slabbing/slicing?

[Tonyz]

OK got a problem with this slabbing business, have access to huge stack of recently droped redgum TREES (ie read big) and sugar gum.

If I made a mill or slabber or whatever its cut say 50-100 mm thick, then stacked a couple of years to dry and then if I want to make it into panels which way do I cut it ie across the width of the slab or cut the depth. I hope this makes sense.

I wont be cutting anything over 1.5m dia so whats the best/easiest/most economical to buyor make.

cheers Tony

[outback]

Ahhhm, no, I'm not with you.
Your mill will adjust to allow for diffeent thickness in slabs.
I guess you mean if you take one 50mm thick slab, which way do you cut it to get some bookmatched panels cabinet doors. Am I right, or am I off with the pixies?

[Tonyz]

Outback your not with the faries your bang on the knocker.

On further reading I think a mill takes slabs/slices off a tree log on a horizontal plane while a slabber can cut both vertical and horozontal. Correct?

Tony

[DJ’s Timber]

A slabber can only cut on the horizontal plane.

Lets get our names right first so we know what we're talking about.

A slabber is a bar and chain setup in a rolling frame on a set of tracks that cuts on a horizontal plane, like this one

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=47102&d=1180426710

The mill that you're talking about is a frame attached to the Chainsaw to cut boards or slabs, like this one

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=42987&d=1175498117

To cut on the vertical, you need to either have a swingsaw or cut thicker slabs then resaw them 90deg at the correct thickness.

Am I close or not

[BobL]

Outback your not with the faries your bang on the knocker.

On further reading I think a mill takes slabs/slices off a tree log on a horizontal plane while a slabber can cut both vertical and horozontal. Correct?

Tony

What DJ Said
and
If you want to cut vertical you can use one of these (http://onlinestore.forestindustry.com/scripts/granbergint/G555B.html).

Or a Lucas type mill with a big swing circular blade.

You can of course stand slabs on their side and trim them to size using a standard alaskan mill in the horizontal plabe. To do this safely you need some sort of saw rig which is one reason I made this.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=42939

Confusing eh - not for long!

[Tonyz]

thanks guys that makes it all so clear. Whats the technical dif between DJs and Bobs? Isn't Djs just the same without the 'green' frame.
Second Q after those 'slices' are dryed which way do you cut them on the table or band saw.
Really appreciate this. I bet Iam not the only one leaning from this thread.

regards Tonz

[DJ’s Timber]

Tonz, you're right in saying that mine and Bob's are the same, I use mine with a board that I screw to the top of the log to start the first cut whereas Bob just winds his up or down to make his next cut.

Bob's setup is far safer than doing it freehand as the log is clamped but if your doing BIG logs you're better of with setting up either a rolling frame or using rail that you can attach to the log like one of these

http://www.vianet.net.au/~jemal/images/wpe16.jpg

It really comes down to what you want out of the logs and how much you want to spend. If I had these logs I would be using the slabber and a swing-saw.

As for re-sawing them, again that comes down to what you want to do with them and what gear you have. I normally use bandsaw for small stuff and break the bigger stuff down with a CS first then either BS or TS.

The slabs I cut the other day will be broken down further with the CS then tidied up on the BS then put away to dry.

[outback]

I think DJ has covered most of it. Just another take on what I did to the last red gum I milled. Whilst sstill in log form, I took nearly all the sap off, this narrowed the log a fair bit, meaning I could cut the rest a fair bit quicker. Then I milled the rest into slabs, my mill looks scarily like DJ's. Then stacked, stickered and wait impatiently to dry. At this stage I don't have a bandsaw, so when they are ready, I'll break them down further with the Ts, well that is if I don't have a bandsaw by then.

Keep asking questions, we may not know the answers, but we won't let that stop us.

[BobL]

thanks guys that makes it all so clear. Whats the technical dif between DJs and Bobs? Isn't Djs just the same without the 'green' frame./[QUOTE]
More or less except the green frame and gripper does enable me to rotate the slabs through 90o and trim them to size using the CS. I would only do this if I have an odd or large size as Chain Saws waste a lot of wood.

[QUOTE]Second Q after those 'slices' are dryed which way do you cut them on the table or band saw.


