Is This The Most Expensive 2X4?

[@htme]

Head to keeps.com/HTME to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment.

[@MadebyKourmoulis]

You need to level up to a steam engine asap.

[@XtomJamesExtra]

Instead of water powered, perhaps considered a Sterling engine powered sawmill.

[@MadebyKourmoulis]

@@XtomJamesExtra branch education has a decent video on something similar

[@VAXHeadroom]

Your board looks very similar to the beams in my log cabin which was built some time prior to 1810. Great job!

[@BubuH-cq6km]

2:52 No "Leaves"❓ 😂 🤣 good one

[@BakerVS]

Something I noticed around 10:45: It looks to me like the blade is sharpened for a crosscut. If you instead sharpen for a rip cut, it'll be a bit faster for what you're doing (but still LOADS of work!) The difference is that crosscut teeth are like small spear tips that slice the fibers, whereas rip teeth are like small chisels that scoop out the wood from between the fibers.

[@qwertuipie1884]

this sounds like it might help them, sending this comment up

[@Oddthetall]

Not so sure that's cross-cut filed - I think it's more of an older tooth profile (see some of the Viking age saws that were found in Dublin etc). Also, (and sorry if you already know this), but if there's no fleam on the teeth, the blade's still rip filed. Green wood framesaw blades also often have a higher rake angle and are isosceles rather than equilateral triangles (so /\, instead of ^, giving much deeper gullets for the damp sawdust to clump in), and I rather doubt the wood had been dried at all when it was being processed. All that said though, I agree that a lower rake angle would help with speeding up the cut.

[@miclowgunman1987]

something I noticed a bit later at 11:14...someone got caught making a snowman in frame.

[@BakerVS]

@@Oddthetall I thought I could see some fleam, but it's admittedly hard to tell, it might just be reflections on the teeth.

[@Oddthetall]

@@BakerVS fair enough, you may be looking at it on a larger screen than me, and will be able to see details I missed.

[@Rosiepedia]

The comments in this video seem like they’re not HTME’s normal audience… this channel is about experimenting and learning from methods of the past. Thank you for the incredible hard work you put in to doing this challenge and congratulations on creating a successful 2x4 using very challenging historical methods. My dad works in woodlands and runs talks on historic saw pits, the skill of the workers is incredible and replicating it successfully without the years of practice is admirable. Thank you for another enjoyable video. Congratulations on unlocking dimensional lumber.

[@oiausdlkasuldhflaksjdhoiausydo]

Every episode of this show makes me incredibly grateful of modern technology and incredibly thankful for the pains our ancestors went through

[@chrisadams628]

Man, Lauren's so cool. I like how she's just making a snowman in the background while Andy is talking about the broken saw.

[@Cookieglue]

She even made one hit the dab lol

[@Cosimate]

okay

[@laurenapolis]

How to make everything… snowmen included!! 😎

[@laurenapolis]

@@Cookiegluemight say it’s the *coolest* dab ever. (Sorry.)

[@fuge74]

I don't know man she might be doing a better job of making everything than he is. guess he is just going to have to unlock snow so he can make a snow man.

[@arishaig]

This was so cool! Can't wait for the sawmill so you can compare this board with the milled ones.

[@RocketChild]

Andy fixing the broken saw, while Lauren is in the background making a snowman is very on brand, lol! Also, it's so cool seeing you unlock your way through history with your experimental archaeology. It's amazing to think we're so close to the saw mill now

[@laurenapolis]

Lol this is *very* accurate.

[@nicholashollow9410]

I've seen worse at home depot

[@reedtassell4847]

I would hope it would be better than Home Depot for $500

[@MrPDiddy55]

*lowes

[@bigbomb5904]

That's why I quit homedepot

[@smellycat249]

😂

[@justin9202]

Sick burn

[@aidendevanney6536]

Andy, I am a Forester who also forages and grows most of my own food and lumber and I hew logs into beams that dry in my tiny house for more future handmade buildings. I love the information and effort you bring to this. But the hand tools at your disposal really aren't suited well for small board building. They're suited for timberframing. I can take an 8' (half log) of soft maple from round log to square 7" X 7" beam in a couple hours.

