Passionate Newbie

I'm new to this forum (any woodworking forum, in fact) and I have a bunch of questions that I'm sure someone could help anwser (if not all, at least some).

After I received my new 2HP 17" bandsaw, I was eager to slice some lumber with my 2 TPI 1" blade. I got my hands on some freshly cut logs (I believe, beech) from someone's front yard whose tree cutter had just dropped this tree earlier in the day. I squared up 2 sides of some 10-14" logs and began to mill 4/4" stock for drying. I stickered between each pass and set the lumber to the side for drying (inside my workshop). About 3 weeks passed by and I wanted to check on the drying progress. As I'm removing each board from the one below it, I noticed that each face has a furry and heavy film of white (and some green) growth (mold, I presume). Here's where the questions come in...

Is this normal? Do you think it's toxic and how could I be sure? If I run the lumber through my thickness planer, will the chips with mold that collect in the dust collector create additional mold or problems? Should throw it all away and start again with another method of drying? Should I let future logs dry out first before dimensioning?

Since my first find of beech, I have aquired several piles of logs of different woods (maple, cedar, apple, holly, cherry, white & red oak, and left over beech from the first score). I certainly don't want to continue the milling/drying process the way I have been if there's a chance that I'll lose it all. Should I even be dimensioning my lumber on the bandsaw or should I slice it with a chainsaw first before resawing (seems like that would create a lot of waste, unless I absolutely had to do it because of the size of the log)? Any advice on this would be appreciated.

A few other bandsawing questions...
When I broke my first 1" blade (which I feel was permature, the blade still feels very sharp), I had to order a new one. While waiting for it to arrive, I thought that I would try my luck with cutting my first bandsawn box out of some thicker stock I had previously milled. I tried to install my 1/8" blade and, after 2 hours, finally gave up. I could not get the thin blade to track properly on the center of the upper or lower wheels; as soon as I made any slight alignment adjustments, the blade would shift to the far left or right and not center itself. All attempts to track the blade were done with the machine off and me spinning the upper wheel by hand, except for one time, when I thought I had it right after several wheel revolutions, I turned on the machine and it quickly derailed. Any tricks for tracking narrow blades? (yes, the saw manual says that it excepts 1/8"-1" blades and it came with a wheel tire installed).

Next, I've heard/read that bandsaw blades can be re-welded. Is that hard to do? Is it worth it? What is the process, experience with welding, and tools required to do that?

Lastly (for now), where is a decent place to shop for a vary of bandsaw blades? Apparently, my blade size is not readily availble with all vendors and it is somewhat proprietary to the brand of saw I have (I should have researched that before buying the saw); my saw requires 131 1/2" blade. Also, is it truly worth it to pay additional to purchase carbide tipped blades for what I've described above? So far, I've only used solid steel blades. Any feedback on blade type, brand, style, or TPI would be extremely helpful, as I intend to do a lot of milling/resawing.

I hope this post isn't too many questions or issues for this forum; like I said, I'm new, so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work.

Oh yeah, one more thing...what about moisture meters? I've seen them listed from $55 to $400. Are they absolutely necessary? Is one more accurate then another? Are there economical and accurate meters that would be recommended?

Thank you all very much for helping me through these (and probably future) issues to enjoy woodworking even more.

Daren

Everyone will chime in with what they know. I can help you on the milling part. Your stack is not getting enough air flow. You need a fan on it sounds like. How thick are your stickers, minimum 3/4 inches would be good, 1" better.
I would not run the mold through the thickness planer (you would be ingesting too much of it)
Drying in log for does nothing, you have to mill it first then dry it.
I would first try to wash that mold off with a mild solution of TSP Trisodium phosphate (you can get it at any hardware store in the paint section), restack it and get a fan blowing on it. TSP is cheap, it's worth a shot.

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Passionate Newbie

Thanks Daren. I was reviewing your website when you replied...very impressive! I look forward to days that I find some highly figured trunks, crotch or burls. I have lots to learn about milling lumber. My current stock of logs that I've previously described doesn't exceed 4'; still managable through my size band saw, great practice, and perfect for smaller scale projects and learning how to bookmatch for the most dramatic effects.