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My woodturning pal asked if I’d like to give him a hand milling some timber. Anything working with chainsaws and wood gets a yes from me.
The Ash had been felled about a year ago but had been abandoned probably because of its position on a steep slope inaccessible with a crane. An Alaskan mill made our approach viable.
On Friday evening we strimmed back the shoulder high nettles and brambles to reveal the two big sections of trunk
We started milling it first thing on Saturday morning. The mill itself is an adjustable guide which clamps on to the saw bar. The first cut is made using a ladder as a straight edge
The four foot bar on Jonnie’s 3120 allowed us a bit more than a three foot cut. We cut a mix of three and two inch boards which had some fantastic grain. Jonnie trained as a cabinet maker then went to art college to study furniture design. He now works as an industrial furniture designer.
His plan is to make some tables from the boards and to turn some bowls from the six inch billets we got from the second log
Despite some teething problems with the saw we milled close on three tons of wood, and probably another three of firewood logs
I quite fancy making some garden furniture from a couple of Chestnut trees we are due to fell soon. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a bargain four foot bar and ripping chain for my big saw. There is a special thrill in revealing the grain as the boards are cut.
Apoligies for the Instagram links,
https://instagram.com/p/BndoJELhUjV/
https://instagram.com/p/BneADF3BSEW/
I clicked expecting some spoon carving or the like 😂
That is awesome. I'm now wondering about the ash at the bottom of our garden. I've got no knowledge skills or tools to do anything like that though.
Love it. I've a quiet office week, I will pop over for A play...
Mega.
It was only a matter of time before you two came across each other, especially as you live so close! Turns out I've known his wife for several years, same job different school.
There isn't much Jonnie doesn't know about trees, wood - and (how I got to know him) woodturning.
I still find it captivating after 10 or so years, although we're mostly making use of bigger kit like Woodmizers and occasionally a Lucas Mill if we can't lift the log.
First sawmilling experience was an Alaskan about 15 years ago - 6' bar and an engine at each end, pair of 395XP, start one and bump the other due to reversed direction, ton of sharpening required.
Sweet Chestnut smells nice, used a Lucas for a piece few years ago that we couldn't even drag with the tractor and winch, calculated weight about 6.5 ton.
They are quite prone to shake, so to avoid any splitting when felling the cut needs to be clean and quick, ideally with a cushion of brash to land on, so fell the most rubbish one first and remove any large pieces that may crossover/contact.
In some way it reminds me of this:
https://imageobjecttext.com/2012/02/19/on-seeing-the-wood-and-the-trees/#more-779
I pick up one slice of tree with permission and get roasted, you take the whole bloody thing and get loved. Not fair : https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/saw-this-when-riding-went-back-and-dragged-it-home-now-what/
Lovely looking bit of timber. V jealous
great bit of work Peter, looks hugely satisfying.
Have you read: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Who-Made-Things-Trees/dp/0393354121
A bit far for mcmoonter to go, but for anyone further south who likes this stuff, dont forget the APF show is on weekend after next at Ragley Hall. Everything from froes to massive industrial processing machines.
https://www.apfexhibition.co.uk/about-apf-exhibition
Anybody who finds this interesting must watch the videos of the restoration of Tally Ho, an English pilot cutter on the US north-west coast. This episode is really excellent, as much for the milling and craftsmanship as for the amazing southern accent of the miller:
The chap I bought my 880 from recommended the arb show too. It’s a shame it’s so far south.
Ill have a squint at the book and video too when I get back in
I have a cabin idea, a bit like a USFS fire lookout, which needs some long legs. My neighbour is has been instructed to fell some Larch. It feels like some stars are aligning
It's a very nice wood - hard, strong but not too difficult to work. And looks good without paint - no wonder so many quality guitar and bass bodies are made of it.
How much would a tree be worth, quite a few £K?
My bro in law supports his cabinet making by salvaging any that fall nearby.
....being a total amateur who has only recently got a chainsaw, what are you doing? You use a guide of some sort to get a straight cut ? In a sense making planks there and then ? looks great!
Working on a set of kitchen knives for myself, they will all have ash handles.
i really like how even a rather plain piece of ash turns out when sanded and oiled.
