Milling Lumber with my Granberg Alaskan Sawmill

Had fun this morning Milling some Lumber with my Dad, using my Granberg Alaskan Saw Mill

Looks like a lot of work! But I know you enjoyed doing it with your dad. What are you going to do with the wood?

Don't know what kind of mill you used, however I do remember milling our farm oak logs on a saw blade driven by a old Farmall tractor side p.t.o drum, blade about 15'back on a wooden sled. We learned how to duck when a log kicked back or the belt staples came apart. I'm still here Lord willing. We used our wood for various repairs needed on barn, corn cribs etc. Fun memories growing up on a farm in Minnesota in the 50's and 60's. Oh yea, 1 room school house too.

Man thats some pretty lumber!

This was a LOT of Fun! It is a LOT of Work, but it’s good exercise and fun I just got my Log plates done this morning and will be getting back to Milling any day now, I will take more pics and explain the process better when i get back at it.

EdMehlig wrote:Looks like a lot of work!  But I know you enjoyed doing it with your dad.  What are you going to do with the wood?

Ed, We are gonna Build my Dad a nice Woodshed first, then i am gonna work on a 6X10 Greenhouse for me

Are you able to 1/4 saw with that set up?

Magnum wrote:Are you able to 1/4 saw with that set up?

No, I don’t think this Chainsaw Mill can do 1/4 Sawn? This one got me Magnum  I had no idea what 1/4 Sawn was?

I looked it up and found a neat Writeup on it, I learned something today  I will share this with others that might not know what 1/4 Sawn is?

3 REASONS TO USE QUARTER SAWN WOOD
By George Vondriska

Quarter-sawn wood costs about twice as much as plain-sawn. So, why use it? In order to understand the benefits (and extra cost) let’s look at how the material is milled from a tree.


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn Wood
Imagine this is a log ready to go through a sawmill. I’ve sketched out plain-sawn cuts on the bottom half, and quarter-sawn cuts on the top half.


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn WoodPlain-sawn, also called through and through, is pretty simple. Slabs of wood are simply cut from the log as it lays on the mill. It’s easy to see how simple this would be to set up and handle. Pay special attention to how the annual rings lay across the end grain of the resulting boards.


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn WoodQuarter sawing is more complicated. The log is quartered, one board is cut off the quarter, the remaining section is turned, another board is cut off, the remaining section is turned, another board is cut off — until there’s no more log left. Intuition tells us this is more complicated to execute, but look at how the annual rings lay across the end grain of the boards.

WHY ANNUAL RINGS ARE IMPORTANT


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn Wood Wood tends to cup in the direction opposing the curve of the annual rings. This board, a piece of plain-sawn wood, would tend to cup upwards.


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn WoodThe annual rings in this piece of quarter sawn wood are nearly perpendicular to the face grain. The trick question is, “Which way will this board cup?” The answer is that it won’t cup. This is one of the benefits of quarter-sawn wood.


ANNUAL RINGS = FACE GRAIN

What we can see in the annual rings translates into what we’ll see in the face grain.


quarter-sawn-woodThis piece of plain-sawn oak has a dramatic cathedral or flame pattern in the face. What you’re seeing as flames is the result of the way plain sawing slices across the annual rings. Plain-sawn wood tends to have a much more dynamic grain pattern in the face.


using-quarter-sawn-woodThe face grain of this quarter-sawn piece is very straight, thanks to the way the quarter sawing process slices through the annual rings.

Back in the day I worked at a cabinet shop where we built all the fixtures for a national retail chain. They specified quarter-sawn cherry for all their stores because they didn’t want the overly-busy look of plain-sawn cherry on all the walls and cabinets.

THEN THERE ARE THE FLECKS AND RAYS.


Three Reasons to Use Quarter Sawn Wood When wood is quarter-sawn the internal rays of the wood are exposed. In some materials, especially red and white oak, this can be VERY dramatic, giving the finished wood an amazing three dimensional appearance. Think of the old Singer sewing machine cases. Great examples of quarter-sawn oak.

Not all woods provide this benefit.

THREE REASONS TO PONY UP

Knowing that quarter-sawn wood can out price plain-sawn by a factor of two (or more), here are the compelling reasons to buy it.

Quarter-sawn wood is more stable than plain-sawn. Not only is it less prone to cupping, it also expands and contracts less.
Quarter-sawn provides a “quieter” and straighter face grain than plain-sawn.
In some woods, especially the oaks, quarter sawing reveals dramatic internal rays that add a very cool dimension to the material.
It’s relatively easy to find quarter-sawn red and white oak. Other species can be much more difficult to locate in quarter-sawn, and may require a number of phone calls to track down.

I believe most gun stocks are cut plain sawn.

This is an interesting article Lewis, I grew up around a saw mill on my grandfather's farm and had never heard the term until now. Thanks for sharing.