Thread: How is it so smooth?

Originally Posted by Evanism

I've received several shipments from MapleMan (Qld) and other millers, mostly Tasmania. Good stuff.

What amazes me is how smooth the timber is. It certainly isn't sanded, but appears to have been sheared by a single almighty blade of incredible sharpness... Looking at the grain it's clear it's been cut, but the finish is so damned smooth.

I get a similar finish using my ultra sharp Japanese Kana plane.

How do they do this from a milling operation? It must be part of some bulk operation, but it seems so very exact and crisp.... A mystery.

Keeping the blade sharp,and not rushing the cut is the key..MM

Wow Sounds Like I could learn a Thing or two from them about that as well....Sometimes my cuts look ok but other times there pretty bad?? I was putting it down to movement in the timber as I was cutting.. Could this be the case or is it likely to be something else I'm doing???

Originally Posted by MAPLEMAN

Keeping the blade sharp,and not rushing the cut is the key..MM

Come on MM......fess up......I know the secret......

An eternity ago when I was chainsaw milling, I read, on this illustrious forum, let gravity do the work. I gave it a go and ended up with a very smooth slab which required very little sanding.

There must be more to it other than the chainsaw. Infact, I rechecked some of the larger pieces of maple and there is not a single mark on it.

At first I thought they must run them through a good and big thicknesser, but this didn't make much sense as the volumes would be high and the payoff small...for example, the prices are very good and every woodworker would dimension them again anyway, so what would be the point of pre finishing a board to such a high quality?

It's not as if I (we) buy timber from dudes like mapleman because it's pretty on the outside....we re-machine everything ourselves! (don't we?)

My interest was piqued as I received the LucasMill brochure and they had Planing Disk attachment. I was thinking this may have been used?

Originally Posted by Mitchell Jack

Wow Sounds Like I could learn a Thing or two from them about that as well....Sometimes my cuts look ok but other times there pretty bad?? I was putting it down to movement in the timber as I was cutting.. Could this be the case or is it likely to be something else I'm doing???

As MM said... there's a lot to do with blade sharpness, and having the teeth tuned perfectly, and how fast you feed the saw into the timber. Some species respond better to a high feed speed but most won't... particularly on a Lucas which has only a handfull of teeth.

Having said that, firmer timbers with a close grain without heavy interlocking tend to cut smoother. Eucalypts will cut fine to an almost polished look whereas softer types may not. Red Cedar can be notorious for looking "wooly" when cut. Also areas of highly interlocking grain can get a shaggy look too. It's not a bad thing... when I see say Qld Maple looking furry in a pack I know its more heavily figured.

IMG_0240 (480x640).jpg

is a picture of some Silkwood maple from a pack we were dressing today... two near enough to matched boards. Looking wooly don't stop it planing up alright!!!

You also need to factor in grain orientation:IMG_0244 (640x480).jpg heres some 4 x 4's in Clarksons Bloodwood, (a minor species that grows from around Townsville across the charters Towers goldfields country down as far as the Belyando... just like bloodwood without the gum veins). You can see the top couple have a smooth backsawn face while the ones on the bottom have an interlocked quartersawn face.

90% of the time though its all about sharp teeth

Some nice timber there John!!!

I've never heard of that Bloodwood before. Looks pretty good to me.

Originally Posted by Mitchell Jack

Wow Sounds Like I could learn a Thing or two from them about that as well....Sometimes my cuts look ok but other times there pretty bad?? I was putting it down to movement in the timber as I was cutting.. Could this be the case or is it likely to be something else I'm doing???

Depends what the marks look like mate, every 'problem' has its own different look - throw me some pics (in another thread maybe) and I'll try let ya know whats the likely cause. Sometimes the sawblade marks are from the species of timber, the sawblade condition either teeth or tension, other times could be from what is in the log and what the operator is doing - like tight knots and running too fast, could be log tension, could be bolster setup, could be log moving in bolsters, could be frame setup - this one always catches me...trying to offer advice on here, expecting that their mill setup is 'right' and it turns out to be 90% of the issue.

I see that MM continues to keep schtum........come on man.......or I'll have to......

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I see that MM continues to keep schtum........come on man.......or I'll have to......

Silence is golden ..MM

Originally Posted by MAPLEMAN

Silence is golden ..MM

Rightio then, he's outted hisself. Didn't think he could hold out forever.

From the current offering in the Marketplace:
"Offering 7 pieces of Blackwood (Acacia Melanoxylon) for box making,seasoned,d.a.r,asking $45 the lot, plus postage...MM"


Oops.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Rightio then, he's outted hisself. Didn't think he could hold out forever.

From the current offering in the Marketplace:
"Offering 7 pieces of Blackwood (Acacia Melanoxylon) for box making,seasoned,d.a.r,asking $45 the lot, plus postage...MM"


Oops.

...MM

Originally Posted by MAPLEMAN

...MM

Yes, 'tis a pity we don't have an icon for a noiselessly moving jaw. You know, "I ah....I ah...."

Nicely sidestepped, but it still doesn't answer my question..... HOW

Is it all run through a thicknesser?