# Whats your saw dust look like?



## Barthaigh (Jul 19, 2011)

Hi, I was just reading one of Bob L's reponses and he talked about how he does not have a problem with his air filters clogging. He stated that was because with the proper cutting conditions you have chips not dust. I have been milling ~10,000bf of boards each year and modifing chains and sharpening for years now and I still feel like I get dust to very small chips. Could anyone show what their sawdust looks like for me to compare to. I have 40 feet of 60" red oak to cut and thought now would be the time to make changes if they are needed, thanks for any input, Bart


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## mtngun (Jul 19, 2011)

I never get big chips when milling.


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## pwoller (Jul 19, 2011)

Me neither its always dust for me.


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## Talltom (Jul 19, 2011)

My mill cuts perpendicular to the length of the log & I always get dust like mtngun's (makes great mulch for garden paths.) If you skew the saw away from perpendicular towards parallel you'll get bigger chips. If you cut into a log parallel to the length, the chips will be big enough (long enough actually) to clog the discharge. Maybe he's skewing the saw. If not, I'd like to know how he's doing it, because bigger chips = faster cutting & less clogging of the filter.


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## BobL (Jul 19, 2011)

mtngun said:


> I never get big chips when milling.


 
That's all I get as well. I still call that chips, to me dust is the same as flour or talcum powder .

I just don't see that many of those small chips on my air filters but I also do have a quite different exhaust and sawdust escape opening.




The position of the exhaust pipe blows the sawdust well away from the saw.


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## mikeb1079 (Jul 19, 2011)

i've noticed too that when your chain is new or well sharpened you'll get what mtn gun shows, let's call it heavy dust that typically is heavy enough to fall out of the air. when your chain is dull or your rakers are too high you'll get finer dust that stays airborne way longer. that's what'll do in your air filter and lungs.


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## john taliaferro (Jul 19, 2011)

Ive been getting 1/4 to 3/8 shavings on green white oak . Have you ever noodled with the mill ? on some short pine sideways cutting stickers ,had about as much fun as you can have in this heat . Iam milling 30 degrees or more to the log ,letting it slide down on it own maybe 20 degrees or more of tilt to the log 6 to 7 degrees on the rippers. Bob would smile


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## smokinj (Jul 19, 2011)

‪Granberg Alaskan 36" Chainsaw Milling hickory stihl ms 880‬&rlm; - YouTube Fast forwar to the end of the video I have a good shot of the saw dust.


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## Timberframed (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm not getting dust so much as a powder like a crosscut blade on a table or radial but chips/shavings in Northeastern North American hardwoods. White Ash parallel cut produces a small chisel like shaving in 10° Carlton ripping chain. Same on Red Oak with a full comp semi skip crosscut whatever the jebus that is. Works for me but bring a tank of compressed air with ya to keep her clean (Safety glasses here!) if you can't run a pump out of your truck's inverter or generator.


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## Doss (Jul 21, 2011)

With the crosscut and the ripping chain I get the "dust" mtngun shows. One guy stopped by and said my chain must be dull. :taped:

As Talltom was saying, when you cut perpendicular to log, especially on wide logs, the chips must travel from one side all the way to the outlet side (close to the powerhead). That gives plenty of time for the chain to grind them up as it moves the 20+ inches inside the cut.

To tell if my chain is indeed dull, I usually move the saw from perpendicular to the log (30-45 degrees) and it should start spitting chips out pretty quickly. If not, then it's dull.

Anyone have any ideas of what to do with this dust? I've got garbage bags full of it.


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## SDB777 (Jul 21, 2011)

Depending on the species I'm in/on/whatever....seems all I get is fine dust to maybe beachsand sized.

ERC is probably the finest I've seen....








Scott B


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## aquan8tor (Jul 21, 2011)

I've got eastern red cedar beat. Dry Black Locust stays in the air. If you skew the saw, it cuts into chips. Perpendicular sawing is not fun. You have to keep the rakers low though; .035 or .040 even. Very light pressure or just let gravity work with you and get one end a couple feet off the ground. I like using a big bar even if the wood is fairly small. With a 42" bar and a 36" mill, I can skew the cut almost 45 degrees on a 15-18" diameter log. If you're not careful, the cut isn't quite as smooth, but sometimes speed wins over surface. I have a good jointer and planer that are more than adequate, and friends with a 24" jointer and 24" helical planer when I need a favor.


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## 820wards (Jul 21, 2011)

Barthaigh said:


> Hi, I was just reading one of Bob L's reponses and he talked about how he does not have a problem with his air filters clogging. He stated that was because with the proper cutting conditions you have chips not dust. I have been milling ~10,000bf of boards each year and modifing chains and sharpening for years now and I still feel like I get dust to very small chips. Could anyone show what their sawdust looks like for me to compare to. I have 40 feet of 60" red oak to cut and thought now would be the time to make changes if they are needed, thanks for any input, Bart


 
I have been milling mostly hardwoods with some softwood, but in general my milling chips/dust is more like a fine dust you would get using a course bastard file.

jerry-

This is sawdust from a black oak tree and it just stick to everything when its wet. This tree has been on the ground since last October, 2010.


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## john taliaferro (Jul 21, 2011)

Jerry you got a snipe in the bottom of that one ,sure is nice boards . Milled some hard maple today chips looked like river sand .


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## 820wards (Jul 21, 2011)

john taliaferro said:


> Jerry you got a snipe in the bottom of that one ,sure is nice boards . Milled some hard maple today chips looked like river sand .




