Something like success

[kayaklogger]

got the used 066 set up on the mill last night and headed out behind the house to a fallen hemlock, 3ft dia, and cut out a 16ft section, and promptly came to my senses, and headed down the log and cut out a 2ft dia 16ft section, this morning I edged it down to 16 inches wide (damn termites had gotten in deep on one side) and started taking slices.

Packing all the stuff in, the gas and oil and tools and mill and mini mill and ladder and board and two chainsaws, seems to be most of the work. At first it wasn't cutting really well, but the I dropped the rakers from 25 to 35 and it really dug in and started cutting. Sharpened the chain carefully with a grinder every four slices. I am now the proud owner of ten pretty nice heartwood 1x16's. With a few more coming before I move up the log.

Since my first post last week I've learned how to port a muffler, tune a carburator, sharpen a chain razor sharp, inspect a cylinder, check for compression. I know a heck of a lot more about how to set up a mill and what works and what doesn't. I spent a lot of money and learned some hard lessons but I think I'm over the worst of it.

Now I'm thinking about buying a dead saw and trying to fix it to learn about the guts.

I figure with time I should be able to tweak the saw and system to cut at a pace that almost makes this a reasonable way to make lumber, but only when you can't get a bandmill to the log. And only if you really love wood for it's own sake.

My girlfriend watched me cut a slice and said "I don't think we're saving any money here." Obviously she misses the point. We're sheeting our house with wood from less than a football field away from the trees.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond to my posts. I'm an expert in other areas of my life and I know it takes time to answer the same noob questions over and over. When I finish the hemlock I'll post some pics.

 

[BobL]

Sounds good KL.

Sharpened the chain carefully with a grinder every four slices.

Do you mean a full blown "take the chain of the bar grinder" or a small 12V dremel style?
If it's the former then learning how to touch up by hand will be far quicker

Since my first post last week I've learned how to port a muffler, tune a carburator, sharpen a chain razor sharp, inspect a cylinder, check for compression. I know a heck of a lot more about how to set up a mill and what works and what doesn't. I spent a lot of money and learned some hard lessons but I think I'm over the worst of it.

Don't fool your self - you have only started
It's like anything - you think you are over it but you will find other excuses, and you can never win if you start the holy grail "search for perfection'

Now I'm thinking about buying a dead saw and trying to fix it to learn about the guts.

There you go, excuse number 1.

I figure with time I should be able to tweak the saw and system to cut at a pace that almost makes this a reasonable way to make lumber, but only when you can't get a bandmill to the log. And only if you really love wood for it's own sake.

My girlfriend watched me cut a slice and said "I don't think we're saving any money here." Obviously she misses the point. We're sheeting our house with wood from less than a football field away from the trees.

Not mention the fun factor!

 

[Brmorgan]

We're always glad to have another person hanging around here - everyone has their own way of doing things and everyone benefits from sharing them. Plus, it's nice to see a sane marine log salvager instead of ol' Jimmy from "Ax Men".

Keep up the good work, and if your significant other needs convincing about the cost-saving potential, there are plenty of pictures here that can back you up! I saved probably a thousand bucks last summer on beams to rebuild the deck on the back of the house. I did it for maybe $50 in gas, and whatever my time was worth. I don't generally take that into account though since it's a bit of fun too. We're a sick bunch eh, some of the hardest work there is and we consider it fun or a hobby! Since you're into boat building, have you seen the section in Will Malloff's "Chainsaw Lumbermaking" where he cuts some v-shaped ribs for boats from sharply-curved log sections?

What are you looking for in a fixer-upper saw? One that runs but needs a few parts replaced to look good, or one that's in decent condition but won't run for whatever reason? The guys in the chainsaw forum are very helpful if you have any questions about the technical end of that sort of thing; I hang out over there about as much as here.

PS - you guys getting the same insane heatwave we are? The forecast here is in the mid to high nineties and clear skies for the next seven days straight. I noticed that the Seattle news reported 104° somewhere in eastern Washington state tonight. Suffice it to say I'm not doing any milling right now!

 

[Mike Van]

Do you have a building inspector that has to check this off? The siding, I mean? Ours here would never approve rough sawn hemlock on a house without an engineer or architect to sign off on it.

 

[mtngun]

My girlfriend watched me cut a slice and said "I don't think we're saving any money here." Obviously she misses the point.

