Logging In Tokyo.....

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks Cecil.

I don't know about the PM, but who knows, I think there is a distinct possibility of me building a lathe at some point

Cheers!

[Charlie Mastro]

Stu,

I followed you over from the Japanese forum and just wanted to chime in with everyone else on this thread that is has truly been one of the most informative, interesting, and thoughtful posts I have ever read on any forum. You work ethic and ingenuity in getting this done has been an inspiration to all of us even if we never saw the first log in half.

Thanks for taking us all along on the ride and I agree with others that have posted that you should send this into several of the wood working mags and I sure it would be published. That truly would share your work with a much larger audience and might even pay a few yen….

I visited Japan in the early 90’s for a couple of weeks and stayed with a friend from the states that lived there for a year teaching English. It was one of the highlights of my life to see the culture first hand and meet a very generous and interesting people. I visited every building site I can across and only wish I had had more time to spend there. We always seemed welcome where ever we went and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. Not to mention the food was always wonderful, except for the shaved tuna that wiggled on top of the soup. Never did get used to that.

Thanks again Stu for sharing this with us and I will always look forward to your posts.

Charlie in Joseph

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey Charlie, how are you doing?

Thanks for the kind words!

Notes
I just wanted to add a few things here about my process of cutting up these logs while it is still fresh in my mind.

One of the things that I've heard a lot about is chains. I started with a regular cross cut chain, this worked just OK, it was a lot of work to cut the hard wood, and left a very rough surface.

Next I re-filed my chain to what is called a ripping chain by some, this is where the cutters are filed to a 5 degree angle on the cutters, but no cutters are removed. This was an improvement over the standard cross cut chain, and I think it would work well on softer wood, but on the hard wood I was cutting it was not so great.

I next got directed to the Granberg style of ripping chain, the Granberg style Ripping chain has a set of teeth that have had every other set (pair) of top plates removed. (A set meaning a tooth from each side when possible. See the picture below.) You would take 2 teeth next to each other, one on one side and one on the other, and grind off the top plates using a bench grinder, Dremel, or belt sander. You don't shorten the tooth at all but merely remove the top plate that sticks out to the side of the side plate. What's left on top is nothing wider than the thickness of the side plate.


The tooth with the top plate removed now goes through the wood with less resistance than pulling a top plate along with it and effectively severs the wood fibers. The next set of teeth to go through with the top plates, clean out all the severed fibers. This results in less heat buildup, faster chain speed, and smoother cuts with reduced clogging.

This set up was a great improvement, the saw worked so much better using this chain.

I could keep the saw hogging through logs all day long, the saw would run just below the "four stroking" you get when a saw hits it's rev limit, which is the peak of the saw's power band, right where you want your saw to be running.

I ran the saw on good quality synthetic 2-smoke oil, at 32:1, and I checked the plug frequently, and I always came back with a nice tan color on the plug.

The saw would smoke a bit on the first run in the morning, but from there, it was not smoky at all, and there was only a slight build up of splooge on the muffler.

The saw, being an old one (circa 1976) Husky 85 cc was a bit of a handful to start in the morning, having no decompression valve, but it would only take about 5 pulls to get it going in the morning, the 1st pull was not something I looked forward to . Once it was run, it would always start on the 1st or 2nd pull of the cord. This was great, when I forgot to fill the saw, and I had to restart the the saw while in the log on a cut.

Some other things about the saw. Like I said, it is an old one, but this saw is good for milling (IMHO) as it has the old style long stroke motor, which has a ton of torque. It has a bit slower chain speed than more modern saws, but I think this too is an advantage for milling. The other thing that is good with this saw is that you can refill the gas and oil while the saw is on the mill, sideways, but one bad thing is that I have to remove the mill to adjust the chain tension.

As the saw is heavy, it is not a bad choice for milling, because the weight of the saw is not noticed, as it sits on the log, you are not carrying it around all day. If I had to lug this into the bush to cut lumber, I'd be thinking twice about it, as well as my all steel milling attachment, maybe I'd redo the whole thing in aluminum. As I'm doing this off the back of my little van, this set up is fine.
The fact that I bought it used for 28,000 yen ($250 US) also made it a great choice for me.

I started out filing only once or twice a day, I have to admit, filing chain is not exactly my idea of a good time! Depending on the width of the log I was cutting, I'd sharpen the chain fairly often. On the super wide boards, 50 cm (20") I found that with the Keyaki, it was good to sharpen the chain every two or three boards. A lot of this wood was highly figured, and I cut through a lot of crotches etc, so it was HARD work. I found that by taking the time to sharpen the chain more often, I got nicer cuts and the saw worked better, I guess my point is that if you are going to do this, take the time to sharpen you chain.

Something else that really helped was putting an auxillary oiler on the milling unit, it takes a bit of tweaking to get it right, but the extra oil on the bar makes a big difference.

If I where to be doing this on an ongoing basis, I'd change a few things, one is I'd make some stands for
holding the logs off the ground...

(Something like this, they would have to be well built and wide, and stable.)

....and I'd make a tripod with a chain hoist to lift the logs around, and onto the stands......

(I found these pics and a lot of great ideas on Bill's Wood Creations)

Putting the logs on stands would remove a lot of the grunt work, and keep you off the ground. I was lucky on all but the last day of my milling to be blessed with glorious sunshine, but if you were doing this in the rain, or the snow, well, standing up compared to kneeling, is obviously a great thing!

Cheers!

