Sawmill Operation 101

Right now, I’m milling lumber from last year into 4-quarter boards which is 1 inch thick boards. I’m milling enough of that until I get enough wood to use for flooring for the house and then I’m going to move on to thicker pieces for furniture, doors and things like that.

I have a Hud-son Farm Boss 36 sawmill, it can theoretically brake down a log that is 36 inch in diameter, cut the skins on all four sides and come down to a cant. The actual opening that the blade can cut is 22 inches.

It is a good idea to paint ingrain of the log with an insealer on both sides, this will prevent checking to occur during drying.

Be careful when load log onto mill you don’t want to risk slamming it into a mill. I’m using skid steer loader and canthook to carefully roll a log onto a mill. Keep in mind orientation of checks on sides of the log when you position it for sawing. Another thing you need to consider is what types of boards you want to get out of it. There are a few different ways you can saw this: plain sawn, quarter sawn and rift sawn.

Before you start sawing, secure the log against dogs to prevent it from moving. The one side of the log is wider than the other so try to average you cuts to maximize material you get from it. While cutting cant into lumber, take into consideration that the sawblade itself takes 1/16 of an inch each time you make a cut.

[maxbattles]

Wonderfully instructive--you're a terrific teacher and your use of vocabulary was perfect!

[stevenhorgan]

God bless you, by educating people your showing others the right way to understand the timber trade...

[cheffjeffB]

Nice job. Good explanations and descriptions of the process, and it's nice to see what it's like when a "real" person struggles a bit rather than a pro who does everything perfectly.

[ctkdev]

One of the best tutorials I have found. Thank you for making this video!

[reprosser]

Cool project. I did something similar - saw milled and processed the trees that were taken down for the drive way and house area. We got enough red oak for all the inside trim (base boards, doors and windows). It was a lot of work to mill, dry, joint, plane, sand and finish - but it looks great in the house. It was more work than I expected, and took a lot longer than I thought. Hope it works out great for you.

[vimages]

Planning to get a mill as a novice great instructional video, thank you.
Plus I am definitely going to get hydraulic wood handling!

[timberdoodles]

If you want full 1" boards make a cheat sheet and count up from 1 inch like this. 1, 2-1/8, 3-1/4, 4-3/8, 5-1/2, 6-5/8, etc adding an 1/8" each time, your kerf being 1/8" The way you started 1-3/4 to 11-3/4 will yield a 7/8" thick board. Also try sawing from the butt first this will keep you from having to guess the big end when sawing from the small end, saving time from when clearances become contact with the log. One more thing, jack the taper out of the log, this will balance the small end with the big end. Jack and shim, clamp the big end then jack the small end, this will keep the log stable, split the difference.

[mb]

Great video. I've been watching quite a few videos about saw mills and this one is the best by far! Thanks!

[Joestacemazjojo]

Awesome explanation of everything you did here. I’m looking into a mill but have no experience other than a little with Alaskan mill. But you explained a ton. Subscribed

[nickdieter]

I’m watching you build a tiny house DIY channel. I thought I knew the guy on tv and it clicked. I watched this video several times to help me with my mill. Kinda cool.

[mikemorris]

Excellent video...a lot of good info on where different types of wood comes from.  thanks.

[johncollins]

I really appreciate the efforts you make both in the actual work and in the videos. Very down-to-earth.

[markbarton]

I worked in sawmills all my life and i never seen logs turned like this

[CTSCAPER]

Great video and explanation of using a bandsaw mill.

[jeremesalazar]

Your sawmill design is very practical for a small sawmill industry for domestic purposes.
How I wish I could have the design and fabricate one. Its really nice sir.

[jaystidolph]

Very well done and nicely demonstrated! Thanks!

[AdamCraigOutdoors]

get yourself a couple wood wedges for when you lever the log over. It will help keep it in place while you use the dog.

Nice video!!

[curtislv]

Thanks a lot for the great demonstration. Very well done.

[royamberg]

job well done. hard work for one man but can be done. keep up the good work.

[rodmagee]

Great to see someone else struggle with placing a log by themself besides myself. A little tip for you...when you roll the log against the stops and then struggle to hold it with the cant hook to pound the dog in. I use a 6 inch piece of 2 inch angle iron that I slide under the log on top of the log bunk closest to you. It will hold the log in place and frees up both hands from having to hold the log against the stops. Hope this makes sence.