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Milling Earl's Fir - Part Three of Three


BobSmalser

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That was wonderful Bob! I know a lot of the builders don't have a clear understanding of the difference in cuts and how the lumber is actually cut from the log. This is a great treat to have it so clearly presented.

One of these days if you have the time it would be great to have clearly shown and stated the differences between the cuts of wood. And as part of it to explain why some cuts are more stable than others and why they are more suitable for boat building. ie. Plain sawn, riff sawn, VG.

It is difficult for a novice to look at the racks of lumber at the local Home Depot and determine what is suitable and what is not, and why. Also why such a difference in cost between the various cuts and grades. This would be excellent material for Frank's FAQ section.

I welcome your participation and the time it took to prepare the presentation. Very well done. Thanks!

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Awsome post Bob, one quesiton I didn't see: Is it feasable for an amature to operate a smaller version of such a mill and be in front, considering time spent operatiing the mill (and learning to operate it! ) and maintaenance on the mill verses the benefits of cheap timber and perhaps on-selling some of it to enthusiasts? Or would one most likely be better off employing a professional such as yourself to do this work? Its something that me and a couple of friends have often considered, especially after a visit to the local yard! :D

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You don't get much better stuff than this, at any library.

Absolutely priceless. You know guys, it just not about cutting down trees. Bob, and Dave brings to us some incredible knowledge, that we not ever use, but all of this does make us aware of what has been lost in the mass production world. This is just another lost art, except for a few hand-me-down family members, from one generation to the other. This forum, along with the B&B designs , working in conjuction with Frank, is great and a pleasure to visit, even though the traffic comes in spurts. Thanks for taking the time to post this stuff. Now where did I put my drool towel? :wink:

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Is it feasible for an amateur to operate a smaller version of such a mill and be in front, considering time spent operating the mill (and learning to operate it! ) and maintenance on the mill verses the benefits of cheap timber and perhaps on-selling some of it to enthusiasts? Or would one most likely be better off employing a professional such as yourself to do this work? Its something that me and a couple of friends have often considered, especially after a visit to the local yard!

Milling and maintaining the mill is no more difficult than maintaining a lawn-mower and mowing your lawn....that's for these and band mills, tho...an old Foley Belsaw Carriage Mill is a different, more difficult and more dangerous critter. Don't get one...they cut rough and you'll need both a helper and a big planer.

I was doing a horizontal cut in a small 500lb log with the Lucas during our last major earthquake...all the shaking did was bog the motor and warp a blade. Had that been a 48" circle-insert blade all the way thru that log dogged to a carriage, and that shaking most likely woulda thrown that log into my face.

The question would be how long will it take to amortize your investment?

Stateside folks can pick up a good used mill for 2/3 the price of a new one: http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/index.htm In W. Australia, I dunno...except Lucas and Pederson swing-blade mills are common there.

This is big woods country here...I get all the "studwood" grade logs I want usually for the trouble of picking them up from the neighbors...and sometimes, like above, I mill them on shares. I also have 33 acres of my own mature forest. Without those assets, I would buy logs from arborists...and I do occasionally for something special...the Bigleaf (hard) Maple in the bolle stack above I paid $.45 a BF for because it is highly figured...the mill returned 200pct of the scaled BF, so my net cost was slightly over $.20 a BF. That wood's value milled the way it is, however, is between $2.00 and $8.00 a BF, with some of the best flitches worth severalfold that as "music wood" for luthiers....maybe a dozen of those in the tree.

So if you are interested, you need to research where and at what price you will obtain your logs, how much added value you can apply...and how long it will take to amortize equipment costs against the value obtained.

But the mill alone never suffices...you need a way to move the logs...the above example was only done as a favor for my friends and for an exceptional log...I otherwise wouldn't touch a job I couldn't get my big backhoe into to load the mill. But you can do that relatively inexpensively, too, with some mechanical skills...these old farm tractors run $1-3 grand, and can be fitted with a fabricated "arch" like the one below to skid logs to ramps where they can be winched into the mill. Not as easy as the backhoe front forks, but a heck of a lot easier than peaveys and farm jacks.

29094199.jpg

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Hardwood here is very expensive, and I think it reflects the cost of shipping wood in to Southern California. Red oak runs from $5 to $8 a bf, white oak from $7 or so up to $10 one time I asked. Clear vertical grain douglas fir is quoted at $5 a bf and up.

Bob, would you be willing to allow us to feature your post as a permanent page in our FAQ section? It really does go a long way in showing exactly what quarter-sawn lumber is, the way it is cut from the log, etc. You would have editorial control over the page, retain all rights, of course, and I'd pull it anytime you wanted it pulled.

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permanent page in our FAQ section

My pleasure, Frank...any time.

And it's a wonderful thought of Oyster's that these skills are passed from father to son....my boys are certainly getting more than they want of it...

...but also remember that some of us older guys had parents who were young adults at the beginning of The Depression. Little or even no education...and although that was hardly their fault, they were somewhat ashamed of that, and denigrated their skills as "working with their hands" instead of with their head.

So my farmer Dad and Grandad...and three childless Uncles, one a boatbuilder, one a homebuilder and one a greenhouse grower...all had nothing but college in mind for me. What I thought about it was never a subject for discussion. I guess they could see how much I loved what they did, so they would only teach enuf for me to perform the tasks required of me. So I was the kid in the back of the shop sharpening saws, chisels, planes and slicks...and doing the grunt work like offbearing the mill or splitting shakes. I considered it a treat to get to hold up one end of transom or plank, or to gang-cut a dozen birdsmouths in rafters....these gentlemen actually sold off or broke up their businesses rather than see me take one of them over, which I would have been delighted to do. I watched two Uncles cut dovetails by the dozens...and they probably never even saw a router back then...I never got to cut one until I left home and needed some furniture.

Their legacy and those memories are treasures to me...not any doing of theirs, but they never realized that one could do both education and craft...and do both well. It wasn't until the Great Craft Revival in the back-to-the-land '60's and '70's that those of their generation who were still alive...the John Gardners and Tage Frid's...by collecting and documenting not only their skills, but the skills of those peers who couldn't write...helped to give craft the recognition it has always deserved.

So one of my major lessons of childhood is to pass on freely whatever meager skills I've acquired to benefit the craft. Let there never be another "lost" generation of skills.

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