# milling 35" poplar log



## woodshop (Apr 19, 2008)

A woodshop can never have too much poplar, it's good for framing cabinets, great for drawer sides and bottoms, it machines easy, it is light and strong. Since it has such tiny pores the grain is tight and easily machined. Was given this 35" dia poplar log to mill. Most of the regulars on here have seen this routine umpteen times, but I took pics today, and don't mind sharing yet again. The log has been sitting since last fall, but was still solid and clean once I cut off the ends to make it 8ft. 

First I sliced off one side, then turned the 2000+ lb log 90 degrees with my floor jack, and sliced off a second side. 










Since I'm not making table tops and dresser drawer fronts out of this stuff, I rarely use a piece wider than 9 inches, so made an 9" wide cant with the csm. At a full 32 inch wide cut, the csm was moving about an inch every 5 seconds. Thus it took a full 8 minutes to go the entire 8ft. length. 





Slid the 600 lb cant off the log by pounding plastic wedges all four corners, which allowed me to push it off. Then used the floor jack to right it so I could mill it into boards with the Ripsaw bandmill. I sliced this one a true 4/4 since I have a particular need for 5/8 inch poplar (gonna make some bead board with it for a kitchen). I set the Ripsaw deep and just raised the depth an inch for successive cuts. Poplar is REAL easy on bandsaw blades. This blade was not a new one when I started, but still at the end of the day I had almost 300 bd ft of mostly 4/4, so lots of linear feet on the blade, and it was still cutting sharp and true. Keeping the blade out of bark as much as you can REALLY extends the life of the blade. 





Splayed out like a deck of cards... I left the top board a little thick because I didn't want to run through that bark.


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## Marklambert61 (Apr 19, 2008)

*Sweet*

Nice Job....


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## Sawyer Rob (Apr 19, 2008)

Nice picts., thanks for posting them!

Rob


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## dustytools (Apr 19, 2008)

Nice work Woodshop. Is the other log in the background gonna be yours too?


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## woodshop (Apr 20, 2008)

dustytools said:


> Nice work Woodshop. Is the other log in the background gonna be yours too?



naaah... that log in the background is too far gone, has fruiting bodies all over it, which means the inside is already starting to rot. To bad because it was the straightest log of the 5 he dropped. No noticeable taper in the whole 12 ft. Oh well, water under the bridge. If it was maple, I'd open it up and see if there was some sweet spalting going on, but poplar doesn't spalt well, a bit too soft.


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## big daddio (Apr 20, 2008)

nice millin' job there woodshop. glad folks around there don't have to nail objects to trees in their yard. i might be the oddball but i like poplar, have even used it for cabinets, bookshelves, etc. like that canthook you had in the pics. never seen one like it. [could that be a woodshop original?]


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## MikeInParadise (Apr 20, 2008)

Nice Log! Great pictures. The sun is out here and the snow is going away quickly so maybe in a week or so I can get back out and start some milling for a fence.



> A woodshop can never have too much poplar, it's good for framing cabinets, great for drawer sides and bottoms, it machines easy, it is light and strong.



You can also build furniture out of it. A story. I had purchased a skid of rough red oak from a pallet mill that I was going to use to build some furniture for my daughter. 

I had built a little storage box out of popular and when she saw it she asked if I could make her furniture out of that wood. I tried to talk her out of it but she held firm and I am glad she did. It makes very interesting furniture that is very unique.


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## VT-Woodchuck (Apr 20, 2008)

Hey ws,
Great pics! I had the need for some poplar last week and what I have has only been stickered since last fall so off to the local lumber supplier. 6 - 1x6x8' came to $78.00 dollars! My stepson has a commercial account there so I ended up paying $71. So, with what you have there is worth close to $1000 to you. Not bad for a little labor. 
What really gets me is I have several thousand bd ft standing in my woodlot but with a torn rotator cuff, I probably won't be firing up the saws anytime soon.


