# wood to mill



## terryknight (Oct 10, 2012)

Today i picked up some cherry logs to mill with my new Alaskan Mill. 2 were 8'6" and the other was 11'6" about 16-18" in diameter. My buddy helped me out and got a load of firewood


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## john taliaferro (Oct 10, 2012)

Those are some nice rigs and your friend got some nice wood to 
were are gonna need pictures when you cut the logs open ya no .


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## terryknight (Oct 10, 2012)

john taliaferro said:


> Those are some nice rigs and your friend got some nice wood to
> were are gonna need pictures when you cut the logs open ya no .



thanks and will do. just need to find time now


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## qbilder (Oct 10, 2012)

Is that domesticated cherry? The smooth bark looks like a cherry tree I milled. It looked completely different than wild black cherry as a log, but the wood looked pretty much the same.


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## terryknight (Oct 11, 2012)

qbilder said:


> Is that domesticated cherry? The smooth bark looks like a cherry tree I milled. It looked completely different than wild black cherry as a log, but the wood looked pretty much the same.



i believe it is. i'll get you pictures when i get to milling it. hope to next week


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## lmbeachy (Oct 12, 2012)

Logs look pretty straight for wild cherry on the eastern shore. I have some that have been cut for a couple of years but none that straight. Nice rig to load and haul logs. lmbeachy


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## terryknight (Oct 18, 2012)

well i had a day to play with my mill






packed up everything i thought i would need






forgot somethings namely my toolbox doh!! 

saw these guys mocking me all day. goose season doesn't start til the 17th. but i have figured out the best way to shoot them is to mill and they fly right over your head






finally got the log set up and the mill set up











first slab. milling is a success






continued in a second post....


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## terryknight (Oct 18, 2012)

had a piece split on my. that was a little surprising






man this makes some sawdust (another pic of the mill, i really like this thing). 






wood cut and stacked











read all the info/tips/tricks in the sticky it was very helpful. i will add: eye drops would have been nice, got some of that sawdust in my eyes. i learned alot and would like to think i got better and more efficient as a cut. thanks for all the help guys.


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## john taliaferro (Oct 19, 2012)

Ok take 4 advill and go to bed , first call is 6 and well do it again .


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## mikeb1079 (Oct 19, 2012)

looking good terry! 

that timber sure looks like fruit cherry, not black cherry which is what i was thinking it was. i've always wondered what the other cherry species looked like and now i know. 

don't worry about that splitting action cherry (at least black cherry) is known for it especially anything around the center of the log.

good job


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## starsailor (Nov 4, 2012)

What's the concrete structure you're milling on top of? It look like a nice height to save your back over a long day of milling.


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## terryknight (Nov 4, 2012)

starsailor said:


> What's the concrete structure you're milling on top of? It look like a nice height to save your back over a long day of milling.



it's an old water trough works great so long as he wind is blowing the right direction


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## Gravedigger (Nov 12, 2012)

Is that Blue Ford truck owner Frank. If so that trailer has been behind my truck alot with wood also


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## terryknight (Nov 12, 2012)

Gravedigger said:


> Is that Blue Ford truck owner Frank. If so that trailer has been behind my truck alot with wood also



yep that is frank's truck. i know him through a powerstroke forum


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## Gravedigger (Nov 12, 2012)

I'm his wife's uncle and that's my father-in-laws trailer. 

Been looking at milling . i have a couple logs that need milled.


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## discounthunter (Nov 12, 2012)

looks good. fruit trees are really prone to splitting(not checking,splitting!) only thing i would have done different is cut parallel to that big crack,not perpendicular.


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## Mac88 (Nov 12, 2012)

Terry, do you have plans for that wood? Just curious. We just put a few hundred board feet of 1-by red oak in the basement to dry, with another hundred or so to go, and maybe a hundred of cherry. The Mrs has been making bookcase noises. ;o)


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## terryknight (Nov 13, 2012)

okay I met the father in law. i was at their house warming for a little while. don't know if you were there or not? 

i am having a blast milling. definitely worth it, IMO


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## j_h_s (Nov 19, 2012)

*Ripcheck*

Expanding on what discounthunter said:

Always try and mill logs parallel with the rip check in a log.

View attachment 263019


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## Gravedigger (Nov 19, 2012)

View attachment 263093
View attachment 263094


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## terryknight (Nov 19, 2012)

Gravedigger said:


> View attachment 263093
> View attachment 263094



it that the log?? or should i say was that the log??


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## Gravedigger (Nov 19, 2012)

That's all oak. First of three loads. I work for a school district and get a few trees from there. They were taken down by the power company.


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## terryknight (Nov 19, 2012)

that's right you said cherry and that didn't look like cherry at all.


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## terryknight (Nov 26, 2012)

well learned more about milling this weekend and somehow messed up one of my milling chains. busted the top off one of the cutters and really screwed up two more. 

also milled the largest log i have milled to date. 11ft long 22" diameter cherry log. i set up the mill the normal way with the ladder supported on 2x4s and i learned that the ladder will flex when you add a mill to it and it will flex even more on the side with the power head. made it three cuts before i figured it out. i will do better when i finish the second half of the log and use the other chain that is not messed up.


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