Just wondered if anyone here planks up their own timber?
I’ve been thinking for a while about getting something to enable me to do this.
Can anyone recommend anything they have used?
p.s. been looking at a company called woodmizer, v. expensive though!
Cheers!
Replies
I have a Woodmizer LT 15, Which is one of the cheaper ones that you provide the feed power by hand. It does a good job of that, but is still a lot of work, in that you war handling logs on the front end, and wet lumber on the other.
If you don't like hard work, it may not be for you. Even if you get one of the cheaper ones, it is a lot easier if you have a few other things else, like a tractor with a fork, a trailer that will haul logs, plenty of room to set up for moving logs and lumber around, and a kiln is a handy companion as well, although sometimes there may be someone else who can take care of that part for you.
Proper drying can be a trickier part than just sawing.
Are you wanting to do this for a profession, or just to get lumber from trees that you already have? What is your motive or plan?
Here is a good site to start reading. http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/sawdry.pl
If you want to save some money with a used machine, here is another link.
http://www.sawmillexchange.com/
There may be someone in your area with a Woodmizer that will come mill your logs. I have done this in the past and it was fairly inexpensive. It was a great learning experience about logs, wood, drying, and the fact that wood at the local hardwood outlet isn't as expensive as I thought it was. This wood/would (pun intended) give you a chance to see them work and see what features you want or need. Someone on this forum can give you the website for locating Woodmizer owners that mill wood.
You might want to also check out this forum:
http://www.arboristsite.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62
where all they talk about is milling wood. You can check out chainsaw mills, chainsaw driven bandmills, woodmizers, etc. etc. Lots of ways to turn logs into lumber.
Good Luck
Woodmizer is a good portable sawmill. If you are a very serious woodworker who wants to mill his own stock, or if you want to become a "for profit" sawyer, the Woodmizer machines can do the job.
The company is reputable (many of my friends, both of my sons in law and my eldest son work or have worked there). Dave Mann is the top sales guy, give him a call and he can tell you all that is available.
If you just want to take a look at used mills, try this site:
https://www.woodmizer.com/webgateway/umhome.aspx
I have a Peterson Skill Mill swing blade circle saw. It cuts any size lumber up to 4" x 8" x 13 ft long plus some unusual cuts like bevel siding. Produces a cut as smooth as ripping a board on a table saw. Portable, can be set up around a log, and it is not necessary to turn the log. It runs on 220 V 60 Hz AC from power line or generator. Good for occasional or extended use. Information at http://www.skillmill.com. Peterson also has larger swing blade saw mills at http://www.petersonsawmills.com.
I have and do (mill my own lumber). I use a Granford Alaskan chainsaw lumber mill with a Stihl 066 Magnum chainsaw engine and a 4' bar.
There is an incredible amount of work in doing this - even if you're young you won't be able to hold a glass of water at the end of a day of sawing up a big trunk of walnut.
That said, it's really the only way to cut up the massive giants that populate my neighborhood and occasionally get felled by disease, wind, or just because the homeowner thinks it's in the wrong place.
From my experience, I can tell you that you really must buy (or already possess) a giant chainsaw big enough to put wheels on and ride to work. These saws typically start at about $900, and the Stihl 660 Magnum (the successor to my 066 Magnum) is the minimum size saw. For really big stuff (over 5' diameter trunks), a tandem motor setup is best - one motor is conventially mounted on the end of the bar, the other motor is mounted upside-down on the other end.
Nevertheless, this will get you in the game for the lowest price possible. A slightly more expensive option that's limited to about a 20" log but cuts far more quickly is the RipSaw. It's a similar setup to the Granford in that you supply the chainsaw motor, but instead of using a conventional chainsaw bar and ripping chain, the unit is a bandsaw. Last time I looked, they're about $1200 for the saw without the motor, so you're looking at about $2200 for the setup.
David,
What do you use to get a flat surface to reference the first cut off of? My friend uses a pair of aluminum 2x4 rails held together in ladder-fashion with wood 2x4 spacers and bolts and screws the assembly into the endgrain of the log.
PS: You're not the inventor of the Keller dovetail jig, are you?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris - The Granford system uses two aluminum bars that are fixed cross-wise to two 2X4's in a ladder fashion. Bolts on the aluminum bars allow the spacing between the two 2X4s to be adjusted - that sets the depth of the first cut. The front aluminum bar is then nailed to the end-grain of one end of the log, and the milling jig rides along the top of the 2X4's as the saw cuts down the length of the log.
After the first cut, the jig is removed, and subsequent cuts use the flat surface left by the first cut as a guide. The depth (and hence the thickness of the boards) can be adjusted from 0 to about 6". If one attempts to cut a 6" thick beam, though, you generally have to drive in wooden wedges into the cut as it progresses to prevent the kerf from closing.
There's little doubt that taking a 3/8" thick kerf with each pass wastes a good deal of wood, and that's why I rarely use the system to cut anything less than 16/4s (leaving the boards just light enough to be transported by two people). It's a lot of hard work, but it beats cutting up a huge walnut tree for firewood.
No, I've no connection to the Keller dovetail system, though I do wonder if the inventor and I are related. "Keller" isn't a very common name in the US, but my ancestor arrived in America before the Revolutionary war, so they are a lot of us around.
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