Alaskan Sawmill

[ericolson]

Well, I have received and assembled my Alaskan Sawmill. For those that weren't following the planer and jointer thread (which went everywhere:) ), I stated I was going to be milling my own lumber from some trees that went down on my property a month or so ago.
I spent this past weekend limbing and sectioning the hickory that went down. I've got several 8-foot sections and a couple of 4-foot sections. It took ALL WEEKEND to cut this thing up. I think the biggest diameter was 27", down near the trunk. I've still got two oaks to work on, but my intent is to get the hickory milled into lumber, sealed, stacked and stickered before I tackle them.
I'm going to be taking the rest of the week off to work on the hickory, the oaks, and other yard clean up. Oh, my yard is five acres, and still quite a mess. Burn piles for the bigger branches and a lot of raking to do for the small stuff.
I'll let you know how it all turns out. I'm thinking of writing a pretty detailed essay on the Sawmill and how I used it when I'm finished up with it.

[curly57]

Cool!! Allways neat getting a new toy!!! If you can show us a pic of it, curious to see what it looks like? And do let us know how it turns out.
Keep it safe!!!

Happy Woodworking and God Bless!!

Curly...

[8iowa]

Last year I had four Eastern White Pine trees fall in a storm. I cut them into 100 inch logs and called in a guy who has a Woodmizer. This is a large horizontal bandsaw machine that enables you to cut boards in virtually any thickness you want.

A couple of tips;

Put a couple of shipping pallets or use 4x4's to keep the first layers of boards well off the ground. Make sure they are very level so the boards will dry straight, and use stringers between layers to promote air circulation. A somewhat shady spot is good.

Get a couple of large boxes of borax and sprinkle this over the boards as you add on layers. This will go a long ways toward avoiding insect damage.

Put plastic or a tarp over the top and down the sides a little bit to keep out rain.

Depending upon your climate they will probably be dry enough to use in two years. Kiln daying of course will speed up the process but this may cost $0.50 per board foot.

[dusty]

What are the drying conditions when you kiln dry? Is there a required temperature and humidity.

What I'm getting at is this. Can I effectively dry rough cut timber here in Arizona during the summer when the temperature is 100 degrees + and the relative humidity is say 20-30 percent or lower?

[charlese]

Dusty - drying is a varied and somewhat complicated operation. Here is a site that is sort of a primer on the subject. http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/nrem/lumberdrying.pdf

Better yet just google "lumber drying" and you will get a host of sites. The above one is near the top of the google page. The requirements for drying vary quite a bit between species and especially between hardwoods and soft woods. White oak is a good example. It is valued for outdoor wood as it doesnt take in moisture vary well (also doesn't give up moisture easily) You will probably run into an article (an old forum) about drying white oak.

Good luck with your reading!

[ericolson]

Well, I'm taking a little break today. I'm sore all over! Talk about a work out! With breaks, fixing the brake clutch on the chain saw, set-up time for each initial cut, and the first day learning curve, I've got about ten hours' true milling done. So far, I've milled four 8-foot logs and one 4-foot log. I've experimented with a variety of different thicknesses, just because... The thickest slabs I've milled so far have been 2 3/8" thick (I picture table or chair legs). I've also milled 2" thick slabs (table tops), and 1 1/2" thick slabs (more table tops). Today, I'm going to knock the last log down and will probably mill the slabs at 1 1/2". The 2" and 2 3/8" thick slabs were a b*****h to carry to the truck!!! On the first day, while milling a slab, I was remembering watching a demo video on the Granberg website (the manufacturer) and I was thinking that the fella sure made it look a lot easier. Then my lightbulb came on and I remembered that, of all woods, I was starting out on hickory!! I mean, why start on an easy cutting wood? Why not just go ahead and start on one of the densest, toughest, North American hardwoods? After all, hickory is only used on baseball bats and hard working tool handles. Needless to say, after this, I think the two oaks I haven't touched yet should be fairly easy.
I've got the slabs stickered and stacked in my shop with the ends painted with a good layer of latex paint. I didn't have any anchor seal and I figured latex has worked pretty good for me in the past. I cleared out a "junk" corner of the shop (where general shop flotsam got stored for lack of anywhere else to put it) and that's my air-drying location now. I'm planning on building a solar kiln sometime this summer. I've got several good sets of plans in the various wood mags I subscribe, so I should find the one I want or be able to piece together one out of the various plans.
I had originally planned on storing the lumber outdoors to air dry until the kiln is built. However, the only place I could put it was on the spot I want to build the kiln. My shop is on a little built up area near a small draw, so flat space is limited. Also, I can keep the critters from infiltrating the wood while it dries and keep the weather off of it at the same time. Plus, I REALLY like going into the shop and seeing the fruits of my labors stacked up in there.
I gotta tell ya, this lumber is gorgeous! No way I could find such figure at the local hardwoods dealer nor could I afford it in the widths and thicknesses I have. I'll post "after" photos as soon as I'm done.

[charlese]

"Atta boy Eric!! A good day's work like that will really make you appreciate automation. Kinda wish I could do work like that again, but will just vicariously enjoy your days.

A word of caution - - I recall a "whoops" story from "Popular Woodworking" Magazine. A guy sawed up, or received a shipment of a sawn up log and put it into his garage to dry while he went on a two week vacation. When he got back all the tools in his shop had rusted.

Hope your shop is well ventilated! Maybe you can put a fan near an exit.

[tchwrtr55]

Neat idea about the borax between the layer of lumber. I scrounged a few pieces of Butternut, with some worm holes, a few years ago to make a picture frame for my sister ( two feet by three foot, large frame). Friends of hers have been telling her they would like to get their hands on "antique" frames like it. Riiiighht. I had a couple of pines and a maple sawed a couple years ago. I have been worried about bugs getting into it. I have a old barn that I am using to dry and store my lumber.

Thanks for the info.

Mark