John,

The snipe was from when the mill came to end of the cut. The slab was so heavy we couldn't stop them from sliding off before the chain came to a stop. 

Sure would like to get some hard maple out here, is it nice looking?

jerry-


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## john taliaferro (Jul 22, 2011)

Jerry its all splated ,we keep it n shade for a year or so on 20 '' size, larger we keep longer and keep a close eye . When you miss its compost . on the sliding when your relly steep to steep i stop half way and stick a nail at the top let the saw cool and a toe nail dont mess up much , it relly sucks when alone and big slab rails and all pin the saw to the ground


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## 820wards (Jul 22, 2011)

john taliaferro said:


> Jerry its all splated ,we keep it n shade for a year or so on 20 '' size, larger we keep longer and keep a close eye . When you miss its compost . on the sliding when your relly steep to steep i stop half way and stick a nail at the top let the saw cool and a toe nail dont mess up much , it relly sucks when alone and big slab rails and all pin the saw to the ground




John I'll have to remember the nail trick. Normally I try to get the logs tilted on one end so that gravity is working with the cut. The problem I had with this log is it was at a real angle and was way to large to try rotating for fear of rolling it down the hill. This log was 48" across and my bar will only accommodate a 31" with, so I had to do a side cap cut with my mini mill. We were then able to rotate the tree to that flat cut and use my big mill for cutting the slabs, but the tree was still at a steep angle heading down hill. That is why I was getting snipes on the end of each cut. Had I a third person to help, I wouldn't have not had sliding problems with the slabs. I'm sure you've milled wet oak, it's not light wood, so holding the mill and catching the slabs was a challenge.

Thanks for the nail tip, I'll remember it.

jerry-


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## BobL (Jul 22, 2011)

If log rails are used on every cut then the slab sliding issue can be handled like this.


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## 820wards (Jul 23, 2011)

BobL said:


> If log rails are used on every cut then the slab sliding issue can be handled like this.


 
OK, I'm going to fess up... I had to use my mini-mill to make the first flat cut on the log because.... I had forgotten my rails. It is usually the last item I load in the truck and completely forgot them. As per your drawing Bob, I have the ability to add a board to the back of my rails to keep the slabs from sliding, just didn't have the rails. I did have my 2x10 plank I could have used, but since the log piece had a flat surface cut from it by the owner trying to free hand a slab I was able to use the mini-mill to get one flat side. I was then able to use the mill on that surface to make my cuts from, it worked out pretty good. There was no need to lift one end of the log because the log was on such a steep angle.

Thanks for the tip/reminder.

jerry-


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## burningwood (Aug 9, 2011)

*Saw Dust*



Barthaigh said:


> Hi, I was just reading one of Bob L's reponses and he talked about how he does not have a problem with his air filters clogging. He stated that was because with the proper cutting conditions you have chips not dust. I have been milling ~10,000bf of boards each year and modifing chains and sharpening for years now and I still feel like I get dust to very small chips. Could anyone show what their sawdust looks like for me to compare to. I have 40 feet of 60" red oak to cut and thought now would be the time to make changes if they are needed, thanks for any input, Bart



This is from the milling we did on Sunday.



View attachment 193573


bw


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## john taliaferro (Aug 9, 2011)

We need some thing to reference size from a quarter or dollar bill


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## Doss (Aug 10, 2011)

Hmm... do you know what grits look like dry? That's what mine is like.


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## burningwood (Aug 14, 2011)

john taliaferro said:


> We need some thing to reference size from a quarter or dollar bill



This is from todays hemlock that we milled, when I sharpened the chains my setting on the back was 50 (changed it from 60).

View attachment 194310


I also bought one of these to help lift the log'

http://www.hi-lift.com/hi-lift-jacks/all-cast.html


bw


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## gr8scott72 (Aug 14, 2011)

820wards said:


> John,
> 
> The snipe was from when the mill came to end of the cut. The slab was so heavy we couldn't stop them from sliding off before the chain came to a stop.
> 
> ...


 
I had one that was pretty heavy come sliding off and about got the saw caught under it. I started doing this after that point:


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## 820wards (Aug 14, 2011)

burningwood said:


> This is from todays hemlock that we milled, when I sharpened the chains my setting on the back was 50 (changed it from 60).
> 
> View attachment 194310
> 
> ...


 
Burningwood,

I have an off-road jack for my Jeep and they work great for lifting those big logs. I also built one of these pieces to use with the jack and it works great. Another member posted a picture and I made one for myself. Sure saves on trying to lift with pivots and bars.

jerry-


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## burningwood (Aug 15, 2011)

820wards said:


> Burningwood,
> 
> I have an off-road jack for my Jeep and they work great for lifting those big logs. I also built one of these pieces to use with the jack and it works great. Another member posted a picture and I made one for myself. Sure saves on trying to lift with pivots and bars.
> 
> jerry-



Very nice, I'm not a welder but have someone that would do something like this for me.

Thanks
bw


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## sachsmo (Aug 15, 2011)




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## 820wards (Sep 7, 2011)

820wards said:


> Burningwood,
> 
> I have an off-road jack for my Jeep and they work great for lifting those big logs. I also built one of these pieces to use with the jack and it works great. Another member posted a picture and I made one for myself. Sure saves on trying to lift with pivots and bars.
> 
> jerry-



Here are some better pictures of the A-frame lift.
jerry-


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