stock wood - more photos added

[FALout]

Jim, I don’t know how you have the time to do all this with the lumber even tho it is an important aspect of your business ( providing quality kits )when you consider the rest of your venture that must also require your attention!  I watched my dad when he had a auto body shop and all the juggling of responsibilities,  your business looks to me, to be even more demanding.  Kudos to you and your wife and your crew.

[Terry Cheek]

If these logs meet your quality control I know they will be outstanding muzzleloader stocks.

Respectfully
TerryC

[Osprey]

I remember before he passed talking to Marty Ewing, who worked with and then took over Ron Griffey's stock business when he passed, and he worked at the one of the bigger local lumber companies.  Found much of the stock wood there, he'd cruise the incoming logs during his lunch hour and tag anything good looking to set aside.  Pays to have a guy like that!

[Mike Brooks]

You'll never be short on firewood.

[Jim Kibler]

Some additional photos of the wood operation. 


A mid 1940's vintage Tannewitz 36" bandsaw.  Made in Grand Rapids, Mi.  Still one of the best saws ever made.  Big, heavy, powerful and cuts fast.


A view inside our kiln.  This uses temperature and dehumidification to dry the wood.  Stock are blanked out before going in the kiln.  The big saw in the first picture is used for this.



Yes, Mike.  Lots of firewood! 


A view from the sawmill.  The big chunk of wood is left-over heart.  No good for stocks.  There is often lots of waste with maple and only using white wood.

[Jim Kibler]

Daisy, the new pooch.


Some wood just cut and needing to be stickered to prevent staining and allow for better drying.  Already stickered wood behind.


The kiln and Selick forklift.

[Jim Kibler]

Wood that just came out of the kiln last week.  We're making Colonial kits out of it right now.  A mixture of sugar and red maple.


Stacks of wood waiting to be blanked out.

[foresterdj]

Curious, what dimension plank to cut 1 or 2 blanks from (I saw in one of your videos where you cut 2 blanks from 1 plank by laying them out opposite of each other, if the blank and grain direction allows it)? You mentioned 2 & 3/8 maybe 2 & 3/4 thick to allow shrinkage, but how wide and long. Also, what minimum log diameter would you look for, hoping to get a few planks from the sapwood. Sketching out I was thinking at least 15" top diameter inside bark might yield 4 planks sap and a cant of heartwood (and firewood slabs).

(P.S. watch for a nice walnut SMR blank, I plan to order end of the month.)

[Mike Brooks]

I envy your age and your energy. BTW, they go hand in hand so keep that in mind.

[Jim Kibler]

I envy your age and your energy. BTW, they go hand in hand so keep that in mind.

With any luck, I figure I have about 12-15 good strong years.  After this I want to find a rocking chair that overlooks a big giant lake!

[Jim Kibler]

Curious, what dimension plank to cut 1 or 2 blanks from (I saw in one of your videos where you cut 2 blanks from 1 plank by laying them out opposite of each other, if the blank and grain direction allows it)? You mentioned 2 & 3/8 maybe 2 & 3/4 thick to allow shrinkage, but how wide and long. Also, what minimum log diameter would you look for, hoping to get a few planks from the sapwood. Sketching out I was thinking at least 15" top diameter inside bark might yield 4 planks sap and a cant of heartwood (and firewood slabs).

(P.S. watch for a nice walnut SMR blank, I plan to order end of the month.)

I’ll put something together talking about this soon.  Great question!

[Medic980]

Jim what do you do with your waste wood? In the one picture of waste I see what could be made into decent maple board for carpentry work. I realize its a lot of extra work for little gain but for someone like me that occasionally makes furniture pieces and doesn't mind the extra labor that looks like a great source for maple boards. 

[jim meili]

Or your other body parts. I have a photo of my grandfather as a young man, hanging in my shop. The story goes he lost his lower arm working in the mill. Died four days later. This would have been in the early 1900’s
Keep up the good work Jim. Enjoy your videos.

[jmf]

I notice that you blank your stocks before kiln drying. Keep your schedules to the conservative side, to avoid excessive movement or warping. I used to have a couple ebac dehu kilns and theyre capable of doing excellent work.

[WKevinD]

We just harvested 75,000 bf of maple. Amish loggers with two teams of horses.

Kevin

[foresterdj]

Ya gotta love watching those big horse's work!

[acorn20]

Ya gotta love watching those big horse's work!

I was thinking the exact same thing.  I'd pay to sit in the shade, sipping cold iced tea, watching those teams work.

[Jim Kibler]

We just harvested 75,000 bf of maple. Amish loggers with two teams of horses.

Kevin

Really cool.  I'd be checking these logs for curl.  I'll bet there are at least a handful.  Look for a rippled surface below the bark or wavy grain where the log is split or torn somewhere.  Beware that there may be curl at the butt, though not further up the log.  If the log looks promising, take a cookie off the end and break it to see how deep it goes. 

Neat stuff for sure!

[Jim Kibler]

I notice that you blank your stocks before kiln drying. Keep your schedules to the conservative side, to avoid excessive movement or warping. I used to have a couple ebac dehu kilns and theyre capable of doing excellent work.

Yeah, we've not been pushing it.  One good thing is that blanked wood has a lot of surface area to volume ratio, so the drying is easier and less traumatic on the wood.

Jim

[Jim Kibler]

Jim what do you do with your waste wood? In the one picture of waste I see what could be made into decent maple board for carpentry work. I realize its a lot of extra work for little gain but for someone like me that occasionally makes furniture pieces and doesn't mind the extra labor that looks like a great source for maple boards.

I'm going to try to save some that will work for other purposes.  If I can get white wood on one face it can be used for furniture work.  It's just getting things set-up and in the habit to make this happen.  We do generate lots of scraps when cutting blanks as well.

Jim

[bob in the woods]

Perhaps, if the planets align , there may be a Kibler pistol in the future ??
That would help with your efficient use of wood 

[RonT]

  "  Ya gotta love watching those big horse's work!"

"I was thinking the exact same thing.  I'd pay to sit in the shade, sipping cold iced tea, watching those teams work."

I've stood in the cold to watch.  Also wondering how much $$$ to separate the 'Skinner' from his hat.
Cheers,
R

[RMann]

Thanks Jim for posting these Pics, so fun for us wood aficionados!  And, it is fun to watch the Amish maneuvering logs out of the woods.  The horses don't require the width of a conventional skidder or leave much destruction in their wake.  In Ohio, they still are in use for their practicality.

[taco650]

Thanks for sharing another part of your process for making your rifles. 

Question:  once you cut the boards (or the rifle blanks) do you seal the ends with anything and if so, what is it?  My hobby is wood bowl turning and I get all my wood as firewood and have been looking at using a sealer of sorts to prevent cracks in the bowl blanks once I get them roughed out.

[T*O*F]

We have 2 companies here who do horse logging.  they specialize in selective cutting that doesn't require other trees to be cut down to get the logs out. 

Neither are Amish though we have a community of them nearby.  One does specialize in cabinetry and furniture building.  They are making us 4 kitchen chairs to go with our oak kitchen table.