Spruce or Pine? Fun with the sawmill.

Whatever kind of wood it is the knots are really hard. But sure makes nice boards!
My sisters channel www.youtube.com/@ImprovCrafti...
Paul and Andy's channel www.youtube.com/@southernadir...
Nate's channel ‪@BissellMapleFarm‬

[@danielw.hanninen1176]

I've cut a lot of spruce and pine on my LT 15 and had wavy knots in both. Usually I slow down the rate of cutting and add more water while cutting. That usually works for me. Like the videos, keep sawing. Dan

[@MsdMakingSawDust]

Good job. Looks like milling spruce can have a wave of an ending… thanks for sharing

[@mcsawmill]

Apprecin date that lol...

[@erikleorga]

I'm jealous. I didn't get to mill nearly as often as I wanted to this year. Maybe 5-6 logs total. And now the weather has turned cold and I can't do anything.

[@mcsawmill]

All you need is a burn barrel. A nice fire makes it easy to saw in cold weather.

[@thehappychiselllc]

I'm not sure why, but watching logs getting turned into lumber is therapeutic, like meditation, only more fun.😃

[@mcsawmill]

I know exactly what you mean.

[@dannydrake7348]

I run diesel in my lube tank, very light drip and the blades stay clean and the blades don’t slip on the drive wheel, nice mill , have fun

[@mcsawmill]

I've run diesel, works great but it smells and it's really not good for the environment, it will get into the ground. cooking oil doesn't smell and won't even kill the grass and best of all you can get it for free from restaurants or family that likes to deep fry stuff... like turkeys lol.

[@andysmith8544]

Ha ha, I just said to Paul today "why is the side you want down always on the wrong side of the log". Great video George, Have a Happy New Year!

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Good video George! Yup, it's spruce. We just finished up this afternoon with a big colorado blue spruce and our experience with waves and knots was exactly the same as yours, very aggravating but ended up ok. Hope you have a Happy New Year! 🎉

[@mcsawmill]

you have a great new years too. I'm working on the next vid so hope to get you some subs from it.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

@@mcsawmill Much appreciated George!

[@homersimpson5668]

Knots will make it wavy and a full blade

[@TheMakersMarkTSF]

I know you were getting aggravated with the wavy cuts at first but once you resolved that it looked like you were really enjoying yourself! I am ready to get back to my mill, been away too long and starting to have withdrawals. Thankfully I can get a second hand fix through your videos, Thanks

[@mcsawmill]

I was having fun even with the wavy cuts. And yea I understand the addiction lol... If it weren't for my sawmill there is no way I'd be outside on a cold rainy day!

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

Good video George. The Spruce I milled was also wavy. The way I stopped the wavy cuts was to stop milling Spruce. I have some thoughts that may be construed as negative but they're not meant to be. Here they are; 1. Wood-Mizer says that the #1 cause of wavy cuts is a loose drive belt. 2. To me, a loose drive belt translates to the blade "slipping" and losing blade speed, which causes the wavy cuts. 3. I watch your videos and you seem to have a lot of problems with wavy cuts. 4. You're the only one I know of that uses cooking oil on the blade. 5. Cooking oil is a great lubricant for keeping steel from gripping rubber. 6. Maybe, by eliminating the cooking oil, your wavy cuts will be reduced. I hate people who don't know what they're talking about telling me what to do. I hope I'm not one of them. Happy New Year. Dave

[@TheMakersMarkTSF]

Interesting reply. I had thought the same thing with regards to blade slippage but somehow I did not translate that to wavy cuts!

[@BenedictSawmilling]

Same experience with spruce. Almost have to go into it knowing that it takes extra finishing to get what you want. Around the outside (the biggest knots), I either cut it off and get rid of it or cut it extra thick so there's enough to plane off later. Planing spruce?! Not fun and part of why milling spruce is usually unprofitable for me. But, once in down to a cant, cutting goes much better- like he said, there's less messed-up grain to deflect the blade around. I also cut it with a little extra width and edge it on the edger. That helps a lot.

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

When I was told about loose drive belts causing wavy cuts from Wood-Mizer I found it hard to believe too. It still doesn't make sense somehow.

[@mcsawmill]

My amish buddy Ervin uses cooking oil exclusively on his LT35. He says the reason I get wavy cuts is because I cut the logs he won't touch lol... The real problem is it was a 27" spruce on a bandsaw mill.

[@robertboyd8209]

Do you need to dry out the boards before you use them? if so how long do you dry them?

[@mcsawmill]

It depends on how you are going to use them, most times yes they need to dry, 1 year per inch of thickness for air drying.

[@johndenoma6397]

I would say spruce

[@WoodworkingTop535]

What kind of wood is this?

[@mcsawmill]

It's spruce, evergreen softwood.

[@dagwood1327]

What part of the country are you in?

[@mcsawmill]

Northern Ohio, is that near you?

[@dagwood1327]

@@mcsawmill I’m in north central Arkansas.

[@user-ey2ns7ee3c]

It's engleman spruce. :)

[@mcsawmill]

I wish I could get some logs from out west!

[@user-ey2ns7ee3c]

Thats funny! Boys from out west wish they could get some of those eastern hardwoods! lol @@mcsawmill

[@mcsawmill]

@@user-ey2ns7ee3c northwest Sawyer, guy is always sawing these giant fir logs. One of those would be all the wood for my kiln build...

[@user-ey2ns7ee3c]

Funny you say that as he's not far from me. I just milled a 12x12x20' fir timber all heart, no sapwood today! :)@@mcsawmill

[@mcsawmill]

@@user-ey2ns7ee3c ha that's the exact size I sawed for my sawmill shed except it was pine. Did you saw any of the fire damaged trees?

[@geoffreykail9129]

Dull blade.

[@homersimpson5668]

Knots will make it wavy and a full blade