[@aidendevanney6536]

And that's if I want it to be perfectly smooth. Get good with an axe, draw shave and hand plane and the world is your oyster. Keep doin' god's work. We love you.

[@aloseman]

Is "half log" a standard term? I've worked at a small sawmill for over 7 years and never heard a standard name for that. But almost every one of our logs comes from tree services, hopefully 6" over even lengths. But they're usually free, so we make do with what they give. Sounds like you have a pretty fulfilling life. Thanks for sharing.

[@MetalY2KMusic]

@@aidendevanney6536 I would really say he was trying to do demonstrative history by trying to enact what was depicted in those images, just as a curiosity thing to begin with. I obviously totally agree with what you said, but conisdering that, it isn't as totally silly or perhaps pointless if you consider "why"

[@alexandergumpel3593]

The person working the bottom of the saw were usually apprentices or lower paid workers and would sometimes go blind from repeated sawdust in their eyes. The more experienced and higher paid workers would work the top of the saw which is the origin of the phrase "Top Notch"

[@ouzoloves]

Remember that every iteration in history has dozens if not hundreds of years of innovation and refinement. It’s perfectly ok to remake things once you have better tools, and the remade things will allow you to make other items to a higher standard. They didn’t make the sawmill using a saw designed in the Iron Age after all.

[@thndr_5468]

And somehow we have computers like what

[@ouzoloves]

@@thndr_5468 I don't understand what you are trying to say.

[@thndr_5468]

@@ouzoloves Just that we somehow made computers out of what was already on the earth.

[@FrauWNiemand]

There is no better way to describe what this channel is about for new subscribers. I really enjoy your experiments.

[@dbseamz]

I am very impressed with your perseverance in this project. I would have gotten bored before I got board.

[@DH-xw6jp]

A+ for wordplay.

[@ListersHatsune]

A lot of tutorials on things always started with already owning planks of wood and that always frustrated me as sombody who could never figure out how people got planks in the first place. Thank you for being the first person to show me without modern technology

[@AGuyThatMakesStuff]

Pretty cool project. For the amount of time one 2x4 took you, I can see why some people would favor log cabins over actual houses when building themselves a home with raw materials. Im very excited to see a water powered sawmill and compare the 2x4 from that with this one.

[@Imaboss8ball]

I could be completely wrong but most homes prior to industrial scale saw mills were either wattle and daub or brick.

[@robertaylor9218]

@@Imaboss8ball or with timbers, but they were pretty small.

[@dai-nippon_digger]

@@Imaboss8ball yes absolutely. In western Europe, houses were framed with cut logs and then filled in with wattle and daub. Other methods were to build with brick or stone.

[@satibel]

Here cut stone was common for houses. It's surprisingly effective. Though wood was used for the roof.

[@cDog8766]

By using a draw knife you can remove the bark where dirt and small rocks are. Both will dull the saw blade and make the whole thing harder.

[@WorBlux]

Right, and looking at the saws, some of them weren't jointed well, meaning a few teeth were doing most of the work and dulling quickly. Also not sure if the saws were set up with a cross cut file or not all that aggressive rip tooth. (Even a slightly positive rake might have been appropriate - 5 deg would have been fine, but they looked to be cut with a -30 deg rake. Also oil/wax on the blade would have lessened the binding problem.

[@gl15col]

I wonder what the neighbors think of all this activity...and I hope you showed your hand-made ax to the guys cutting down the tree. They would have been mucho impressed.

[@TomBuskey]

I'm glad you mentioned riving. Oak & Maple split or rive easily. A hand plane will smooth it fairly easily. A scrub plane moving across the grain can scoop out 1/4" at a time. I can split an 8', 24" diameter red oak log in ~ 1 hour. Choosing your log is crucial. No knots and straight grain.

[@joeytumbleson9723]

It's really awesome to see Lauren is still lending her talent's to HTME. She's definitely found a home. I'm impressed by the lengths you all go too. You guys rock!

[@JesterX666]

Always happy when Lauren is in a video. She makes me smile everytime. I can't wait to see the sawmill!

