The next course will be held on Friday, May 24th at the Brooks Forest Products Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.

The course will cover:
Solar kiln design and construction

• Plans and design criteria
• Kiln limitations
• How to modify to meet your needs
• Basics of construction
• Marketing Intelligence for Exports

Operation of the solar kiln

• Air drying or green?
• Measuring moisture content<
• Running the kiln
• Auxiliary heat
• Stress in drying

Drying Defects and Maintaining Moisture Content of Dry Lumber

• Avoiding common drying defects
• Keeping kiln dried lumber dry
• Running the kiln

More course information and registration information can be found at http://sbio.vt.edu/workshops/solar-drying/

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about the course.

I hope to see you in May,

Brian Bond

Department of Sustainable Biomaterials
Virginia Tech
Phone: 540-231-8752
Fax: 540-231-8868
Email: bbond@vt.edu

I started from scratch a few years ago. The first tool I got was a miter saw which I sat on an old dining-room table that I plan to refinish someday. I was putting up trim and flooring in the house so I needed that first.

Then a table saw, and a planer. I sat the planer on a table made from a couple of sawhorses and a solid-core door from the local Habitat for Humanity. That gave me a solid surface make some boards to build a couple of simple but sturdy bases for workbenches.

Those first workbenches were the basis for many other projects and the solid-core doors were an easy way to get a really heavy, thick top. (Had to cut em down and that was a mess. Solid-core doors are not solid wood inside if they are the “Fire Rated” kind. This stuff looked like a compressed mix of sawdust and gypsum)

I still have those benches. I use one for assembling small stuff and the other for painting and finishing.

But I still haven’t built a Roubo. Maybe someday…
Oh yes, the miter saw? It’s still on the dining room table. I don’t use it much – having learned to make sleds get much better accuracy on my table saw.

So here I go trying my hand at being a stone mason because to meet code in a garage you have to have any open flame at least 18” off the floor.

I had this stove installed by someone who knows what he’s doing. Needless to say, it wasn’t me.
I did the tile work on the platform using leftover tile and thinset from some other projects.

Now I can work in comfort when the weather is cold. Although it’s been a mild winter, even trying to work when the outside temp is below 50 can be a trial. And I’ve noticed that the large pile of scraps has been shrinking rapidly!

Starting with 8 foot boards, I cut them down a bit hoping shorter lengths would increase the odds of getting a few good pieces.

As you can see these are some really nice quarter sawn pieces

How would you like a few boards like this?

I was able to plane these down to 3/4” thick with a minimal number of raw spots. If I get a project that can use 1/2” thickness and also calls for nice ray flecking I’ll use these. Meanwhile, they go to the attic to dry a little faster.

No, it won’t be fancy, but it will be functional and accurate. Here’s the first one I did:

The basic crosscut sled was so easy that this weekend I made a 45 degree miter sled.

SO, WHAT’‘S THE SECRET?

It’s simple. The only thing that has to be carefully measured is the angle between the saw kerf and the reference board. For a simple crosscut sled the reference board is the rear cross board. All the other things; the base, the rails, and the front cross-board don’t really matter. To look good, you want to make them as square as possible, but precision is not necessary. So don’t sweat it.

Basic instructions:

1. Cut a base board to the size you want.
2. Attach a front cross board – just make sure the screws aren’t going to be in the path of the saw blade!
3. Attach two rails on the bottom. Even these don’t have to be perfectly square to the sled, just line them up the best you can. I cut them long and then position the sled so I can clamp them to sled first in the rear, then in front, and then flip the sled over, screw them on and cut off the extra length. There are other ways. Do what works, but don’t sweat the angle.
4. Now you are ready to make the first cut. Don’t cut all the way through your base. Leave a few inches at the rear.
5. Finally, attach the rear cross board. Since this will be your reference run it through a jointer on at least two sides; the bottom and the side that will face your work piece. This is the ONLY piece that needs to be attached with precision. The angle between the saw kerf and the face of this reference board must be exactly 90 degrees, Use whatever angle measuring tools you have. I found a thin sliver of wood, the same thickness as the saw kerf and slipped it into the kerf so it would stand up and I could put a carpenter’s square up to it. (Not all carpenter’s squares are precise. I trust this one) Once I had the reference board positioned on the base, I clamped it, flipped the sled over and screwed it from the bottom.

Done!

To get a 45 degree angle is a little trickier. After you get one reference set at 45 degrees, set the other one exactly 90 degrees to the first one. So when you cut miters, always cut a left side and a right side and they will always add to 90 – even if you didn’t quite get that 45 on nose, you’ll still have great corners.

Also, your rear board is there as a handle – so you have something to push on. And it needs to be narrower than the base of your 45 degree triangle. But you’d figure that out quick enough!

I like to use oak rails. They are hard and slippery. If they wear, I’ll just replace them.

