How to noodle like the noodle gods?

[zemmo]

I've been splitting the biggest gnarlyest rounds with a saw, but I noticed today that my saw was throwing dust, more or less. I tried another saw with .325, same results. Neither of these are razor sharp, but they're not that bad, was cutting 16" rounds just a couple of days ago.

Do you need a chain with big square cutters, or what? Sob, I feel like such a failure...

 

[FourMoCajuns]

Try laying the round on it's side. It is all about cutting in relation to the grain.
Just be sure once you are making noodles keep the rpm up on the saw until you clear it from the round. These noodles will bind stuff up.
I like to take hickory and make noodles from it and keep them in a bag. When I BBQ I wrap some of them in alum. foil and wet it and then throw it on the grill. Sweat smoke.

 

[Trigger-Time]

I made a bunch of Eastern Red Ceder noodles, my wife put them
in some fine mesh cloth, made it in to soft ball size, put ribbons
on it to hang in the closet's.........

 

[FourMoCajuns]

I made a bunch of Eastern Red Ceder noodles, my wife put them
in some fine mesh cloth, made it in to soft ball size, put ribbons
on it to hang in the closet's.........

Whatever you gotta do to justify a new saw right?

 

[zemmo]

I made a bunch of Eastern Red Ceder noodles, my wife put them
in some fine mesh cloth, made it in to soft ball size, put ribbons
on it to hang in the closet's.........

Umm, I'll bet those smelled good. The pinyon I'm splitting will smell just great as well. I figure I might as well get something usable out of the kerf, can use the noodles as firestarter. Nothing straight about the grain in this stuff, so it might not make the best noodles. I'll try putting the round on its side next time I split.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Whatever you gotta do to justify a new saw right?

Yep.........................she made a bunch of them, give them away
with Christmas presents.

 

[FourMoCajuns]

Yep.........................she made a bunch of them, give them away
with Christmas presents.

Bonus even......now tell her a new MS880 (or whatever your flavor is) makes even better noodles.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Bonus even......now tell her a new MS880 (or whatever your flavor is) makes even better noodles.

Yes..................a new MS880 with .404 chain would make some nice ones

 

[Lakeside53]

Square ground full skip chisel+big saw+big chain+soft wood = great noodles!

 

[B_Turner]

Square ground full skip chisel+big saw+big chain+soft wood = great noodles!

Gotta agree. with my 7900 and a fresh square ground on a 24 or 28inch bar and I feel like a noodle god. Pay attention to the flow of shavings and watch what stops them and don't do that. I cut a truckload of them in the last two days working a a big madrone. The square grind is the perfect shape for noodles, just like a dado plane.

In fact I was pulling piles and piles of noodles yesterday with my 066 and a 36 inch totally buried (literally)in the log (square ground). It's amazing how big the piles get. Another thing to watch for is as you start to reach the ground with your saw, stop and clear the chips away real quick on the ground below. Once you block the flow below the saw you are more likely to plug. Need chip velocity!

 

[zemmo]

Thanks, noodle gods.

I knew you'd have noodle guidance. No 7900 yet, but soon. Can I live with round ground?

 

[B_Turner]

I knew you'd have noodle guidance. No 7900 yet, but soon. Can I live with round ground?

Any sharp chain will do okay, square ground only better. I have been cutting serious noodles for a number of years and only in 2006 started running square ground.

Like folks said. Round on side, prefereably off the ground on a block. Start roughly horizontal, with lots of power going but don't let the saw feed too quick at first until the chip flow is going. Most folks I see go too fast right at first and get in trouble early. Watching the chip flow, let the tip drop just a little, feeling for the sweet spot where the wood feels a little spongy. I sometimes adjust throttle a little at first until the saw hits the sweet angle, then slowly but confidently let the saw self feed down the wood at full speed. If you see shaving start getting thrown out the top of the bar, let up the pressure and make a slight angle adjustment. Stop and clear the shavings if you have to. Each time you stop cutting or finish a cut let the chain spin a couple a second or two to clear before you get off the throttle all the way.

