# Quarter Sawing a Red Oak



## Sawyer Rob (Oct 3, 2006)

Hello fellow sawyers, 

Today i turned this, 







into this, 






and along the way, i sure got some nice wide 5/4 boards, 






you can go here --------> http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4378744 to see all of the pictures of how i did it... 

I hope you enjoy them,

Rob


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## CaseyForrest (Oct 3, 2006)

NIce wood there!!!!


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Oct 4, 2006)

I'm really starting to dig that Norwood. My Brother and I were talking last night about getting a smaller machine like that in the not-to-distant (we hope) future. Do you ever transport your mill to other sites or is all your milling done in one spot?


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## VT-Woodchuck (Oct 4, 2006)

Rob,
Saw this on the Wood Works site and was going to send you this site, I logged on here and here you was! Makes me very jealous and wanting to get into the woods. Thanks for taking the time to show us this great tutorial.


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## flht01 (Oct 4, 2006)

Sawyer Rob said:


> Hello fellow sawyers,
> 
> Today i turned this...
> ... you can go here --------> http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4378744 to see all of the pictures of how i did it...
> ...



Really nice, Thanks for taking the time to put it in your album. You know we'll want pictures of the finished product  

Hey aggie, you know the Norwood color scheme would really match that big stihl csm you've got :hmm3grin2orange: Give them a call and they will send you a nice cd that also shows some of their support equipment, well worth looking at.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Oct 4, 2006)

flht01 said:


> Hey aggie, you know the Norwood color scheme would really match that big stihl csm you've got :hmm3grin2orange: .



Yep, it's all about presentation. I'll have to get me a Kubota tractor to match, too.


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## Sawyer Rob (Oct 4, 2006)

> I'm in the market for a bandsaw. Which would you recommend? I've been hearing for some time that Woodmizers are great but there are other brands just as good at better prices.



Buying a sawmill is all about what your going to use it for... For the least expensive home owner mill, i'd get a Norwood Lumberlite 24.... If you have a lot of bigger logs and want something that is stronger and will saw faster, my choise would be the Norwood LM2000. After that, there's a HUGE increase in price, and your moveing up to hydraulics, more speed, and a much more complex mill... In that class, i'd look at Baker, Wood Mizer, and maybe Timberking.

My sawmill is a Norwood Lumbermate 2000, and it's been a very good mill. I believe the LM's are the most "quality" mill for the least $$ spent.

As for Mizers, they are a good company with some good mills, the only model i'm not fond of is the LT10.... There LT15 is in the same size range as my LM2000, but it has less std. capacity and cost more than a Lumbermate. Also i've sawed on one, and i like the features of the LM better.

As already mentioned, Norwood also makes a Lumberlite 24 that sells for right at 3K and it's by far the best saw in "that" class. For me, it puts the Mizer LT10 right to shame!

One brand i wouldn't buy at this time is a Hudson.... I just see too many complaints about them...

I'm glad you folks like the picts., thanks for viewing them.. 

Rob


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## Doctor Dave (Oct 4, 2006)

Sawyer Rob said:


> Buying a sawmill is all about what your going to use it for... For the least expensive home owner mill, i'd get a Norwood Lumberlite 24.... If you have a lot of bigger logs and want something that is stronger and will saw faster, my choise would be the Norwood LM2000. After that, there's a HUGE increase in price, and your moveing up to hydraulics, more speed, and a much more complex mill... In that class, i'd look at Baker, Wood Mizer, and maybe Timberking.
> 
> My sawmill is a Norwood Lumbermate 2000, and it's been a very good mill. I believe the LM's are the most "quality" mill for the least $$ spent.
> 
> ...




What's the max diameter log it'll take? It's possible that I'll run across some walnut that is 2-3 ft.diameter, in short lengths (4-8 ft.). These would probably be quite heavy as well. It would be a shame to go into fiirewood, as there are local cabinetmakers/furniture artists that would defiinitely use the short lengths, some of it crotch wood. 

Client has a huge California walnut that has about 1-2 years to live; he may take it down next summer. Any issues cutting wood that is already dry (aside from checking)? Most of the tree is still alive, but most of the leaves drop early and a lot of the small branches are dead; the subtrunks re-sprout, and so are "alive".

