Big J

I had a good look at the specification of the new one (I think it's now called a Logosol LM Pro) on Willie Dobie's Logosol website. It certainly looks the business, but it's taken a fairly large increase in price too. In researching on the web, I've come across a brand of bandsawmills called Timberking - the 1200 is reasonable in price (6k plus VAT) and has a 29 inch throat, plus there is a Scottish distributor. Anyone with any experience of them?

Thanks Bart! FA - thanks mate! Not actually my Lumbermate (belongs to Tom D) - it was his elm I milled with it though. I had used a 5ft bar on the Alaskan for the elm, but wasn't able to mill it accurately due to the flex in the bar so Tom set up the bandsaw and we wizzed the rest of the log through that. Cracking piece of kit though - read your thread regarding your Lumbermate a week or two ago. Will be very tempted to get bandsaw when finances allow - I wouldn't use it for all my milling though as the Alaskan on a 42 inch bar has a 34 inch throat, as opposed to 24 inches on the Lumbermate and many Woodmizers. Jonathan

I really like the carving! I've not seen beech like that before - not quite flamed or spalted.

Actually only took the one photo today: The board is impressive, sure, but most importantly, managed to get both guns to fire!

Good, though shortish day of milling today. Finished off the Oak near Peebles. Only yielded a further 25 cubic foot due to the tapering nature of the log. Managed to keep the boards whole though as only cutting at 1.5 inches. It was nevertheless interesting to get these 100kg + boards onto the top quarter off the stack! Anyway, the kiln now sits at 230 cubic foot or so. Height wise, it's completely level front to back (accidental!) and one 1.5 inch board higher than stack of thick ash at the back of the photo with me in it. I' put the dehumidifier on last night. It heats up slowly due to the extractor fan (probably better for the timber now to be thrust up to a higher temp too quickly) and went from 12-17 degrees in a little under 24 hours. My reasoning for putting it on now is that it's only elm going in now (quicker drying than Oak) and the thickest, hardest to dry timber is already in. Doing other work tomorrow and then hoping to have a nice stack of elm at my yard Thursday morning! Pictures to follow later. Jonathan

Not sure about shipping containers, but I've got a couple of backs off refridgerated trucks and they are very inexpensive. I got two for £1000, both in superb condition. Perhaps not quite so secure as a shipping container (maybe not big enough for the chipper either) but great for tool storage as they don't suffer so badly from condensation. Easy to heat too if you plan to spend much time in the workshop. Jonathan

Thanks for the link! I'll have a good and proper look at it this evening when I've a little more time. The set up has changed from the first kiln to second. The air circulation and dehumidification was too slow first time around, so it's been industrialised with an Ebac BD150 dehumidifier and a Turbo Dryer carpet fan. There is also an extractor fan installed this time as the Ebac has a thermostatic shut off at 35 degrees (which it reaches very quickly without extraction). Running costs are around £5.50 a day and it should take around 50 days extracting at 60 litres a day. Jonathan

Thanks! I won't use it myself for much at all - the intention is to build the business selling the timber to furniture makers. Sold a reasonable amount from the first kiln, though the timber in the second is of much higher quality. Good day yesterday. Down near Peebles again milling the large Oak. Reached the cargo capacity of the truck (1.3 tonnes) by midday, so took it back up to my workshop and got it stacked. Not enough time to go back for a second load though due to the distance. Lovely straight boards. I had to rip the log down the centre to make the slabs moveable. Now, it's the first time I've done that free hand (didn't have the mini mill to hand) and I'm not particularly good at it. So the straight edge down the middle of the tree wanders a bit, but nothing to be concerned about. Kiln is now filled to 210 cubic foot. Space for another 70-80 I think. Jonathan

Olive ash (one of the smaller boards) The short boards of ash and oak Kiln getting there (I'm 6ft 8, for scale).

Pippy Oak (9ft slabs) Milling the remaining Ash Very pippy Oak.

Veery good day milling today. Started a little late, but made very good progress. Still on the ash and oak from Hopetoun estates and managed to finish them too. Yeilded a total of 91 cubic foot from a hoppus measurement of 95, so fairly happy with estimations too. Three logs milled today. A 9ft length of pippy oak averaging 30 inches or so in diameter. Excellent pippy figure, though not especially pronounced meduliaries the quarter. Second log was the 5ft above it from the same tree. Had to cut it short in order to fit it in the kiln. Fitted well though, plugging an otherwise awkward gap. Third log was the remaining 6ft of ash from yesterday. I put the skip link chain on yesterday after the granberg had taken a bit of a hammering on the yew. Going from blunt granberg to sharp skip link was obviously an improvement, but I didn't realise how badly the skip link cut through the ash and oak until I took it off and replaced it with a standard oregon ripping chain. The skip link was managing only a little over half the speed of the standard ripping chain and left many more chain scores on the timber. I'll retire that one to a spare!! Kiln currently has 172 cube sat in it, with a few larger slabs yet to find the right home. I think it will take another 100 cubic foot or just under. I have another 80 cube of oak down near Peebles to mill next week and quite a lot of elm coming too. The Oak has to go in, but the elm can wait a bit. Photos to follow in a moment.. Jonathan

