Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That salmon gum is beautiful. I would be interested in some timber as would my dad.

PM me

Burnsy, wood fever can be a prick of a disease, be careful. I made a bandsaw mill many years ago (when Lewis mills were just out) and found that everywhere I went I saw logs that were going to waste. Unless you drive around in a truck with a hyab on it, these opportune logs will definitely give you wood fever. Then if you drive around in a truck stopping and picking up logs, a divorce won't be far off.

Your Lewis saw, I believe is a good choice. As much as bandsaws offer many advantages, they are finicky machines, require a lot more horse power, and have trouble cutting certain timbers. Green Jarrah was the worst I found. The saw dust would gum on the blade even with scrapers and if the blade wasn't razzor sharp, the blade would lead off and leave a wavy cut.

I was not flushed with funds, but a 20 hp engine instead of the 8 hp I had, would have made a big difference. My mill was portable, just layout the track, roll the log on, dog it on, and start cutting.

In the end I sold it. I had a stack of timber, mostly fruit tree sawn to about 50mm thick for wood turning, in my shed out of the weather, and you could watch end checks (splits) grow by the day. Green Sheoak was a pain for doing this. I spent too much time milling, which left no time for making.

Wood fever disappears as quick as it comes with no detrimental effects!!

Cool wood fever. The ex is moving into the new house in a month and when asked what she should take. I said everything. Easier to sand the floors without furniture on it. Love making stuff out of wood. And the guy 2 houses away cuts timber for a living.

Yeah I got it pretty bad, my workshop is full of every conceivable timber machine and the mill just tops it off, you are right though the making has slowed since the mill arrived but there is plenty of time for that once I have filled all available space with stacked timber . I love opening up a log and seeing what is inside.

I also have the historical Australian hand tool collection bug pretty bad and can't walk past a Turner plane or Titan chisel at a swapmeet or garage sale without buying it. have nearly got a full collection of Turners and Titan firmers now, the Titans are being rehandled in jarrah and are such a beautiful chisel to use. I have a few old chisels that belonged to my grandfather and using them is really special.

You have it bad alright. I'm afraid the making may never come so long as you own that bloody mill. The shed will be too full of wood to be able to swing a cat, the carport will be the next, then the .......! I moved on to making grand father clocks after selling my mill. Now, woodwork (other than teaching it) is almost a thing of the past. Heck I have even advertised my wood lathe and combination machine. Mind you the aeroplane takes up a bit of space!!

I have a heap of redgum here, you can mill any time it tickles your fancy. Milling timber does give a lot of satisfaction, best of luck.

Regarding the fish tank lid, I should be able to get a price and ordering info by wed. Do you need it before the easter holidays?, and is 50 x 50mm x 3mm mesh too light?

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Hi Burnsy,

is Cape Lilac of interest to you? I know someone who may want to get rid of a decent sized one.

Good wood turning timber.

Lilac is good craft wood and I would be happy to take it off their hands if they just want it gone. I don't do tree lopping so it would need to be done by someone else. Anything 400mm and over diameter, lengths around 2.5 metres are good to handle. PM me if they want my number and I can arrange to come have a look if needed.

Lots of Cape Lilac is full of termites and rot, if this is the case it would be of no interest to me.


Cheers,
Mike

+1 on the titan chisels. I have a sizable collection of them, they are easy to get sharp, and a joy to use. I also have a 25mm mortice chisel that has been it the family 6 generations. The relies were blacksmiths/coachbuilders, the chisel is made from seven peices of steel forged together. I collect timber also i have 2.5 cubes of northern silky oak that was milled from a sububan block. It cost me 350 to have it sawn but the timber is probably worth ten times that. I also have a collection of hoop pine that i gather from our local dump. I restore and make furniture also. The school im at has a 28 inch thickneser so its going to get a work out when the oak dries out. Like every thing else i never get the time to work on projects as im bitten by the ap bug.

The lilac tree in question is still standing and it sounds like it won't be felled for some time yet.

Timber millers are coming out of the woodwork... I spent almost a year milling up slabs with my brother using a chainsaw mill that he built using a 10hp motor and 6 foot chainsaw blade.. We cut a lot of slabs, pine was the easiest and there was a lot of old pine trees on farms. He used inch and a half pine slaps for the floor of the second story in his house and talk about easy flooring. Take 3-4 foot side slab, cut nice straight edge, run router down the edge with a tongue and groove bit. flooring is easy when the floor boards are 4 feet wide...

Inch and a half by 4 feet would make a good white ants nest EB. If he hasn't got good termite protection further down he would need to !

Nice looking bandmill Rick. I have one I built as well. Quit a challege.
Do you have anymore pics of it? I would like to see the raising mechanism.

Thanks,
James

FYI there are lots of these type sawing business' in the US I can help you find someone in your area if you pm me.

When local councils have trees chopped down, would it be worth their while to sell good specimens for their wood instead of having them mulched. Bear in mind that they might then have to buy in mulch for revegetation projects, etc that they would otherwise get for free.