ernandez R -> RE: My wood acquisition habit (Jul. 27 2021 1:45:22)
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Stephen, Out of the three billets of WRC something like 28 sets of straight flawless grain, there is some variation of the grain spacing throughout the width, I tried taking a useful photo but no joy. The AYC was a different beast, took about three times as long to cut each slice, used a slightly improved version of my gravity feed system so really it just took a lot of time. By the time I had cut all the WRC and then the two back size billets of AYC the one blade was done. Going to see if it will cut the rib sized billets tomorrow. There are some inclusions on the grain here and there but I was just cutting, edge sealing, and stacking as Gerry made it clear this wood had a tendency to check as soon as it was unwrapped and to process it in a timely fashion. I'll give it a week or two to settle down then a quick pass through the drum sander to clean it and see how many good sets there are. Gerry said this wood was well aged and it should be usable soon but I'll need to ask him more about that. The shop smells amazing. Funny story, if you recall I had offered to send you some spruce I had that had been put up a few decades ago by a local homesteader, any way I needed to rip about three inches off the inside edge of the six foot long block. Well wouldn't you know it, I ripped the perfect grain side off the block and ruined the whole piece. I made a couple nice flamenco necks out of that flawless strip of Black spruce... The new bandsaw, 14" 1.75hp, works good, still feels like a decadent luxury but it is the tool for the job, my old craftsman never would have cut the AYC at 8 plus inches tall and it cut through the WRC like butter. The AYC would have liked a more agressive blade, less then the 3tpi, thicker then the .025, and more tooth set but this blade makes for a thin kerf and fine cut. Just have to be patient, if you get greedy the cut gets wonky. I dress one "side" of the billet then hot glue (not HHG) a plate of plywood to this side. Then I cut the bottom of the billet smooth, flip her over -90 degrees so the plate rides on a fence to the outside of the blade. This way any variation in the cut doesn't effect the next cut. I use a set of all-thread adjusters to push the fence in with each cut, unclamp, adjust by counting turns, then cut the next slice. Simple set of spring rollers hold the wood tight to the fence as it passes through. A line and a pulley draws the wood through the blade vie gravity, used a medium bottle Jack cause it was handy, just enough weight to keep the feed rate optimum. Wired up a shutoff switch too so I could do some chores whilst the machine was making noise and sawdust, set my phone timer for 15 minutes to start the next cut. HR
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