Ask her if she would rather you spend your spare time and money on a name brand set of golf clubs, green fees, golf shoes, etc.. ? At least woodcutting produces something useful.

Do you have a building inspector that has to check this off? The siding, I mean? Ours here would never approve rough sawn hemlock on a house without an engineer or architect to sign off on it.

Even a liberal like me has to say that's a case of big brother out of control.

 

[Brmorgan]

No kidding - siding has nothing to do with the structural integrity of a house. I live outside city limits, I've never pulled a permit for any work I've done so far. Just have to make sure it's done well so it'll pass an inspection if I go to sell it.

 

[SilverBox]

Uhhh siding is one of the main sheer strength factors in a stick frame house. Go wiggle a framed house (with no siding on it), then put a few sheets of siding in the corners and wiggle again..stiffens right up!!!

 

[kfhines]

Don't sweat the plank sheathing. There are a lot houses in this neck of the woods that are 200+ years old with plank sheathing and still standing proud!
Some are timber framed with plank, plank and beam and some are just plane plank houses.
Big brother is way out of control! Ask the building inspector how is it that these houses are still standing.
I wish I could be around in 200 years to see if these new cookie cutter houses can handle the test of time. I doubt it.

Sorry for the rant, but that kind of thing is a pet peeve of mine.

kfhines

 

[kayaklogger]

Last year I built a code house to get the county off my back, now I'm building the house I WANT to live in, in the woods out back. Pretty insane. It's a small timberframe made of sitka, all salvaged, the hemlock isn't siding it's SHEETING, which adds sheer, nailing, thermal mass, and something to hang the tarpaper on. Then I put on vertical board and board live sawn cedar siding.

We live in a crazy world. After the building inspectors left I disconnected the septic and built a greywater filter and composting toilet, cut the wires to the water heater and the electric heaters and installed an old cook stove and built a copper coil to heat hot water. Bought some solar hot water panels from the 1970's which blast out hot water on a sunny day. Disconnected the house propane. Sold my generator and put a teeny tiny hydro generator in the creek which gives me 5KW a day. Almost all of that is illegal for one reason or another. Before building this homestead I was a democrat, I'm still a liberal but definitely more of a libertarian one! You can't even legally pick up a fresh roadkill deer and eat it! Like I said, crazy world.

Back to the 066

 

[billstuewe]

Next election (if we are fortunate enought to have one) you'll be voting Republican---

Is your generator charging batteries or just hooked into the grid?

 

[kfhines]

ATTA BOY! Gotta love those Timber frames! Any pictures?

kfhines

 

[Mike Van]

Uhhh siding is one of the main sheer strength factors in a stick frame house. Go wiggle a framed house (with no siding on it), then put a few sheets of siding in the corners and wiggle again..stiffens right up!!!

100% right - On a TRUE timberframe, the strength is in the braces to resist racking, on a 'stick built' building, the strength comes from the sheathing, and OSB or plywood is all they'll aprove here for a dwelling. On the old ballonframe houses, they'd let-in braces of 1X on the corners, then diagonal side the opposite with T&G 1x6. On a house not far from me a few years ago, the guys that air-nailed the sheathing forgot? to turn the pressure down on the nailers, many went right through the OSB. The building inspector spotted it, made them re-nail the whole place.

 

[SilverBox]

I'm still a liberal but definitely more of a libertarian one!

I've voted the straight Libertarian ticket for the last 20 years, most of my friends think I'm crazy when I tell them this .

 

[SilverBox]

Next election (if we are fortunate enought to have one) you'll be voting Republican---

Is your generator charging batteries or just hooked into the grid?

Sounds like he's off grid and replaced his diesel/gas generator with a hydro, but I could be wrong.

I eventually want to buy a large piece of property with year round water with decent head to put in hydro, however PV panels have been dropping in price lately, in 5 years it might be cheaper to go PV.. If you have a decent tax burden to utilize the tax incentives with PV, its actually economical to install a system right now (if you do all the labor). In 5 years it should be economical even if you have no tax burden. Solar panels have been dropping 20% in price with each doubling in production quantity, solar panel production is ramping like crazy right now. Its pretty easy to see what will happen in 20 years when the oil starts drying up.. Every roof covered in panels and electrolysis hydrogen stations all over...

