Whether you buy/borrow a sawmill or hire a sawyer, the proper preparation will save you time and money, as well as potentially help produce more useable lumber. Salvaging a dead or dying tree, or logs that a power company or homeowner have cut, and milling them into useful lumber is a very satisfying experience If this idea is in your wheelhouse, there are two ways to proceed: One is to find and hire a good sawyer that has the right experience to do the job for you.

Tips for Using a Portable Sawmill. By Sandor Nagyszalanczy • Jul 4, 2013. Woodworker's Journal Toys and Games CD. Table Saw Dovetail Jig Downloadable Plan. For a complete product list with pricing of Wood-Mizer portable sawmill equipment, industrial sawmill equipment, log splitters, or blades and blade maintenance.

Many portable sawmill manufacturers have their own forums and links pages where you can find a reputable sawyer in your area. Some sawyers have their own web pages or are listed in your local phone directory. The other method is to buy or borrow the equipment and do the job yourself.

Visual Labels 3.57 Keygen. VIDEO: Portable Sawmill in Action Here are some tips I gleaned from veteran sawyer David Boyt, publisher of Sawmill and Woodlot Management magazine, to help you prepare for the job: • Make sure that you can get the mill to the worksite. You might have to trim some trees or bushes to be able to drive your pickup truck or tow vehicle to the site. Plus, if the mill is on a trailer, you’ll need plenty of room to negotiate corners and turn the trailer around. Once there, you’ll need a large, level worksite on which to set up the mill.

Ultimately the size of the site depends on the length of the logs you’ll be milling, but a flat spot that’s 30 feet square is a good place to start. You’ll also need a level spot fairly close to the worksite where you can stack the freshly milled boards. • Setting a sawmill’s track rails directly on the ground (see lead photo, above) makes it easier to load logs, but then you’ll have to bend over to pick up every slab, board or edging you cut.

Some operators opt to raise the sawmill up (8-14 inches is typical) by setting it on top of either rail ties or beam cutoffs. This can also make it easier to level the sawmill — necessary for proper operation. Make sure and secure the mill’s adjustable feet with lag screws to prevent the bed from shifting during use. • Figure out how you’ll get the logs to the mill from where they’ve been cut or stacked.

Ideally, you should transport the logs on a wagon, trailer or, if you have access to it, a front-end loader. One handy device is the LogRite® Buck Arch, a wheeled sulky that can be towed by an ATV or 4-wheel drive vehicle (there’s also a small hand-pulled model). Dragging the logs can be a problem for two reasons: 1. Dirt and grit end up embedded in the log’s bark and will take their toll on the band saw blade (if you’ve hired a sawyer, they may charge you for extra blades). You can clean light dirt off logs with a long-handled barbeque grill brush. Dragged logs tend to leave deep ruts in soft ground, which can make walking around the worksite hazardous. • To save board-handling time, stack your logs so that the longest, best quality stock is cut first.