Lucas Mill 101

The next step in the build is to construct our traditional timber frame. We have decided to cut the chunky beams ourselves from celery top pine logs (a native Tassie hardwood which is incredibly stable and suitable for this purpose).

The first load (about a third) of the celery top pine logs arrive on site.

Logs are lifted carefully off truck.

Big job!

We’ve been hard at it with the Lucas Mill for just under a week now. Had a few dramas with the transport company when one piece arrived damaged but it was all sorted eventually with the company agreeing to deliver a replacement to us free of charge (there was some disagreement about whether they were responsible for getting it from the Hobart depot to our block). But our contact at Lucas Mill was wonderful about the whole situation. Great Australian family company success story with super customer service!

Usually I write a blog when we’ve finished a job (to kind of celebrate its finish) but I can see that this will take a while so Ill take it in some smaller bites. Thought Id do a quick step by step of how we are milling up our timber;

STEP 1; ROLL LOG OFF PILE.

Aaargh, this is the scariest step! We had two truckloads of logs delivered in order to get a start. It should get us about a third done, depending on the quality of the logs. Bernt had them placed on a bit of a slope so gravity could assist us when we needed to roll them under the mill. Because of the number of logs they are stacked 3 logs high in places, which means that gravity is not only helpful but also a bit scary. They are so super heavy that moving them involves a huge iron crow bar, and much grimacing from the sidelines from me.

 

STEP 2; GET LOG ONTO BEARERS. 

Again much use of the crow bar to slide or roll the log up onto the bearer (which keeps it off the ground for ease of cutting).

 

STEP 3; ADJUST LOG TO BE PARALLEL AND LEVEL WITH MILL. 

A bit more tweaking with the crowbar to get the heart (centre) of the log running parallel with the rails of the mill and then the mill is adjusted so it will run level with the top of the log.

 

STEP 3; START CUTTING. 

 

This requires a bit of puzzling. We know roughly which piece should come from which log, dependant on the length and width of the log, but we are also trying to get as much as we can from each log. This means working around the chunky beam we are cutting and deciding if we can also cut some boards or posts (to use for the veranda later) or some stickers (little sticks of wood that you use when stacking green timber boards to keep airflow for even drying). Of course these decisions rely not only on the size of the log but also on what defects we find in it while cutting. It is a slow process and each log needs to be re-evaluated after nearly every horizontal cut.

 

STEP 4; PULL OUT TIMBER BEAM. 

While Bernt is cutting I work behind him pulling out waste and boards for stacking (to use later to build our veranda) but when we cut one of the timber frame components they are not moveable by hand. Yesterday we cut a rafter, which Bernt worked out to be about 250kg. So we use a roller system to get them from the mill onto the slab. It works pretty well and although not our favourite job, it is doable.

 

STEP 5; STACK TIMBER.

Boards for the veranda

Green timber will generally move (twist, bend or warp etc) if not stacked properly. So we are paying special attention to the stacking. Our chunky frame beams will be used green so they are just layed together in frame order for easy access. Timber that we are cutting for use as verandah boards and posts has been stacked properly with stickers between each layer to allow air to flow through and dry the timber evenly.

Chunky beams for the frame, labelled and ready to go.

I worked out a typically anal Stacey system of labelling which has come in quite handy. I laminated labels for all of the pieces we need for the frame and we attached those labels to the logs (as before mentioned; based on the length and width of the logs). We can now reassess what we can get out of the logs when we open them up and see what’s inside and the labels can be swapped around easily without losing track of what we have and haven’t cut.