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## rayvil01 (Apr 20, 2008)

Since I'm not making table tops and dresser drawer fronts out of this stuff, I rarely use a piece wider than 9 inches, so made an 9" wide cant with the csm. At a full 32 inch wide cut, the csm was moving about an inch every 5 seconds. *Thus it took a full 8 minutes to go the entire 8ft. length. *





Great pics and comments, Woodshop. Thanks. Poplar is handy wood to have around. We used to built tobacco barns out of it dead green. It was easy nailing. But ten years later, it's hard to get a nail into it. It weathers into the prettiest gray. 

Question, please: When you take that long of a cut, 8 minutes, are you pausing part-way through to cool the saw?


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## Adkpk (Apr 20, 2008)

Woods you're the cream of the crop. Those pics will be worth something every time.


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## BobL (Apr 20, 2008)

Nice Milling Photo essay WS!

Nice furniture Mike - they look great!

Cheers


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## TNMIKE (Apr 20, 2008)

*Is that extruded aluminum on the starter course?*

Where did ya get it?


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## woodshop (Apr 20, 2008)

rayvil01 said:


> ...Question, please: When you take that long of a cut, 8 minutes, are you pausing part-way through to cool the saw?



I know this might sound silly, but when I'm worst case scenario, like maxing out my csm on a huge log like this where there is potential to be going full throttle for a long period of time, I do stop, but only for about 10 seconds or so every few minutes. My thinking is, these saws were designed by Husky to fell and buck huge wood, logs like this. It takes a minute or so to buck a log this size. So if I was moving down the log bucking it into firewood size, I would be sawing flat out full power for a minute or two, then pause (idle down) for 10 seconds or so as I pull out the saw and move to the next chunk. Again, I know the saw was designed to take at least that, so I kinda simulate it by stopping for about 10 seconds idleing down, as if I was bucking it into firewood. Now, that said, I'd be willing to bet a paycheck or two that even if I ran down that log full power for 8-10 full minutes non-stop, the saw would still be fine at the end of the day. I'm just being a little cautious with my investment.


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## TNMIKE (Apr 20, 2008)

*That might be a steel thin wall box tube*

My eyes are getting worse by the day..Looks like a really good application,.


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## scottr (Apr 20, 2008)

TNMIKE said:


> Where did ya get it?



Mike, that's the Ripsaw Guide Beam that comes with the mill. http://www.ripsaw.com/


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## TNMIKE (Apr 20, 2008)

*Thanks*

I think I can get some cable tray that is very close to that. Im gonna look as soon as they let me out of the house.


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## woodshop (Apr 20, 2008)

MikeInParadise said:


> ...I had built a little storage box out of popular and when she saw it she asked if I could make her furniture out of that wood. I tried to talk her out of it but she held firm and I am glad she did. It makes very interesting furniture that is very unique...


Nice furniture Mike, as one woodworker to another, I'm impressed. Never made anything furniture grade from poplar, but maybe I should, just to see what it can do. It's a little soft though... but then so is cherry and walnut compared to maple or even oak so that probably wouldn't be an issue. 



VT-Woodchuck said:


> Hey ws, Great pics! I had the need for some poplar last week and what I have has only been stickered since last fall so off to the local lumber supplier. 6 - 1x6x8' came to $78.00 dollars! My stepson has a commercial account there so I ended up paying $71. So, with what you have there is worth close to $1000 to you. Not bad for a little labor...



You might want a throw a moisture meter on that poplar, mine usually dries to 15-20% MC in less than 3 months. That 4/4 in my pics will be dry by June for sure being warmer spring months. Looks like your poplar came out to about $3 a bd ft. If I go retail around here (SE Pennsylvania) that is about what I would be paying. If I run an hour or so west though, to the more rural parts of PA, like one of the Amish mills, I can get it for less than $2 in quantity. That's kiln dry though... wet off the saw from a mill out there probably a lot less. Say buck and a half. So that 300 ft I milled yesterday in about 6 hours time would have cost me say $400 bucks. Here is the stack from that first cant, about 150 bd ft, which I could have bought for around $225 if I drove a couple hours west of me.







big daddio said:


> ... like that canthook you had in the pics. never seen one like it. [could that be a woodshop original?]