For the second part I need your help. I am looking for one or more pieces of equipment that are beefy enough to process large quantities of wood with a minimum number of passes. My little router table with the 3/4 hp router won’t last long doing this kind of volume and I’m not so sure about my planer either.

So I looked at the Logosol product. $17k. Ouch! I’m looking into the woodmastertools machines too. Those, while pricey are at least in a range I might be able to justify.

So what would you recommend?

Safety First. You will want to wear good leather gloves, eye protection, and steel toed shoes. If the shoes have a metatarsal guard they will be better. You probably WILL drop at least one board on your toes during the day. Also, I highly recommend wearing a respirator. The mill makes a lot of fine dust, and certain woods can be very irritating. I used a good quality paper respirator and it made a big difference. Don’t wear really loose clothing that can get caught on wood or part of the mill.

Estimating the job. I used the “International ¼ Rule” to estimate how much wood I would get. My 32 logs added up to 2700 bd ft. At the end of two days we came within 5% of that. From that, you can estimate how much mill time you’ll need and how many stacks you’ll need. Assume several stacks will be only half full. For example, we only made a small stack of 8/4 boards.

Paint your log ends in advance. I suggest you paint them as soon as you get the logs cut, and use color coding to identify the species. I used an exterior grade white primer/sealer on all the logs and then came back and re-painted some of the logs, since my inventory was 90% red oak. You can get gallon cans of “oops” from some stores really cheap.

Cut all your logs to the same length. I used 8 ½ feet as my standard and it worked very well. Some will say that milling 10 1/2 foot logs is more efficient, but 8’ boards are a little lighter to handle and can still be FAS graded. The extra 1/2 feet gives you 3” at each end for checking and leaves an 8’ board. Also, I was able to build nice solid 4’ x 8’ bases for my stacks using 4×4 8’ pressure treated boards, a common and cheap size.

Stacks. Make good bases for stacks and have enough material to make several in advance. You may want to sort as you mill and having multiple stacks allows you to cut 4/4, 5/4, and 8/4 from the same log. This gives your miller flexibility to maximize use of each log. I like to make 8’ x 4’ bases using two 8’ 4×4 boards about 3 ½ feet apart and then a layer of 4 4’ 4×4 boards cross-wise on top of that. This gives me 7-8” of free space under the stack so leaves are less likely to get caught. The higher the stack, the less likely it is to become a home for bugs or mice. On my recent job I used 28 8’ PT 4×4’s to make 7 stacks at a cost of $7 per board. ($200)

Location. Plan to mill in a flat area with the logs slightly uphill from the mill. In my area I can rent a skid-steer loader with a fork for about $350 per day (delivered to the job site). That will move all but the heaviest logs. It’s best to line them up in front of the mill so you don’t waste time fetching logs. Have a couple of cant hooks ready to help roll logs.

Labor. You will want plenty of help. I would suggest at least 3 helpers to stack, move logs, and operate the loader. I found it easy to talk people into 1 day for the novelty. The second day is much harder! Take breaks and have plenty of water for folks to drink. This is hard work and you will be exhausted at the end of the day.

Dust removal. We had a couple of stumps that we placed strategically in the stacking area to bang the boards against before stacking – you want to get as much dust off as possible. Extra dust encourages mold growth. You can use a gas-powered blower to blow dust out of the completed stacks when you are done.

Stickers. You’ll want a chain saw handy to cut stickers in half. Your miller will know about making stickers from the sap wood. Since you are making stacks 4’ wide, you’ll want 4’ stickers. Luckily, you are milling 8 ½ foot logs so you can just saw the stickers in half. You will need a LOT of stickers.

Scrap. Set aside an area for slabs and other waste. It needs to be close enough to the mill so you don’t walk far, but far enough so it’s out of the way. This will be a pretty large pile when you are done. You’ll want to think about what to do with it. My plan is to rent a chipper and make wood chips for landscaping.

Efficiency. Keep the mill operating constantly if possible. In this area the going rate seems to be about $65/hour for mill time plus half that for travel, or $500 per day – operating or not. With a good mill you can make about 1500 bd ft in a 7 hour day. That comes to .30 per bd ft.

The mill. When you shop for a miller, get the one with the best mill. A mill like the Woodmizer T40 with full hydraulics will produce at a much higher rate than a T20 because the miller doesn’t stop the mill each time to rotate the cant 90 degrees. The debarker makes blades last longer so you go longer between stops for blade changes. I think we went through 4-5 blades in 2 days – and we didn’t encounter any metal. Also the T40 has a log leveler that allows you to always cut parallel with the pith. That will give you better quality wood. From my experience with both, I would estimate the T20 can only do 1000-1200 bd ft per day. If anyone quotes you higher they are assuming ideal conditions and unlimited labor to make it happen.

The miller came with a Woodmizer T40. Trust me, this is a fantastic machine. It has full hydraulics. You can lift the log, rotate it, and even level it so your cut is always parallel to the pith.

