Electric Chainsaw Mill

I have a chainsaw mill, works well, but well, it's a gas saw, of course. Even though I have put a motorcycle muffler on it, and it is very quiet compared to most chainsaws, it's still not something that I wish to run in my workshop. I don't really have the space to run it outside, so what do I do? Well, I have this old heavy duty electric chainsaw, a Shindaiwa unit, it may not move the chain that fast, but the thing has some serious torque. With some ripping chain I've ordered, I think/hope it will do the job.

This is the third chainsaw mill that I've made, so I have learned a few things along the way, I hope to incorporate them into this unit.




Right now I've got the parts done that clamp onto the bar of the saw,


The nose has a built in guard, to keep me from hurting myself.



The pieces of square tubing with the nut welded to them and the T-handles will be the parts that are attached to the frame that will go along the guide board and that sets the thickness of the cut.

I hope to be done soon, but I understand the ripping chain I ordered from Baileys Online will not be in stock until the end of May Dunno what's up with that....

I'll be able to cut 42.5cm or about 16 3/4" wide, not the biggest chainsaw mill, but not bad either. If the saw will pull the ripping chain through the wood easily enough, I might try to find a longer bar, I don't think that Shindaiwa makes a longer bar, and bars from other makes don't fit, I think, so I might have to modify a bar to fit (had to do with how the tension adjuster works on this saw).

I'm also going to make some kind of a fixture to hold the log in, some kind of cradle, that I can use for various lengths and diameters of logs, got to think about that some more too. I'll be able to hoist any log up to put the carriage under it, and I want it with one end higher than the other, I find that having gravity help push the mill along is a good thing.

Cheers!

Cool!

Very cool I love projects like this. Oh how i want a welder

+1 on the cool. I love seeing homemade engineering projects come together.


Have you seen the woodgears bandsaw / sawmill project? http://woodgears.ca/bandmill/index.html

Art Mulder said:

+1 on the cool. I love seeing homemade engineering projects come together.


Have you seen the woodgears bandsaw / sawmill project? http://woodgears.ca/bandmill/index.html

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Yes, I've seen that, he is a very talented guy, but he really should buy a welder

I've got the mill attachment done......


Welding the last bit up using spacer blocks to keep everything square and level.


Another look



All welded up and I added a push handle.


I think this will work OK.

Now I have to figure out some sort of track to put on the ground that will hold the log in place.....?

Cheers!

That will do! Nice work!

Well I got the first cut done today, a small chunk of VERY dry Doug Fir that I got from a house, I have about five 6' long pieces that I'm going to slab up, this was just the short end piece (long story about how I got these). This is the small end, maybe 10" in diameter, the large end is about 20" in diameter, so I should get some nice big slabs out of it at some point.



I just put it on my workmate knock off, this really did not work well, as you can imagine the mill is heavy on the power head end, and the log wanted to roll to that side. The log also wanted to slide along the top of the workmate, but for one quick cut it worked. I built a guide for the first cut out of some plywood, it is like an I-beam, simple and straight forward, you can see the top part of the log still attached to the I-beam standing up against the wall to the right.




First up I need to make some sort of fixture to hold a log. I have a couple of ideas, first up is kind of a ladder or train track looking idea, this would have the log sit on it, and had one end of the ladder with a stop on it for the end of the log to go against, and then the other end would have some kind of a clamp that would grab on to that end of the lot, basically squeezing the log between the two ends of the ladder, if that make sense.


I'd sure like to see any ideas or examples any of you have!



I need to do two small mods on the mill, one is move the T-handle on the side nearest the power head up on the tube, it will get in the way of the big black knob when I do the second mod, which is to make the min cut thickness less. I think I'll cut an 1 1/2" off those tubes to give me a thinner min cut. The log holder will also be off the ground a bit, not need to be on my knees on a concrete floor. I'll also make the starting end higher by say a foot to let Mr. Gravity help out.


Lastly I'm going to hook up some kind of a hose to the saw, to where the majority of the sawdust comes out, I figure I could direct it into a garbage can or something, save on the clean up some.


Wish me luck!


Cheers!

How's the noise? You did this at ground-level right, not in the basement. Or is the neighbourhood well used to you?

Art Mulder said:

How's the noise? You did this at ground-level right, not in the basement. Or is the neighbourhood well used to you?

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Not noisy at all, I wear hearing protection, mostly so I can plug my iPhone into them and listen to music or a podcast, but it really is not noisy. Next time make a cut I'll use the decible meter on my iPhone to take a reading. Yes this is at ground level, in the new multi-purpose storage area. The neighbours tolerate me, but I don't think they will ever be used to me

I have some steel sitting around that is just about the right length, and some screw things that are used as leveling legs on scaffolding, add a couple of pieces of angle iron I have and some hole, and welding and I might have a rig that will work......