I found that American chestnut handled antique canthook at a flea market for $4. I like it and thus use it better than the $75 professional one I bought because IT WORKS, grabs logs better etc. 



TNMIKE said:


> Where did ya get it?


 If you're talking about the guide beams I run the mills down the log on, they come with the Ripsaw bandmill. They attach to the log via hand tightened jig with a couple pins you pound into the end of the log. Here is a better pic close up. They sell them without the Ripsaw, but they are pricey. Think around $75 for 2 5ft sections with log attachments.






Here are a few more pics of yesterdays milling. First is slabbing off the second cant from that log and righting it with the floor jack. Then a couple of close-ups of the Ripsaw, since lots of people ask for more details on that.


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## TNMIKE (Apr 20, 2008)

*I checked on the guide beam price*

They want 175 bucks for the guide beam kit.


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## Matildasmate (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi Woodshop ...... One never gets sick of seeing great pics mate That cant hook looks alright to ! Mike that furniture looks great mate ! Cheers MM


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## deeker (Apr 20, 2008)

Woodshop, great pics and story. Looks like a lot of work, and worth it. Keep up the great work!!!! opcorn: opcorn:  


Kevin Davis
Ruff Cutts


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## lmbeachy (Apr 20, 2008)

Good show Woodshop. Did you get the whole log worked Sat. and about how long did it take you. That is some nice looking lumber. I bought a piece of extruded alum. just about identical to what you have, for the guide on my mill. I am fortunate in that there is a salvage yard about three miles from me that handles a kind of alum and stainless steel. If I remember right I think I had to pay about $107.00 for it. One more question, did you put all that lumber in your van to haul it home. I bet that would have made an interesting picture.


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## mysawmyrules (Apr 20, 2008)

May be a dumb question but is that just a white poplar? or something different. We have lots of white poplar and black poplar and have never thought it as more than poor fire wood and pulp wood. My curiosity has been peeked and I am going to start looking for a nice straight log to work on.Thanks.
Jon W


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## woodshop (Apr 20, 2008)

lmbeachy said:


> Good show Woodshop. Did you get the whole log worked Sat. and about how long did it take you. That is some nice looking lumber. ..... One more question, did you put all that lumber in your van to haul it home. I bet that would have made an interesting picture.


I was at the log about 6 hours, and came home with about 300 bd ft, all loaded in my van with all my equipement. I left the bottom section of log, maybe a hundred ft left, as I was getting tired, will go back and get it after work one day this week. 

Yup aluminum is not cheap... how are you going to attach your aluminum guide to the log? I think you can buy just the attaching jig from Ripsaw, but of course it would have to be a 6 inch wide guide bar. If your good in the machine shop, you could make your own. If you want close up pics and dimensions, let me know and I'll get them to you.


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## woodshop (Apr 20, 2008)

mysawmyrules said:


> May be a dumb question but is that just a white poplar? or something different. We have lots of white poplar and black poplar and have never thought it as more than poor fire wood and pulp wood. My curiosity has been peeked and I am going to start looking for a nice straight log to work on.Thanks.
> Jon W



There are many trees with the name "poplar", but around here, when you say poplar, you are talking about tulip poplar. (liriodendron tulipifera). The leaves have a sortof tulip shape. It is common, usually grows tall and strait, and the heartwood is green. The best grades are the whiter parts of the log without any green in the board. It is used a lot by the furniture industry as carcass material, and also cabinet shops as framing etc. It is also one of the most paintable woods, and thus is used as trim etc.


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## peterrum (Apr 21, 2008)

Nice photos Woodshop and great looking furniture Mike. Woodshop, the photos showing your first cut seem to show a bit of a wave in the board. Did you have some trouble on the first cut or is that just my bad eyes. If you did have some trouble were you able to diagnose the problem and how did you fix it.