I also had a guy with a large loader. This turned out to be really useful. Initially I had planned on renting a skid-steer loader for the day. But this machine could pick through the stack of logs and select ones to mill first. We chose to mill the largest logs first – judging that a second day would be likely and if we could get the monsters done on Saturday, then we could roll the remaining logs to the mill with cant hooks. That turned out to be a wise decision.

Milling lumber is a labor intensive operation. I have not worked so hard for two full days in a very long time. I had some help and could not have completed the job without it.

By the end of the first day we had two nice stacks 4’ x 8’ x 5’ high. About 700 bd ft each. And we had started a third stack. We did all the large logs and all the quarter sawing on the first day. Unfortunately, that was only 10 of the 32 logs, so we started day 2 with a long line of 22 logs lined up in front of the mill on slabs to make rolling easier.

By day 2, we had developed a pretty good routine. I bought more 4×4 pressure treated boards and set up 3-4 stacks in advance so we could sort as we stacked. 4/4 on one stack, 5/4 on another, and 8/4 on a third. I gave the mill operator instructions to use his judgement in selecting cuts and to give us some variety. That gave him freedom to maximize what he got from each log. It was all red oak except for a few poplar logs and one white oak, but the ends were painted, so we could just sort by size.

At the end of 2 days, I think we had cut close to 3000 bd ft. You can see all the different sizes. There is one small stack of pith cuts. Those are 4×4 and 5×5 centers of the tree where the wood is poorest quality. They will almost certainly develop surface checking and cracks. But I may be able to use them for structural applications that don’t require high quality wood.

In my next post I’m going to give you a list of “lessons learned” and do’s and don’ts. I learned a lot in the past two days. If you’re planning something similar, I’m sure it will be useful.

At the end of two and half days I have 36 logs. More red oak than I thought and less other. I have painted all the ends with an exterior primer to seal them. I’m planning to paint each species a different color. So the red oak will be white, white oak probably orange (because I got a gallon of “oops” for $7), and I’m thinking I’ll color code any quarter-sawn logs specially. The problem is, the wood will probably end up mixed once it’s stickered and stacked. So by color-coding the ends I’ll be able to find what I need later. Maybe.

But today is sawmill day! More on that in the next post.

At the end of day one, we have this. I’ve painted the ends of the logs with white exterior primer to prevent checking.
I expect the number of logs to double before we are done!

On Wednesday we continued, pulling some more huge logs (here are 2 of 11) from the woods.

So there are two questions: What uses do you find for scraps? and How do you keep your shop neat?

In order to estimate how much it will take to gather the logs and mill them I needed to take some kind of inventory. So I took some blue field marking paint and went out and labeled trees showing where I wanted them cut, and also giving each log a number. I recorded the diameter of each log at about the center point.

There are 10 trees down that are probably worth milling. All are greater than 12” diameter at the middle of the first log. Most of the trees were in the 16” to 18” range, but 2 were over 20” in diameter. I measured logs in 8 1/2 foot lengths, numbered them and took a diameter measurement at the middle of each log. Why 8 1/2 feet? It’s an arbitrary number, but, only an exceptional jointer can joint a board longer than 8 feet. I would like to have boards about 8 feet for people who want to do projects like beds, or tall bookshelves, but I don’t think very many will really want anything longer. Also, it’s a little more precise to mill shorter lengths, although more efficient to mill longer lengths.

When they have been gathered I will have 30 logs. 3 poplar, 5 willow oak, 3 white oak and the rest red oak.
The plan is to have a guy with an excavator cut and pull all the logs out of the forest and stage them in an open area. Then I will bring in a guy with a portable Woodmizer to mill them. I’ll invite over a couple of friends to help stack and sticker so that the mill stays busy.

I’m thinking that the large (>20”) logs should be quarter sawn, and the others simply flat sawn.

How does this plan sound to you?

So the first step would be to disassemble the packing as much as I could to lighten it.
Starting with the metal frame…

There were actually several distinct boxes within the crate and if I could get them out separately I would make the rest easier.

Having lightened it as much as I could I grabbed a couple of oak boards, 5/4×10” x 10 ft long and the saw at this point was light enough that I could tip up on one side at a time and slide a board under each runner.

Okay, at this point it gets a little dicey. I want to inch the saw backwards until it just tips the boards and then slide it down the incline to the shop floor. One piece of advice, make sure the boards are the same length off the back of the truck.

So you can see, I missed disaster by only a little bit!

Actually the toughest part was tipping the saw on it’s side to remove the skid from the bottom, and then getting it back upright.

Then the directions for assembly… Notice the following picture. The packages of parts are labeled “For Figure A, B, C” but in the manual the figures are numbered! What fun!

But to make a long story short, I eventually got it together and all set up.

Note: This was actually in 2009 and the shop has changed a lot since then. But I think the experience is still instructive. I don’t recommend this technique to anyone!