Milling Cedar Posts

Last February I did a post entitled Skidding Logs Out of the Woods. I mentioned that the logs would have to be milled into 6” X 6” posts at a later date, and that would be the subject of another post.  Today that activity got underway.

Shortly after moving here to Cedar Ridge Farm Darryl purchased plans he found advertised on the internet for building his own sawmill.  He would have liked to have had a nice band mill but just could not afford it.  The mill he built per the plans he obtained uses a big chainsaw.  This is slower in operation and loses a bit more of the log due to the thicker cut that is made but it does a nice job.

Pictured here is Darryl adjusting the cutting position on his mill.  The basic procedure is to cut off the rounded sides on all four sides of the log, leaving the squared 6” X 6” posts.  In this picture the log has just been loaded onto the mill and Darryl is getting set to cut the first slab.

Cutting is underway.  The chain saw, with a 36” cutting bar, is mounted in a movable carriage that Darryl pushes as the saw cuts its way through the log.

Both the top and bottom cuts have been made and one of the sides is now being slabbed off.

  Here is a close-up view of a finished post which has been loaded onto the truck.

Pictured here is part of the finished work of the day

In the foreground is the pile of slabs that were cut from the logs milled today.  In the background are the logs that yet remained to be milled.