Cutting Maple

[Daninvan]

After my recent embarassing incidents of chain breakage due to worn bars and drive sprockets, I was keen to get back out there with my newly (and hopefully properly) maintained setup with new chains.

Went at a couple of maple logs, both turned out to be spalted with some nice colours. Neither is particularly large, but wound up with about 80 bf of material. Unfortunately there was some splitting so these are not destined to be slab tables.

First up is this smaller log, which had some very nice spalting in it. Parts of it are a bit too punky and will be unusable. Most of it will be fine though.

Next is a longer and skinnier log that split badly on the pith as I was sawing it. At one point I was leaning against it and could feel it moving apart as the split caught up to the cut! After it was cut the last couple feet had not split, I moved it and stacked it up and could hear it continuing to crack.

You can see how the split travelled up the cut.

I'm glad to report that the new chains worked well, the dressed bars worked well, and the new drive sprockets worked well. Everyone was happy.

I need to work on not stopping the cut to put the wedges in, I do find stopping leaves a mark as Bobl has already observed.

Lastly, some alder with horse chestnut peeking out behind it from last week. This is only a small amount of what we cut, my buddy took most of it.

Dan

 

[mtngun]

Nice looking wood. No worry on the splits, after the pith is cut out you'll be left with a couple of fine quartersawn boards.

 

[Daninvan]

Got some more maple on Friday.

This one was even crazier. One end was badly split, so I cut about 3' off to try and get past it. I was most of the way through that crosscut when the entire log just ripped practically the whole length!

I was able to get four good slabs out of it, plus two that had one face in the split.

 

[mikeb1079]

Next is a longer and skinnier log that split badly on the pith as I was sawing it

i've had that same thing happen with a small black cherry log. didn't even make it thru the cut before it split. at the time i had just started milling so i was nervous that i'd done something wrong, but then learned that (as the platters would sing) "it's all in the game." splitting thru the pith is just part of sawing lumber, and as mtn gun pointed out you can still salvage some nice q sawn pieces out of it.

nice work, btw.