# Calling south jersey sawyers



## jersey hammer (Feb 7, 2012)

Anyone in south jersey know of a good sawyer who would be interested in cutting up a small amount of logs? Some may need some exploration. I am located around the Trenton bordentown area and am willing to travel to find the right man for the job. 
Denver
the longer logs are oak 10'-16' and the shorties are English walnut almost 3' across but only 40-48" long. I say exploration because one of the walnut logs seems to be rotted on one end.


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## Cliff (Feb 5, 2012)

Do you have a chain saw? 
That's all I use. A chain saw and a chalk line
I triedto take wood to a sawmill out near the DEl water gap and the SOB actually had a temper tantrum at me because he was afraid of yard trees and nails. He could have just said no. 

So I decided to hell with it, I'd do it myself

http://s1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/The Shop/Lumber/


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## woodtick greg (Sep 12, 2011)

Just an idea, contact woodmizer or timberking sawmills, they usually have a list of their customers they have sold portable mills to and their may be one in your area.


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## Inspectorwoody (Feb 4, 2012)

+1 to Woodtick Greg's comment. 

Most portable sawmill guys will charge for blade damage due to foreign objects in a log such as but not limited to nails, fence post etc. 

Something to ask about when you find a sawyer. 

Depending on what type of mill the guy had, I could understand his point. I wouldn't have gone to the extent of getting all worked up about it though. :laughing:


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

I think everyone above is right, lol

Try to find someone as stated above but if that doesn't pan out you could to the chainsaw route maybe with something like an Alaskan mill as in the pictures. I've used one with pretty good results on re-sawing large reclaimed beams for furniture stock.

Also, if you have access to logs like that on a regular basis you might consider investing in a Alaskan mill AND a decent bandsaw and never being without lumber.

Good luck!

~tom


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## jersey hammer (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. One question do you need a different chain on the saw for rip cutting?


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

DBird said:


> Thanks for the advice. One question do you need a different chain on the saw for rip cutting?


I never got enough into it to get anything like that but I do know there are specialty thin bars / chains to reduce kerf (waste) and rip easier... There are several guys here that do this so I'm sure they'll be along with advice shortly!

~tom


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## pwoller (Dec 12, 2010)

I use normal full comp chain but take the cutters down to 10 degrees. I've milled lots of big slabs like that and prefer the full comp to semi or skip chains, I've found the end result to be smoother boards.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

DBird said:


> Thanks for the advice. One question do you need a different chain on the saw for rip cutting?


If your going to do a lot of milling. Go for a carbide tip chain. http://www.rapcoindustries.com/


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## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

Will the guy that sharpens my chainsaw blades for $4 ea. be able to sharpen a carbide chain? Wouldn't you need a diamond grinder to resharpen one? Just wondering. Gary


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## woodtick greg (Sep 12, 2011)

DBird said:


> Thanks for the advice. One question do you need a different chain on the saw for rip cutting?


The short answer is yes, you can regrind a standard chain or purchase a ripping chain. I have milled thousands of board feet of lumber with an alaskan mill. For the wide logs like above 2' you will need a large powerhead 80 to 100cc + And learn to file a chain by hand, it's easy and you can do it in the field as needed, Like if you hit metal!
I am a chainsaw sawyer, Works for me but I don't sell my lumber, csm it's not for everyone. Heres the pros, relatively inexpensive to start out with compared to a bandmill, but a large 80cc and up powerhead will be quite costly, $600 and up, $1000 ish. for 100cc, buy the largest you can afford. in csm power is everything! Easy to store and doesn't take up much space in your garage, shed, etc. Can even hang on a wall or shelf. Easy to maintain if you have knowledge of chainsaws. Highly portable, can cary the mill to the log and mill it where it was felled, instead of trying to move, load, and transport a large log. 36" across and up logs can weigh thousands of pounds. sharpening equipment for a chain is way less costly than for a band blade, and you can file a chain in the field. If you are milling for personal use you can obtain species that are not redaly available at a lumber yard and mill it the way you want.
The cons, csm is very very slow and extremely labor intensive. I always wonder which will wear out first the saw or me. This is what csm is like, When doing pushups go halfway down and then hold that position as long as you can! Ask yourself if you want to put that much labor into csm for a little money? It's more wastefull than a bandmill, I run a 404 ripping chain=1/4" kerf, so for every 4 boards I cut I loose one to saw dust. There will be mountains of saw dust. With long bars 3' and up you should run an aux oiler, good bar oil is getting costly $8-$14 per gallon and you will go through alot of it. Same for good quality 2 cycle oil. I'm sure that there are people that csm for sale but to me it's just so slow, labor intensive, and wastefull that it's just not worth it imo.
Now csm for personal use and for friends it's great! It's fun! It's rewarding to save a tree from being turned into firewood and make something from it. My woodstash is quite large! I never buy wood!
I am a treecycler, wood is everywhere and it's free.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

HomeBody said:


> Will the guy that sharpens my chainsaw blades for $4 ea. be able to sharpen a carbide chain? Wouldn't you need a diamond grinder to resharpen one? Just wondering. Gary


I don't know you'll have to ask him. I don't see why not. There expensive, but worth it. 
IMO. I don't have one. But know people who swear by them.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Bumpity bump... You find a sawyer yet?

Did you try looking for one on woodbarter as well?

~tom


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## jersey hammer (Feb 7, 2012)

firemedic said:


> Bumpity bump... You find a sawyer yet?
> 
> Did you try looking for one on woodbarter as well?
> 
> ~tom


I have been swamped at work the past few days so I have had no time to do any research. Than you for all the information I'll keep you guys posted as to how I make out.


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## zbohm (Dec 30, 2012)

Hey DBird. I know that I'm a year after the question but I have a small mill. I'm at the north end of Cape May County. So I'm probably too late to help you with those logs but I'm always looking for more work. My mill handles 36"x21.5'. So if anybody reading this needs something milled or wants to contact me about what very limited lumber I keep on hand I'd appreciate any work I can get. I guess I can put an e-mail [email protected].


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