluid years ago after seeing it used by a mobile miller I knew.  I then wondered about the health effects of breathing in a fine mist of it over the years, so I looked into it.  What I read about it put me off that one, and would be the same for diesel, paraffin etc.  We just use plain water these days.

 

I will say my new mill cuts far more accurately than my old mill, and this is down to blade tensioning and robustness of the build.  My Norwood was always a challenge to get the blade sitting just right, whereas my Woodmizer is just so much better quality in every respect; it wants to cut straight.  Even when the blade is past its best it tends not to wander.  I will say an awful lot is also to do with how well the blades are sharpened.  We do our own now, but used to get very mixed results from some of the Saw Doctors we used.  Stephen Cull was the only reliable one.

[Macpherson]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

I started using windscreen washer fluid years ago after seeing it used by a mobile miller I knew.  I then wondered about the health effects of breathing in a fine mist of it over the years, so I looked into it.  What I read about it put me off that one, and would be the same for diesel, paraffin etc.  We just use plain water these days.

 

I will say my new mill cuts far more accurately than my old mill, and this is down to blade tensioning and robustness of the build.  My Norwood was always a challenge to get the blade sitting just right, whereas my Woodmizer is just so much better quality in every respect; it wants to cut straight.  Even when the blade is past its best it tends not to wander.  I will say an awful lot is also to do with how well the blades are sharpened.  We do our own now, but used to get very mixed results from some of the Saw Doctors we used.  Stephen Cull was the only reliable one.

 

Aye, my mates Norwood was old when he got it and that was about 25 years ago and it's cut a lot of wood since then.

Out of interest which Wood Mizer do you have, I've been looking at mills for ages trying to weigh up the pro's and con's of all the different makes?  Cheers.

 

 

 

 

[Squaredy]

2 hours ago, Macpherson said:

 

Aye, my mates Norwood was old when he got it and that was about 25 years ago and it's cut a lot of wood since then.

Out of interest which Wood Mizer do you have, I've been looking at mills for ages trying to weigh up the pro's and con's of all the different makes?  Cheers.

 

 

 

 

Woodmizer LT15 classic wide.  Only been in use since about January, but so far I like it very much.  Manual loading and log turning, but we have a forklift so that is no problem.

[Macpherson]

6 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Woodmizer LT15 classic wide.  Only been in use since about January, but so far I like it very much.  Manual loading and log turning, but we have a forklift so that is no problem.

Thanks, that's one of the mills I have as a contender👍

[AJStrees]

Finished off some oak today to make up some tree stakes with.

[Muddy42]

Very new to milling.  Here is my third attempt.  7 ft x 25 inches x 1.5 inch pippy oak.  I originally cut this to 14 ft but I had to sacrifice length as it was too heavy to move to where I could get the tractor near enough. The tree was storm Arwen damage.  Saw is an old Stihl MS088, 3ft bar with a cheap eco mill, hand filled crosscut chain with angles slowly being reduced. The big saw and setup cuts really well.

 

Every day I learn more, for example how a strong wind can ruin your day by blowing sawdust in your face! Sorry no photos of the grain (phone died) but it looks lovely, lots of character.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Muddy42

[Stihl123]

51 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

Very new to milling.  Here is my third attempt.  7 ft x 25 inches x 1.5 inch pippy oak.  I originally cut this to 14 ft but I had to sacrifice length as it was too heavy to move to where I could get the tractor near enough. The tree was storm Arwen damage.  Saw is an old Stihl MS088, 3ft bar with a cheap eco mill, hand filled crosscut chain with angles slowly being reduced. The big saw and setup cuts really well.

 

Every day I learn more, for example how a strong wind can ruin your day by blowing sawdust in your face! Sorry no photos of the grain (phone died) but it looks lovely, lots of character.

these are a must for milling, brilliant things 

 

Mesh-Goggles - TREEKIT

TREEKIT.COM

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Punched sheet safety glasses for a cool and clear vision of things. Fastened with an elastic, adjustable headband made...

 

[Muddy42]

these are a must for milling, brilliant things 
 

Mesh-Goggles - TREEKIT

TREEKIT.COM

---

Punched sheet safety glasses for a cool and clear vision of things. Fastened with an elastic, adjustable headband made...  

Thanks. I also need to get my aux oiler fitted and put some more padding on the handle.

[Stihl123]

Couple of sycamore logs 

Saved from my firewood pile