Cutting firewood with a table saw

[Old Nick]

On 06 Aug 2004 07:32:19 GMT, [e-mail] (Charlie Self) vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Now that's cruel and unusual punishment. Speaking of your wife like that, _and_ using her to cut the wood, just because she doen't like wood fires.

n. 1. A dirty woman; a slattern; a frow.

I'd go with a froe or a

***************************************************** It's not the milk and honey we hate. It's having it rammed down our throats.

[Andy Dingley]

Any advice on using one ?

I'm planning a Welsh clamp-fronted ark, a 16th century reproduction, and they need to be made of either quartersawn oak, or ideally riven oak.

[bridger]

flatten the faces before you get near the table saw. if the router jig works for you, use it. planes are lotsa fun to use though. consider getting one....

[Robert Galloway]

Nothing wrong with that idea at all. I thought he was looking for a "power" approach to the problem. I usually have more toys than time and use hand tools when I think the experience is a whole lot better (reduced noise and dust) or I think the end result is a whole lot better (scraper versus belt sander). Otherwise, for me it's the power tool route every time.

rhg

dave > Robert Galloway wrote:

[Robert Galloway]

I've had a number of friends who've had a favorite lawn tree go down in wind or dutch elm or in the way of the power company who know I'm a woodworker and ask if I wouldn't love to have their tree. Good sized trunks I haul to a guy with a Wood Miser. The little ones, I've cut up on a 14" Delta with riser block. People love to see a piece of furniture made of their Bradford Pear or whatever. It's worth the effort.

bob g.

Phisherman wrote:

[michael emerson]

take it to a sawmill

[CW]

I was in a hardware store the other day that sold froe's. Not a little specialty shop either. Not to hard to find.

[dave in fairfax]

I'm not sure where to start. From your posts in the past it seems that you have a good grip on using WW'g tools, so I'm unsure what to tell you that you don't already know. At a very basic level, choose wood that doesn't have knots, and has as straight a grain as you can find. Sharpen the froe on one side only, and use a wooden mallet, not a hammer or sledge. Depending on the twist in the wood, you will have to split off oversized slabs. How oversized, will have to be determined by you as you inspect the wood. I hope that doesn't seem condescending, I really don't know where to start. Please feel free to e-mail me, see the sig line, if I can be of any assistance. Dave in Fairfax

[CW]

I agree. Saw mills used to use circular saws. Nothing but a big tablesaw.

[Andy Dingley]

So why is it so bloody difficult to make a usable board then ?!

8-)

I've made plenty of firewood. But not yet something I can make furniture from. The idea of a roof shingle industry based entirely on the use of a froe doesn't seem too believable just now.

[Tim Douglass]

There *are* a few differences between a sawmill and a tablesaw besides size. Probably the two biggest factors are the total size of the piece (Very big for the sawmill, too massive to kick easily) and the diameter of the blade vs the size of the piece. If you look at a lot of old sawmill pics you will see saws that are 7-8 feet in diameter cutting 2 foot logs. The point where the blade is in contact with the tree is traveling almost vertically with relatively little angular motion to generate kickback. The saws also have a rather wide set to prevent binding.

Tim Douglass

[dave in fairfax]

I suspect that there's a problem with your selection of wood. If there is twist in the grain, you'll end up with a board that is thicker at one end than the other as well as having winding. Straight grain is very imortant if you are trying to make boards as is type of wood. What have you been trying to split, and how straight has the grain been? You haven't said exactly what the problem has been, just that it hasn't been working out. Give me a bit more of a clue, and maybe I can come up with a solution. Remember that branches or other changes in grain with have very bad effects on what you try to do.

Dave in Fairfax

[Charlie Self]

Tim Douglass responds:

Ayup. And the dogs on the carriage do a pretty fair country job of holding the log in place, anyway. Too, there is NO ONE anywhere near a kickback area should one occur. The operator is off to one side--in a steel and plastic cage in modern versions, with an array of controls in front of him.

Charlie Self "Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost." Russell Baker

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 22:20:03 +0100, Andy Dingley calmly ranted:

Practice makes pre^H^Herfect.

[Australopithecus scobis]

For previous post: find the Firefox books in your library (or your bookshelf!). One of the first three (forgot which) has a fella making a stack of shingles with a froe. You will not believe how big that stack is in the photograph. IIRC, same volume has a guy making a chair with riven wood. Regardless of my poor memory, find those books and you'll find the techniques you're looking for.

[CW]

What? are you saying that you are to stupid to fixture something so it won't kill you?

[Tim Douglass]

If you see it that way, yes.

Tim Douglass