[@Xero1of1]

8:37 Your teeth are not ideal on your saw. What you'd need is to basically make two rows of teeth... so you make your triangles in the metal, like you did, but then every other one, you sharpen from back right to left front, and on the other ones, you sharpen from back left to right front. This will allow the saw to cut through the wood like a knife would, versus grind through the wood like file. Do that and you'll find cutting a LOT easier.

[@Oddthetall]

Got to disagree there I'm afraid. That gives you a crosscut toothing pattern - they are ripping. While a cross cut filed sawblade can be used for ripping (cutting along the grain as they are), it's a lot less efficient. For ripping you want the 'many-chisel' approach that a rip filed saw gives. Source: have my own framesaw that I use for similar jobs.

[@sleepyreapy1222]

It helps if you actually use all of the saw too and unlike using the 2ft of saw they did, didn't do a very good job sharpening it either or securing the workpiece

[@Sanity016]

I am always blown away with how committed you are to using the handmade tools when power tools would be a million times faster. It is immensely inspiring! Thank you for continuing to make some of the best content on the internet.

[@trogdor8764]

I think it would have been interesting to see a comparison in cut time and result, between your handmade saws and a modern handsaw.

[@esalehtismaki]

Sawing is definitely a skill. One that not many have these days. You probably already figured out, that rip saw teeth are the way to go when cutting along grain. There are techniques for sawing straight, although a frame saw is pretty easy at this.

[@pttugbud]

It's amazing to think about all of the little advancements created to achieve a goal only figured out from experience.

[@bdh21566]

Watching your 2x4 episode and wishing I had known you were looking for a tree. We are just an hour south of the cities and have 40 acres of wood. Lots of deadfall trees available for the taking if you need more for future projects.

[@howHumam]

I wonder what a competitive sawyer would've done when presented with that cut. A custom, hand built saw with the needs in mind can cut inches in seconds when used efficiently. With a bit of planning it would make a fun marathon, see how many feet they could do in an hour.

[@Kero7th]

Honestly I'm always excited to see a video from this channel. I watch every single one. Love you guis.

[@wrex509]

A little rough but you can see the potential. It definitely makes me appreciate modern machinery.

[@geckoman1011]

This is essentially experimental archeology, which I think is one of the best avenues for learning how the world works.

[@RealAndySkibba]

Always a better day when HTME posts. Sort of related - corn syrup, there are a few different plants in MN and IA you could hit up to learn the process. It's pretty straightforward from cornstarch.

[@NickNM1921]

Forestry student in the NE. I’m pretty sure the majority of soft wood framing lumber actually comes from the south. The dug fir of the PNW typically does make higher quality studs compared to the souther yellow pine in the south.

[@earlyriser8998]

two comments our 1890s farm house has lots of rough cut lumber and the floor beams/joists are rough cut 2 sided logs and the rest of the lumber was rough cut around 2 x 4 but varies with every board we have measured. They didn't have 'home depot' in Texas in the late 1800's. They had cowboys, indians, and mexicans but everything was built by hand. We have learned alot during our remodel.

[@giantgrowth4204]

I hold the belief it was the invention of the saw mill that truly changed how we lived.

[@sypernova6969]

Man. It`s nuts to see how long and how much effort it took. Thanks for doing it so we don`t have to! By the way, have you considered tunning your saws so that the cut is directional, like on the pull or on the push only? I`m not certain but you might gain some effectiveness there.

[@ticktucktoe7248]

Andy: spends 3 hours making several foot cut with a primitive handsaw Me: spends 3 hours making several inch cut with modern handsaw

[@ecospider5]

Your willingness to take 12 hours to do a 10 minute job astounds me. Keep it up.

[@drascia]

This makes me want to explore so much of DIY. Like there's so much I wish I could do, and you've made me realize that it absolutely can be done, with modern or old tools

[@matthewmccalister5594]

The way you guys power through with hand tools really gives me inspiration to keep going. Small, slow steps still add up

[@jaye1967]

I would say that while that 2 X 4 cost $500, it was your first (and I'll guess your last by this method). This does, however, suffer from what so many things of this nature on KZbin does. And that is being a one-shot deal by inexperienced people. The improvement from the first to the second cut illustrated this point very well.

