Kerry Burton
Member
- Messages
- 1,163
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I mentioned in my first post (on another thread) that I recently came into a bit of free sycamore wood. Our local club president showed up at last Tuesday's meeting with a pickup bed FULL of sycamore wood from a tree that had been taken down a couple blocks from his house. "I don't want to take any of it back home with me!" he said, so I did my duty and gave 7 chunks of wood a NEW home.
I was able to directly "process" the 2 smallest chunks on my 11" Shopsmith bandsaw, but the other chunks had to be divided up some other way before I could fully process 'em. Luckily, I had purchased my first chainsaw (electric) just weeks before, so this gave me an excuse to learn how to use it.
Lesson One: Rest the wood to be cut on a FLAT base. I first used the pieces in the background as a base, and the chunk I was cutting rocked too much for my liking, especially since it was my first, "white-knuckle" cut!
Lesson Two: If you have to use a chainsaw on your deck, put down some plastic! It was drizzling when I got going with the chainsaw, so I didn't want to be out in the rain with an extension cord. I didn't realize how much oil these machines can spit out!
Anyway, I finished the rough cutting on Friday ...
... and then did the rest of the "processing" in my basement shop:
Yes, I know -- it's way too crowded and messy down there. I hope to remedy that one of these days....
The "shards" all over the floor are from the sycamore, which had already been drying for a week when I got it. Some of the processed pieces are in the left foreground corner. And yes - the sawdust pile under the bandsaw is all from the sycamore, too!
I was surprised at how many hours it took to chainsaw, bandsaw, and wax 7 chunks of wood. It took me an hour or two each night from Tuesday thru Friday, and then from about 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday!
Meanwhile, I'm not sure where I'm going to store the sycamore while it dries. The other half of my basement is already overcrowded, too.
I was able to directly "process" the 2 smallest chunks on my 11" Shopsmith bandsaw, but the other chunks had to be divided up some other way before I could fully process 'em. Luckily, I had purchased my first chainsaw (electric) just weeks before, so this gave me an excuse to learn how to use it.
Lesson One: Rest the wood to be cut on a FLAT base. I first used the pieces in the background as a base, and the chunk I was cutting rocked too much for my liking, especially since it was my first, "white-knuckle" cut!
Lesson Two: If you have to use a chainsaw on your deck, put down some plastic! It was drizzling when I got going with the chainsaw, so I didn't want to be out in the rain with an extension cord. I didn't realize how much oil these machines can spit out!
Anyway, I finished the rough cutting on Friday ...
... and then did the rest of the "processing" in my basement shop:
Yes, I know -- it's way too crowded and messy down there. I hope to remedy that one of these days....
The "shards" all over the floor are from the sycamore, which had already been drying for a week when I got it. Some of the processed pieces are in the left foreground corner. And yes - the sawdust pile under the bandsaw is all from the sycamore, too!
I was surprised at how many hours it took to chainsaw, bandsaw, and wax 7 chunks of wood. It took me an hour or two each night from Tuesday thru Friday, and then from about 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday!
Meanwhile, I'm not sure where I'm going to store the sycamore while it dries. The other half of my basement is already overcrowded, too.
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