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I've done some milling on my bandsaw, and 20" across is too big for a 14" bandaw to handle even with a jig. What you can do is get a chainsaw and set up an alaskan mill. Or, you can get a trailer and haul your logs to a local small mill, if you can find one, and mill them there for a fee. There's a few around me that can do that sort of thing. There may also be locals with portable mills on trailers willing to come and mill wood for you. If you just leave the wet logs lying around they'll check at the ends. You can paint the ends with a sealer - wax or paint if that's all you have on hand, but Anchorseal is the standard. That will reduce checking as the log starts to dry. But ultimately, the rule of thumb is one year per inch, so a 20" log will take 20 years to dry on its own, and if you do that outside it'll likely be attacked by insects and demolished long before that happens. So you can let it lie around with the ends sealed for maybe a year or two, maybe longer if you get it up off the ground and keep it dry, but you won't really have planks you can fully dry and use until you mill it. So that goes back to the standard alaskan mill option. It'll cost you a few hundred for a good chainsaw with a long enough bar and a rip chain (don't try to do this with the crosscut chain that comes standard on chainsaws) and you can pick up a basic alaskan mill for a hundred fifty or so. The chainsaw does work really well, you're just losing a lot of wood to the kerf and a lot of time to the slower going compared to having logs milled at a proper sawmill.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:18
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God knows how straight your pieces are, but the cheap option is an axe, some wedges and a big hammer.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:20
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I've cut a lot of logs on the bandsaw and trying to do it with anything you can't easily toss around one-handed is miserable, and will most likely result in seriously damaging either the saw or yourself. After building an entire giant woodmizer knockoff to process them I realized that even just moving the logs onto a sawmill bed loving sucks without a skidloader, and got a chainsaw mill. A Granberg Alaskan is like $250, you'll make it back in one tree. Maybe two or three if you need to also buy the chainsaw.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:21
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Anyone have advice on what kind of paint (and potentially sealer) I should use to pain a small wooden stand that will hold a musical device? I built a small angled stand for a MIDI controller out of some spare 3/4" ply we had around, and some random hardwood that came out of an old couch that I have no idea what it is, but it's relatively light in color like the plywood. The thing looks a little ugly with the various bits of woodputty I've used to fill in some places where screws went in, and I'm thinking of just painting it black (which will roughly match the device I'll use it for). I've never painted anything other than walls before, and I sense the considerations for painting a stand which I want to put on tables and rest a device on are not the same as picking out some eggshell white for a bedroom wall. The device (a Maschine Mk3) is no particular heavy, but I don't want the surface of the stand to get worn down from the device, or from my handling the stand. Do I want an oil-based paint? Should I bother to prime it first if I'm painting it black? Do I want to put some kind of water-based polyurethane sealer on after?
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Jun 27, 2022 22:08
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Not sure what you mean by 'worn down', but good wood and a tough finish will wear well and be easy to touch up. Yes, you want to prime it, even if you're painting it black. Primer seals and protects the wood and gives the paint a consistent surface to stick to. A water based poly coat on top of a paint coat is probably overkill but I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work. However, a good paint job (and I would assume latex paint, oil based paint is a PITA to work with) will be really easy to touch up if it starts to show wear. Remember, multiple thin coats is better than one thick coat!
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Jun 27, 2022 22:18
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El Spamo posted:Not sure what you mean by 'worn down', but good wood and a tough finish will wear well and be easy to touch up. Thanks. This is very helpful, and I'd definitely prefer not to mess around with oil paint and all that entails. I mean "worn down" in the sense that I'm going to be resting a metal and plastic device on the thing and don't want the paint to wear away where the rubber feet of the device are touching it, nor wear off on the part of the stand where my palm will be resting as I hit some of the buttons. I'm just anticipating the stand will get rubbed and handled much more than say random walls I've painted in the past where I wasn't as worried about handling. Sounds like priming, latex paint, not being lazy about multiple thin coats, and a poly coat on top is the way to go.
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Jun 27, 2022 22:44
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McCoy Pauley posted:Thanks. This is very helpful, and I'd definitely prefer not to mess around with oil paint and all that entails. I'd stay away from latex. It never gets very hard and always stays kind of gummy and doesn't wear well. There are some water based alkyd enamels that work really well for higher wear stuff and they dry really hard. Unfortunately it's fairly expensive. Get it from Sherwin Williams or Ben Moore or other real paint manufacturer, not a big box store. TBH decent enamel spray paint works well, especially for something small. I wouldn't recommend topcoating with poly-it's another step and another product and it doesn't really help much. Good quality paint is a much tougher, more durable finish than most any clear finish. Alot of compromises get made with regards to toughness/durability/etc to keep a coating clear. Probably most important is to let the paint cure for a few weeks before you leave something heavy on it. If you plan on moving the thing around, the rubber feet might pull the paint up if you leave it on the uncured paint too soon.