If any one's interested, I'll figure out how to post pics.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Oct 4, 2006)

Doctor Dave said:


> What's the max diameter log it'll take? It's possible that I'll run across some walnut that is 2-3 ft.diameter, in short lengths (4-8 ft.). These would probably be quite heavy as well. It would be a shame to go into fiirewood, as there are local cabinetmakers/furniture artists that would defiinitely use the short lengths, some of it crotch wood.
> 
> Client has a huge California walnut that has about 1-2 years to live; he may take it down next summer. Any issues cutting wood that is already dry (aside from checking)? Most of the tree is still alive, but most of the leaves drop early and a lot of the small branches are dead; the subtrunks re-sprout, and so are "alive".
> 
> If any one's interested, I'll figure out how to post pics.



Sure! I'll take it! Just send it down here for me, Dave. Thanks!:hmm3grin2orange:


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## Doctor Dave (Oct 4, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> Sure! I'll take it! Just send it down here for me, Dave. Thanks!:hmm3grin2orange:



Shipping would be a ?????. Maybe cheaper to lend me your mill--just dissassemble it and ship it up here? I'll take good care of it.

This tree has a lot of wood in it; if you layed the longer pieces (some could be left longer for travel and cut later, as they aren't straight) on the bunks, you could fill a log truck. 

Dream to-buy list:

mill
self-loading log truck
fork lift
pole barn to cover the mill and store the ricked boards
lot to put the pole barn on and store equipment

200 grand?

divorce

Alternative 1:

peavey
chainsaw mill
Stihl 044
1000 bucks? 

(problem--homeowner probably dosen't want me to camp out for a week and run a chainsaw all day)

Alternative 2:

Tell some local guys about the tree that have the equipment, sell the choice pieces to them, and get a lower price for removal for the client. 
Not as much fun, especially since I'm not a partner with the tree guy I refer work to that is too big for me (this job DEFINITELY is). 

What's rough-cut 5/4 walnut go for?
Rough guess, 800-1000 board feet in the tree, if you count all the off-sized boards. Very few would be over 8 ft., unless they were 6-10 in. after edging.

I think I asked before, but what are the steps needed in posting a pic here? My pics are currently jpg, but open with KodakEasyshare.


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## Sawyer Rob (Oct 4, 2006)

I just cut this from Norwoods site,



> With the Norwood® LumberMate™, you can -
> Mill hardwood or softwood logs up to 31" (77.5cm) in diameter,
> Cut boards and beams up to 24" (60cm) wide accurately to 1/32nd of an inch; and Shave veneer as thin as 1/16th of an inch.



I've seen guys put 36" logs on a LM2000 and saw it up, i've also talked to a guy that did a 40" and trimmed it a bit with his chainsaw.... I'm here to tell you, it's a lot of work sawing big logs that max out the mill.... I have sawn a 32" oak on mine without any problems though.

For oversize logs, i free hand split them with a chainsaw, and saw them up with my mill... It goes quite fast that way, and makes sawing them much faster and easier. You don't need a big chainsaw to do it either....

Rob


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## woodshop (Oct 4, 2006)

Thanks for the pics sawyer rob... you are quickly making an LM fan out of me. I've been looking into the LM2000 (call it fantasizing if you will...) and I think you are correct when you say most bang for the buck. However, like Dr Dave, I lack the space at this point. Everything else I could work around and would already have a big bandmill. But, for the foreseeable future, I will be "camping out" as Dr Dave says, when a tree has much more than 2 8ft sections. Using the csm/Ripsaw combo, I can slice up a 36" 8 ft log in 5-6 hours. That's soup to nuts, unloading and setting up, milling, loading 300 ft of lumber into the van, temp stacking the remaining for next trip etc etc. 

I enjoyed your "show". Thanks


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## Adkpk (Oct 4, 2006)

Very nice, Sawyer! Um that is a nice setup. How long did that take?


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## Sawyer Rob (Oct 4, 2006)

> Very nice, Sawyer! Um that is a nice setup. How long did that take?



TOO LONG, as my nephue showed up with a doe he had harvested a couple hours eariler. (with his bow) He asked if i would help him take care of it, so i did. I then went back to sawing, BUT i also had to go in and eat fresh venison, so there was another "interruption!!" 

