First log with a Frick 0

[chopperdr47]

  I'm not finished with the mill completely but I couldn't stand it any longer. I have gone through quite an education on circle mills and getting them to cut straight. I used a punk log for testing my adjustments and got a straight and nearly square 4x4 out of it. I have saved several logs from the tornado's in 2011 and I had to see what was in 1.


I need some "over the bucket" forks for Miss (Whoa) Nelly, but for now all I have is chains. I got this 1972 Ford 4500 Backhoe just for setting up this mill and handling logs and sawdust. I have always used the 2 joystick control backhoe but never a 4 lever. I took some getting used to and slinging the bucket around, thus the name

 
It sits a little high on this end since its on a slight down slope. I'm building a catwalk and staging beams for the logs next week, but today there was some climbing and reaching.


This was the first cut of a willow oak. I milled some smaller pieces from it on a chainsaw mill that came out real nice. There isn't much rotten from being stacked for 2 1/2 years, Just some under the bark.

Unfortunately that's all for today. The Minneapolis Moline engine is propane fueled and I don't have a big tank yet. I'm using the one from my grill, and it ran out right after this cut.

[Kirk Allen]

Running out of gas after the first cut had to realy suck! 

Great looking set up and great pics!

Congratulations! 

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 Yep, yer doin fine. Space under the mill will prove a smart move,when ya need to clean 'er up.  What's yer dust doodler set up ?

[chopperdr47]

Running out of gas after the first cut had to realy suck!   

Yes it did. I had been working since daylight and needed to get started on my second shift of evening chores. Running out was a good way for me to stop or otherwise I would have been cutting (and admiring) wood and there would have been no dinner on the stove or a fire in the fireplace when my bride got home.

Harold, I have a dust chain that I plan on hanging from a nearby tree for now. I was thinking of having it run through a trough of some sort like maybe 4" pvc or something I build from the mill. What da ya think?

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 First mill I set up had a chain. Never built anything for a trough. Just let it run, and soon, the sawdust will form it's own trough.  Just pick up any rocks that may get pulled loose, until the sawdust bed gets settled in. You might want to create walls around the sides and back side of the blade. Make a chute kind of deal, so the dust goes into a given area, so the chain drags it away. The dust will hit from directly under the leading edge of the teeth, to, clean around to where the teeth start to rise up at a 90 degree from the bottom arc of the blade. Be sure to make a screen of some sort, to catch the bigger pieces of bark and wood chips, so they come back at you from the off bearers side.

 Also, BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL OF A BOARD CLIMBING THE TEETH AND GETTING THROWN BACK AT YOU. The second mill I bought had killed the sawyer with a 2 X 4 that got thrown off the teeth. DO NOT allow ANYONE to stand behind you as you are sawing.

 You might know all this, but, I would hate to read a post saying someone was seriously injured or killed.

 My log turner helper would always watch around my shoulder, so, one day, after giving him hell several times, I had the offbearer "accidentally" drop a board onto the blade. It spear chucked that board 100' back away from the mill. THAT cured that situation. 

[chopperdr47]

I expected to have some pictures of a nice stack of freshly milled oak by now, but Murphy ('s Law) has been lurking around my scope of woods.

Forks for my loader have just moved to the top of the priority list. I knocked the carriage of the track trying to load it with chains. Getting it back on without any damage took a while.

When I did start cutting, the blade walked some. I thought I had that straightened out but apparently not well enough for a large oak. I'm not confident with my swagging job on the teeth so I went ahead and changed the them to take that variable out of the equation.

Tomorrow's another day

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 If the mill took a shot enough to knock the carriage off the track, I would have checked the track-carriage alignment, going past the blade, before I even considered changing teeth.

 You were plenty satisfied with the first round of sawing, correct ?

[chopperdr47]

I didn't really hit it, more like pushed it but that's a good call, I' look at it today. There's no mechanical means holding the carriage on the track other than weight so I'm hoping the track itself will be good.

The first cut didn't get all the way to solid wood for the length of the log before I ran out of propane. I took another thin cut to get it flat on good wood . I didn't have enough gut to roll it by myself so I took it down and rolled it. When I put it back, that's when I pushed the carriage off. After that it was making great thin cuts getting the next side square. It was when I tried to cut the first 1 1/8" board when I noticed it was walking out. The sawdust looks a little fine also. I was expecting it to be a little more coarse.