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Jun 27, 2022 23:17
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I'd stay away from latex. It never gets very hard and always stays kind of gummy and doesn't wear well. There are some water based alkyd enamels that work really well for higher wear stuff and they dry really hard. Unfortunately it's fairly expensive. Get it from Sherwin Williams or Ben Moore or other real paint manufacturer, not a big box store. TBH decent enamel spray paint works well, especially for something small. You could probably find a small container of water based floor paint which would be a hardening enamel like you’re talking about. It’s more expensive by a lot, but it stands up to constant wear of people walking on it really well. SW calls it Porch and Floor Enamel and they sell it in quarts. You should be able to find Rustoleum spray enamel as well. But your color options are limited by what they have on the shelf. But if it’s just going to be black, this might be the easiest and cheapest option.
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Jun 27, 2022 23:33
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I’d use clear poly over latex with primer or black spray paint over primer.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:19
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Thanks for the tip on a chainsaw mill. I'll definitely pursue that route. I also have a lead on a local guy with a mobile sawmill, so I'll get a price on that as well. It sounds like my idea of a bandsaw jig would be no fun, so I'll forget about that idea.
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Jun 28, 2022 01:20
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Jhet posted:
Thanks. I actually have a can of that sitting around that we bought recently for some other project, so I'll try that on a piece of scrap wood. Seems like it might be the thing. Never used it before though -- does it need a primer first?
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Jun 28, 2022 01:25
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McCoy Pauley posted:Thanks. I actually have a can of that sitting around that we bought recently for some other project, so I'll try that on a piece of scrap wood. Seems like it might be the thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve used it, but I don’t think it does. There is a spray primer if it doesn’t work on your sample, but I’m pretty sure it won’t need it.
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Jun 28, 2022 01:35
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I'd stay away from latex. It never gets very hard and always stays kind of gummy and doesn't wear well. There are some water based alkyd enamels that work really well for higher wear stuff and they dry really hard. Unfortunately it's fairly expensive. Get it from Sherwin Williams or Ben Moore or other real paint manufacturer, not a big box store. TBH decent enamel spray paint works well, especially for something small. This is gospel. Anything that's going to regularly touch latex enamel is going to stick to it.....but water-based alkyd enamel is a thing now? I need to get out more.
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Jun 28, 2022 04:45
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Graniteman posted:Thanks for the tip on a chainsaw mill. I'll definitely pursue that route. I also have a lead on a local guy with a mobile sawmill, so I'll get a price on that as well. It sounds like my idea of a bandsaw jig would be no fun, so I'll forget about that idea. A bandsaw jig is absolutely fun! I made one. It just won't handle logs of that size. Use it for smaller stuff. I somewhat documented mine in this post: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2819334&userid=116962&perpage=40&pagenumber=15#post519114239 Ask me for any details that aren't clear from the pics if you want. This jig works, but it's a bit flexy/bendy and not up to the task of the largest logs that will fit on it. Also this particular bar clamp has smooth jaws that don't grip the wood well enough. I'm gonna have to modify them somehow. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 28, 2022 07:00
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Does anyone have tips on ventilation for finishes if I'm working in a basement? Mostly I've got: Turn off any central venting, open the windows, fan by the window blowing out, and wear a respirator. Is there any way to know if you're doing it well enough to be mostly safe, or is it a case of just do the best you can?
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Jun 28, 2022 15:57
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esquilax posted:Does anyone have tips on ventilation for finishes if I'm working in a basement? Do the best you can and stay out of the basement for a day or so. Unless you paint stuff 8 hours a day every day of your life your overall exposure will be low no matter what. If you're spraying a lot of flammable finish, watch out for sources of ignition, like electric motors or a water heater.
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Jun 28, 2022 16:04
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esquilax posted:Does anyone have tips on ventilation for finishes if I'm working in a basement? if you get high, you hosed it up If you stick near the windows all that should be sufficient unless you're doing it all day every day or working with something exceptionally nasty. Mess with stuff that offgasses formaldehyde and you'll learn a lot about the airflow of the room real quick A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 28, 2022 16:06
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If you can smell the chemicals, or if you get a headache, then your current solution isn't adequate. But one or two exposures isn't going to significantly impact your health unless you have some other health stuff going on. So it shouldn't be a problem to use yourself as a guinea pig, assuming you've taken reasonable precautions. On that note, make sure your respirator is using VOC filters. Dust filtration is important, but doesn't do anything to keep hazardous fumes out of the air you breath. I use these filters for my respirator, and they work well. Keep them in a sealed plastic bag when not in use, to preserve their lifespan. They rely on chemical reactions to pull nasty compounds out of the air, and they eventually run out of reagents and stop working.