Anyway, these are my logs, and my lumber, so there was no big rush to finish.

The actuall sawing goes along pretty fast, it's all the log turing, and picture taking that really slows things down!!

Rob 

my sawmill pictures.... http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=4378744


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## woodshop (Oct 4, 2006)

Doctor Dave said:


> What's rough-cut 5/4 walnut go for?
> Rough guess, 800-1000 board feet in the tree, if you count all the off-sized boards. Very few would be over 8 ft., unless they were 6-10 in. after edging.
> 
> I think I asked before, but what are the steps needed in posting a pic here? My pics are currently jpg, but open with KodakEasyshare.



Cost of wood varies a lot depending on what part of the country you are talking about. VERY rough ballpark, here on east coast, between 3 and 5 buck a ft, but thats kiln dried. Also, thats graded lumber, which means much of the lumber less than around 8ft in length will not be worth as much due to the dimensions alone. Now if you're talking about figured pieces, like from a crotch, then all bets are off, and the price really can get crazy, depending on how large, how well defined the figure is etc etc. Also, SOME woodworkers and professional shops won't take lumber that has not been professionally kiln dried because of the possibility of internal stresses in the boards due to improper drying. Obviously, lots of variables when you ask how much lumber is worth. 

posting a pic... click on the MANAGE ATTACHMENTS button in the Additional Options below where you reply to a thread. Then you have to browse to the spot on your hard drive where you have the pics filed, and upload them. Keep image size to around 150K or so by resizing the pic with your pic editor. For putting pic right in post, I use photobucket.com. Open an account, upload your pics to there. When composing thread here, click on the Insert Image button up top, then copy and paste the url from below the photobucket pic to there, done.


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## Marc1 (Oct 4, 2006)

Nice mill and nice timber Sawyer Rob.

Question...could you quarter saw the same way but bark to bark without taking away those couple of inches to make it square?
One more, how do you place the log on your mill?


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## Sawyer Rob (Oct 4, 2006)

> Question...could you quarter saw the same way but bark to bark without taking away those couple of inches to make it square?



Yes, but not takeing those slabs off leaves bark on the endges. Guess what all of the "lumber eating" bugs love best???? "If"' there's any bark in your stickered pile of lumber, you have "greatly increased" the chances of all kinds of bugs from powder post beatles on down to get into your lumber.... When i took my jack knife out and peeled a bit of bark from that hickory, this is what i found!!






I want to point out, there were NO BUGS of any kind in the lumber, they were all under the bark on there way into the lumber!!





> One more, how do you place the log on your mill?



I use a tractor, but the cable log turner is also a "log loader", so if you don't have a tractor, you can use that, or put your mill on the low side of a hill and use a cant hook, or "parbuckle" them on with a car/pickup or any number of other ways...

Rob


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## woodshop (Oct 4, 2006)

Sawyer Rob said:


> "If"' there's any bark in your stickered pile of lumber, you have "greatly increased" the chances of all kinds of bugs from powder post beatles on down to get into your lumber....
> Rob


I second that... learned the hard way.


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## Doctor Dave (Oct 4, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Cost of wood varies a lot depending on what part of the country you are talking about. VERY rough ballpark, here on east coast, between 3 and 5 buck a ft, but thats kiln dried. Also, thats graded lumber, which means much of the lumber less than around 8ft in length will not be worth as much due to the dimensions alone. Now if you're talking about figured pieces, like from a crotch, then all bets are off, and the price really can get crazy, depending on how large, how well defined the figure is etc etc. Also, SOME woodworkers and professional shops won't take lumber that has not been professionally kiln dried because of the possibility of internal stresses in the boards due to improper drying. Obviously, lots of variables when you ask how much lumber is worth.
> 
> posting a pic... click on the MANAGE ATTACHMENTS button in the Additional Options below where you reply to a thread. Then you have to browse to the spot on your hard drive where you have the pics filed, and upload them. Keep image size to around 150K or so by resizing the pic with your pic editor. For putting pic right in post, I use photobucket.com. Open an account, upload your pics to there. When composing thread here, click on the Insert Image button up top, then copy and paste the url from below the photobucket pic to there, done.




Thanks! I'll try it soon.


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