Milling pine
Another week has flown by. With the days getting shorter, there is no time after supper to get anything accomplished outdoors. That leaves us with afternoons and weekends.
That picture was taken before lunchtime, but when we went out to the mill earlier in the morning, it was cold and foggy. This picture was taken standing in the same spot. That’s FOG!
Oh, and it was COLD. How cold was it? So cold, that Jim was sporting a toque. His “security blanket” toque. He doesn’t go anywhere without it come the cold weather.
Once we got warmed up the hat came off and we were in business.
Here is what the inside of that log looked like. 16 inches wide.
We completed an order for a customer. He wanted five wide live-edge pine boards and some 3.5 x 3.5 posts.
We decided to get as many two inch thick boards as possible for ourselves. We can always cut them down in size later if needed. We also wanted some two inch live-edge boards. The bark needed to be removed on the live-edge so I got started on that job using a small axe.
Then Jim stepped in with a draw knife. He is always making my life easier 🙂
And all finished…
These will take longer to dry of course. But I have lots of time. We are still exploring our options with regards to a kiln. Thats why we haven’t worked on the new shed in some time. The kiln system we end up with will determine how the building is constructed.
WE FINISHED MILLING THE PINE LOGS!! We ended up with approximately 1000 board feet of lumber. There are two pallets of 1″ lumber…
One pallet of 2″ lumber plus four 6 x 6 posts…
Also numerous 2″ live edge boards we have in the shipping container.
For wrapping the pallets, there is conflicting information on the web. Earlier in the fall we were wrapping the top and long sides with tarps and leaving the ends open. We found the tarps were trapping moisture and we needed more airflow so we opted to just cover the top.
We acquired about 60 cement blocks (4x8x16 inches) to use to weigh down the lumber and help prevent warping. We placed three rows of three on each stack supported by stickers. Each brick weighs 40 lbs.
Cement blocks for weight
Just doing the math in my head… that means we milled about 125 logs this summer/fall. And it was fun! Not bad for our first year. Only got the mill last fall. Seems like longer.
Have a great weekend.
Later