[@1pcfred]

The second cut they only had to go through half as much material. But yeah they did have the experience of the first cut under their belts. If you were to do that all day for 6 days of the week you'd get pretty good at it after a while I'm sure. Sun up to sun down! That's why the ancients drank so much. Work all day, drink til you pass out then get up and do it all over again.

[@PabloEdvardo]

yeah this video makes their amateur skills very apparent. I wish they would have spent a little more time researching things properly rather than just brute forcing it for a video.

[@1pcfred]

@@PabloEdvardo we all have to start somewhere. If we even start at all. Even in the best of circumstances pit sawing has a reputation for being not the most pleasant task ever devised.

[@mattheweburns]

If y’all do that entire thing by hand you have really done something to be proud of!

[@Thee_Sinner]

11:17 Yeah, we see you making that snowman. Keep up the good work.

[@Belgand]

Watching Andy try to cut a tree down himself that's right next to power lines with jury-rigged equipment and a hand axe was nerve-wracking. Thank you for properly getting professionals for it.

[@mattthie9993]

Cutting along/parallel to the grain is called "ripping", vs. "cross-cutting" across/perpendicular to the grain. As you discovered, ripping requires larger teeth than cross-cutting, as the chips from ripping are larger, so the trough between each tooth needs to be bigger to effectively clear them.

[@jtgoodling]

The coolest thing is watching him during the paper making episode where he stumbled through the woods with a store bought axe. He didnt know how to walk in the woods, evaluate trees or swing an axe, it was painful to watqch him cut a tiny tree down. Its a cool transition to "heres the latest axe i built, we are gonna time lapse through this 12 inch tree."

[@geofftus5683]

Incorrect! 2 x 4's are not actually 2" x 4" because during the war (wwII) American Government and Lumber Industry started cutting wood down to save resources to help the war effort. It is not because the drying process / Curing process which does make the wet green wood shrink, however, the shrinkage was taken into account before the smaller cut size and after. Never was the shrinkage not taken into consideration prior to the drying / curing. They used to plan for the wood to shrink down to 2"x4" and when the war was going on and after changing the size the ~1.5" x ~3.5" the same can be said. While, Yes, they do shrink, the intended size is the size of the wood when it has reached the end consumer product. It's been like this since the 40's, in most of america. Self cut or privately cut wood for homes obviously would be excluded from this explanation. Another occurrence during this period can be seen in the building code across most of america. the roof overhang distance between the great depression and WW2 was shortened dramatically and again lengthened in the 50's and 60's through until current day. I was a general contractor for over 20 years and have done quite a bit of research in building codes and practices from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.

[@wildhavenoff-grid3587]

I work at a lumberyard and run the main saw. We can take a 12" by 12' log and turn it into 2 3.5"x7"x12" beams and a 2x4n in about 20 seconds. Its an old saw but that's still impressive. All the scrap chips go across the road to a bio-powerplant that powers the mill and the entire town.

[@aliakseilyshchytski223]

Your dedication is crazy! Wish general public was more curious to give you billions views!

[@magicalnoodles]

This really goes to show how effective and cheap industrialization is long term. Great video as always!

[@1pcfred]

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

[@jacksonbuckner5756]

Lol, Lauren in the background making snowmen after the blade bent was a nice detail

[@jakelevinson7802]

Love your channel I know you’ve fallen on some tough time, and your ability to persevere and can you reduce amazing content is deeply impressive

[@danacoleman4007]

This is true commitment

[@TOGthatoneguy]

my great grandfather was a carpenter. and he would mill his wood. with machines though. but it was always fun to see a tree go from a tree to a board.

[@AleksaNoeksa]

I love Lauren in the background making a snowman while Andy is talking about the borked blade :D

[@MetalY2KMusic]

A few things I noticed: -Should be using a rip cut style blade -You chose pine, which is a good idea, because it is soft -You chose pine, which is a bad idea, because yours was full of knots and it will want to be wonky even if it were to be cut perfectly straight. -Maybe would have been a good idea to dry the wood near a fire (or fire*s*) over time so it would cut easier. I would imagine the amount of time spent in historic times would have justified that kind of care being put into making sure the timber/lumber was as well treated as possible to ease manufacturing

[@Dicyroller]

Thank you so much for calling a professional. Watching the min 3-4 was very stressful.

