Making A Log Rail -- Need Advice from a Wood Expert! - Page 2 - Snowboarding Forum

BurtonAvenger · 09-02-2011, 11:37 AM

Just be a man and lumberjack that shit like we do here in CO no fancy bullshit Stash stuff just a bunch of rope, some nails, and a whole lot of creativity.

CheeseForSteeze · 09-02-2011, 11:44 AM

No, cutting it with a 2 person saw will take very long and result in a poor cut. I think you should just make sure it's free of knots. Your work would be easier if you had a smooth tree like a beech or sycamore. Ash or oak trees would be stronger but you'd probably want to debark the top surface.

Debarking isn't too bad. Ff you have to, choose a tree like a white oak that flakes off. It will save you hours of work. Just go to work with a planar, shouldn't take too long. Even faster is a power washer or hydrolance; you can debark the whole thing in minutes. Just don't cut yourself, I saw a guy cut his femoral artery with a hydrolance and he bled to death very quickly.

Deviant · 09-02-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bchambers94

Thanks bro, I'll Shoot him a pm.

Karasene is a she, Argo was making a "wood" joke about that, lol.

bchambers94 · 09-02-2011, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slyder

Why not, there are guys riding downed trees on the side of a hill and no one ever sanded or de-barked that.
After a few edge catches and some good biffing pics it should be fine.

Alright thanks man, but I definitely want to clean it up for the boards sake!

Quote:

Originally Posted by little devil

If ur gonna cut it length wise with a hand saw I'd deff score each side with a cirular saw to cut a few hours off the total process. Ur looking at a long fucking time without professional tools and machinery.

I wouldnt do it. What about just cutting a tree thats 8 inches in diameter or somthing and using the whole thing?

Yeah haha I was thinking about how long it would take today. I was also thinking the same thing about the smaller 8 inch tree, which is a little smaller than the tree we have

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdahoFreshies

there is no way you can cut a 12' tree lengthwise with a hand saw, it will take all day. Hell i see a downed tree on the mountain and i hop on it and ride it, zero prep. You could get 2 smaller trees and attatch them side by side (like a shotgun rail)and debark the tops and sand out all of the branch knobs sticking out. Basicly the same thing as one flat log.

Good idea! I'll add one of those to the to-do list.

Basically the two things that I'm worried about is if the log is slick enough to ride (after sanding/debarking) and if the coating will prevent it from rotting for a few years.

bchambers94 · 09-02-2011, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deviant

Karasene is a she, Argo was making a "wood" joke about that, lol.

Ohh! My bad haha.

bchambers94 · 09-02-2011, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheeseForSteeze

No, cutting it with a 2 person saw will take very long and result in a poor cut. I think you should just make sure it's free of knots. Your work would be easier if you had a smooth tree like a beech or sycamore. Ash or oak trees would be stronger but you'd probably want to debark the top surface.

Debarking isn't too bad. Ff you have to, choose a tree like a white oak that flakes off. It will save you hours of work. Just go to work with a planar, shouldn't take too long. Even faster is a power washer or hydrolance; you can debark the whole thing in minutes. Just don't cut yourself, I saw a guy cut his femoral artery with a hydrolance and he bled to death very quickly.

Jeez, that doesn't sound good lol. But thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out. We're actually going to try and debark it tonight, and maybe find a couple of logs for the support stands.

CMSbored · 09-02-2011, 02:44 PM

Just use a chainsaw. It is not hard at all. just nail 2x4s along the sides lengthwise and use them as a guide. go slow and it will take maybe a half hour depending on how long you want. be careful not to kick back

slyder · 09-02-2011, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMSbored

Just use a chainsaw. It is not hard at all. just nail 2x4s along the sides lengthwise and use them as a guide. go slow and it will take maybe a half hour depending on how long you want. be careful not to kick back

Nice idea I didn't think of that should work well

**HoboMaster** · 09-02-2011, 03:57 PM

It's still pretty Fing hard to do a 12 foot horizontal cut with a chainsaw. Especially assuming the chainsaw you guys are going to use isn't going to be a logger's chainsaw (High CC's, easier cutting). I've monkeyed around making some wood features and I had the best result with a 6 foot 5 inch diameter log down-rail. I also made a smaller flat-rail, but had a lot of problems because the part of the cedar tip I used had a lot of knots. For wood features, knots are your worst enemy since they catch your board and are a bitch to sand out perfectly.

Knots are caused by branches, so try and pick a piece of wood with no to little branches, it will make the end product a lot better and easier to finish.

Honestly the easiest piece of wood to finish is an old, dead, but not rotting log.

bchambers94 · 09-16-2011, 10:43 PM

BUMPPPP! And dny suggestions on a type of protective coating (to prevent rotting) and another type of coating for a more slick/smooth slide? We sanded it and it's already pretty slick, but our local mountain had a log rail with a slick type of coating on it that made it real easy to slide, and I was wondering if there was anything out there like that. Thanks for the help!

09-02-2011, 11:37 AM	#11 (permalink)
BurtonAvenger Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mountains Posts: 8,054	Just be a man and lumberjack that shit like we do here in CO no fancy bullshit Stash stuff just a bunch of rope, some nails, and a whole lot of creativity. __________________ Angry Snowboarder Because someone has to call it how they see it!

09-02-2011, 03:57 PM	#19 (permalink)
HoboMaster Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Sandpoint / Moscow, ID Posts: 2,301	It's still pretty Fing hard to do a 12 foot horizontal cut with a chainsaw. Especially assuming the chainsaw you guys are going to use isn't going to be a logger's chainsaw (High CC's, easier cutting). I've monkeyed around making some wood features and I had the best result with a 6 foot 5 inch diameter log down-rail. I also made a smaller flat-rail, but had a lot of problems because the part of the cedar tip I used had a lot of knots. For wood features, knots are your worst enemy since they catch your board and are a bitch to sand out perfectly. Knots are caused by branches, so try and pick a piece of wood with no to little branches, it will make the end product a lot better and easier to finish. Honestly the easiest piece of wood to finish is an old, dead, but not rotting log. __________________ PowderHound and TreeNinja Last edited by HoboMaster; 09-02-2011 at 03:59 PM.

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09-02-2011, 11:44 AM	#12 (permalink)
CheeseForSteeze -LIFETIME MEMBER- Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,722	No, cutting it with a 2 person saw will take very long and result in a poor cut. I think you should just make sure it's free of knots. Your work would be easier if you had a smooth tree like a beech or sycamore. Ash or oak trees would be stronger but you'd probably want to debark the top surface. Debarking isn't too bad. Ff you have to, choose a tree like a white oak that flakes off. It will save you hours of work. Just go to work with a planar, shouldn't take too long. Even faster is a power washer or hydrolance; you can debark the whole thing in minutes. Just don't cut yourself, I saw a guy cut his femoral artery with a hydrolance and he bled to death very quickly.

09-02-2011, 02:44 PM	#17 (permalink)
CMSbored Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Laramie, WYO Posts: 457	Just use a chainsaw. It is not hard at all. just nail 2x4s along the sides lengthwise and use them as a guide. go slow and it will take maybe a half hour depending on how long you want. be careful not to kick back

09-16-2011, 10:43 PM	#20 (permalink)
bchambers94 Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: East Coast Posts: 91	BUMPPPP! And dny suggestions on a type of protective coating (to prevent rotting) and another type of coating for a more slick/smooth slide? We sanded it and it's already pretty slick, but our local mountain had a log rail with a slick type of coating on it that made it real easy to slide, and I was wondering if there was anything out there like that. Thanks for the help!