I got the sawmill tuned up a bit this morning, and ready to run. It’s not perfect as the bed could use some flattening, but then, one sets boards down flat to dry and to allow any odd shapes to come out. Why could they not come into the board if one were correcting a very slight malformation caused by a slightly off saw bed? I’ll give it some more work when I am feeling better, but for now it is tuned enough.
I put a new blade on to try to correct some wave in the cuts, too. That worked instantly. I cut a four-and-a-half-foot pine log to test it all out, and once the blade was on, the cuts were immaculate. I put the boards right into the shop to dry out of the sun, though at the moment they are stood on end, and I put AcnchorSeal on one end. I’ll have to flip them and coat the other end soon.
By 11:30AM I was out of order. Arthritis pain got to be too much, and I could not work any longer. A quick lunch, some painkillers and a nap soon followed. It’s coming up to 2PM now, and I am waiting for the time to come when I can take a second round of painkillers to give a try at something different than I have already had. But that’s all by-the-by.
The boards I got from the board were fairly dry at the ends and pretty wet in the middles. I have a selection of one inch thick and a couple of two inch, and even a 1/2 inch thick one. There are also slabs from the outside edges that I may clean up and try to laser etch something into. If not them, there are the natural edge rough cuts first in from them that I may try as well.
The test log went fine, but next I need to cut up some of the big poplar trees I have out back and get a few boards, some beams, and some posts from them. I am not sure how fast I will get through that project if my body is not going to hold up for very long at the work. But I will give it a try and see. I expect to try another log later today. I just need those painkillers to kick in!