The wingnuts will go on the outside of the side rails, then I'll be able to make the rail the size I need it to grip the log. A piece of angle iron will go along each end on the bottom, one side welded to a side rail the other side will have a slot cut in it and a bolt, so when the rails are positioned it can be tightened and will keep things squared up. I'll put some sort of dogs along the top edge of the side rails to bite into the log. I'll put some bolt on legs on the bottom of the angle iron along each end to get it off the floor, and I'll even put foot levelers on it to make it rock solid.
I don't do or get huge logs, so I don't need a huge set up, heck the mill won't even do 17" as it sits. This long vice like rail set up would also keep the majority of the log above the rail, and would make it easy to mill, just grip the log once and then slab it up, no dogs to get in the way.


Might work?

I've gotten further along with my log holder for the new mill, I think this is going to work, out, but it is a work in process, so I'm sure I'll not get it right the first try, and it will need some tweaking.


I drilled the holes for the big threaded pieces to go through, and just tried it out...






This way I can make the log holder wider, or narrower depending on the size of the log.



Next I put some angle iron on three of the four side of the box, if you understand, both ends of the bottom got angle iron, and one end of the top side. The angle iron is bolted to the side of the log holder that does not move, and has one bolt in a slot on the side that does move, this should allow me to adjust the size but keep things squared up.
I'll also use the angle iron as a mounting point for the legs.
Not the best shot to show this, but the far end is much close together than the near end, this should allow me to adjust for the taper in the log.



I was just going to cut some plate steel and add some teeth, like the cardboard mockup here, but I decided that it would be better to have teeth that I could screw into the log.....



So I welded on some nuts and then put some bolts into them, I'll sharpen the tips of the bolts so they dig into the log better.



I want the log holder to sit at an angle, let Mr. Gravity help push things along, so I need to build some legs, a short pair and a long pair.



The short pair welded up and then ground smooth.



The long pair. I splayed the short pair at 15° and the long pair at 10° to make the whole thing more stable.




That is about how it will stand. It's not done yet, I have to add a couple of gussets to the angle iron and legs as well as a bar between the leg and the body of the log holder to make it stronger. I can only do this one one side as the log holder has one moving side, but I think it should be enough. I guess I'll find out.



Just for fun I tossed the short piece on the log holder, it is a bit too wide I need to adjust it in a bit, but it works.


Cheers!

Stu
That is a great design...
Wonder if you will have to cut down on the gravity assist? The idea is really neat congrats on the build...
Garry

Now that looks like it will do the job! The adjustable teeth look like they will do a better job of clamping contours too.

It looks like that would be a lot to store for occasional use. Have you considered adding some removable leg extensions to the short side so you can clamp a temporary top on it for use as a bench when not needed?

Darren Wright said:

Now that looks like it will do the job! The adjustable teeth look like they will do a better job of clamping contours too.

It looks like that would be a lot to store for occasional use. Have you considered adding some removable leg extensions to the short side so you can clamp a temporary top on it for use as a bench when not needed?

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Now thats cooking with Gas. Darren.


Stu excellent design for the purpose and i like your ability to repurpose items so they get new life.

Would seem to me only item you "might" need in your fab shop is a plasma cutter. Oh and ofcourse a metal lather and milling machine and and and .......

Stu, like the gravity idea. Do the legs fold up so it can lay flat on the floor or against the wall? Really well thought out idea. Liking it to the point of maybe copying it next winter!

Darren Wright said:

Now that looks like it will do the job! The adjustable teeth look like they will do a better job of clamping contours too.

It looks like that would be a lot to store for occasional use. Have you considered adding some removable leg extensions to the short side so you can clamp a temporary top on it for use as a bench when not needed?

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Not really, with the legs unbolted it is not a large package, and I can easily pass it thought the hatch and into the storage area. I might use this fixture once a year, if I'm lucky, more likely less than that.

Rob Keeble said:

Now thats cooking with Gas. Darren.


Stu excellent design for the purpose and i like your ability to repurpose items so they get new life.

Would seem to me only item you "might" need in your fab shop is a plasma cutter. Oh and ofcourse a metal lathe and milling machine and and and .......

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Oh yeah a Plasma cutter would be SWEET but I'm not sure if I want to spend the money on that, would be nice, but I get by without it and they are NOT cheap. The metal lathe will happen one day, I just need to find one used that is cheap enough, same with the milling machine, I want a nice small/medium sized one that is not stupid expensive, they are out there, I just have to get lucky.

Cheers!

Jonathan Shively said:

Stu, like the gravity idea. Do the legs fold up so it can lay flat on the floor or against the wall? Really well thought out idea. Liking it to the point of maybe copying it next winter!

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The don't fold, but they do come off and then they can lay flat

Please copy away!

Yeah Stu price takes on a whole new meaning in Japan from what I have seen of your purchases. I guess somewhere in your neck of the woods a second hand machine or two will make its appearance on your local sales board that will make it worthwhile by comparison to trying to get that category of machine new.