 

[Brmorgan]

Uhhh siding is one of the main sheer strength factors in a stick frame house. Go wiggle a framed house (with no siding on it), then put a few sheets of siding in the corners and wiggle again..stiffens right up!!!

Well it would have never crossed my mind to use only siding without first closing in the frame & insulation with OSB or plywood. I've never seen a newer home built that way. Put up the frame, then OSB/plywood, then a vapor / moisture barrier material like Typar, and then the exterior, be it vinyl, aluminum, wood, brick, whatever. So we are on the same page, I guess I was just making an assumption that you hadn't.

I agree though about the new buildings not lasting - we have a few old log structures up here that are vintage from the original gold rush days of the 1860s and are still standing, though they are really starting to show their age. But there is an old barn a few miles out of town that I have seen in a photograph dated 1904, and it looks exactly the same today as it did then, and is still being used.

If you guys think that voting for a different political party down there is going to change a damn thing, you're wrong. Haven't you guys noticed that for all the talk and rhetoric, nothing fundamental EVER changes from election to election? Until you have publicly-funded elections and ban corporate lobbying and funding, your government will continue to be run by corporate interests as it has been for the better part of the last century. There is NO WAY that someone needs to raise half a billion dollars to be elected President. Not to mention that it makes things ridiculously unfair and crooked - someone shouldn't be winning elections just because they raised a few more dollars than their opponent. These "big brother" policies have absolutely nothing to do with the government; they're all being done to "make money". Look no further than Monsanto, who is currently trying to get Argentina to push through laws making it ILLEGAL for farmers to save seeds from their crops to plant the next year's crops. This would effectively force the farmers to buy GMO seeds from Monsanto. I hate that :censored: company, they've ruined countless lives worldwide and have done no good at all.

 

[SilverBox]

Well it would have never crossed my mind to use only siding without first closing in the frame & insulation with OSB or plywood. I've never seen a newer home built that way. Put up the frame, then OSB/plywood, then a vapor / moisture barrier material like Typar, and then the exterior, be it vinyl, aluminum, wood, brick, whatever. So we are on the same page, I guess I was just making an assumption that you hadn't.

plywood and osb are both impossible to mill.. I'm putting up a barn/shop right now that will only have T1-11 on one face and a few sheets of osb (on the inside of the 2x4 walls in the corners) for sheer and corregated tin on the rest of the stick framed walls. But if you put 1x12 cedar on a stick frame with a decent nailing schedule I don't see why it wouldn't have enuf sheer..

You mean Tyvek right? or do you guys call it Typar up north . It can be skipped if your eaves have a decent overhang, I don't really see a great need for tyvek or tar paper under the wall material in non permited structures, its safety but for the most part unneccesary..

 

[songofthewood]

Last year I built a code house to get the county off my back, now I'm building the house I WANT to live in, in the woods out back. Pretty insane. It's a small timberframe made of sitka, all salvaged, the hemlock isn't siding it's SHEETING, which adds sheer, nailing, thermal mass, and something to hang the tarpaper on. Then I put on vertical board and board live sawn cedar siding.

We live in a crazy world. After the building inspectors left I disconnected the septic and built a greywater filter and composting toilet, cut the wires to the water heater and the electric heaters and installed an old cook stove and built a copper coil to heat hot water. Bought some solar hot water panels from the 1970's which blast out hot water on a sunny day. Disconnected the house propane. Sold my generator and put a teeny tiny hydro generator in the creek which gives me 5KW a day. Almost all of that is illegal for one reason or another. Before building this homestead I was a democrat, I'm still a liberal but definitely more of a libertarian one! You can't even legally pick up a fresh roadkill deer and eat it! Like I said, crazy world.

Back to the 066

Roadkill is legal in my part of the woods.

 

[SilverBox]

I agree though about the new buildings not lasting - we have a few old log structures up here that are vintage from the original gold rush days of the 1860s and are still standing, though they are really starting to show their age. But there is an old barn a few miles out of town that I have seen in a photograph dated 1904, and it looks exactly the same today as it did then, and is still being used.

