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I have seen several plans published for making a sled to turn firewood into lumber. I have also seen a commercial sled that is designed for the purpose. Here is a link to a video of a very elaborate setup.Originally Posted by Dennis Aspö
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WItDzkTk-2s
It might give you some ideas.
Member
Hi Dennis,
Kuinka voit? Don't be discouraged. It appears that this is a hobby for you, same as myself. You've already received some great advice. I will just add that you need to do whatever allows you to enjoy woodworking. If you try to put a dollar to what you do versus what you get you will find the need to try another hobby. Personally, I buy rough lumber and have a jointer and planer to size it as necessary. If I had to cut trees, mill lumber, and sticker to dry, much of the pleasure would be drained before I could ever even make a cut. Give it a try - worst case is you ultimately buy rough lumber and sell the saw. Even then, the experience you gain will be invaluable as you progress through the hobby and you will be giving others advice. Good luck and have fun!
Take off a full blade, nope, too long, now take off 1/2 blade, nope, too long, now take off 1/4 blade - How the H--- can it be 1/4" short????
Contributor
Hi Denis, did you look at the link I provided?
I sawed 18 to 22 inch logs on my band saw with only an 11" depth of cut.
Large logs are easily split in half with wedges and then sawn on a medium sized band saw..............Regards, Rod.
[OP]
Member
I missed your link but looking at it now, looks a lot like what I got planned in my head from an initial glance.
In Memoriam
Hmmm. Lots of negative comments regarding sawing logs on a bandsaw. I wonder just how many of the naysayers have actually done it?
I do agree that a band sawmill is a better tool for sawing logs. Even without log-handling equipment it is a great tool for producing one's own lumber and a used manual mill would not cost a lot more than a large bandsaw. Before I got a tractor & loader, I would parbuckle logs onto my utility trailer using a Harbor Freight battery-powered winch. Offloading consisted of placing the trailer beside the mill, chaining a log to a tree and driving out from underneath it. A hand winch on the mill and ramps worked well to get the log onto the mill bunks. I still use the winch for logs that are too heavy for my 30 hp tractor to lift.
Hauling logs to a sawyer with a band sawmill is also cost effective if they are good logs. I started sawing on my bandsaw, progressed to taking logs to a local sawyer and then to getting my own sawmill. It's all a lot of work but like someone else said, it's FUN!
Go ahead and use a bandsaw to saw logs. Find out for yourself if it's right for you. Even if it isn't, you will still have the bandsaw which is a valuable tool in a woodshop and you will learn a bit about sawing. There's nothing like opening up a log. Sometimes it's disappointing, often it is spectacular and it's always exciting. You will see color in species like Walnut that the majority of woodworkers have never seen because it doesn't last long...literally minutes, but it's a marvel to see.
Cody
Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln
Moderator
Been there. The worst was a load of big logs on my gooseneck trailer that I couldn't unload with the tractor because I had hauled it to the site to load the logs onto the trailer! A couple of times I used a second trailer to ferry the tractor back and forth. Ack. Not long afterwards I bought a used bobcat so there was always one piece of equipment at home.
(btw, one nice way to load without equipment is wrap loops of chain around the log and roll it up some I-beam ramps by pulling the chain from the other side if the trailer with a vehicle. I've done that a lot.)
I very much agree about the joys of sawmilling. Not only to see the colors and figure, but to have the ability to decide on the spot how best to cut up a log as you see what is inside - quarter sawn, slabs, mantels, beams, wide boards, turning chunks, stickers? And there are always surprises, like the unusual amazing figure in one big cedar log or the beautiful log with 50% rot inside or the logs the guy told me were oak which revealed a rainbow of sweet gum color on the first cut. Makes me want to go cut some logs just thinking about it!
One thing perhaps worth mentioning - some small sawyers will saw logs for "free", taking a share of the wood in trade. I won't saw for money, but my deal on shares is he hauls the logs and stays to help, 50/50; I haul or he doesn't help, he gets less. This is a great way to get custom milled lumber at little or no cost.
JKJ
Contributor
The below link may be helpful. Scroll down to log weight and enter the species, diameter and length to get a weight estimate. For example a 6' length of an 18" diameter red oak log will be nearly 700 lbs. That is why some are saying this idea is not practical. However if you limit your expectations to material for smaller projects, it can be very practical. It all depends on the amount of work you want to put into the milling portion of your woodworking projects.
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/i...action=toolbox
Guest
What you accomplish never ceases to amaze me.
Last edited by Phil Thien; 05-08-2015 at 4:30 PM.
[OP]
Member
I don't think I will ever get to see a walnut log being sawn in my life. They don't grow this far north as I am. It's pine and spruce that stand for the majority of woods in Finland, then our best furniture hardwood which is slow grown artic birch, it's harder & stronger than oak, good thing it's so common or we would have no proper hardwood of our own to work with... Traditional joiners benches are made from birch and I will make a small roubo style one some day in birch.
In the southernmost part of Finland I think you might find oaks naturally growing, otherwise they tend to found mostly in southern sweden. In addition to those trees we got aspen, rowan trees, two types of alder, a not so hard maple variant. European ash is only found in the southernmost parts of finland but in 1937 a local botanist planted a small forest of ash trees near the city of Vasa which is close to where I live. Don't think they want anyone to cut those down however. I wonder if I should try and plant an ash tree in my yard...
Member
If the logs are too big or if you're worried about rolling, break the logs down with your chainsaw first. You should able to quarter some pretty big logs and be able to handle them with your setup. Much easier to work where the log is than to move the log. Could even get an Alaskan mill or Beam Machine to keep your chainsaw cuts straight.
In Memoriam
Good point. I only have a Stihl 290 chainsaw with a 20" bar but I've ripped some pretty large Oak (~28" dbh) with it when QS'ing. That would also give a flat face to rest on the BS table, making a sled unnecessary.
There is a member here who is also on the Forestry Forum. He's posted pics over there of a friend slicing a ~34" diameter Oak log freehand with a Stihl 460. The guy doesn't even pop a chalk line but starts in the center of the pith and exits in the center of the pith. The faces looked as smooth as if he had used an Alaskan mill. Amazing.
Cody
Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln
Member
I did this before and it worked pretty well. I quartered a 30" dia log "freehand" with a regular 20" chainsaw, then cut the quartered sections into boards on my 24" bandsaw. Since the bar was shorter than the log diameter, I had to saw it from both sides of the log to split it.
It was a lot of work, mostly because of the weight of the sections, but as others have said it is satisfying cutting your own stock from logs.
Moderator
There are practical considerations to milling your own lumber using the type of machine you have available to you...and material handling is the key. While a big old bandsaw like that has good power and heigh capacity, it was not designed for sawing "logs", at least in the sense of handling longer material. If you want to create boards for smaller projects, that's certainly possible with jigs and additional material support for safety (assuming you have a way of lifting the material...logs are heavy, heavy, heavy...) but it's not practical, or safe, to try and mill the bigger stuff. That's what band-mills are for. (Woodmizer or similar) Or milling systems that use chainsaws with a ripping blade.
But even so, I wouldn't sell that big saw for a 14" unit...the heavy casting brings precision that's unavailable on any typical 14" bandsaw.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
I saw a small portable bandsaw once for logs. It was powered by a chainsaw power unit. I cannot locate it now.
Do they still exist? If so, where?
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