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  • From: Rob <becida AT comcast.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Portable saw mill
  • Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:02:36 -0700

At 10/3/2007 06:04 AM,Gene GeRue wrote:

On Oct 2, 2007, at 7:40 PM, Don Bowen KI6DIU wrote:

> How much timber is needed to justify your own mill?

Now there is a question worth answering. I've not decided which is my
choice for my needs. Then need to make a list of probable lumber
needed and price that.

Another way to look at a lumber mill as it's just good fun. There is nothing like turning a tree into a piece of furniture.

In Minnesota my needs were to turn trees into useable lumber, and I did not have a way to move the trees. After a bit of experimenting I bought a RipSaw http://www.ripsaw.com/index.html , enough guides to make 20' long cuts and a Sthil 029 to power it. With this I could take the mill to the tree and carry out the lumber. I also used a Granberg mini mill with my Olympic 970 chainsaw http://www.granberg.com/ . For me this set up worked really well.
If I'd have had a way to move the trees & a bit more money I'd have picked up a Norwood http://www.norwoodindustries.com/ .

I spent an afternoon watching a guy use a Woodmizer http://www.woodmizer.com/us/index.aspx . I liked that! If I had a lot of money I'd have bought one of those.

Think about what you want to do with a mill, what you want the mill to do and what you can afford. Go see if you can find one in action and check it out.
If you don't mind the sweat the Granberg Mini Mill and a large chain saw work great.

Getting the wood is just part of the deal, you either learn to build with it green or you learn to dry it. Either way you need to seal the end of the log right after you cut it . Anchorseal works great for this https://www.uccoatings.com/prod_anchorseal.php . Sealing the ends helps stop the checking (cracking) as it drys so even if you are going to use it green having the end sealed is a good thing.
You can sticker it and dry it too. Lumber takes a year per inch to dry. A year an inch, so a 2x4 will be ready in 2 years. If it's cut too thin the checking & warping can be worse. The times can be shortened a bit with some drying technology (there are solar dryer designs out there).

Milling is good fun.





Rob

becida AT comcast.net
Western Washington State, USA





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