Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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Beech Stick ready to collect North Warwickshire (Atherstone)
Big J replied to Mark Cattell's topic in Milling Forum
You've got a fence line running through the butt about 4ft up the log. Just be careful when cutting! Shame to cut it for firewood, but beech is a hard one to shift sawn. Excellent firewood on the other hand! -
Thanks for the link - they certainly do look like the bees knees, but I fear the haulage would kill it!
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I would always recommend any Woodmizer operator have a chainsaw mill to help break up those larger logs. Another benefit is that it produces a vastly more stable board once the heart has been removed, resulting in a superior end product. That said, I am quite jealous of your ability to quickly break down logs with the big Woodmizer. Much quicker and less labour intensive than the chain mills.
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That being said, oversized logs are a very good way of increasing the risk of damage to the machine. Anything over about 34 inches gets chainsaw milled halved and resawn on the LT40. It's much quicker, and I have little demand for full width boards these days.
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Very sorry to hear that. RIP Toby.
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Would it be possible to post a couple of photos of the sticks? It is a very generous offer to give them away, but unless they are of reasonable quality, it's not worth me hauling them the distance. I have about 10 tonnes of logs in Balfron to collect in the very near future too, so it could tie up well. Thanks again, Jonathan
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Oooh, bugger that! You need a bigger mill sir! May I suggest the Logmaster LM2? I've got one coming in August.
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I've never seen Juniper milled - very nice! Here are a couple of photos of a huge Elm tree that I milled last week. 16ft long, 35 inches diameter. Sadly a well hidden rotten cavity, which was odd as it contained no rotten wood, only well composted wood. In addition to that, the line from compost to sound timber was very clearly defined - no mushy wood. Anyway, I think that the positive to take from it is that the cavity and rot possibly caused some very strong colouration - loads of orange and green. 3 inch thick boards too, loaded to the kiln after. Not fun at about 300kg each!
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Haha! It's been very warm and dry here for quite some time. Apart from the odd minute shower, we've not had any rain for 12 days, and even then it was one torrential downpour after several dry weeks. The ground is very dry here, we've had a full week of 15-25 celcius (bloody 24 in the shade at the yard yesterday - too warm!) and it's set to continue for another 10 days. So, aye, we do get good weather now and again! Even swam 700m today across a reservoir and back (water 17c). Jonathan
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As per the title, I could really do with a good grade of 4.9m Douglas fir. Ideally minimum 40cm top diameter. Can take a degree of knots, but would prefer not too much. Please message me if you can help, or call on 07832 106156.
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I'm definitely going to get some Aspen for milling on those calmer, still days. Chain milled a large Elm last week and with the lack of air movement, it was unpleasant. It's not such an issue on windy days.
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Just like them Stephen! It's only potatoes, oil and salt - you can do a lot worse.
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Well that is me out then! 6ft 8" and wee hands would look a little daft. Rob, ask those little Japanese folk at Sugihara to make some yeti spec gloves!
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If you consider that the AV bushes on an 088 are rubber, I think an extra layer of rubber cannot be a bad thing. In addition to which, I've done a huge amount of chainsaw milling, and it's just completely different with the AV gloves on.
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Just got them from Arco - I think that there should be one in your neck of the woods Alec. I was just amazed at the difference. Usually after chain milling I have a combination of pins and needles and ache for days after but I just can't feel it at all. Jonathan
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Just a quick heads up that I finally thought that I would try some vibration damping gloves as I'm suffering a bit with what seems to be a combination of Hammer wrist and mild HAVS in my right wrist. I thought that it wouldn't make much difference, but I can assure you that it's the best £15 I've ever spent. Just using some fairly cheap Tremor Low gloves from Arco and after an afternoon chain milling a huge Elm tree, I actually can't feel any issues with my wrist. So get out and buy some AV gloves - the vibration from chainsaw milling is a serious concern, and one best not ignored.
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The two local dealers are not ideal, by any stretch. One is genuinely completely useless, as well as being over priced. The other is good, but far too expensive. £120 out on the price of a new MS261 for example. I can't think of any other tool on the market where distribution and sale is so tightly controlled by the supplier. Perhaps it's time to start considering the makes outwith of Stihl and Husqvarna?
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Painting the ends isn't necessary. End checking is usually as a result of any of the following factors: * Timber milled at wrong time of year - if you mill oak in the middle of summer it's going to split quite a bit. * Timber stacked in wrong location - if it is getting too much sun, too much air flow. Ideally timber wants to be stacked in an open sided barn, with absolutely no direct sunlight. * Timber is low grade - small diameter, low grade timber will have a lot of inherent tension, which will release when sawn and the drying process starts. Elm is quite resistant to end checking, and will only really do so if there is an inherent fault, or the log is small and low quality. Jonathan
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Good lord - that is one gnarly derriere! The eyes that have been mentioned are the tight, dark pippings that result from close grown epicormic growth. This is what sawn burr elm looks like:
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Very sorry to hear that Matthew. You seem to suffer more than most in terms of personal losses. RIP.
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Nice to see that I am not the only person who is utterly OCD on stickering - it's something that gets commented on each and every time I have furniture makers or other sawmillers looking at my stacks. Worth doing, certainlly!
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If the butts were of good quality and you were only paying for the butts rather than the branchwood, you could make a fair bit of money there. The only problem is the gamble taken with standing Oak sales - you don't know whether there will be shake or not. I always seem to pay about £3-4 a hoppus, but I often take small parcels (a trailer load or two) which command a lower price as they're not economical for wagons to move. Regarding pricing your lot, your brown might be a pound or so more a hoppus than your standard, and depending on how burred the burred lumps are dictates your pricing for that. Nice even pipping on a good butt could be £7 a hoppus. Full (and I mean complete for at least 2m) burr can be over £80 a hoppus.
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No timber that I have ever cut varies in colour as much as Elm. Avoid anything too dead as the colour just goes to grey.
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Yew won't really ever deteriorate. The sapwood might rot, but the heartwood is more or less indestructable.
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Very sorry to hear that. And I quite agree - you shouldn't have to go out of your way to ensure that scum don't steal your kit.
