# Sawing bar tops out of a 32" log - photos



## Coalsmoke (Aug 3, 2009)

Hey guys, thought I'd help feed the addiction for pictures that we seem to have. I sold the chainsaw carriage sawmill and bought a Norwood LM2000. It took a while to get set up and do some practice logs to get the hang of the machine, but now that everything is dialed in it sure is a dream compared to the chainsaw mill. This was the first wood order that it saw, a 24" wide bar top slab. In the future I won't be trying to saw stuff quite this wide, the mill can cut 24" wide, but with a 24" max height it can't take a log large enough to produce a 24" cant, which makes trying to get 24" wide slabs 3" thick kind of a pain. I think closer to 20" is its happy zone.

Anyways, the log was around 2500 - 2700lbs, had to roll it part of the way and then when the road narrowed I tried to drag it but the tractor I am borrowing didn't have enough oomph behind it. 







So, I had to enlist the help of a smaller second tractor and between it pushing and me pulling we got it there. My father being retired decided this project would be worth sticking around for. I'm glad he did, the larger slabs were about 350lbs each.






Picture 3 we had to hew off some bark so the head would fit over the log to take the first cut.


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 3, 2009)

*Part 2...*

Trying to whittle it down to a manageable size without losing the 24" of width needed for the slabs. 






The last two pictures show the finished slabs. They are west coast Douglas Fir.


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## dave k (Aug 3, 2009)

Looks like a lot of work but fun all the same !


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## Rookie1 (Aug 3, 2009)

Very nice setup. Nice pics too.


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 3, 2009)

Thanks guys.


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## SilverBox (Aug 3, 2009)

Nice pics, how do you keep slabs that size from cracking or warping while drying.. I always have a heck of a time .


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## BIG JAKE (Aug 3, 2009)

How long did it take you to slice up that log? Nice job!


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 3, 2009)

SilverBox said:


> Nice pics, how do you keep slabs that size from cracking or warping while drying.. I always have a heck of a time .



Before this, the widest slabs I had done on the chainsaw mill were 16", and they dried out good. I'm not all that sure how these will go, but I will paint the ends and hope for the best I guess. 




BIG JAKE said:


> How long did it take you to slice up that log? Nice job!



About 5 hours from getting it off the pile of logs to finished. Most of the time was spent handling it. I need to get a bigger tractor.


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## Backwoods (Aug 3, 2009)

We all test the limits of our mills and our selves from time to time. That was a good log to see what the mill was really capable of handling. It looks like the saw was cutting straight, sometime a butt cut on a big Doug-fir can be to hard to get straight cuts unless crawl thru the cut. There is always a need for more toys that we can push to there limits as well. That truck in the back ground should drag that log with out even grunting.


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 4, 2009)

Backwoods, I like your website. That's a nice mill you have.

You brought up a very good point I hadn't thought too much of about the limits and finding them and testing them. I think there is a lot of value in that instead of always sticking to what is comfortable. 

The dodge 3500 in the background would skid alright, but my road is shaped like a J at the mill and the truck would never make the corner and over the dirt bridge. Up until last month that truck was my baby, but I sold it (to my father) and bought an older dodge, one that is not as pretty (or costly for that matter). Its part of my attempt to completely eliminate all debt and live that way, a simpler lifestyle by choice. It seems so easy to get caught up in the race, at least for me, maybe I'm an addict


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## Kicker_92 (Aug 4, 2009)

Nice log, did that come off your property? That's some good fir!

Since you're in Langley, are you interested in doing any custom sawing for others? I have had quite a few people stop by when I'm working with my CSM and ask me to saw up their logs. I don't have any extra time to do it, so if you want some work I can send them your way.

Just email me your contact info and I'll pass it along...


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## wavefreak (Aug 4, 2009)

Really good pics. Hard to imagine they dragged stuff like that with mules


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 4, 2009)

wavefreak said:


> Really good pics. Hard to imagine they dragged stuff like that with mules



Thanks guys.

Yeah, no kidding about the mules.


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 4, 2009)

Kicker_92 said:


> Nice log, did that come off your property? That's some good fir!
> 
> Since you're in Langley, are you interested in doing any custom sawing for others? I have had quite a few people stop by when I'm working with my CSM and ask me to saw up their logs. I don't have any extra time to do it, so if you want some work I can send them your way.
> 
> Just email me your contact info and I'll pass it along...



Nope, it was bought. Because I'm selling this stuff all of my wood is bought through a licensed log broker with the appropriate timber marks, etc. Got to keep it legal. I'll send you a message.


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## excess650 (Aug 5, 2009)

I've run into some logs larger than my Norwood would handle. What I've done is either trimmed them freehand with the chainsaw if they were close to max mill size, or cut them down with the Alaskan and Mini Mill.

I cut lumber on the bandsaw mill and slabs with the Alaskan.

