How to mill a log using a sawmill

Portable sawmills can be an important tool in any landowner's arsenal, giving them the ability to turn any wood they own into dimensional lumber, live edge slabs or any type of raw material they need for their projects.

When you're milling lumber, turning your logs into patios, cabins, work benches and more is easy. No matter what wood species you have on your property, if you have trees and a portable sawmill, you have the power to turn them into great things.

And that could be of interest to someone looking at lowering their costs by milling lumber for their own projects, starting a sawmill business or are just looking to take advantage of trees on their property.

Whether you're starting off with a Portable Sawmill designed for smaller logs, or you're maximizing your log capacity with a larger sawmill, you have the ability to turn high quality logs into high quality materials for whatever you need.

If you've just got your sawmill, or are considering getting one, here is a guide on the steps to turning timber into your own lumber.

While you may be excited to be lumber milling, there are some steps you need to deal with before you get there. For starters, upon delivery your portable sawmill will arrive requiring assembly. Detailed instructions for assembly will be included in the manual.

Once your mill is built, go through each step in the pre-startup checklist provided in your manual. That means:

• • Ensure you wearing appropriate protective equipment

  • Ensuring that your engine is topped up with gas, oil and lubricant

  • Test the blade tracking

  • Tension the blade

With all those steps completed, you're ready to get your log on the mill.

Portable sawmills are built with a bed, consisting of a track and a series of bunks which the log sits on as it's being milled. But how are you planning to move an entire log onto the track of your portable sawmill? This differs for each sawyer, but there are a number of techniques.

Some sawyers who have tractors or other equipment to lift their logs. Others build platforms to house their logs and easily roll them onto the sawmill bed.

Most portable sawmills also offer a ramp and winch to easily move around your logs and get them ready for live sawing.

You'll also need to be able to rotate and position the log once it's on the sawmill bed, and cant hooks make a great tool for the job.

After your log is placed on the sawmill track, use the log stops and log clamps to firmly secure it in place, readying it to be cut.

Once your log is up on the sawmill bed, your blade is tensioned and your engine is ready to go, you can eye up your first cut.

Determine what type of material do you need? Are you wanting to slice your log into live edge slabs for custom furniture? Or would you like dimensional lumber like 2x4s for building structures? If it's the latter, you'll need to square your log into a cant first.

You may want to consider plain sawing, making parallel cuts through the log, or you could do quarter sawn lumber, milling the log into four quadrants before cutting it up further. Whatever sawing method you prefer, you should plan before making your initial cuts.

Before your first cut, use the log scale on the right side of the head to determine the board thickness. The benefit of milling your own lumber is that you have free reign to cut to whatever dimensions you need. You can easily adjust the height sawhead to achieve the cut depth you desire.

You can then use the throttle handle to engage the blade. You can begin to push the head down the track and make your initial cut.

• • If you want thicker boards or thinner slabs and find the cuts you're making aren't what you want, you can adjust the height of the blade between cuts to get exactly the dimensions you're looking for.

  • If you're cutting dimensional lumber, consider whether you want to cut true 2x4s (most lumber you would buy from the lumber yard is actually 1.5x3.5). If you're milling your own lumber for your own projects, this may be less important. If you're planning on milling lumber for others, ask what dimensions they would prefer.

  • If your cuts look wavy, check your blade tension and blade tracking. It's also possible there could be sap buildup on your blade, or it's time to sharpen or replace the blade you're using.

Many sawyers will advise using some kind of drying process for your wood before using it, while others prefer using green lumber. It's usually a matter of preference or depends on what kind of project you're doing. Board and batten siding, for example, is designed around using green lumber and takes into account the wood shrinking over time.

There are a few options, and it may be wise to consult the Woodland Mills Product Owners and Community Facebook Group, to see how others choose to dry their lumber. Some examples include:

Air drying lumber by stacking and stickering it is a tried and true method. The advantage to this is you don't need to build any infrastructure to dry your lumber, as you can place it wherever you have room on your property. The potential downside is that it may take much longer for your wood to dry, depending on the moisture content of the wood, as well as the wood species and the humidity outdoors. Air dried lumber will eventually be good to build with though, given enough time. When you air dry, you may want to paint the ends of your logs to reduce cracking.

Utilizing kiln dried wood is another option. That could involve building a solar kiln or using heaters to reduce the moisture content of the wood. Having an indoor setting lets you truly control air circulation as well as the humidity by utilizing a moisture meter. Using a kiln offers a lot more control over how your wood dries, and can cut down on drying time. The downside is you'll need to make your kiln, and then set up your drying process. While having a kiln offers greater control, you still may encounter cracking if you're not careful.

With your lumber dry, you can finish your boards by planing and sanding the boards, or whatever else you need to do to get them ready for your next project.

Overall, you'll find having a portable sawmill gives you greater control over the entire process, being able to take a tree, trim it down from a whole log to the size you need and use it for whatever project you want.

Having the right tools can make a big difference to any woodworker, and having a portable sawmill can transform your experience, opening up greater possibilities for what you can build and what materials you can use.

Many in the Woodland Mills community share stories of how their portable sawmills allowed them to construct garages, cabins, homesteads, fishing huts and things they never imagined they could build.

If you're looking for more details on how to get started milling, consider reading our guide on Before Your First Cut, learning about the anatomy of a sawmill blade or see how others use their sawmills to make their inventive ideas a reality.