[@alfiegoldsworthy7132]

I love how you're fixing the saw blade and Lauren is just making a snowman in the background

[@secondengineer9814]

It's always interesting seeing reminders of what apprentices were for haha

[@simonlinser8286]

i guess i already knew this. it's so hard to mill my own lumber, because i don't have land. i did mill some small boards last winter. i split them from a log, and then planed them down. if you find a good log and have a good axe, you can split almost perfect boards, and then it might be a lot of work but just get a solid hand plane and make them flat. took me probably 30 minutes per board, they were small, split from fire wood logs but they had a nice grain and i thought they looked nice. since i got my plane for like 18dollars and tuned it up myself. the only other cost was being able to hold the wood down on the bench for planing but that can be for free. work holding is as important as working ha ha

[@acolize8883]

Andy: yeah so we just totally bent this blade😕 Lauren: *rolling snowman in the background* 🙃

[@noodlelynoodle.]

200 years is a bit of an understatement, sawmills were invented 400+ years ago

[@jypsridic]

For the record, everything that makes a good ax for a weapon makes it a bad ax for a tree.

[@CharliMorganMusic]

Lauren is awesome. I'm glad to see her in your videos, again.

[@Bubim1]

Even with modern tools cutting a log like this is hard work. Good job. If someone is interested in something similar there is a German language video called "Dielsägen auf dem Schneideplatz" available on KZbin that follows the process from log to plank without the use of industrial or power tools.

[@MathiasGreenwalde]

Next you have to make a handplane to square lumber!

[@jameskelly1680]

After seeing your hand sawing setup, I might suggest better clamping of the material that is being cut. Having a rigid setup produces a more uniform cut and saves energy. A valiant first attempt.

[@PabloEdvardo]

it's kind of embarrassing how amateur their skills are

[@BlueFlame414mdftw]

​@PabloEdvardo I take it you're not a channel subscriber. At least not a long-time subscriber?

[@insu_na]

Is there any reason why you made your saw cut on both strokes? I would've thought working with gravity to cut only on the downstroke would make the upstroke lighter, given that you already have to push it through a cut that puts some pressure on the blade, and including the weight of the blade

[@KaitouKaiju]

Because that's the type of thing you don't think of until after you do it. It's really astonishing to see how many small things we take for granted are accounted for by engineers designing modern equipment

[@WorBlux]

right, the tooth geometry here was a little funky.

[@NouriaDiallo]

Yes, that's how it was done historically. Also you try to use the whole blade and not just a fifth of it...

[@ubermenschen01]

Saws sorta naturally cut on both strokes, but are typically made/sharpened to work better in 1 direction (pull or push stroke). A big frame saw like this for sawing logs into lumber would have very large teeth, and cut very roughly. Maybe 1-4 teeth per inch (TPI). A saw you can buy at the hardware store for general carpentry is around 8-10 TPI, for reference. Those big teeth let you chop big chunks of material out of the log, and have a lot of space for sawdust to gather between the teeth (called "gullets") while the saw is in the space that it creates in the wood (called the "kerf"). This type of work was a 2 person job, so rather than having 1 doing all the pushing, both can split the work. Plus, pushing from both sides throws the sawdust out from the gullets in both directions. If you just pushed down, then picked the saw back up again, you'd get sawdust stuck in the kerf, that slows down your sawing.

[@silvenshadow]

Living out in the bush and seeing pro danger tree fallers work, the topping of this tree sketched me out to no end. Glad everything cane out great.

[@zzzires5045]

Few things I have noticed. Normally, those saws were large tooth with a more directional tooth, aimed at the down stroke. Most pictures I have seen the people are cutting at more of a 45° angle. Also focus on only pulling the saw never push, you'll find it way easier, when you tire swap.

[@pr0faker]

A sharp saw makes so much of a difference. keep it sharp.

[@mortimersnead5821]

when you cut a plank away from it's mother tree, it sometimes warps right away because it's structure is fighting the larger tree. I think that's most of the reason that the rough cut board isn't straight.