Lovely
Hoping to head along to the arb show, if I do I’ll post pix
This should show how the first cut is made. As the top edge of the log isn't flat for the saw guide, a ladder is screwed to the top to create the first straight cut. All subsequent cuts are made from that flat primary cut
Had a long detailed answer, until something went kaput, basic summary is our sawyer was fairly involved in the Rob Penn book, standing trees are worth little but increase exponentially with each process, for the cost of a finished board you could have bought the whole standing tree and had change.
I'm also off to APF, on the Friday I think. Tractor winch is on my shopping list.
I do like a nice slab of home-grown ash - often underrated timber IMO. I too love the successive anticipation and "reveal" as you work through the log mcmoonter. And watching the colours change in the short minutes between milling and stacking. It never gets old.
@howsyourdad - if you've got an itch to scratch, Logosol are based in Härnösand and have a few demo chainsaw-based setups if you're passing. They have/had a relationship with Moretens in Östersund IIRC so they might have stuff to look at up there too. No direct experience with them, but always seem well set up for the domestic market.
timber - I think Im going to head up to APF on the Friday too once Ive dropped the kids at school. It's only 3/4hr away. Unfortunately the only things on my shopping list are a few strops! But I can watch the machinery all day long...
Nice.
How sound is that heartwood? looks dark, like rot setting in but can't be or you wouldn't have bothered!
I was playing with my new saw at the weekend. Just bucking firewood but...365x torq with a brand new ful chisel oregon chain is fun.
Talk about under rated.
As a (definite amateur) joiner type person I blinking love ash. Works so much easier than oak - cuts beautifully with a hand plane exposing a gorgeous figure in every piece. I love the timber and I love the tree, it’s more abundant where I live than oak.
The grain in the second pic is a work of art in itself.
"I have a cabin idea, a bit like a USFS fire lookout, which needs some long legs. My neighbour is has been instructed to fell some Larch. It feels like some stars are aligning"
Hurrah! new McMoonter build thread. 🙂
The heartwood was in great shape with no shakes. The grain cane alive with a splash of water. Jonnie will make a table from it.
That is beautiful.
The dark colouring comes from the presence of fungi (which can be symbiotic, like in 'tiger oak') and onset of rot. In the short term, this doesn't affect the structural quality of the timber. Ash tends to suffer more white rot in the roots and base, so anything above 6' is generally quite good as the tree falls over before it goes any further.
I understand one of the downsides of Ash to be it's poor rot resistance.
There's gonna be an abundance of dead Ash in the next few years I fear. It looks like Chalara (ash die back) could be taking hold and killing it off. If eab gets here there is definitely no hope.
A few months on and the novelty hasn't worn off. My tree surgeon pal asked if we'd be interested in a big Oak? We didn't need asking twice. We've accumulated a shed full of decent boards now which are seasoning well.
that's a lot of kitchen worktops!
Mmmmmmmm, love that wood! The grain in that ash is just stunning, so many things I’d love to make from that, if I had the space, tools, and appropriate skillz!
I’ve got that book by Robert Penn, great read.
I’ve got another book about working with wood like that, it’s by George Nakashima, called ‘The Soul Of A Tree’, and it’s stunning! He uses lots of timber with flaws and splits, using butterfly inserts to avoid any further movement, and some of the timber used are slices through stumps pulled out of the ground - after prising all the stones out!
https://nakashimawoodworkers.com/accessory/the-soul-of-a-tree/
The grain in the ash is beautiful. Wish I had the skills to do this sort of thing. Is there any chance you’ll be able to update the thread with pictures of the table that’s being made? I’d love to see the finished article.
When the chain loses its edge does it effect the straightness of the cut at all, or does the guide/mill prevent it?
Nice work!
Slams the like button
Houns, we've been using either Granberg or Stihl ripping chains. The teeth are at a much shallower angle and resist blunting better than crosscut chains. They produce a different type of saw dust, much finer than a cross cut chip. The only time we have really lost the edge on a chain has been when we've hit a nail or cable.
Sweet thread!
Some lush looking oak, do you have any more butts left in one piece? If so, plenty of beam and brace stock material for your cabin project 😎
That Oak was the first we’ve milled. There’s the chance of a second at the same site. My cabin building is a bit too rustic to justify Oak. My milling pal trained as a cabinet maker then as a furniture designer, I’m sure he can do something more worthy with it. When the right tree comes along though, we will mill some big posts