WOOD TOY NEWS Monday August 25, 2014 Contributing Editors Imants Udie and Bryan Udris How to Make Lumber with a Chain Saw toymakingplans.com Imants Udris Udie with Bryan at the saw. How to Make Logs into Planks with a Chain Saw Using the home-made Udie Chain Saw Jig for Variable Width Planks. After the posting of the July 6, 2014 Wood Toy News titled Free Wood from Fallen Trees there have been numerous requests for a video demonstrating the Udie Chain Saw Jig for Variable Width Planks shown in full action. I am always happy to fulfill requests from the Forum members of ToymakingPlans.com. Visit Udie s Toymaking Forum at http://forums. toymakingplans.com So sit back, have a beverage, relax and enjoy watching my son Bryan seriously cut some Oak. First thing I needed was a flat surface for the jig to ride along. It is nothing more than a 2 x 8 board screwed onto the log to be cut. The 2 x 4 s are used to stop the log from rocking on the table surface. They are not screwed down. 2 x 8 makes flat surface for Chain Saw Jig. We screwed a scrap piece of 2 x 8 to the top of the log to make a base for the chain saw jig to slide along as we advanced the running chain saw into the log. The 2 x 4 s on each side of the log kept the log from rolling over as we sawed. The 2 x 4 s were held in place by the weight of the log. This is an easy setup to adjust. The 2 x 4 s are used to stop the log from rocking on the table surface. They are not screwed down. With a little effort and patience you can cut through a pretty good sized log using this setup. Watch video at: http://ow.ly/afqt7 1 August 25, 2014 Monday
Mounting the chain saw to the jig is pretty straight forward. the photo below shows that the chain saw bar, not the motor, is is attached to the jig. Short pieces of metal have been welded to the clamping jig, which provide the proper spacing necessary for the chain to move freely. 3 depth of cut 3 depth of cut The depth of cut has been adjusted to cut a three inch depth for removing the bark. This is a very easy jig to make and has provided us with the capability of making excellent planks. Just for fun here s Bryan s dog, Calie. She never leaves his side. She s trying to tell us: OK guys, I was at the cottage with you guys this morning and you made a lot of noise there. Now we re back at home and you guys are still making noise! Enough is enough, I m tired of stealing your off-cuts, I m taking my hearing protection off and I am going into the house see ya! 2 August 25, 2014 Monday
We welded up our own saw jig. It took awhile to get it just right but now it is working like a charm. Watch video at: http://ow.ly/afqt7 chain saw 3 depth of cut chain saw jig 3 depth of cut chain saw This is the complete setup in operation. The plank screwed to the log top provides a smooth surface for the chain saw jig slide on. The jig is pushed slowly and steadily along to flatten the top of the log. 3 August 25, 2014 Monday
I must tell you that to our surprise this log was still very wet causing a little more resistance than expected when we were cutting through it. However, everything worked out just fine. Shown below are the results of the first cut. You will discover that during the cut, stop the chain saw so you can insert some wedges or shims inside the cut to prevent the wood from pinching the chain and blade. This takes only a couple of minutes to do and will make the saw move a lot smoother and easier throughout the cut. FIRST CUT FIRST CUT Chain Saw and Jig First cut is completed. We are very pleased with how well it all went. First cut. SECOND CUT The second cut requires the plank to be screwed to the log as shown. The 2 x 4 s are placed in position to hold the log in place while sawing. 2 x 4 support is placed on both sides. Not only did we go thru many chains and bars but we also burned out 1 chain saw motor. When we went to buy a new replacement chain saw, we purchased another Poulan and it just so happened the tool rental department at Home Depot was selling a 20 Echo so we bought that one also. Shim or wedge stops prevents pinching. 4 August 25, 2014 Monday
SECOND CUT This surface will be laid flat on the table for the third cut. Great, now I have two flat edges, but I will need to create a third flat edge before I am able to start cutting the final planks. THIRD CUT THIRD CUT THIRD CUT The guide board is screwed in place for the third cut. The second cut has created a flat edge to rest against the table surface. The 2 x 8 plank is mounted to the log after turning the log. Here you can see the condition of the scrap 2 x 8 we used.the bottom surface had some damage and that s ok. All we need is one side of the scrap to be smooth so the saw will be easy to slide the length of the surface. The third cut is completed and we are ready to start cutting planks to the correct thickness for our projects. 5 August 25, 2014 Monday
Both Bryan and I are pretty pleased with the results of our first three cuts. The home-made jig, chain saw and setup worked great. Now we are ready to cut the various planks. The photo below shows the fourth cut that produces the first plank from the prepared log. There was no 2 x 8 required for a sliding surface because for the plank cuts the chain saw jig slides along while resting against a previously cut surface on the log. Watch video at: http://ow.ly/afqt7 We cut our first plank around 3 wide which was the original setting for the sliding jig. We left the depth of cut the same because I liked the grain and I can use that thickness for a few of my future projects. FOURTH CUT I finished one sawn surface on the Jointer before band sawing the 4th side. First Plank 3 FOURTH CUT As you can see, there remains a live edge on our plank. Before I used the band saw I ran our plank through the jointer a couple of times just to make it a little smoother. This photo shows how easy it is to band saw the bark edge off the plank. Again, we did feel dampness in the wood. FINAL CUT ON BAND SAW 6 August 25, 2014 Monday
There you have it my fellow toymaking friends. This is how our Udris Workshop processes free wood logs into usable planks for toymaking and furniture projects. Yes, the band width could have been wider with less teeth to cut faster. I was just being lazy by not changing it. But, it does show you that with a standard blade you can do it. Believe me, you can also do this on a hobby size band saw. You don t need the big band saw. If you were to cut your planks to a thinner width, this would be an easy task for the table saw. FINAL CUT ON BAND SAW Really, it is not that difficult. It can make a big of mess with the amount of sawdust. Sometimes the noise is loud. Hearing protection should always be used. We did forget to put on our special chain saw helmet which has a wire mesh screen and ear muffs and I offer my apologies for that. Hope you enjoyed the article and I encourage you to start using found wood for your projects! Watch Udie s companion video at: http://ow.ly/afqt7 We harvested several planks of various thicknesses from the log. Now we are ready to send them through the jointer to smooth and square up the surfaces. Found wood is a great resource for toymakers. Once you are set up it is easy to harvest. And it saves wood from the landfill which is also good for the environment. Udie can be contacted at: udris@cogeco.ca 7 August 25, 2014 Monday