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Processing logs: two days of "sawing, sweeping and stickering"

3/24/2013

3 Comments

 
PictureThe 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.
   

PictureOur 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.

PictureStickered 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
3 Comments
Narda Black
3/26/2013 06:47:52 am

Very much enjoyed reading about your "sawing, sweeping and stickering".
The blog is well-written and interesting, even to a novice like me!

I would love to see more pictures of the woods if they are available. It would be fun to take a picture in the same spot at 4 different times of the year to show how the woods changes through the seasons.

Nicely done.
Narda

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5/26/2016 11:10:23 pm

What you will be do in these two days. Dude this will be losing your mind. You should have to prepare some sort of entertainment with these two days that is supporting you and your coworkers during the boring working time.

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    Peter Smith

    Peter is the co-owner of Pleasant Lake Hardwoods.   He and his business partner Bob Miller are passionate about trees.  They both admire the beauty and flexibility of wood as a building material, recognize the significance of wood in human culture, and enjoy the peace that comes from simply working or resting in the shade of trees, whether in a wilderness tract or a small city yard.       

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