The DF that I've been cutting has been down and drying for 18 months. Its a :censored: to cut. I don't know if its normally abrasive, but my blades go dull really quickly whether the log was debarked or not. What is more interesting is that there are some big red elm logs at the same place. I slabbed some of it up, and put some on the Norwood. With a blade that I thought was dull after cutting DF, the red elm cut like butter. Its been down for the same 18 months, but still wet inside from laying on the ground.


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## Kicker_92 (Aug 5, 2009)

excess650 said:


> The DF that I've been cutting has been down and drying for 18 months. Its a :censored: to cut. I don't know if its normally abrasive, but my blades go dull really quickly whether the log was debarked or not.



I know the feeling, we're working on some Fir logs from about 9 months ago. They cut great green, but it's very slow once they season. On the upside though, you get a nicer suface finish since they're harder. (with a CSM)


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 5, 2009)

excess650 said:


> I've run into some logs larger than my Norwood would handle. What I've done is either trimmed them freehand with the chainsaw if they were close to max mill size, or cut them down with the Alaskan and Mini Mill.
> 
> I cut lumber on the bandsaw mill and slabs with the Alaskan.
> 
> The DF that I've been cutting has been down and drying for 18 months. Its a :censored: to cut. I don't know if its normally abrasive, but my blades go dull really quickly whether the log was debarked or not. What is more interesting is that there are some big red elm logs at the same place. I slabbed some of it up, and put some on the Norwood. With a blade that I thought was dull after cutting DF, the red elm cut like butter. Its been down for the same 18 months, but still wet inside from laying on the ground.



I like to think of dry Douglas fir as more akin to concrete than wood


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## Backwoods (Aug 5, 2009)

I was finishing up cutting out a house project, Cedar siding, Doug-fir, inside wall, and blue pine ceilings when he had the Cat-988 from next door drag out a big old dry Doug-fir snag from down in the ravine. He wanted a dining room table cut out of it. 5”x 5” for the legs and 3”x 24” book matched top and 3”x 16” benches. It took three saws to mill that one log up. Concrete is soft compared to that Doug-fir log.


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## Kicker_92 (Aug 5, 2009)

So how does dry Douglas Fir compare to the hardwoods some of you guys cut like oak, or maple? As a finished product such as flooring, it's supposed to be much softer, so why is it such a problem to cut once dried?


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## Backwoods (Aug 5, 2009)

The grain of Doug-fir is real pronounced between the summer wood and the winter wood, similar to pine. The difference is Doug-fir is a fuzzy wood. In fact, it is the only wood that I wear gloves when milling because of the fine slivers. Then add in that the resin in the wood hardens as the wood dries out. When milling a butt cut or a leaner the tension in the wood and the cross grain of the wood wants to pull the saw with the softer grain of the wood. Doug-fir will also have heavy dark sections of pitch that load up the saw real quick. The knots are very hard, so if you do not slow down for them they will snake the saw. I built a picnic table out of Doug-fir and the grain stood up to the point that I had to sand it down so that you would not get slivers through blue jeans. 
The gates that have a redder tint to them are Doug-fir the whiter gates are pine.


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## Brmorgan (Aug 7, 2009)

Coalsmoke said:


> Nope, it was bought. Because I'm selling this stuff all of my wood is bought through a licensed log broker with the appropriate timber marks, etc. Got to keep it legal. I'll send you a message.



Nice slabs. Way to push the limits of your saw! That's good though, now you know what it can do.

Why would it not be legal if it came off your property or you bought it off someone else's private land? You would have legal title to the log if it was on your land, thereby removing the need for a broker in the first place. I'm not saying you're not correct, I just don't know the finer points of the law in this area myself. I have a hard time believing that they can tell a guy he can't sell wood cut from a tree that he legally owned though.


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## Backwoods (Aug 7, 2009)

Here in Oregon they have what is called a riparian area along creeks, streams, rivers, and springs. Trees removed from these areas have to have a permit to be sold, so unless they are a hazard tree it is hard to get a permit. However, you can use the wood from these trees for building on your own place with out a permit. 
I have a piece of land that borders a river, has a creek running thru it, and a spring at the back. When I had them come out to let me know which trees I could log. They found one that was 6” out side of all of the riparian areas.


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## Coalsmoke (Aug 10, 2009)

Brmorgan said:


> Nice slabs. Way to push the limits of your saw! That's good though, now you know what it can do.
> 
> Why would it not be legal if it came off your property or you bought it off someone else's private land? You would have legal title to the log if it was on your land, thereby removing the need for a broker in the first place. I'm not saying you're not correct, I just don't know the finer points of the law in this area myself. I have a hard time believing that they can tell a guy he can't sell wood cut from a tree that he legally owned though.



Well I certainly don't know all there is to know on this subject, but, I know that we have a rule down here that you need a permit to clear more than a certain percentage of the trees from your property, and I have been told that any logs being bought or transported must be timbermarked. I don't rock the boat, I'm too busy as it is, I don't need to ask too many questions. As long as I can get my wood and sell my product I'm happy. I have heard of people locally and in central interior of BC getting in trouble for transporting logs without a timbermark.


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