 |
Milling the koa logs, Maui |
|
A fallen giant gets a chance for a new life |
||
 |
||
| This is the good third of the main trunk, getting moved to the mill. | ||
 |
||
Placed on the mill bed, dogged in place and ready to cut. Some of these pictures are a little blurry, I used my cell phone camera.... It is hard to take pictures when you do this work, some days I forgot my camera. But here is a collection of images. |
||
 |
||
| The first cut. | ||
 |
||
| At the bottom of this pile is the wood from that log, you can recognize the shape. | ||
 |
||
| On of the branches propped up to do a chainsaw rip cut. I have peeled all the bark off first. | ||
 |
||
| This is another part of the trunk, with the bee hive branch. It was too "weird" to put on the sawmill. It goes to my sculptor friend Steve, he will make it look good! | ||
 |
||
| My friend George is helping with the rip cut. We are using a Logosol portable chainsaw mill. Heis trimming the end to be able to bolt on the end bar. | ||
 |
||
| Here the other end bar is bolted on. | ||
 |
||
| The long aluminum side rail gets mounted. | ||
 |
||
| The cutting begins, the chainsaw rides on a carriage and is pulled forward with a string and crank. | ||
 |
||
| This cut goes relatively fast, he is using a short bar. | ||
 |
||
| Small wedges are inserted in the kerf to prevent the log from sagging. | ||
 |
||
| Half way through... | ||
 |
||
| It is always difficult to decide where to place the first cut, it is hard to tell what's inside and how the grain runs. | ||
 |
||
| Here we moved the rail to the other side, and the cut is getting finished. | ||
 |
||
| This is a very nice mill system, lightweight and portable. | ||
 |
||
| Here you can see some of the slabs. I like to cut a log through and through, it is easy to sticker the log in order, and I get a nice mix of quarter, rift and flat cut, good for a furniure maker. Most of it gets cut 2" thick. In the background you can see the other half of the log, awaiting milling. | ||
 |
||
| The foam is from soapy water used to cool the blade. | ||
 |
||
| The whole branch, stacked and stickered for air drying. I spray everything with Timbor, to prevent insect and fungus attacks. The fans help to move air through the stack. I prefer air drying, if I have time to wait. It will take a couple of years..... | ||
 |
||
| This is another branch, bark peeled. | ||
 |
||
| George is trimming a little to make it fit on the mill. | ||
 |
||
| Curved logs are tricky. Here we will cut a few slabs from the top, until we get a flat surface. | ||
 |
||
| Then we flip it 90 degrees and continue the cutting. | ||
 |
||
| Pretty colors! Unfortunately this branch had a lot of heart rot, the brown areas to the right. You just never know.... | ||
| To be continued..... | ||