When I was changing teeth yesterday, It looked like quite a few were off-set to the board side. I would like to put a spider gauge on them to see for sure. I'll try to make one today. It was pretty hard to get a lot of them out also. I cleaned the light rust out of the groove on the shank with a brass brush and PB Blaster, then the blade socket with the PB and a scotch-brite pad. I wiped them down good, oiled them and put them back. They went in easier than they came out but still tight and the alignment looked better (eye balling). I only got half way through before dark got me.

I spent some time down your way back on the "Ollie North Good Will and Humanity Tour". I went back in '97, that's when I went through Costa Rica and nearly every other country in CA. Of all the places that I've gone, Costa Rica and Belize are the places that I want to take my wife to.

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 I was taught to mix a 3 pound coffee can of diesel and motor oil. Every so often, dash a splash of that on each side of the blade, to keep it clean. Also, put just a tad on each bunk the log will sit on, then dog it. When you need to turn, BE CAREFUL. It will slip faster than you will expect.

Another thing, do you set the cant hook as low as possible, before turning logs ? I can not believe how many guys won't bend over to set low, then, struggle to "push" the log, over center. I can guarantee that your leg muscles are WAYYY stronger than your arms and back muscles.

 You may not have a track alignment problem. It's just easier to check stuff like that, before messing with teeth. I was taught to sit straddle of the blade, and then, nice long straight stroke tooth filing is pretty easy.

[chopperdr47]

Wow! What a difference new bits and clean shanks make. The sawdust is as coarse as I was expecting, it's quieter and cutting straight.
 
I sharpened the teeth previously but a lot looked like they were offset to the board side

   
The shanks were pretty hard to get out and this could be part of the reason

   
Cleaned and ready to go back with new bit

 
The first full board

 
I believe I have the lead set about right. The trailing edge occasionally touches the cant lightly on the gig back.
There is a little more space between the guide pins than I think there should be and that may take care of it.

I'll be changing the oil in the engine tomorrow. That will give me the oil and diesel mix for cleaning and lubricating the blade before I cut any more. I need to get the platform built and off-bearing rollers too but its great to know that it'll cut now.

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 Looking GOOD. 

 The blade should just "Tick" the cant or not, on the gig back.  Do you have the special tool for removing the teeth ?  Whatever you do, don't beat on anything. IF you stretch those sockets, the shanks will creep and the teeth WILL fly out.  That's why I was taught to NEVER swedge the teeth.

 Ron Wenrich is much more experienced than me, but, he is production. I was like you, small and trying to make it pay enough to live off of. Back then, teeth were cheap. I have seen swedges that were peened over from beating on them. 

 Drain oil is good. I mixed about half a cup of oil to 3-4 cups or so of Diesel. Try just a little on those bunks for log turning. It will not matter if it gets on the first board, but, use just a little and the bark will carry nearly all of it away before you turn the flat down. IF you see it on the board, grab a handful of sawdust and scrub it away. A little dab of oil on the shanks helps a lot, also. Just a LITTLE. 
 
 Don't get those pins too close. I used to run 1/8" or so, on either side. It just helps keep the blade from laying over in a cut.

[chopperdr47]

The bits cost about $1.50 each with shipping. Swedging took as long or longer than changing. If I feel that they need to be swedged again, I'll replace them.

With the blade drifting like it was, it wore the pins away some so there is more than 1/8". I have some hornbeam (ironwood) that's pretty tuff. I'll make some pins out of that or some dogwood instead of the oak thats in there now.

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 If you find a dead dogwood, that is some hard stuff. I broke a dead limb off of a blackjack or piss oak. That lasted as good as anything else that was recommended. That 1/8" pin clearance I stated was not correct. It was 1/8" total,so, 1/16" or so on each side.

 Getting old and cant remember stuff,anymore. 

[Kirk Allen]

We used Osage Orange to make the guide pins on Buzz's mill.  That is some hard stuff! 

[HaroldCR - AKA Fla.-Deadheader]

 Yep. Osage is hard. 

[bandmiller2]

Chopper, I use a flat belt (fire hose) to carry sawdust away from the mill. As Harold says the dust will form its own trough. The dust falls on the inside of the belt and is dumped as it goes around the outside pulley. If the bits seem to be off to one side usually they can be centered, back one side with something like a hammer and tap them over, I use something like a plastic screwdriver handle. If you use something metal don't hit the bit corners. Frank C.