Max depth/pushing the limits on the Carvex

[ear3]

My wife and I are going to visit her aunt up in Maine, and I'm hopefully going to get around to a project I've been plotting for several years, which is to mill a downed Hackmatack (Eastern Larch) tree into boards for a bench.  I'm bringing a chainsaw and a chainsaw mill, but since space is limited in the car, I have to make some choices about other power tools.  My TS75 would be ideal for squaring the lumber, but I was actually thinking, since I have other applications for it, that the Carvex might be able to do the trick, especially since the boards only need to be rough cut.  Has anyone tested how the Carvex performs when cutting through thick, fresh boards?  I'll probably mill the boards between 4/4 and 6/4, so I would be well short of it's max depth.  I'm just not sure if I would be taxing the tool too much by putting it to this use, which would include not just squaring the ends but also the sides of fresh boards 4-5 feet in length.  Thanks.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I think the TS would be better suited. The cuts would probably be quite slow using a jigsaw for that task.

 

[semenza]

  I'd go with the TS75 if you can transport it. I take it the tracks would be the biggest transport problem?  Actually I'd take both saws.

Seth

 

[Sparktrician]

I'm going to suggest that you just use the chainsaw mill to reduce the larch into rough boards, then rick them and let them sit for a year to stabilize before using a thickness planer to dress them for further processing. 

 

[ear3]

I'm going to suggest that you just use the chainsaw mill to reduce the larch into rough boards, then rick them and let them sit for a year to stabilize before using a thickness planer to dress them for further processing.

Thanks for the rec.  I suppose doing it in two-steps would then relieve me from bringing up the portable thickness planer and free up a bunch of space for other things.  Sparktrician -- would you recommend the drying even though the log has been seasoning for 4 years?  I've only harvested wood for turning before and never for dimensional lumber, so I'm not sure how this stuff goes.

 

[Sparktrician]

I'm going to suggest that you just use the chainsaw mill to reduce the larch into rough boards, then rick them and let them sit for a year to stabilize before using a thickness planer to dress them for further processing.

Thanks for the rec.  I suppose doing it in two-steps would then relieve me from bringing up the portable thickness planer and free up a bunch of space for other things.  Sparktrician -- would you recommend the drying even though the log has been seasoning for 4 years?  I've only harvested wood for turning before and never for dimensional lumber, so I'm not sure how this stuff goes.

It should be obvious that wood dries from the outside in.  Once you cut into it with the chainsaw mill, you will expose wood to the air when that wood has not previously been exposed.  That newly-exposed wood will have a different moisture content than the material closer to the natural surface.  Let it all get to the same level of moisture content once it has been cut initially before milling it further.  It shouldn't take another four years to stabilize.  You should have less issues with warping post-milling. 

 

[ear3]

Thanks Sparktrician.