View Poll Results: Are any Contributors interested in a new Sawyer (milling/drying) Forum?

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    71 76.34%
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Thread: Sawyer (milling/drying) Forum?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Tyler, Texas
    Posts
    2,041

    Sawyer (milling/drying) Forum?

    Has anyone else ever thought it incongruous that a woodworking site with the name Sawmill Creek does not have a sub-forum dedicated to sawing lumber?

    A sawmill is the ultimate woodworking power tool and I believe there are multiple members of this forum that saw their own lumber, including me. I know this site is already loaded with sub-forums but I think a sawing/drying category would be appropriate for a forum this popular.

    Anyway, just my thoughts.
    Cody


    Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Northwestern Connecticut
    Posts
    7,149
    Makes sense to me. Its one of the few crafts where you can if so inspired harvest your raw materials and see to their exact preparation, and it seems a fair number of wood workers are doing so. Perhaps even a bit more buy lumber green from a sawyer and air dry or make a home kiln as a cost savings measure or again to control the inputs as part of the craft. Its really a sort of subset of wood working because I've also met those that harvest and dry lumber but have very little to do with making finished goods from it save commodities like siding and flooring. I don't really have an understanding of how the different sub forums came to be chosen or under what conditions a new one may be created. It may be as simple as the workload to maintain and moderate the site as it exists currently is quite extensive leaving little time or impetus for expansion. I recall some time ago a discussion that perhaps "cabinetry", should be its own sub-forum here, it certainly is on some other forums. But there was no consensus regarding what qualified as cabinetry, and this is not by any means a democratic institution to begin with. The basic idea was that perhaps discussions regarding woodworking might be held in a separate sub forum from questions regarding machinery and power tools. Of course the two subjects are sometimes inextricably intertwined and remain in a single forum here.

    Perhaps there is an opportunity for you to create a sawyers forum with a focus on small production for the purpose of supplying ones own workshop? Cody's Creek and Mill!
    "A good miter set up is like yoga pants: it makes everyone's butts look good." Prashun Patel

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    'over here' - Ireland
    Posts
    2,532
    I'm another that would love to see discussion of sawmilling and especially kiln drying and stress relieving/conditioning topics.

    There's actually good coverage of the topic at Woodweb, but it tends often to be pretty large scale commercially/professionally orientated. I think there's a space to do with in-shop conditioning of wood that doesn't necessarily get much coverage.

    Wood condition is problematical here, it's typically bought in bulk from US suppliers, and stored in who knows what conditions for how long before sale. The moisture content etc can be quite variable. Then there's issues like case hardening arising from maybe overly aggressive kilning of the wood by the original producer. There's it seems (as posted on the recent thread) scope for pre-use/in-shop stress relieving and regularising the moisture content of/conditioning - but the devil is as ever in the detail.

    I'm actually toying with installing a small kiln for this purpose, something for example like the Logosol Sauno: http://www.logosol.us/all-products/sauno-kiln/

    This sort of work seemingly requires fairly precise control of the process (it may entail moisture/steam injection at the end), and it's tough to establish from makers (I've tried) precisely what the process capability of a given model of kiln actually is… (small scale installations don't warrant or get much tech support it seems).

  4. #4
    I agree there should be a sub forum about sawmills and drying lumber. I watch milling videos all the time and would love to own a mill, not so much for income producing, just personal use and maybe for woodworking friends nearby.

  5. #5
    Such a forum would probably be helpful, even for folks not owning sawmill equipment.


    I have no mill, but do have some standing timber. I salvage log whatever blows over, dies, or gets struck by lightning. I haul it to a mill if it is just a few logs, or hire a portable mill to come to me if it is at least a full days sawing.


    In the past I have bought green lumber from a local mill, and dried it myself for projects that could wait until the wood was ready.


    Building a level “base” for stacking, sawing dry stickers, and stacking properly, is somewhat of an obscure knowledge base. A lot more planning and preparation than I had envisioned.



    How long to dry was the next unknown, and of course there was more to it than just “a year for each inch of thickness”. Not much drying takes place in the winter months where I live, so if you saw in the late fall, drying really doesn't get rolling until spring.


    Here is a 66 page free download that can answer some of the questions on air-drying lumber:
    http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr117.pdf


    I would love to have a sawmill, but since there are a few nearby I am content to let them carry that overhead.