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## lmbeachy (Apr 21, 2008)

woodshop said:


> I was at the log about 6 hours, and came home with about 300 bd ft, all loaded in my van with all my equipement. I left the bottom section of log, maybe a hundred ft left, as I was getting tired, will go back and get it after work one day this week.
> 
> Yup aluminum is not cheap... how are you going to attach your aluminum guide to the log? I think you can buy just the attaching jig from Ripsaw, but of course it would have to be a 6 inch wide guide bar. If your good in the machine shop, you could make your own. If you want close up pics and dimensions, let me know and I'll get them to you.



Woodshop: Sorry I didn't let my slow dial up at home finish downloading or I would have seen the answers to my questions. As to the guide rail, I use it on the mill that I made, like a Logosol mill. Thanks for the kind offer.


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## woodshop (Apr 21, 2008)

peterrum said:


> Nice photos Woodshop and great looking furniture Mike. Woodshop, the photos showing your first cut seem to show a bit of a wave in the board. Did you have some trouble on the first cut or is that just my bad eyes. If you did have some trouble were you able to diagnose the problem and how did you fix it.



I agree, in those first 5 pics I posted at the beginning of this thread, in the first and second pic, that first cut does look wavy, maybe due to the coloring of the wood and the angle it was shot. If you look at that same face in the third pic though (the one under the guide beam) you can see it's pretty flat under that beam. It is a rough surface though, as those slabs were taken off with my csm, and I don't use ripping chain since these cuts will essentially be the sides of the boards I'm not worried about smooth face. I use regular round chisel skip tooth chain. (Oregon 75JG). It cuts a little faster than the Bailey's ripping chain I was using, and doesn't get dull as fast.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Apr 21, 2008)

Nice stuff.

It never gets old seeing your work!


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## curdy (Apr 22, 2008)

OK, haven't been around in a while...but had to drop in and say hey. Nice looking lumber. 

Thanks again for the firewood, is this the tree that it came from? 

BTW, you can always consider my place somewhere you can get rid of the firewood!


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## johncinco (Apr 29, 2008)

woodshop said:


> naaah... that log in the background is too far gone, has fruiting bodies all over it, which means the inside is already starting to rot. To bad because it was the straightest log of the 5 he dropped. No noticeable taper in the whole 12 ft. Oh well, water under the bridge. If it was maple, I'd open it up and see if there was some sweet spalting going on, but poplar doesn't spalt well, a bit too soft.




I'd have to give it a try. I have some ash that got spalted, looks pretty cool and I am sure I can use it for something along the way. I am trying to get a guy to run some of my ash through his moulder to make me some T&G flooring.


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## English Oak (Jul 6, 2008)

Hi woodshop. Fanatastic pictures as always. Really enjoy the story in your photo's. 

I live in the u.k and wanted to ask do you know if the company that makes the 'Ripsaw', ships them to Europe? Is it a worthy investment? I have a csm a the momment and it runs really well, but the combo of the 2 seems to work well for you. Also I'm visiting the states (L.A) in Sept so I could bring one back with me then.

Tom


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## scottr (Jul 6, 2008)

English Oak said:


> Hi woodshop. Fanatastic pictures as always. Really enjoy the story in your photo's.
> 
> I live in the u.k and wanted to ask do you know if the company that makes the 'Ripsaw', ships them to Europe? Is it a worthy investment? I have a csm a the momment and it runs really well, but the combo of the 2 seems to work well for you. Also I'm visiting the states (L.A) in Sept so I could bring one back with me then.
> 
> Tom



Tom, I did not see the email address on the website. http://www.ripsaw.com  When I ordered my ripsaw it took a month to get it so you might want to call or write them. You said (L.A) are you talking about lower Alabama, Los Angles, or Louisiana? The ripsaw is now built in Grant Alabama.


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## Burlhunter13 (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice job woodshop!

Heck of a lot of work.....but sure feels good at the end of the day !


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## woodshop (Jul 7, 2008)

scottr said:


> Tom, I did not see the email address on the website. http://www.ripsaw.com When I ordered my ripsaw it took a month to get it so you might want to call or write them. You said (L.A) are you talking about lower Alabama, Los Angles, or Louisiana? The ripsaw is now built in Grant Alabama.