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Jun 28, 2022 16:20
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If you've got a window, it's 100% worth building something that fills the entire opening (it can be removable) and ducts a fan. Sticking fans in an open window is really ineffective when the goal is to actually pull air out in a way that creates a clean draft. A 15" through-wall fan is ~$100, and it's easy to mount it in the middle of some 1/2" plywood. Make a U-channel on one side that engages with the sliding side of the window, and stick some weatherstripping on the other 3 sides. Pops in and out of the window easily. They're meant to be hard wired, but it's just as easy to wire it to an old extension cord to make it portable. If not that, blocking off the rest of the open window around a fan will work far better than a box fan sitting in a window. In my shop, I semi-permanently mounted a fan in the window with a sliding door between the fan and the outside. Stuck some rigid foam insulation on it and weatherstripped it with pipe insulation and it's arguably more well insulated than the lovely 1970's window. It pulls hard enough that it creates a noticeable crosswind in the shop, and I can actually use spray paint down there and not smell it. It's great when routing or anything else that makes dust collection difficult. I can get away with a dust mask instead of a respirator 90% of the time.  Bad picture, but you can see my fan/window monstrosity on the right. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 28, 2022 16:26
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:if you get high, you hosed it up I remember one old-timer residential and commercial lacquer painter who said something like "I paid for this so I'll drat well get high off it." No respirator or other PPE. He's probably dead now, like an entire generation of hard working idiot painters.
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Jun 28, 2022 17:14
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Also worth noting that there's an entire world of finishes that won't gently caress you up. Real boiled linseed oil, but shellac, water based polyurethane, etc. There's all the hardwax oils like Rubio.
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Jun 28, 2022 17:19
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Does anyone have an example of shop ventilation for a cold climate? My workshop isn't currently insulated or heated/cooled, but it might be someday, so I'm looking for options that might be compatible with that. Although my actual use case is explicitly because the space isn't conditioned, I want to quickly exchange inside air with outside are because in the summer it gets ungodly hot inside (south facing black roof) but even in the hottest part of the day it will be cooler outside than inside, and as it cools down outside over the course of the day moreso, so I'd really like to be able to exchange that air. I've got an existing thing that vents out of a screened gap that's a couple of inches tall and about 2 feet wide. If you follow the home wiring thread you've seen me post this massive thing that might very well be from the 1920s.. If I can't get that unit working somehow, and since I can't really find anything in that form factor, I'm wondering what my plan B options might be.
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Jun 28, 2022 20:03
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Might not be understanding, but I just vent my dust collector to the outside (after the cyclone separator). If you had a window or other opening for make up air your ventilation is solved.
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Jun 29, 2022 01:08
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Long story short I'm looking for new boards for a 5ft by 8ft utility trailer and have for whatever reason picked white oak since it seems to be reasonably available here in Minnesota. Case in point, this post on FB marketplace which lists 2x6 and 2x8 rough sawn 8ft boards for basically $10 or $11. I messaged the guy and he confirmed those prices are each, not board foot, so that seems like a screaming deal. I see some checking on the ends and it looks to be a mostly plain sawn but that's the extent of my wood knowledge. Will this stuff be okay for a utility trailer where I don't care at all about the wood so long as it holds up, doesn't fully split down the middle, can handle ATV's and boulders, etc.? I have already been advised to give everything a good coat of urethane and that will be the extent of the finishing. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1080168556242919 
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Jun 29, 2022 02:00
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Yeah it'll be great and that's an amazing price. I wouldn't put a finish on it-it's gonna get torn up in a hurry and look like poo poo, not to mention being slippery. The pale sapwood on the outside may rot in a few years, but white oak heartwood is very durable outside, even unfinished.
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Jun 29, 2022 02:07
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I'd think that a deck sealant of some sort would work for a finish without being excessively slippery.
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Jun 29, 2022 02:19
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Wandering Orange posted:Long story short I'm looking for new boards for a 5ft by 8ft utility trailer and have for whatever reason picked white oak since it seems to be reasonably available here in Minnesota. Case in point, this post on FB marketplace which lists 2x6 and 2x8 rough sawn 8ft boards for basically $10 or $11. I messaged the guy and he confirmed those prices are each, not board foot, so that seems like a screaming deal. I see some checking on the ends and it looks to be a mostly plain sawn but that's the extent of my wood knowledge. I'd paint the ends at least. Cuts down on splitting.
