Short log holding?

[dan petroski]

I need a way to hold down some 2 ft pieces of cherry crotch wood in the mill. Any good ideas. Had to give up on the trunk as it was full of nails but I would like to salvage something out of this tree for shaker boxes thanks Dan

[david privett]

I suppose that if you were very careful with your clearances you could place a 2x4 or such underneath the carriage and lag screw the crotch down , stationary mill would have issues doing this.

[John K Jordan]

I need a way to hold down some 2 ft pieces of cherry crotch wood in the mill. Any good ideas. ...

I don't know about good ideas, but my idea was to slap together a fence made from scrap planks to hold the short piece. I fastened the fence to a horizontal board with some lag screws. I used this to cut a bunch of bowl-turning stock.

sawmill_blanks.jpg sawmill_blocks.jpg

I this case, the blanks needed to be kept thick. If I wanted to saw thinner boards from the short pieces I think I would just saw through the fence and make another for the next chunk (or make a really long support and do several at once).

JKJ

[Scott T Smith]

Typically when we are milling short logs on a band mill we will use a sacrificial board to span between two fence supports, and then place the short log in-between the clamp and the sacrificial board.

[dan petroski]

Thanks for all the ideas. A combination of your ideas will do the trick. Dan
ps for a kid a clump of 6 big trees does make a good place for a tree house

[dan petroski]

I used your ideas on the fence....I made a tall ,6 inch one for the whole log and a short one 1/12 inch tall for the half log. I put in two lag bolts on the stationary side sticking out an inch or so to dog that side of the log. Worked like a charm and finished up that run of the short crotch wood. Thanks again Dan

[Marshall Mosby]

You should just try sticking some logs/planks underneath and see if that works.

[AL Ursich]

Something like this holder might work for shorter logs with the clamps spaced closer together and even a board attached with some brass screws.

[dan petroski]

nice arrangement Al . should work for my short pieces of crotchwood. i use the small figured pieces for shaker boxes Thanks Dan