  6. #6
    I would love to have my own mill. I've had a sawyer come out twice to mill lumber that I have cut here on the farm.
    I too would like to see a Sawmill forum I think it would be a great addition to this site.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,648
    There are other sites with forums dedicated to milling lumber. I'm sure you are aware of them. There is a lot of great info. available there, but they generally are not populated by people who use the wood they mill. So I agree with you; having a forum dedicated to milling and drying lumber at SMC would be a very helpful addition for those of us primarily focused on woodworking. I've been milling and drying much of my lumber for nearly 10 years now. I'm at the absolute bottom of the technology ladder, and the low cost processes I use might be very beneficial to others contemplating doing the same.

    John

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Whitewater Ks
    Posts
    584
    I don't own a sawmill but I've had someone come out and mill quite a bit of wood, and i wish I knew then what I do know.
    Only one life will soon be past
    Only whats done for Christ will last

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Tyler, Texas
    Posts
    2,041
    As John Teneyck said, there are other forums dedicated to sawing and there is a lot of good info on them. However, in general, the sawyers there are not end users. I like the idea of covering the processes from tree to furniture or whatever one is building with the wood.

    I know of one member here who saws, dries and sells lumber on a small scale but he is also a fine woodworker as well as a retired forester. The knowledge that he and others like him have to share would be invaluable for other woodworkers, IMHO.
    Cody


    Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln

  10. #10
    I've frequented this forum for several years, and have a cooks mp32 mill. Only mill in the winter when I have some spare time. When I need info on the mill or drying info I go to forestryforum.com Don't see how you could catch up with all the info on that forum. And some
    guys on forestryforum do woodworking. Some are members here.

  11. #11
    Wow, Cody, what a great suggestion. I spend every day either sawing lumber, stacking lumber, drying lumber, planing lumber, selling some lumber, and working on too many woodworking projects all at the same time. A lot of members here probably would likely benefit from knowing what is involved in taking a tree and making finished lumber to make projects that we all love. Plus, a lot of members occasionally have trees that they need sawn, or they have have freshly sawn lumber that they need to dry. That can be a daunting task if you have not done it before.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,688
    From time to time, there are often great suggestions for sub-forum level topics from members. While it might seem like a simple thing to add another area to the forum site, the reality is that managing the very large and diverse forum we have now is pretty much at what can be handled by the available resources. And unfortunately, many threads still need to get moved around because sometimes folks don't consider "where they are" when they start a thread, especially those new to our forum structure.

    Lumber creation, drying, etc., have always been welcome topics here in General Woodworking and folks are encouraged to have those discussions. From time to time, someone does post a thread on these topics, but overall, there hasn't been a large number of such threads in my observation. So while it's unlikely that there will be a separate area for lumber milling and drying, please don't let that stop you from posting about experiences or asking questions on the same.

    Jim
    SMC Moderator

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Tyler, Texas
    Posts
    2,041
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Lumber creation, drying, etc., have always been welcome topics here in General Woodworking and folks are encouraged to have those discussions. From time to time, someone does post a thread on these topics, but overall, there hasn't been a large number of such threads in my observation. So while it's unlikely that there will be a separate area for lumber milling and drying, please don't let that stop you from posting about experiences or asking questions on the same.

    Jim
    SMC Moderator
    Oh well. I still believe that if you build it, they will come.
    Cody


    Logmaster LM-1 sawmill, 30 hp Kioti tractor w/ FEL, Stihl 290 chainsaw, 300 bf cap. Solar Kiln

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Hayes, Virginia
    Posts
    14,760
    Cody,

    If we can get at least fifty people who will be active in a Sawmill Forum and they will become Contributors I will create the forum for you guys. I'm trying to keep my workload light this Summer do to projects that I have in process and of course many hours ahead working on a new primary server to replace the one we are using now. Last week we added an additional air conditioner to my office to take care of the additional load during the Summer months so everything is on schedule right now to get where we need to be for the upcoming Fall and Winter activity here. We did a major network upgrade three months ago and tripled our bandwidth plus we added some new gear so my budget is a bit tight right now and some new Contributors would help restore our Community savings that we have consumed lately.

    Any volunteers?
    Last edited by Chris Padilla; 07-06-2015 at 3:41 PM.

  15. #15
    I have (and use) a home built sawmill and will participate.
    _______________________________________
    When failure is not an option
    Mediocre is assured.

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