Finally, life is a beech.

gemniii · Jan 25, 2012

I finally got the LT10 together.
Only two problems stood out.
1. The motor mount only had three holes, the motor has four. I'll have to drill it out when I get some tools.
2. One of the blade adjustments requires an allen wrench.

One half turn and I couldn't get the wrench out. Had to get a shorter wrench.

Then I had to find a tree that wanted to lie down.
My first choice was a Pine

, but then I found a lightning damaged Beech

that was willing to come rest on my LT10.

and then in my woodshop

So finally I is a BSM'r.

hamish · Jan 25, 2012

Feels good dont it!

I would get in touch with Woodmizser, as I doubt the lack of a fourth hole for the motor mount was forgotten....best to check as there may be a reason for it, then again as we all know that Irish guy, could be Murphy's doing also.

mikeb1079 · Jan 25, 2012

welcome to the club homie. bandsaw mills are fantastic tools when they're tuned up right. i think however that everyone should have to start by milling a thousand bf with a chainsaw mill just so that they appreciate the bsm. :laugh:

happy milling!

porta mill · Jan 25, 2012

congratulations .G
ood luck with the new mill.

gemniii · Jan 26, 2012

hamish said:
Feels good dont it!

I would get in touch with Woodmizser, as I doubt the lack of a fourth hole for the motor mount was forgotten....best to check as there may be a reason for it, then again as we all know that Irish guy, could be Murphy's doing also.

I took me the time to triple check it and walk to the phone to talk to Woodmizer. The guy I talked to in technical support indicated it probably wouldn't be a problem.

qbilder · Jan 26, 2012

What kind of beech is that? Never seen bark like that on beech. I have always known beech to have smooth grey bark, more like skin than bark. Nice job, BTW

Talltom · Jan 26, 2012

Definitely not a beech. Wide sapwood and difference in color from heartwood looks like hickory. Would be hard & heavy.

gemniii · Jan 26, 2012

My mistake, it's Sweetgum according to my BIL

qbilder · Jan 26, 2012

Looks really attractive. Why isn't sweet gum milled more often? Reminds me of walnut with a huge sap.

Talltom · Jan 27, 2012

Great reason to have your own sawmill - access to nice wood that isn't commercially viable. Most people buying hardwood for furniture don't want the sapwood and heartwood in the same board, so yield is greatly reduced, but then slabbers have always marched to a different drummer. BTW - don't even think about splitting any of it for firewood - grain is interlocked.

Had a sweet gum as a lawn tree many years ago. Nice tree most of the year, but dropped millions of little prickly balls that were a real PITA.

gemniii · Jan 27, 2012

qbilder said:
Looks really attractive. Why isn't sweet gum milled more often? Reminds me of walnut with a huge sap.

Liquidambar, commonly called sweetgum,[1] gum,[1] redgum,[1] satin-walnut,[1]

Some of the furniture mfg passed it off as walnut.

The wood is used for furniture, interior finish, paper pulp, veneers and baskets of all kinds. The heartwood once was used in furniture, sometimes as imitation mahogany or Circassian walnut.

MHouse1028 · Jan 27, 2012

i wish we had sweet gum around here.i also see all these people milling black walnut i've even seen people burn it for firewood.around here black walnut is like a elusive ghost and the only time you really find it is if someone planted it and for some reason is having it cut down.In 15 years of tree service i've only ever cut two down...pruned a bunch but rarely removed them..but i did just take a southern magnolia down 44" on the butt, planted in 1890 in Massachusetts it has some cool colors in it and air dries very well.we used a crane to take it down so i was able to get 12 footer's.the butt log was a hair over 8500 pounds.anyways nice job milling and have fun!

qbilder · Jan 27, 2012

MHouse1028 said:
i wish we had sweet gum around here.i also see all these people milling black walnut i've even seen people burn it for firewood.around here black walnut is like a elusive ghost and the only time you really find it is if someone planted it and for some reason is having it cut down.In 15 years of tree service i've only ever cut two down...pruned a bunch but rarely removed them..but i did just take a southern magnolia down 44" on the butt, planted in 1890 in Massachusetts it has some cool colors in it and air dries very well.we used a crane to take it down so i was able to get 12 footer's.the butt log was a hair over 8500 pounds.anyways nice job milling and have fun!

My old man burns LOTS of walnut for firewood.

Does anybody know if all sweet gum has the dark heart like that? I know of some deep woods, undergrowth sweet gums that would be easily accessible for me. I just had never considered cutting it before.

q-tip jr · Jan 29, 2012

heartwood color...

qbilder said:
My old man burns LOTS of walnut for firewood.

Does anybody know if all sweet gum has the dark heart like that? I know of some deep woods, undergrowth sweet gums that would be easily accessible for me. I just had never considered cutting it before.

originally from Maine, I was in for an education in "southern" species, sweet gum I've seen here in N.C. has varied in heartwood coloring seems to be soil dependent. I have felled 30" with no heartwood and some with 80% heavy as lead, and very twisted. I'm a chainsaw logger here and Alaska mill when I see a candidate. The sweet gum here goes to railroad ties and hardwood plywood core stock, there is also a black gum (tupelo) in the swamps, also a "peeler" plywood core stock tree, all in all makes for great tonnage - as tall as 110-120' too makes a nice thump!!

fallen house · Jan 29, 2012

Wikipedia:
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is one of the most important commercial hardwoods in the Southeastern United States. Its wood is bright reddish brown (with the sapwood nearly white), heavy, straight, satiny, and close-grained, but not strong. It takes a beautiful polish, but warps badly in drying. The wood has a specific gravity of 0.5910, with a weight of 36.83 lbs per cubic foot. It is too liable to decay for outdoor use.[6]

The tree's handsome hard wood is put to a great many uses, including veneer for plywood. The wood is very compact and fine-grained, the heartwood being reddish, and, when cut into planks, marked transversely with blackish belts. Sweetgum is used principally for lumber, veneer, plywood, slack cooperage, railroad ties, fuel, and pulpwood. The lumber is made into boxes and crates, furniture, cabinets for radios, televisions, and phonographs, interior trim, and millwork. The veneer and plywood, (typically backed with some other kind of wood which shrinks and warps less) are used for boxes, pallets, crates, baskets, and interior woodwork. It was formerly used in the interior finish of railroad sleeping cars. Being readily dyed black, it is sometimes substituted for ebony for such uses as inexpensive picture frames.

It grows like a weed here.

sixteenacrewood · Jan 29, 2012

I love sweetgum, I have made maybe a dozen dough bowls from it. It cuts buttery smooth when green and I have not had one bowl crack during the drying process. I have not cut any dimintion lumber from it yet, and I have read that it can twist and warp during the drying. But I do love the color.

Finally, life is a beech.

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