[@carthius]

that cut at 16:20 hurt my heart

[@lacybookworm5039]

I've been here sense the original sandwich project. It is impressive to see how far you have come. I look forward to seeing what you do next.

[@colinredfern7823]

You could increase quality control by adding an adjustable thickness guide with in your frame: Also if you put a small radius (convex curve) and you also add to your sawing speed: Add a spring cord to the non sawyer side and you will be able to saw more efficiently with one person:

[@zintosion]

Andy sure have some strong willpower with doing and finishing his project.

[@keegananneker5406]

Longer stroked of the saw is actually less work and faster. Use the whole blade instead of 12-16" of it. Longer blade life, faster cuts, less work

[@stefenrasmuson7768]

The amount of work in this makes me want to sit down on my couch

[@cantankerous5051]

It's a good thing we don't have as cold a winter in Minnesota as we have before

[@jakelevinson7802]

As someone who’s had to split logs for work this is incredibly impressive

[@kinger557]

Always so inspiring how much work you all put into these projects!! Please keep up the good work as its very eye opening just how far civilization has come. A deep appreciation for the time we live in. Exciting to see how your endevors in industrialization will turn out! You will do great 🤘

[@nazamroth8427]

"Man the saw and line the planks, short straw gets the pit Dub that oak frame with the adze so every strake will fit" 11:45: Theres a reason the short straw gets the pit.

[@Chrismas815]

I love after the saw bent you can see Lauren making a snowman in the back

[@spooks2327]

I knew it was htme but my first thought at seeing the thumbnail was 'thats just the price of wood these days'

[@chrisfox961]

I am very glad that I saw this on youtube! ;) Great job Andy!

[@bigbird4481]

Can Patreon's see videos early or something ? The video came out like a hour ago and your comment is 20 hours ago

[@chrisfox961]

@@bigbird4481 Yes - you get an email alert that lets you see the video early.\

[@WhenWillILearn]

16:45 better than most of the stock in B&Q at the moment

[@nickg5250]

one of the greatest channels on KZbin

[@smuhhhh]

Wow being on the traumatic brain injury side of that two man cutting set up takes some courage!

[@itsamirechlerch9318]

That’s better than a lot of 2x4s I’ve seen

[@dennisshoemaker2789]

Well you did it. Every time you start one of the projects, I wonder if it is possible. Thank you for bringing us along on this adventure.

[@robertaylor9218]

This is exactly why timber framing was dominant until highly efficient sawmills made stud framing worthy of experimentation and development.

[@Ordolph]

I love that when the saw got bent we just see Lauren in the background making snowmen 😂

[@takeohtyme]

I was an arborist for 16 years. The first quarter of the video was an emotional rollercoaster. Lol.

[@Second-Hand-Shadow]

I understand using the ax you made. but historically Humans use specialized ax heads depending on the tree that needs to be cut down, but hey you powered through kudos my friend.

[@missingthe80s58]

You asked the wrong people. Ask tree removal companies. As to your saw. You really need the blade frame mounted in a fixed frame in which it will be allowed to reciprocate without shifting, pull the work (log) through the blade via block and tackle rather than blade through the work. Adjustable guides greatly aid in tracking of the blade. Spend a few weeks mulling over a design, simulate runs in your head. Find bugs. Make it collapsing so it can be taken down and packed away. I do these things because my little shop hasn't thr floor space for every tool and gadget I have need of and the ability to pack and stow under a bench or in the overhead is a big plus.

[@sethjazz7262]

Very interesting to see the tree to lumber steps taken by hand. I bet everyone was well sore are tired after this project.

[@NolenClark]

I love trees!

[@CarpetHater]

Haha, Lauren making a snowman in the backround at 11:12

[@mightisright]

I think your master would flog you for that craftsmanship in any era.

[@eldie3d]

She was making the head of a Snowman ☃️!!! 11:12. I can see the bottom and middle of the snowman to the right, behind the sawhorses! LOL And then the finished product at 13:35 and 13:55!!!

[@moukidelmar]

You can definitely see why they got water powered mills as quick as possible because dang, that's a LOT of sawing