cutting irregular shaped logs
10/17/14
I have a customer who has asked me to cut some irregular shaped logs retaining live edges. I have manual bandsaw mill and these logs tend to stick out over the sides of the saw bed requiring shims that are hard to hold in place. I have thought about making some sort of a sled to hold the logs in place and centered on the bed. Has anyone done this? How do people handle curved logs and logs with crotches?
10/17/14 #3: cutting irregular shaped logs ...
Website: http://www.tsmfarms.com
I've rigged jigs but most of the time I saw one edge off to fit in the saw and saw bookmatch pieces which actually give me a wider characterized board after putting back together as bookmatch...another thing is the wider the thicker it needs to be while drying for stability which means heavy boards to contend with. I've learned my limit when sawing and stacking alone is max 8' x 2" thick and 20-26" wide because of the wieght.
10/18/14 #4: cutting irregular shaped logs ...
I bolted some 1-1/2 id square tubing at different places to the log bunks vertically, when needed I drop in a 1-1/2 square piece of oak to act as the log stops. Works great as you can cut right through your stops on those logs that don't want to clamp. Steve
10/19/14 #5: cutting irregular shaped logs ...
Thanks Steve, that's brilliant. That'll solve my problem for sure and will add versatility to my mill.