Today's milling

[topchippyles]

7 hours ago, doobin said:

It’s tight but you can still load it with the forklift   The Sherpa is great for smaller logs too 

Everything is coming together nicely on that setup the pallet workbench might need working on an improvment though. 

[doobin]

14 hours ago, topchippyles said:

Everything is coming together nicely on that setup the pallet workbench might need working on an improvment though. 

Pallets are all you need. That subframe means you can stick it down pretty much anywhere and it will still run true.

[Johnsond]

Couple of days contract cutting various hardwoods for some great guys who run a local woodlands trust, first day the wind was at my back, not so lucky the second day. An easy half shift on sun milling DF beams for myself to keep the woodlands shed build on track. Milled a couple of bits of old beech firewood lying around just for the sake of it. The DF which is quite dry now was proving to be hard on the blades, only getting about an hour out each of good cutting time. 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Johnsond

[Mr. Ed]

Lovely stuff. What’s the wood in the fourth photo? The one with the fancy markings…

 

And do you sharpen or buy afresh? Seems a stupid question but I was told (by a saw sharpener) that for smallish blades there was no point.

 

Mind, that’s not such a small saw - I have machine envy. That’s a luxurious setup. 

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, Mr. Ed said:

Lovely stuff. What’s the wood in the fourth photo? The one with the fancy markings…

 

And do you sharpen or buy afresh? Seems a stupid question but I was told (by a saw sharpener) that for smallish blades there was no point.

 

Mind, that’s not such a small saw - I have machine envy. That’s a luxurious setup. 

Spalted Beech, we tend to be inundated with beech up here and to be honest most of it ends up as firewood as this was gonna be but you could see the potential in the end grain on that log, it’s a hit and a miss but this time the boards were still nice and solid. I put the blades out to a local ish saw doctor for sharpening but have recently ordered sharpening and setting kit to be able to have a go myself, I normally get 3 sharpenings per blade before metal fatigue sets in and they start to go pop. Blades range from£350-£500 for ten 4800mmx38mm so definitely not a throw away item. I’m not unhappy with the service I get but it’s more the inconvenience, travel and time lost that can be a chore plus I’m wanting to experiment with amount of set etc to see what performs better in different types of timber. 
It’s a good solid machine for sure and the hydraulics ( including the extra second log turner I fitted) are a big plus with heavy hardwood logs, the set works are millimetre accurate too ( you have to occasionally recalibrate if you bang a big log or slab down too hard) which makes life much easier. 

[doobin]

6 hours ago, Johnsond said:

Spalted Beech, we tend to be inundated with beech up here and to be honest most of it ends up as firewood as this was gonna be but you could see the potential in the end grain on that log, it’s a hit and a miss but this time the boards were still nice and solid. I put the blades out to a local ish saw doctor for sharpening but have recently ordered sharpening and setting kit to be able to have a go myself, I normally get 3 sharpenings per blade before metal fatigue sets in and they start to go pop. Blades range from£350-£500 for ten 4800mmx38mm so definitely not a throw away item. I’m not unhappy with the service I get but it’s more the inconvenience, travel and time lost that can be a chore plus I’m wanting to experiment with amount of set etc to see what performs better in different types of timber. 
It’s a good solid machine for sure and the hydraulics ( including the extra second log turner I fitted) are a big plus with heavy hardwood logs, the set works are millimetre accurate too ( you have to occasionally recalibrate if you bang a big log or slab down too hard) which makes life much easier. 

It looks a hell of a machine. Are you running Ripper 37s?

 

I'm really happy with the 130Max for the money I paid, but something like yours would be a very nice upgrade. Doubt I will ever do that much to justify it however- must be £15-20k sat there? For me, having concrete and a forklift to run on it mean that I can get a lot more productivity out of the Woodland Mills than your average WM owner setting up in the middle of a field. So it'll do for now, I think it must owe me 6k with the lap sider, extension, subframe etc.

 

It's main limitation is the 30" cut width. What will yours take?

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by doobin

[Johnsond]

5 hours ago, doobin said:

It looks a hell of a machine. Are you running Ripper 37s?

 

I'm really happy with the 130Max for the money I paid, but something like yours would be a very nice upgrade. Doubt I will ever do that much to justify it however- must be £15-20k sat there? For me, having concrete and a forklift to run on it mean that I can get a lot more productivity out of the Woodland Mills than your average WM owner setting up in the middle of a field. So it'll do for now, I think it must owe me 6k with the lap sider, extension, subframe etc.

 

It's main limitation is the 30" cut width. What will yours take?

 

 

You are probably right in many respects, I nearly commented on your post something along the lines of “ oh to have a concrete floor and a forklift inside a shed”  130s are great little tools, I’ve been building a set up with one in static mode myself. I run ripper 37s on the  130 max which work great and a combination of those woodmizer blades and stellite tipped x cuts on the Trakmet depending on what I’m cutting. The Trakmet I have will do 1200 diameter  and an 1150mm slab if everything is nice and straight.  Cost wise probably mid 30s plus vat sat there in reality. Prices just seem to be climbing constantly too at min with ever increasing lead times for kit. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Johnsond

[Muddy42]

Wiggly bridge. 10ft by 7 inches thick. Made with the Alaskan chainsaw mill and Stihl 088.  The oak beam that it came from was only just wide/straight enough to make this beam, so it took a fair amount of preparation - measuring and securing the ladder in exactly the right place. I made it to 12 ft and then chose the best bit.  I think I have reached the maximum weight and length of timber that can be fitted in an estate family car (boot open/short distance on small roads).  Having a loader is hugely helpful.  At the other end we heaved the bridge into position with winches, leavers and quad/trailer. We still have some building up of the path to do either side of the bridge.

[doobin]

53 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

Wiggly bridge. 10ft by 7 inches thick. Made with the Alaskan chainsaw mill and Stihl 088.  The oak beam that it came from was only just wide/straight enough to make this beam, so it took a fair amount of preparation - measuring and securing the ladder in exactly the right place. I made it to 12 ft and then chose the best bit.  I think I have reached the maximum weight and length of timber that can be fitted in an estate family car (boot open/short distance on small roads).  Having a loader is hugely helpful.  At the other end we heaved the bridge into position with winches, leavers and quad/trailer. We still have some building up of the path to do either side of the bridge.

Nice work. I was sweating just reading your description!

 

Makes me realise how spoilt I am with all the machinery, that would be an hours job for me!

[Squaredy]

Been milling lots of sycamore recently, most of which is nice, but today we had this.  Hope these colours and markings remain as it dries.