Chainsaw mill

ken werner

Member
Messages
3,377
Location
Central NY State
A friend called me today and asked if I am interested in helping him use his Alaskan chainsaw mill, in exchange for some lumber. I said sure.

So here's the question - how much thicker should we cut the boards that we need? If I want 5/4 stock after planing, what thickness should we be aiming for?

Also - we'll be using a 28" bar and a ripping blade. Any advice? I have chaps, safety helmet and steel toed boots.

thanks
 
Keep the chain sharp, and I mean sharp, if the mill is NOT throwing chips, change your chain or stop and sharpen it.
The saw has to be set up right to run at full chat under extreme load for an extended period of time, most of the time a saw is run to cut cross grain even on a large log it will only run a minute or two, with ripping a long log it might run 5 to 10 minutes at full chat. The saw should burble slightly when in the log and running full out. If you need it, set up an aux oiler for the chain, this can be as simple as a steel can with a screw on lid, mount it over the chain on the out board end, punch a small hole in the bottom of the can, if the oil does not drip out enough loosen the lid.

Make darn sure that the log is set up so the travel of the mill is downhill, this makes a HUGE difference in how much work it is, if it is level, or God forbid uphill, you have a lot of hard pushing to do, if it is slightly downhill, the mill will just about pull itself through the log.
On longer logs, plastic felling wedges are your friend, use them, the saw will work a lot less if it does not have to fight the pinching of the kerf behind the bar and the wood will come out with a much smoother surface.
I cut my slabs all to be around 7cm thick, I think if I were to ever do it again, I would have gone for 8 or even 9 cm thick, takes longer to dry but I can then rip that into two boards with my bandsaw down the road, making less work on the mill.

A couple more things bring a shovel and a rake, as you go you will spend time on your knees working the mill, you want a nice smooth area to work!

Cheers!
 
actually ken,, in all honesty i really think yu would be much further ahead finding a band mill to do the cutting.. less waste and wear and tear on yu and your friend..and in my opinion better quality lumber and more of it out the logs.
in my area its 50dollars an hr going rate and a good sawyer can cut alot lumber in a hour.
 
Larry, I think you're right, but my friend bought the equipment already, and plans to use it.

We worked for about 4 hours today, and granted, alot of that was learning curve stuff, but we cut a few boards of maple and cherry. It is pretty hard work though.

I took a couple of smallish cherry boards home with me, they are 4" thick and about 30" long, perfect for turning pedestals for a Shaker 3 leg table. The maple is still in the woods, waiting for the next trip.
 

Attachments

  • cherry boards.jpg
    cherry boards.jpg
    87.4 KB · Views: 69
also seal the ends of those as well..and the one is from the center of the tree and maybe the other as well..they WILL split..the one on the left is definite and the right one is a better than 50% chance.. you generally take and cut to 3" center section and then when yur finished yu have a3x3 or 4x4 cant left..you can cut all up and just plan on taking the 3 or 4" out of the center..
 
I have an Alaskan clone and it is a lot of work. I have had to mill some planks off of some logs to lighten it so the backhoe could lift the remainder.

I use 8020 aluminum rails for the first cut because they are really stiff, rather than wooden guide rails. Even so, it pays to have a sharp chain and NOT force the cut. I cut lots of wooden wedges and wedge every 2 ft. or so.

It is a poor mans way of making lumber and I only use it when I have too. If I can move the log it goes to the woodmiser lt40 super. I run a Husky 385 xp with a 42" bar. This allows about a 36" wide plank.
 
Well i learnt a great deal from this post. Thanks Ken, Stu, Larry and Paul.

One things for sure i now no longer have the craving to buy an Alaskan Saw mill.:thumb::rofl: Which btw i always had in mind.

I think i just got to go out find a guy with a mill that saws logs and watch him and get this whole sawing logs up thing out of my system. Its only trouble waiting to happen. Can you just imagine NN if i started up in the backyard with a Woodmizer and a bobcat to haul my newly purchased logs down the side of the house and into the backyard. Then start buzzing away. :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Rob, I would not buy all the equipt my friend did. There's the chainsaw, with a 28" bar. It's a monster to me [I have a 16" Stihl that I really like], then there's the Alaskan Mill and the Mini Mill. It takes a long time, and is hard work. A bandsaw mill would be much easier, especially if you can hie a sawyer by the hour, and crank out much more lumber.

BUT, we're getting wood in the woods, where you couldn't drive a bandsaw mill in. For me, the only cost is my labor and time. And separating out the work, it is fun.
 
Spent a few hours working on the logs today. Got covered in saw dust, but came home with some nice boards. My friend David is in red, I'm in green.
 

Attachments

  • David mill.jpg
    David mill.jpg
    108.9 KB · Views: 45
  • David Mill2.jpg
    David Mill2.jpg
    109.4 KB · Views: 45
  • Ken mill.jpg
    Ken mill.jpg
    119.4 KB · Views: 47
I've used one. For me it was one of those things that I just had to try for myself. All I have to say is they are lots of work - but they do work. Hanging onto a big chainsaw for 5+ minutes to cut one slab of oak was enough for me. Do that for a while and then go watch a woodwizer make the same cut in 15 seconds (even a cheap WM). Makes it hard to go back to that chainsaw mill....but they do work.

I did use it to cut some 4x4 out of pine....that was not too bad. Softwood.
 
Rob, I would not buy all the equipt my friend did. There's the chainsaw, with a 28" bar. It's a monster to me [I have a 16" Stihl that I really like], then there's the Alaskan Mill and the Mini Mill. It takes a long time, and is hard work. A bandsaw mill would be much easier, especially if you can hie a sawyer by the hour, and crank out much more lumber.

BUT, we're getting wood in the woods, where you couldn't drive a bandsaw mill in. For me, the only cost is my labor and time. And separating out the work, it is fun.


Makes sense to me. If you are getting some good wood, getting out in the woods, having some fun, then it all makes sense...

You probably mentioned it before, but what kind of species are you harvesting?
 
Well, the first day cherry and maple. Today, bass.

Here are pictures of the maple. I have 2 planks, each just over 2" thick, and that's a 6 foot ladder.
 

Attachments

  • whole board.jpg
    whole board.jpg
    57.7 KB · Views: 32
  • close up.jpg
    close up.jpg
    95.4 KB · Views: 35
ok ken(alias) paul bunyan jr:) if yu can drive truck to your woods yu can get a band mill in there ,,unless that first pic is water i see in the back ground yun easily get a bandmill right up to your logs..

and rob ,,yu think spinny stuff is addicting well sawing wood is too.. we wont tell you next time we are gonna saw some logs so you dont have drive for 6 hrs to watch and spend the night smeeling fresh cut lumber and dreaming about what yu saw come out of that log today, all night and then again as it pops back into your noggen that man yu need to look threw that pile again:)
 
Top