[doug webb]

Sorry to see the saga end, though imagine you are somewhat relieved. Make sure you give the little van an extra ration of oats and a warm blanket. It has earned it. Take care, doug

[John Hart]

Sorry to see the saga end, though imagine you are somewhat relieved. Make sure you give the little van an extra ration of oats and a warm blanket. It has earned it. Take care, doug

I echo what Doug said Stu. This has been a wonderful story. Your energy is inspirational.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Well guys, I have to say, I slept in until 10 AM today, catching up on a little sleep

My whole body hurts! I guess when I was doing this day in and out, but the time things started to hurt again, I was already using those muscles again, so it did not matter.

Today has been somewhat slow, and I'm glad for that.

I've got to cut a whole new mess of stickers, so I'll be busy doing that on Saturday morning, as Sunday morning my two buddies are coming over to help lug the wood to the rooftop.

Yeah, I'm kind of glad it is over, as doing both jobs is hard, it is hard on my family as well, my lovely wife has had to pick up my slack at the L shop, and the kids did not see me for nearly two weeks.

I'd do it again in a heart beat, but then again, I'd be much more prepared than I was this time.

I've sure learned a lot, and had some fun, made some new friends, so to speak, and got a huge stack of NICE wood.

The little truck is going to get a nice rest, maybe even an oil change, and certainly a wash and vacuuming, as it is muddy and covered in sawdust!

One more thing, with all the encouragement from any number of you lot, I'm putting all of my thoughts down and memories, and from this, I'm going to try to write an article that could be submitted to a WW mag. A buddy here is an editor at a major English newspaper, I hope to enlist his help.

Cheers!

[Tom Horton]

Stu,

I agree with all the afore-mentioned ideas of magazines. They would benefit by making a multi-issue story, and we would benefit by seeing it all again, and being able to keep it in our "reference library" (aka- the loo) to be able to get ideas.

I for one, have been the recipient of over a dozen trees from my brother's lot, since they wanted a yard, and not a forest, and I was able to have them brought over to my shop. I don't have the ability to make the saw mill like you did, but I can rent a portable one, for the amount of wood that I have.

I was able to get some black walnut, tulip poplar, sweet gum, cherry, and white oak. Nice sections 7-12' long, and a lot of smaller pieces. I got all the wood, not just the big stuff, so most of it is destined for the firebox, but there are now a lot of ideas that I have for the longer sections, thanks to you!

And, I was able to purchase an unused 44" lathe from an estate sale last year.... for $75!!! Gotta love it!

Thanks, my friend, for all the info, and for the ideas!

[Tyler Howell]

Wow!
I peaked at the thread when it first started and just checked back when I saw how big it was getting. Thanks for sharing, this is quite an adventure.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks guys!

Tom......$75..... is it OK to hate you just a little

Nice get, but where are the pics...?

Tyler, I kept wondering where you were, I mean, you ARE the Local PP are you not? I would have expected to get some input from you, after all, I would rather have the pic say it, than subject everyone to thousands and thousands of my prose

Glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers!

[Dick Strauss]

Stu,
I'd like to suggest a title something like this for your article(s):

Logging in the Jungles of Japan
(the concrete jungles)

I think your story would make a great monthly series in a WW mag. One month might be a detailed story on building your chainsaw with all the upgrades. The next month might talk about your rig for cutting boards.

By the way, you have to make a Stu vs Godzilla Machines CD/DVD to be produced by Vaughn. This DVD would be included in the last issue of the mag that details your fun .

Best of luck,
Dick

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Thanks guys!

Tyler, I kept wondering where you were, I mean, you ARE the Local PP are you not?

Boy, someone could have a field day with this one...

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks guys!

Tyler, I kept wondering where you were, I mean, you ARE the Local PP are you not?

Boy, someone could have a field day with this one...

Sorry, I'm too lazy to write "Picture Police"

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Tomorrow the wood is going on the rooftop, I'm going to have to make stickers tonight, as a quick count of the wood left me VERY short, on them.
I have two buddies coming to lend a hand luggin this wood from the 6th floor to the roof top (8th floor I guess, only 30 steps!).

I did a quick and dirty count, and I have near 1000 BF of this Keyaki wood, and that is being conservative on the count. All told, with the Keyaki, Sakura, and the Akagashi, I bet I have over 1500 BF of wood.

I measure the length of the board, and then the width at the narrowest point, on the narrow side, and then the thickness. They were not super accurate measurements, so I erred on the short side, I was a little shocked to see the numbers

The Keyaki, in nice form, and a decent size, which almost all of mine is, will fetch a basement price of $10 a BF, for the clear wider boards, 3 or 4 times that amount.

I think it is safe to say, I did hit the jackpot on this haul, even if I only sell a few of the nice boards, I should be able to afford a nice new lathe

Cheers!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Up on the Rooftop

OK, I had my two buddies, Neil and Allen, come over and help me lug the boards up to the rooftop (thanks guys!!)


OK, I got it all stacked, and stickered....


.... and I got most of it strapped down too, I'm going to put 4 ratchet straps on each stack.....


....I'm kind of up in the air with the covers, the one hand, the tin roof idea looks good,
but then there is the "Black Plastic" type of cover.


Close up of the big stack of Red Keyaki


I've got to make sure everything is SUPER secure, as we do have Typhoons here in Japan.....


Yep, I sure like to take pictures


OK, last one....


Blue Keyaki & Red Keyaki, can you tell which is which....?


................

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

.......................


Rooftop view of the former woodlot, a dirt lot now.

That lot is 1000 Tsubo, or 82% of one acre.....


You can see the local park, it is smaller than the wood lot was.


The view from the roof top, that is Shinjuku, Down Town Tokyo.
Some people think this is a beautiful view, I don't....


The view from my roof of our Liquor Shop


A closer view of the Liquor shop


The building next door, close eh?


Even closer!!

Well that will be it for now, I've got a bunch of bowl and pen blanks to cut up, but otherwise, the logging is done......

Cheers!