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Jun 29, 2022 03:18
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++ to painting the ends. It'll cut down on splitting, in my experience. At that point I'd probably just hit it the whole thing with a coat of Rustoleum outdoor paint or whatever, but I don't think it's necessary.
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Jun 29, 2022 03:24
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Maybe paint it with an exterior paint rather than using a stain/finish?
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Jun 29, 2022 03:24
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Khizan posted:I'd think that a deck sealant of some sort would work for a finish without being excessively slippery.
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Jun 29, 2022 04:07
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The quest continues to make a square/flush box without a bunch of sanding of wood filler, getting closer. Anyone have any tricks for getting accurate angled cuts on the miter saw? I had a magnetic digital one but would read a few degrees different every time I used it, so I've just been doing test cuts with a 45 degree mark on them to get it set.
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Jun 29, 2022 06:20
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Oh yeah that’s probably a good idea. Sometimes film finishes/pint can do more harm than good by trapping water but deck sealants don’t seem to have that problem and make water bead off. Over in the AI thread I had suggested maybe spar varnish but since this is a cheapo project (he'd asked about using diesel as a wood treatment...) I said just buy whatever urethane is on sale whenever. Deck sealant would be decent I think too. Kaiser here is our resident finishing expert though so I'd defer to his advice on this. A trailer deck will be exposed on top and bottom to weathering and road grit etc. so I do think that if it's sealed it should be sealed on both sides, yeah? I can't believe he's getting oak for that price, it's like $1/bf.
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Jun 29, 2022 06:47
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ddiddles posted:The quest continues to make a square/flush box without a bunch of sanding of wood filler, getting closer. One technique ive used when you need more accuracy is to do test cuts and measure the new cut with a universal bevel protractor that had a vernier scale. That was with aluminum tubing though. A less tedious solution that you probably already have the tools for could be just making a 45 degree shooting board so you dont have to rely on your mitre saw being perfectly positioned.
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Jun 29, 2022 07:32
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ddiddles posted:The quest continues to make a square/flush box without a bunch of sanding of wood filler, getting closer. Apologies if I've misunderstood the question.
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Jun 29, 2022 11:19
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ddiddles posted:The quest continues to make a square/flush box without a bunch of sanding of wood filler, getting closer. E: Also, mitered boxes are hard. They often get recommended as a beginner project but they are really a terrible beginner project that leads to alot of swearing and frustration. I've been doing this professionally for a decade and I still really loving hate mitered boxes. Some tips you probably already know: -Always build the box and lid together, and then cut the lid off. Trying to make the lid match the box is an exercise in frustration and leads to lots of sanding and loving around with hinges. -Having opposite sides of the box be exactly the same length is as important as having the miter angles perfect. Make a jig or use some stop blocks or figure out how to cut both parts at the same time or something. -Splines really do add alot of strength and aren't that hard once you get the other stuff figured out. Kaiser Schnitzel fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Jun 29, 2022 |
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Jun 29, 2022 13:09
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Use the table saw. Get a good miter gauge (Incra are great)or sled. It’s a much more accurate and repeatable machine than a chop saw will ever be. Yeah, this is my experience. There's more variables on the miter saw (mine has a fence that likes to work itself slightly out of square) that all have to be in perfect alignment vs a table saw where I just need the blade/sled aligned correctly because I know the table is flat.
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Jun 29, 2022 13:39
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:E: Also, mitered boxes are hard. They often get recommended as a beginner project but they are really a terrible beginner project that leads to alot of swearing and frustration. I've been doing this professionally for a decade and I still really loving hate mitered boxes. I would rather box joint or even dovetail before mitering a box. I don't mind mitering liners too much, but still. Worst joint ever, picture frames included.
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Jun 29, 2022 14:52
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Hypnolobster posted:I would rather box joint or even dovetail before mitering a box. I don't mind mitering liners too much, but still. Worst joint ever, picture frames included. Mitered box allows for continuous grain which looks pretty sweet.
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Jun 29, 2022 14:54
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See, I can make a miter joint box practically in my sleep at this point but I STILL can't get a drat finger joint to come together cleanly. I've built that stupid jig a half dozen times now and it still messes everything up. I should just hand cut the joints.
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Jun 29, 2022 15:17
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Thanks for all the tips! I'm definitely gonna try out the table saw for those cuts today. Yeah I've never really liked how finger joints look, but that might be because i pull my hair out as well trying to make a jig that gets them right.
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Jun 29, 2022 16:43
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