Also when in dirty wood, I give the bark I will be cutting a quick brush. If I am blocking up a really big piece with multiple cuts I sometimes dont' cut all the way through so I can make multiple cuts before the round rolls. Then I roll the round or block and either continue the cut to finish or cut from the other side to finish, whichever is easier.

The key is paying attention to what is plugging the chips before it stops the saw and making the necessary adjustment. It's a lot of fun, I think. One more thing, this is a type of cut where good power is essential for productivity. No such thing as too much power with noodle cutting.

 

[SRT-Tech]

i take a pile of my wood noodles laugh: )after they dry and press them in a big steel pipe with a screwpress , making a dense block. I then saturate the block with melted wax and press again. When its cold i knock them out of the pipe, and break it up and bag it, for fire starting.

 

[B_Turner]

i take a pile of my wood noodles laugh: )after they dry and press them in a big steel pipe with a screwpress , making a dense block. I then saturate the block with melted wax and press again. When its cold i knock them out of the pipe, and break it up and bag it, for fire starting.

Great idea. I've thought about doing something like that with wood lathe shavings because they contain no oil or lubricant of any kind.

 

[turnkey4099]

I make a cradle from other rounds, two 'kissing' each other. Lay the round I'm working in the "V". sometimes nail a scrap board across the end of the "V" to keep the round from being pulled toward the saw. Makes a _big_ difference in chip clearance and no fighting the round moving around.

Harry K

 

[SteveH]

Friend's elderly father had a commercial outfit take down a huge old cottonwood, still alive, last month and called me to offer me the pieces. I said, how big are they, he said oh they cut them down to carry-them-away size, won't need a saw, we'll just toss them in your pickup. When he mentioned the tree had been green, I took the saw. Sure enough, the smallest piece they left I couldn't move more than about a foot, definitely not into my truck, some several hundred pounds. Had to quarter and even 1/8 some of the rounds, too, made plenty of noodles [he couldn't get over it, asked me if he could keep them??]. My 036 Pro did fine, though, so guess I don't need a new saw. Darn. Still took two of us to carry some of the quarters. I don't have much use for cottonwood, but it was free and the guy needed it moved and his son is my airplane partner, so.... [Used 3/8 round chisel--Stihl.]

 

[zemmo]

Friend's elderly father had a commercial outfit take down a huge old cottonwood, still alive, last month and called me to offer me the pieces. I said, how big are they, he said oh they cut them down to carry-them-away size, won't need a saw, we'll just toss them in your pickup. When he mentioned the tree had been green, I took the saw. Sure enough, the smallest piece they left I couldn't move more than about a foot, definitely not into my truck, some several hundred pounds. Had to quarter and even 1/8 some of the rounds, too, made plenty of noodles [he couldn't get over it, asked me if he could keep them??]. My 036 Pro did fine, though, so guess I don't need a new saw. Darn. Still took two of us to carry some of the quarters. I don't have much use for cottonwood, but it was free and the guy needed it moved and his son is my airplane partner, so.... [Used 3/8 round chisel--Stihl.]

Well, my saws MIGHT have worked, but, uh, I think the 7900 will work better? So, uh, I ordered one. What better excuse than the quest for the optimal noodle flow?????

 

[Ed*L]

084 noodle maker...

 

[turnkey4099]

Three years ago I had a contractor re-doing the house roof. While he was up there I was working up an old apple tree, sectioning with the saw. His eyes lit up when he saw all those noodles. He left with 4 big bags of them. I got a better deal the next year from him on the shed roof.

Harry K

 

[Lakeside53]

I have Wood Duck boxes, and every year I have to clean them out and put in cedar chips.... This means finding a decent piece of cedar, running it though my planers... etc etc... Now it's just find a round, flip it up and cut way.. Much more fun, better product (springy - more air less pack) and actually quicker.