As DJ says depending on the limitations of your machinery and dimensions you want you can cut them in which ever machine and which ever direction you wish.

Big slabs I break down with a CS. Smaller slabs and if the final resawn dimensions are less than 100 x 100 I use a table saw with this rig.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=45435

Board type dimensions are best done with a BS.

[Tonyz]

Great so far. Now both you guys what type are yours Id guess and say Alaskan. Right/wrong?
Or are they variations of .......................? brand

Tony

ps fair go I love this

[DJ’s Timber]

Yes our's are Alaskan mills, have a look at the Wiki here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_mill) for a brief description

[outback]

As there are three of us answering I dunno if I am one of you two or not, but I don't care I'm gonna answer.

Yes.








Mine is a really simple Alaskan knock-off. The one Bob is building now is a real flash knock-off.

[Tonyz]

OK OK 3 it is then, come on in join the party.
Beleive me I am getting really jazzed by all this, now as soon as the farmer finishes seeding (agricultural) I'll get another chance to wonder around his dropped trees and work out what what.

Bob care to elaborate on the frame box thing your mill slides on plus those clamps holding the wood.

DJ how does yours slide on your frame

Tonz

[DJ’s Timber]

On the slabber, there is 4 ballbearing rollers that travel on a rib on the edge of the rails.

With my homemade Alaskan mill the vibration of the saw is enough to allow the saw to basically slide. Once I have made the first cut using a board or my soon to be made adjustable rail, it's removed then the cut face of the log is use as the guide for the mill

ps the picture above of the rail sitting on the log in post#7, is not mine, just one I pinch from a website

[Ticky]

I spoke to a sawmill a while ago, & was told that it would cost about $60 set up then $60 per hour. I am only guessing, but I recon you would get your monys worth of timber if you got the logs at the right price, wouldnt you?

Steve

[Ianab]

Yes.. thats probably a reasonable rate for a small portable sawmill (Lucas or Peterson etc).
Paying by the hour makes it important for you to set up the site properly and provide some good helpers to offload the mill. Good site setup and help will double the amount of wood that gets cut ;)

What you get depends on the quality of the logs of course. Ugly logs = ugly boards (or character boards if you prefer ;) ). But if you can line up some nice logs, then yes it's a good option.

Cheers

Ian

[Jedo_03]

I'm not very confident in my metallistic\welding skills to attempt making anything as "sophisticated" as the gear in this thread.
In a previuos post I was asking about this:
http://www.haddontools.com/lumbermaker.html

it's simple - maybe too simple - and probaly unsafe (OH&S) but wondering if you or others have used anything like this, or know anyone who has, and what was the outcome.

[weisyboy]

one of my mates had one of those he ended up throwing it down the hill into his dump. it was hard to keep straight and there is nothung stopping the nose of the bar from swaying from side to side and then you end up with funny looking boards.

dont waste your time or money.

[Wild Dingo]

Welsfords makes and sells one similar to that one Jedo

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid183/pc0f3a14f7a7352f4836df49467d42f58/f2b1474e.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid183/pb1b7d8bb3f176133d682e9ca7ae08685/f2b14758.jpg

So far Ive not used it... for one reason or another... and it requires you drill two holes through the bar to attach it and I had until now an aversion to drilling into tools especially new ones

This was the sheet of instructions that came with it

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid183/p7288e03be46b97634f040b817d27b621/f2b1474b.jpg

For small stuff it should be alright which was my thoughts when I bought it aside from the fact that I was in a rush and didnt have time to go through their mill setups costs etc so grabbed one as I left around $100 I think maybe less been a few years now and still it sits on the top of the shelf in the shed :C gotta do something about that one day soon eh?

Ive tended to avoid doing anything with it or saying anything about it for over a year now... she has forgotten I even bought the thing thankfully... now we have the logs out the back and some other logs available to us shes more in the mood to agree to a mill purchase... after the new house is up of course :roll: if theres anything near enough left to buy one that is :~ she really has to stop wanting things for the new house like kitchens who needs a bloody kitchen eh? or a laundry? We have a creek people!!! :~ sigh... flamin sheilas!