I really enjoy my work here (near Edinburgh). I haven't worked south of the border since taking up tree work, but I am glad that it isn't quite so hot here. I really struggle with forestry in the heat. From viewing previous threads on the topic of wages, it seems to be a little better paid up here too. Oh and....that Susan Boyle.....ooo err!!

Pah! An 880 is the wusses. It's a 090 you want. I don't even consider a saw if it has less than 137cc or has a chainbrake!

Yesterday's milling didn't go too well. Got down to site near Peebles, having found it had chucked it down all night and the already swampy ground around the log was sodden. Board walks were put down, the oak two sided prepped for milling and then the heavens opened again. Sat it out for half an hour then gave up and went home. Fortunately managed to get a bit of yew to mill in the evening, though it wasn't especially good. About 18 cubic foot of boards up to 18 inches across, but hard as hell and quite gritty. Chain was sharpened 3 times during the milling. Today was an altogether better day, though a late start owing to my bloody man flu. Decided I wasn't up to trekking down to site near Peebles to work in a bog. Spoke to the forester on the neighbouring estate and got 90 hoppus cube of good straight Ash and pippy Oak. Got most of the Ash milled today and the rest is getting done tomorrow. I'm very optimistic that the Oak is going to be quite special once milled. Here are the pictures of the Olive ash from today: The ash was so wide that it was only just possible to get them in two abreast. Jonathan

Perhaps a tree bugger(er) not tree hugger?

Again very envious. Milled some roughly 18 inch yew today and it wasn't anything more than average. Good luck finding a buyer!

Sorry to take the thread off on a slight tangent, but it has been suggested to me that I make a truck run down south with elm from the next kiln - worth doing? I should be a able to bring down about 70 cubic foot on the 308D.

Excellent day milling today. Down on site at 0815, though it took us until 0945 to cross cut and manouevre the logs. The main issue was that the log had been felled in a minor bog (no choice though as it was the only line of fell) so all movements were laboured. Anyway, of the 27ft length, only the first 12 remains. The top 15ft yielded some excellent Oak, and a total of about 60 cubic foot (a day production pb for me too - and better still for the fact it only took 6 hours for that). Brought the Oak back, dropped half off at a cabinet makers and stuck the remainder into my kiln. Here are the top (crown) boards: Tomorrow and Friday will be milling the main 12ft butt, which I've calculated should yeild 86 cube. That's two truck loads for me, and with a 30 mile each way trip, it's going to be two days. The log sits at about 38-39 inches wide, so it's getting the top taken off, rolled 90 degrees and then milled from there. I do like a straight edge to mill off and for stacking purposes. First day using the new 42 inch (cannon) bar. Can only report that it, and the granberg ripping chain are superb. Managed 2ft a minute through 30 inch Oak, with low vibes and smooth cuts. The auxiliary oiling tank worked superbly too. Jonathan

Absolutely stunning elm burr - really quite spectacular!

Great post Wadkin - thanks for all the information!

They do say that the most valuable stuff is in the root ball. Piano veneers and the like. Does anyone actually do that now though?

Meant to say that the timber looks like it is wet because it has been strayed with borasic acid, in order to stop mould growth. Really brings out the figure too for a short while, so a double bonus!

Progress! Rob has very kindly (and very quickly) sent me the new 42 inch bar as a replacement for the 60. It came at about 3pm this afternoon, got it drilled and set up with the mill. Finished loading the timber that I already had for the kiln (only amounting to about 50 cube so far). The milling starts in earnest tomorrow. Travelling 30 miles to this big Oak down near Peebles. It's 27ft long, average 3ft diameter (I'm going to straight edge one side by milling the top and rolling it 90 degrees). It will get cut to 12ft, 8ft and 7ft. I'm anticipating it will take three full days to mill and stack (approx 160 cubic foot). After that, I'll be onto big elm again with any luck, assuming these 4 trees from Holyrood come off. In the mean time, here is a picture of the rather diminutive stack in the kiln so far with some frankly stunning elm on top!

Cracking tree there. Shame for it to be taken down, but if that's what the customer wants.... I had a slightly smaller yew for my last kiln. I paid about £7 a hoppus foot, so on that basis you might be looking at £350 and up for the first 12ft. Yew seems to kiln beautifully too - very easy with no cracking, distortion and it readily gives up it's moisture. Jonathan

Very good!