The day it all went haywire

[hamish]

Can never say no to free logs, just hoped my uncle whould have known what a saw log is. Knarly with branches and knots about every 4 inches.

Cut up a nice square cant, then proceeded to cut 4/4 for "real" knotty panelling for personal use.............then played dancing of the band, followed by the next band..........and the day continued on as such.

Gotta luv cutting very knotty spruce, set changes and different rake angles made no difference, just one of them days, but hey it was a great day milling

 

[mikeb1079]

ugh. yes i've heard horror stories about spruce. hard soft hard soft etc.... i've only milled one and it behaved fine. ah well there's always tomorrow.

 

[Dave Boyt]

Any idea what it is about spruce that makes it so difficult? Large knots? Changes in grain direction? Problems with pitch build-up? I've noticed that Norwood has a 3/4" pitch band saw blade for frozen wood & have been tempted to try it on some hickory and pecan, which can also be challenging (not much spruce here in Missouri). If you solve it, let us know, because I've seen similar issues posted on other forums.

 

[hamish]

Any idea what it is about spruce that makes it so difficult? Large knots? Changes in grain direction? Problems with pitch build-up? I've noticed that Norwood has a 3/4" pitch band saw blade for frozen wood & have been tempted to try it on some hickory and pecan, which can also be challenging (not much spruce here in Missouri). If you solve it, let us know, because I've seen similar issues posted on other forums.

Basically with spruce it is the extreme variation in density between the knots and the rest of the wood, usually overcomeable by lowering the rakeangle, or increasing the set, but with knots bigger than your leg............no hope, there a reason why commercial mills dont take spruce with big knots in it.

The biggest issue is realizing the potential for a saw log, a little waste here and there when bucking make forhigher quality lumber.