So you’re thinking about getting a sawmill but, like me, you can’t afford a fully hydraulic mill. In this video, I’ll talk about my TimberKing 220 sawmill, our system for dealing with the lumber, and then share my thoughts as we mill a log from start to finish. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of the work involved in running a manual mill and producing quality lumber.
This is a really amazingly detailed guide for anyone considering a portable sawmill purchase. Really a public service video for that specific audience. Congrats to you and your family for transforming your property into a real woodworking paradise that will pay you back for many years to come.
You said “on scale” multiple times during the video. Can you go into more detail about what you mean by that?
When you set the elevation arbitrarily, you have no easy way to go down a set amount for the exact thickness you are trying to get for each board. This is OK for the first cut on that plane if you know you are going to rotate the log before making the second cut in that plane.
When you set the saw head to the top of a scale interval, you are “on scale,” meaning you are at a measured location for the board’s top cut and can use the scale to go down the required amount to get the board thickness you want.