# Frozen wood milling Advice?



## sprucegum (Jan 16, 2016)

I am thinking about sawing some fresh cut white pine for a friend. Having never sawed more than a few sticks of frozen wood I am looking for advice regarding blade angle and pitch? Mill has 22 hp the logs are in the 12-24 inch range. Before I had my mill I hired a guy to mill some softwood logs in the winter and was satisfied with the job he did but his constant whining about frozen wood and having to order new blades led me to believe it may not have been going as well as he wanted. I don't mind purchasing a box of blades for the job just don't want to get the wrong ones for the job.


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## Kevin (Jan 16, 2016)

sprucegum said:


> *Frozen wood milling Advice?*




Here's how I saw my frozen logs . . .

Reactions: Funny 5 | Creative 1


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## justallan (Jan 16, 2016)

I'd go with 4 degree blades and for lube I use winter grade windshield washer fluid and pinesol, go heavy on the pinesol or the pitch will gum up something terrible. If you don't use winter grade windshield washer fluid it can still freeze up in the lines if it's real cold and windy. Keep a squirt bottle of diesel handy for when you get build up on your blades and make sure to clean your blades good when you shut down for the day or it's a real joy doing it after the pitch has hardened.
If I COULD use the mill right now, I wouldn't. It's just a PITA!

Reactions: Informative 3


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## Sidecar (Jan 16, 2016)

Some of the Amish in this area throw a bit of diesel in with everything else .....but this winter has been easy so not been cold long enough to make a difference.......Allen has the best recipe


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## sprucegum (Jan 16, 2016)

Sidecar said:


> Some of the Amish in this area throw a bit of diesel in with everything else .....but this winter has been easy so not been cold long enough to make a difference.......Allen has the best recipe


My owners manual gives several warnings a bout using any petroleum based blade lube, really bad for the band wheel tires.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## sprucegum (Jan 16, 2016)

justallan said:


> I'd go with 4 degree blades and for lube I use winter grade windshield washer fluid and pinesol, go heavy on the pinesol or the pitch will gum up something terrible. If you don't use winter grade windshield washer fluid it can still freeze up in the lines if it's real cold and windy. Keep a squirt bottle of diesel handy for when you get build up on your blades and make sure to clean your blades good when you shut down for the day or it's a real joy doing it after the pitch has hardened.
> If I COULD use the mill right now, I wouldn't. It's just a PITA!


Got to agree on the PITA part. I would not even consider it if the commercial circular mill that was going to do it had not gone belly up. The good news is I get a helper and even though it is a sizable pile of logs we will be able to pick our days as there is plenty of time before it is needed in early summer. I have never had the pitch build up problem with white pine in the summer so I don't see why it would be any worse in the winter other than I might be more stingy with washer fluid than I am with free H2O. I think before I commit to anything I will do a one log trial run, almost hate to do that as I spent half a day last fall putting the mill into hibernation.


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## justallan (Jan 16, 2016)

I brought home my first mill a couple days before Christmas and kind of had to try it out. What a wreck that was! That mill had a small engine and I nearly burned up the clutch on it due to the pitch.
We have Ponderosa Pine here and they have some pitch, some way more than others. I've actually took a couple logs off the mill because of the amount of pitch and use them for either bunks or they get turned into firewood, but logs are free for me, so I can get away with that some.
Hopefully someone closer to you will chime in and give you their experiences with it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## EastmansWoodturning (Jan 16, 2016)

We have a larger mill and don't saw a lot of pine, more often hemlock in the conifers but the most problems we have is when it is starting to freeze or starting to thaw to get nice consistent lumber.

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1


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## CWS (Jan 16, 2016)

Sidecar said:


> Some of the Amish in this area throw a bit of diesel in with everything else .....but this winter has been easy so not been cold long enough to make a difference.......Allen has the best recipe


Wait till Monday @Sidecar

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Nature Man (Jan 16, 2016)

Seriously? Surely there are other jobs in the queue... Think it time to convince your friend to wait until Spring. Chuck

Reactions: Agree 1


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## sprucegum (Jan 17, 2016)

EastmansWoodturning said:


> We have a larger mill and don't saw a lot of pine, more often hemlock in the conifers but the most problems we have is when it is starting to freeze or starting to thaw to get nice consistent lumber.



Do you use the same angle blade as you do in the summer? I think the blades I have are all 10 degree. White pine is one of the easier cutting woods in the summer but it has a pretty high moisture content so I guess it must harden up some when frozen. After next week it should be pretty consistently frozen. I take my blades to a shop for grinding I wonder if they could change the hook angle on one of my dull blades just to experiment with different angles.


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## sprucegum (Jan 17, 2016)

"Surely there are other jobs in the queue"

Probably but there is more to the story and I would get finger cramps if I had to type the whole story

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Sidecar (Jan 17, 2016)

CWS said:


> Wait till Monday @Sidecar


Ahhh just a little blip in the mercury.....
Looks like only 2 maybe 3....42 degree showers....walk in the park

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Mr. Peet (Jan 17, 2016)

Allan had the best advice so far. Have a set of plastic felling wedges handy. In case the slabs freeze together or you hear binding on the blade. Look for sales. The wood mizer down the road runs lots of drygas in his water. He has a bypass to drain the excess in the tank into another tank that he takes inside (heat) until the next use. He tried RV pink antifreeze and had good luck but had to spend extra time cleaning the drive wheels. Also said it was fine for outdoor wood but not for stuff for interior work. I didn't follow his point since it gets planed after the drying process anyway.


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## justallan (Jan 17, 2016)

sprucegum said:


> Do you use the same angle blade as you do in the summer? I think the blades I have are all 10 degree. White pine is one of the easier cutting woods in the summer but it has a pretty high moisture content so I guess it must harden up some when frozen. After next week it should be pretty consistently frozen. I take my blades to a shop for grinding I wonder if they could change the hook angle on one of my dull blades just to experiment with different angles.



With my first mill I used 10 degree mostly and got a few 4 degree to try out and the difference was night and day. The 4 degree didn't work the engine anywhere near as much because their not trying to bite as much.
I haven't sawn anything frozen with the new mill yet, but I can say for darned sure that because the blade enters the wood at an angle that the 10 degree blades are horrible on hardwood, which I would figure compare to frozen logs.
Just my opinion, I hope it helps some.


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