Ripsaws email on their contact page on their site says [email protected]

I've also emailed [email protected] and gotten response for things. She is the one I sent my story and pics to that are still featured on their website. Not sure if she is still active though, as last few times I've contacted them I've just called and talked to the owner, heck of a nice guy by the way. Not sure if they ship out of country, but a quick call would settle that.


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## Brmorgan (Jul 7, 2008)

TNMIKE said:


> I think I can get some cable tray that is very close to that. Im gonna look as soon as they let me out of the house.



I thought of cable tray too, but the stuff we have at the sawmill I work at is way too flimsy as is. Maybe there's something sturdier though.


Am I incorrect in thinking that a tulip poplar is not a true poplar of the Aspen family? For some reason I remember reading that somewhere...


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## woodshop (Jul 8, 2008)

Brmorgan said:


> ...Am I incorrect in thinking that a tulip poplar is not a true poplar of the Aspen family? For some reason I remember reading that somewhere...



You are correct, tulip poplar (liriodendron tulipifera) is not the stringy soft wood like other poplars, cottonwoods or even aspen is. It is harder, more homogenious. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_poplar


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## stonykill (Jul 8, 2008)

been too busy to pop in in a while. Nice pics woodshop. 

I am sure you are right about the saw being fine if run non stop / full bore in a big log for 8 or 10 minutes. Been there done that with my 1982 Pioneer P51. Doesn't phase it in the least. Pro saws were built to be abused.


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## woodshop (Jul 9, 2008)

stonykill said:


> been too busy to pop in in a while. Nice pics woodshop...



...was wondering where you disappeared to Stony. You been busy in your woodshop?


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## stonykill (Jul 9, 2008)

woodshop said:


> ...was wondering where you disappeared to Stony. You been busy in your woodshop?



the workshop has been pretty busy again this year. Tables, tables, and more tables. Quite a few orders for custom turned legs as well. I like lathe days. 

Then there was the week of hauling free pine logs. That was a tiring week. I got so many given to me that I sold off a bunch of the large logs, that were nearly imposible for me to unload with my equiptment, at least in a timely manner, to a local mill. I think I have a few pics of some of the logs...somewhere . I'll have to look. 

Then there is upkeeping the 30 acres. Brushhogging the feilds, clearing an old orchard to add grapes, berrys, cherry trees....etc to the apples that are there. Thats all good fun. The only thing I like better than chainsaw time is seat time on one of my many garden tractors. 






Putting in fmore flower gardens for my wife. Well....running my loader and woodchipper, etc. She does the planting.







before the topsoil was added with the loader, this was basically a big hole full of weeds. I posted all the pics on a garden tractor site if anyone is interested.


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## stonykill (Jul 9, 2008)

woodshop said:


> ...was wondering where you disappeared to Stony. You been busy in your woodshop?



of course there was the vegetable garden. My favorite garden. Had to plow and cultivate that before planting.








plus the new to me garden tractor mini project





built this



and a 40 mph minibike



for my son....well......for me as well

I love summertime. So much to do. So little time.

I am sure I forgot 2 dozen things....but you get the idea.


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## dustytools (Jul 9, 2008)

Nice little tractors Stonykill! Ive been eyeballing those Case 444/446 tractors on e-bay. I would love to have one with a 3-point hitch and hydraulics someday.


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## stonykill (Jul 9, 2008)

dustytools said:


> Nice little tractors Stonykill! Ive been eyeballing those Case 444/446 tractors on e-bay. I would love to have one with a 3-point hitch and hydraulics someday.



thanks. I have a few more.

I owned a Case 444 for about 10 years, as well as using it for a good 15 when it was my grandfathers. Good tractor, but way overrated in my humble opinion. My MTD 990 (the red tractor with the brushhog and cultivator) is a MUCH more capable tractor at a fraction of the cost. 

You can't beat a cat 0 - 3 point for around the homestead. Everything from skidding logs, to leveling with the box blade to yorkraking...etc. A very handy tool to have in your arsenal of tools.


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## deeker (Jul 10, 2008)

stonykill, nice pics. Now get back to work!!!!

Keep posting pics....  


Kevin


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