Methods for cutting logs
Before sawing a piece, it is important to consider how to achieve a high-quality finished product with minimal waste. The wood is of uneven quality; the lower region of the core produces more expensive timber.
When sawing logs, you can obtain the following types of timber:
- Timber is a raw material whose dimensions are more than ten centimeters. The most popular type is a four-edged beam, which has a square shape when cut. It is used as a building material and in the manufacture of furniture;
- The board is a raw material, up to ten centimeters thick and twice as wide as the thickness. Boards are made from logs or beams and are used in construction and furniture production.
Having mastered the basic theory and practice, you can make boards and beams with your own hands.
Own production
If you wish, you can receive sawn logs for free. Skyrim, fortunately, is not without such an opportunity. To do this, you need to go to the sawmill, talk to its owner and ask him for permission to produce firewood. He will not agree right away, so you will first have to appease the artisan in some way. For example, you can work as a lumberjack for a certain period of time and thus improve your relationship.
After you agree with the owner, he will allow you to use the sawmill and process the logs with your own hands. After each production cycle, you will receive 10 units of product without spending money on it. This method will allow you to save a tidy sum, although it will require much more time.
Advantages of sawing logs with a chainsaw
The saw and ax as woodworking tools are now gradually becoming a thing of the past, losing out to fairly powerful gas and electric saws.
A manual chain saw operates thanks to a two-stroke gasoline engine; the main component is a sharpened chain.
Main advantages:
- Superior efficiency, greatly simplifying human work;
- Mobility, it can be easily moved to other locations, put in a car, it does not work from the electrical network;
- Can be used at high levels of moisture and even during periods of precipitation;
- Ability to use a variety of attachments to perform a variety of tasks;
- Ease of operation;
- Reasonable cost compared to special woodworking machines.
Therefore, not only specialists with many years of experience prefer this product, but also owners of summer cottages are happy to use a chainsaw to solve daily problems in the garden and in construction.
Safety rules when sawing wood
- Use headphones, glasses, a respirator, gloves and thick clothing.
- Keep children away from the work area.
- Have a first aid kit on hand - circular saws and chain saws are high-risk tools.
- Do not use the circular saw without the protective guard.
- Do not pour fuel into a hot chainsaw tank; wait until it cools down a little.
- Run the chainsaw on the ground with the chain brake engaged. Release the chain brakes only before starting to cut.
- When working, hold the saw by the arc handle and move it forward along the guide. Do not press too hard on the saw; it should move freely.
- When pruning trees with a chain saw, take care of ladders - when working, the saw should not be raised above shoulder level.
- If you are not left-handed, place the log on your right side.
How to properly cut a log. Video lessons.
Work using the Timberjig sawing system.
Log sawing tool
The selection of equipment for sawing workpieces is determined by many factors.
These include:
- Scope of work
- Dimensions of workpieces for cutting,
- Quality and volume of timber.
To cut large batches of workpieces and make more high-quality raw materials, it is recommended to use a sawmill. This is a wood processing unit, the functional part of which is a variety of saws.
The best option for longitudinal sawing of logs up to six meters long and with a diameter of 0.2-0.8 m.
At large woodworking plants with huge production batches, special points for sawing wood are used. You can cut logs of any diameter point by point, obtaining timber of the required parameters with a well-processed top layer. The lines are characterized by excellent efficiency.
For longitudinal cutting, you can make your own wooden stop - the main ruler that helps you cut the log perfectly. The stop consists of 2 wooden boards, one of which is fixed at the end in the central part of the other.
The structure is attached to the workpiece with self-tapping screws so that the outer edge of the vertical board is located below the outer border of the log. The interval between the top area of the log and the top area of the board calculates the thickness of the sawn slab.
On a band sawmill - the fastest!
There are a huge number of techniques that can help you cut logs. To study them, I recommend reading my books on woodworking.
Now I’ll tell you the technique for doing it on a band sawmill. First you need to form a carriage.
To do this, you need to make cuts on two sides, or on four, but this is in special cases! The next stage is the creation of a map, which is needed so that the process of cutting the workpiece can be carefully prepared; it is at this stage that we indicate the dimensions of the board.
The determining parameter in this work is the direction of processing the log; it is especially important to pay attention to the movement of the edge that cuts the tree relative to the annual rings! It is by this criterion that various lumber with unique properties is formed. The aesthetic qualities and price of the board depend on the work performed at this stage.
There are several types of cuts that you need to know about: radial, cross, rustic and tangential.
Radial is the highest quality, because in the end you get an almost perfect board: uniform in color and texture! It does not deform under any conditions, it is clear that the price of such a product is quite high!
The tangential method is a little worse, because the boards are not so strong, but the pattern remains good, sometimes you get fancy patterns! Radical is also not bad, but it differs significantly from radial and tangential in the quality and beauty of the design! Rustic is the most unreliable, because boards of this type are heterogeneous and fragile.
It would be more expedient to talk about the simplest cutting method. It's called circular. They remove the first slab, then turn the log one hundred and eighty degrees, place it on the edge, then you have to turn it many, many times! And so you will definitely succeed!
Types of working attachments
If necessary, the workpiece is sawed into boards with a chainsaw using special attachments. The frame for a gasoline saw is fixed to the structure and is designed to guarantee smooth movement when cutting workpieces horizontally.
The structure includes:
- The main frame moving along the outer layer, next to which it is necessary to saw the wood;
- A vertical stand where the material thickness adjustment system is fixed;
- Thickness adjustment system containing knobs for adjustment and a bolt that sets the required circumference;
The ability to set the exact diameter and competent cutting of the log helps to obtain boards of identical thickness and reduce the amount of waste. To cut wood for the first time, you need a main frame or a flat, straight board.
As an analogy, you can make a smooth foundation covering using an ax, an electric plane and a level. During further sawing, the main surface is the flat part of the board obtained during the previous work.
Work organization
At the beginning of the activity, it is recommended to sort the trees, since their direction depends on this. You should clean them of dirt, remove branches, as well as cloves.
The distribution is made according to the following aspects:
- Transverse trunk size;
- Bend;
- Number of knots, various damages;
- Diameter of the core.
Before sawing you should:
- Check the properties of fasteners, as well as combinations of elements.
- Check the presence of electricity.
- Lubricate surfaces subject to rubbing.
- Check the accuracy of the saw designs.
- Check the movement of the belt in idle and in the opposite process.
- If necessary, change the arrow of the sawmill by moving the roller from the left side edge by 5 - 10 cm.
Chainsaw sawing technique
Before turning a log into boards at home, you need to cut it correctly in order to get the largest batch of high-quality boards with the least amount of waste.
Markings are made on the wood that correspond to the specified task and the appearance of the intended timber.
- Before starting work, you need to fix the workpiece well in order to achieve excellent quality of covering the boards. Sawing of logs is carried out mainly horizontally.
- You can cut the workpiece along the chainsaw using equipment for longitudinal sawing - a wooden stop - a structure made by yourself.
- When using a rip saw attachment, you need to securely fix it to the chainsaw frame. Before starting work, you need to worry about making the base coating, which will be used for sawing with a chainsaw.
Wedges are placed in the longitudinal cut to prevent the sawn edge of the board from pinching the parts of the chainsaw. The unit must move slowly and do not press on it.
It is recommended that two people take on the task of sawing logs, since additional hands will be needed to move and fix the workpiece in order to place the wedges in the cut.