Again I have to disagree . I'm not a big fan of the slab on grade stick frame puke it up suburbs, but if you keep a decent roof on a stick frame (2x6) house it should last for several lifetimes.. Most have either 30 year arch comp shingle or 50 year cermic roofs, so long as the permiter foundation line is keep clean and sprayed occasionally and the roof is upgraded on schedule those puke it up slab on grade houses should last for 150+ years.. easy...

 

[SilverBox]

If you guys think that voting for a different political party down there is going to change a damn thing, you're wrong. Haven't you guys noticed that for all the talk and rhetoric, nothing fundamental EVER changes from election to election? Until you have publicly-funded elections and ban corporate lobbying and funding, your government will continue to be run by corporate interests as it has been for the better part of the last century. There is NO WAY that someone needs to raise half a billion dollars to be elected President. Not to mention that it makes things ridiculously unfair and crooked - someone shouldn't be winning elections just because they raised a few more dollars than their opponent. These "big brother" policies have absolutely nothing to do with the government; they're all being done to "make money". Look no further than Monsanto, who is currently trying to get Argentina to push through laws making it ILLEGAL for farmers to save seeds from their crops to plant the next year's crops. This would effectively force the farmers to buy GMO seeds from Monsanto. I hate that :censored: company, they've ruined countless lives worldwide and have done no good at all.

Lol, brmorgan, we are butting heads on this thread.. The only way to effect change without an armed revolution is to work within the system. So long as more and more of the populace votes Libertarian, the mainstream politians will have to take notice and swing their centrist agenda in OUR direction, the only way for this to happen is to vote Libertarian to record the block of people who are fed up with the current system and would like a MAJOR change, not just a clothes change from demo to repu.. It isn't neccesary to change the way political funding is done, because it won't happen, we just have to vote NO to republican or democrat and vote something ELSE in enuf numbers for the major parties to shift their agendas in OUR direction. As far as Monsanto.. I think they get a bad rap. But let me as you a question, what do you think of CANola??? I use it and Corn oil fairly interchangeably. Even thu I know that CANola is a canadian bioengenieered product. Its just a vegtable fat from a seed, it took me awhile to buy it because I had no idea what it was till I researched it, then I laughed my butt off for awhile and then I started buying it when the price matched corn oil. My fried chicken tastes pretty darn good when I fry it up in the CANola oil, lol...

 

[Brmorgan]

I know a fair bit about it - I have some friends who farm it farther East. It stands for CANadian Oil with Low Acidity, if I remember right. More commonly known in the rest of the world as "Rapeseed" oil - though that's not a very marketable name. While it was somewhat of a pet project of our government, it wasn't developed thru genetic engineering, though some changes have been made with those methods since. It was naturally bred from existing stock, much like different varieties of corn or tomato. I don't really see what's so funny about Canola, it's been a huge success and is healthier than many other vegetable oils.

The problem with Monsanto is that they have this nice weed killer called RoundUp. And since Rapeseed is essentially a weed that we've learned to cultivate, it is susceptible to RoundUp's effects. Apparently Monsanto had thought this through though, because they soon after released a genetically engineered version of the Canola variety of Rapeseed that was resistant to RoundUp. Because of the insane patent and copyright laws in the US, they were allowed to patent the gene that resulted in the resistance. Monsanto is also allowed to sue anyone who has their modified strain of plant on their land, whether by their choice or not. There was a case, I believe in Montana, where a seed truck dumped over on the interstate and the seeds blew hither and yon in the wind, and spread all over the nearby farmers' fields. Monsanto successfully sued some of the farmers for having their product without paying for it. They've been doing the same with Mexican farmers and corn - varieties that have been grown there for generations are suddenly "patented" and farmers are losing their land in lawsuits.

And if for nothing else, any company that spawned Donald Rumsfeld into the government is as low as they get. And, FWIW, Ron Paul would have been my #2 choice behind Kucinich if I were voting down your way. A mix of the two would've been perfect.

Wow, that's probably about the most O/T post I've had. Sorry guys.

Back slightly more on-topic though, it's not that I think the present-day building methods and codes are any less durable, it's that I'm finding that things are being built quick & cheap these days, and the quality of a lot of the materials and sometimes workmanship is going down. I've seen 10-year-rated shingles for sale - I thought 25-year used to be the standard. In the last seven years I've seen the quality of the gyproc drywall sheets degrade - they used to be nice and solid, the last ones I bought a few months ago were full of small bubbles and noticeably more fragile.