The first log is loaded onto the portable sawmill A couple of weekends ago we had our local sawyer out for what we expected would be two days of "sawing, sweeping and stickering". With 42 logs piled in the yard we had our work cut out for us (pun intended). These logs had come from about a dozen trees, each one selected for a specific reason. Some had been damaged by storms, some were growing on a fence-line, a few had been salvaged from a nearby pipeline company clear-cut, and others were removed to create better growing conditions for nearby trees. With the exception of the salvaged logs, all had been harvested and hauled out of the woods by Bob and me.
Starting at about 10:30 on a sunny Friday morning, the first piece tackled was an eight-foot-long, 30" diameter white oak log. The hydraulic arms of the portable saw mill quickly moved the trunk onto the saw carriage. Having decided to quarter-saw this particular piece, Jeff Tervol, the sawyer, began to work magic with his 40 h.p. band saw. Soon he was pushing beautiful, clear boards off the log.
Starting at about 10:30 on a sunny Friday morning, the first piece tackled was an eight-foot-long, 30" diameter white oak log. The hydraulic arms of the portable saw mill quickly moved the trunk onto the saw carriage. Having decided to quarter-saw this particular piece, Jeff Tervol, the sawyer, began to work magic with his 40 h.p. band saw. Soon he was pushing beautiful, clear boards off the log.
Our Saturday sweeping crew We had recruited a number a friends and neighbors to help, and we broke up into two crews: sweepers and stackers. The sweepers first job was to remove and pile the initial slab wood that Jeff trimmed from each log. Later, as finished boards started to come off the saw, these folks laid them out perpendicularly on two railroad ties, and quickly swept sawdust from both sides. After each board was swept it was stacked at one end of the ties. When the pile reached the maximum carrying capacity of Bob's tractor, he slipped the improvised fork lift attached to the tractor's bucket underneath the new-sawn lumber and motored over to the barn.
Stickered cherry and walnut slabs At the barn another crew waited with what seemed like a more-than-adequate supply of stickers. These 1" x 1" sticks of wood, in various lengths, are laid crossways between each layer of stacked lumber. The spaces between the edges of each board, along with the gaps provided by the stickers, allows air to flow between and around all of the boards, allowing them to dry. As Bob pulled up to the barn door, the stacking crew unloaded the lumber and arranged boards carefully in pre-designated spots in the barn.
Between a relatively late start, quarter-sawing that first white oak log, and minor mechanical adjustments to the saw that slowed Jeff's pace, we were only able to process 12 of the 42 logs on that first day. It looked as if our work might stretch into a third day.
Starting early the next day, with a new crew of sweepers and stackers (more friends, more neighbors), we worked together like a finely-tuned machine. By late afternoon the stackers were scrounging for stickers. By five o'clock the remaining thirty logs were sawn and stickered. We now have a barn full of beautiful red and white oak, cherry, walnut, and hickory, along with some sweet-smelling spruce and white pine. All together those two days of teamwork resulted in over 5000 board feet of lumber.
Now nature does the work. Using the rule of thumb that, for hardwood lumber, each inch of thickness requires about one year of air-drying time, we'll have this wood ready for use in the summer of 2014. For the next three seasons we'll walk in the woods and enjoy the the tranquility it offers. On occasion our eyes will focus upwards, in consideration of next winter's work.
Peter Smith
Peter Smith
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