14" bandsawing logs -- think-tanking on the topic-- add your thoughts

[William]

put on your bennie/thinking cap...

I've seen articles and posts about people using their 14" bandsaws to cut short logs, i.e. firewood, into planks to then be subsequently dried.

My ponderings are thus: how far can a person take this method? i dont want to saw 10000 feet of lumber. but lets assume we have just one

20" diameter maple.

Assumption: a 14", 1 hp, 6" extender kit, timberwolfe blade 3 tpi. a typical bandsaw well tuned. 2 sturdy infeed/outfeed tables on either side. grizzly has 'em for about 125$. 1000lbs capacity each.

What stops a man from taking a 10' log -- splitting it in half using a maul and wedges -- and turning it into planking?? I already have seen big logs split using the old methods. this is a given. in mid-winter, a straight grain log will split right down the middle. but, like in "raiders of the lost ark III"... you must choose wisely.

if the bandsaw will rip short logs, why wont it rip long logs?

If you have a comment to the negative, is there a way to get over, under, or around it? For instance, "The motor is underpowered!" Can a higher hp motor be installed? yes or no? from where? be as specific in your answer as possible. if you have a technique or magazine article, by all means, site it!

what other equipment would be necessary? what are the dangers?

before you start talking about chainsaw lumbermaking at $1000+ and woodmizer at 5000+, STOP. i've read it all. i am trying to use what i have and be inventive. if in the end, the negative column is full, it still will be an interesting exercise in itself. I just hate to be told I can't do something. :)

The floor is open.

Let's start with the motor: IS it underpowered?

[Wilson Lamb]

You'll need a carrier board running against some sort of fence to keep the cut straight.

I love a hack, but I'd sure put the log on a trailer and take it to a mill before messing with all that rigging. Someone with a mill should cut a delivered log for a quarter/BF, I think. They don't have to go anywhere or set up.

I pay 0.20/BF when the mill comes here to my place...30,000 BF so far. Could you use a few 2X6??

[Victor Radin]

Off the top of the head, and from a bandsaw novice- I'd be more concerned with the motor's duty cycle than HP. A nice slow feed should prevent an adequately-sized motor from bogging down, but how long can the motor run whilst you slow-feed a [whatever]-long log thru.

Curious about what other answers there are... /vic

[Nova]

A 10" x 10' half log is a "little" heavy and awkward. If you attempt resawing this length log I suggest you bolt your bandsaw to the floor so it doesn't tip over.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[Andy Dingley]

People with more time than money. If you want to make a habit of this, or if you're paying shop overhead costs while you're doing it, then get an 18" bandsaw with a decent motor. If you have the space and the power feed for it, restoring a big old cast iron machien costs no more than a new 14".

Oh, and if you do try it, make a log-carrying sled. Don't try to feed a wobbling log on a flat table.

[Eric Johnson]

Your looking at quite a weekend of work, I agree with Andy, make a log sled and set it up 2 carry 98% of the load, that 14 incher isn't designed to have much beyond 50 lbs on the table (if that). Also even a 1/2 log split lengthwise is going to be pretty heavy is there someone around to help manage it? (Or call the paramedics?) There are some good resaw articles about calculating drift, most of those are going to go out the window when you throw that pile of future sawdust on there. In the end what do you lose if it doesn't work out? The experience is worth trying. I'll be curious to read the results.

EJ

[Greg O]

I think it would be easier to mount the log to something, and run the saw over it! Greg

[William]

Wilson...

where are you and how did you find a person to come to your place? and is that price common for the work? i have access to plenty of logs... it is just KILLING me that all i do is look at them... red oak, maple, cherry, etc.

thanks. william

[Mark Jerde]

One reason I want to get into metalworking in addition to woodworking is to be able to build something that would hold the log and let me push my 14" bandsaw through it. But I also need more space than my single car garage shop in which to store the wood for a year.

My 14" Jet is always whispering in my ear how it would like to have a couple sets of castors mounted to the sides of its base and run horizontally on a track. ;-) I hope to help it fulfill its dreams.

I enjoy messing with tools almost as much as making sawdust.

-- Mark

[patriarch]

[e-mail] (William) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

We spent Saturday morning turning a 9' long, 26" diameter Western Red Cedar log into 2x lumber, for a Boy Scout project. The sawyer, one of the good guys from the local woodworking club, had a pickup truck fairly loaded with equipment. Here are several of the more impressive parts, to me at least:

• A custom built tripod, standing 9' tall when assembled. From the center top plate, a heavy duty block & tackle (? pulley assembly) was hung, rigged with STRONG chain. The tripod legs were tubular aluminum, very industrial strength. 1 man, one leg at a time, to haul it from the truck.

• Custom, adjustable log racks, built from square tube steel. The tripod, bock and tackle were used to hoist the log onto these racks. Adjustable wedges reduced the tendency of an irregular, roundish object to rock.

• A large, powerful chain saw, with maybe a 30" bar. And a special, reduced-kerf cutting chain.

Most important was the experience. Bill knew how to use the gear, and what safety equipment was needed. Where to have helpers stand, and what to let them do. What and when to check.

After the sawyer had quartered the main log, 4 men and a strong boy lifted one quarter of the log onto a different type of stand, for quarter sawing. This is the first size stock piece which might reasonably be considered for cutting on the type of bandsaw to which you refer.

The problem isn't the bandsaw, but the weight of the stock. The output, less waste and sawdust, strained the weight limitations of my GMC 1500 pickup truck. This was red cedar, not maple...

Let me make a few observations, and you can value them for exactly what I'll charge you for them:

• You have an abundancy of desirable wood, either on the stump, or in log form.

• Your equipment was designed to do a different task than that which you consider.

• Your experience in that task seems minimal.

• That task, especially for newbies, involves some considerable risk of personal injury.

• I have heard that some sawyers will work out a trade arangement, whereby you can have them convert the log, and split the output. This would seem to be an arrangement that, in your case, might have merit. His gear and experience, your raw material.

Or you could at least try your theory with smaller sized logs, and find your, and your equipment's, limits.

My $.02.

Work safely.

Patriarch

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