# Built a new Alaskan mill and been back at it



## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

Haven't done much milling in a long time, the carriage mill hasn't worked out as well as I wanted it to so it's back to the Alaskan. I almost have what I need to build a band saw mill, that will be nice. I plan to make it stationary and use the Alaskan on the road so to speak. Just got this mill done here this last week and I have been using it, much nicer than the first one that I made out of unistrut. Heck, haven't been in here is a long time either. I have trouble hanging out unless I have something to contribute to the discussion and I haven't had much in a long time.


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## excess650 (Mar 12, 2013)

Dolmar PS9000 or 9010?


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## andrethegiant70 (Mar 12, 2013)

*Welcome...*

Always good to have a quality guy back.

Looks like some nice work. Maybe let us know how you built it.... and thanks for the pics, makes me want to get out there and do the juniper I've been hanging onto.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

excess650 said:


> Dolmar PS9000 or 9010?



It's the 9010 with a 28" bar and ripping chain. I've been so busy the last year or two that I haven't been able to do a lot of milling. Making time for it again plus I have a good stock pile of logs built up that I have to get milled up. Was out in the shop tonight ripping those slabs into 2"x6" boards for a garden shed I have to put up for the lawn mower and the Gravelys. The log in the pic is one of twelve that I just picked up a few miles away, guy was giving them away. Good logs with a lot of good lumber in them, should be enough there to frame the new little shed and I have enough cottonwood logs to mill siding for the building.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

andrethegiant70 said:


> Always good to have a quality guy back.
> 
> Looks like some nice work. Maybe let us know how you built it.... and thanks for the pics, makes me want to get out there and do the juniper I've been hanging onto.



I copied Sachsmo's mill a little bit, used about the same aluminum stock that he did. Nice and light, the first one I made was out of unistrut and it was a bear to he-man around along with the old 045 I used to use to mill with. Two carriage bolts to loosen to adjust the mill up and down plus I filed inch marks into the uprights to make it quick to adjust. Going to mount an aux oiler on the nose end to the upright to get a little more oil flowing to the chain. Right now I am getting a 22" cut on the 28" bar, I might up it to a 32" bar but right now it is working smooth enough that I might leave it alone. Another member on here has an 088 lower end that he is giving me, I'll make another milling saw out of that. Right now though I have no complaints about the 9010.


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## excess650 (Mar 12, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> Going to mount an aux oiler on the nose end to the upright to get a little more oil flowing to the chain. Right now I am getting a 22" cut on the 28" bar, I might up it to a 32" bar but right now it is working smooth enough that I might leave it alone. Another member on here has an 088 lower end that he is giving me, I'll make another milling saw out of that. Right now though I have no complaints about the 9010.



22" isn't bad, but once you get 28"+ in hardwood it becomes a bit more noticeable. I've been curious about the big Dolmars, and have only seen pictures of them on rare occasion. The 9000 or 9010 could interest me.

The 088 should make for a pretty stout miller. If they didn't take different bars than the 066/660 I might have been looking for one of those. Instead, I bought a 42" for my 3120 and converted it to 3/8 from .404.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

excess650 said:


> 22" isn't bad, but once you get 28"+ in hardwood it becomes a bit more noticeable. I've been curious about the big Dolmars, and have only seen pictures of them on rare occasion. The 9000 or 9010 could interest me.
> 
> The 088 should make for a pretty stout miller. If they didn't take different bars than the 066/660 I might have been looking for one of those. Instead, I bought a 42" for my 3120 and converted it to 3/8 from .404.



It's unfortunate that they stopped making the 9010 and the 9000, they are a well made machine. God bless the EPA and all their great restrictions.


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## hamish (Mar 12, 2013)

You always have something positive to contribute, when you do.

Lately with the mill still snowed in, when the itch happens, the csm comes out, for a little personal quiet time. 

My Peltor tunes.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

hamish said:


> You always have something positive to contribute, when you do.
> 
> Lately with the mill still snowed in, when the itch happens, the csm comes out, for a little personal quiet time.
> 
> My Peltor tunes.



The same here. Running a saw clears my mind, the ear protection with the radio built in is great too. I can hook my smarta$$ phone into the ear phones and play my old country on Pandora, I'm 31 and still living before my time with the music I like.


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## excess650 (Mar 12, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> It's unfortunate that they stopped making the 9010 and the 9000, they are a well made machine. God bless the EPA and all their great restrictions.



My Dolmars are in Makita blue, but smaller saws that the EPA killed as well. The 401 is my favorite lightweight and I'm really liking the 540, but had to open the mufflers and retune both to make 'em runl ike they can.

My 3120 is the earlier, higher rev lmit version, and I've just picked up a pretty clean 394xp. I want to see how the 394 compares to the 066BB on the mill.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 12, 2013)

excess650 said:


> My Dolmars are in Makita blue, but smaller saws that the EPA killed as well. The 401 is my favorite lightweight and I'm really liking the 540, but had to open the mufflers and retune both to make 'em runl ike they can.
> 
> My 3120 is the earlier, higher rev lmit version, and I've just picked up a pretty clean 394xp. I want to see how the 394 compares to the 066BB on the mill.



I don't have much experience with the big Husky saws but I am willing to try one out sometime. I hear they are pretty good work horses though.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 15, 2013)

I have a good day of milling planned out for tomorrow, right next to my driveway. Crank the stove up in the new shop, throw a pot of coffee on and have a darn good day. Have a bunch of those big cottonwood quarters left to mill along with a mess of good clear pine logs. Looking forward to it.


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## jimdad07 (Mar 17, 2013)

Did some more milling today, came home with some nice slabs, one side squared for the table saw. Had my helpers today, nephew and a few curious bystanders. Anyhow saw ran pretty darn good except I lost one muffler bolt and the other two were lose before I noticed the rattle. Thankfully I run that saw very rich and no damage was done, running on two bolts instead of three but that's my fault for not doing a regular inspection before and after each day of milling. I clean the saw up afterwards and now I will be going through with the T-27 too.


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## mikeb1079 (Mar 17, 2013)

glad to see ya back jim!

good pics and some really nice looking slabs. good to hear things went well for you.

cheers!


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## john taliaferro (Mar 17, 2013)

Even with help that is a lot of work on the truck .:jawdrop:


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## jimdad07 (Mar 18, 2013)

john taliaferro said:


> Even with help that is a lot of work on the truck .:jawdrop:



Truck is an hd with some real beefy springs, been a great truck. Over 160,000 miles on her and she is still going strong.


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## john taliaferro (Mar 18, 2013)

I got a 79 f 250 club cab camper special it has the rear axle moved 7 " back . It just rolled 135 k got it new ,been a good truck . Got a new gmc but i like the old ford it tough and nobody pulls out in front of me


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## jimdad07 (Mar 18, 2013)

john taliaferro said:


> I got a 79 f 250 club cab camper special it has the rear axle moved 7 " back . It just rolled 135 k got it new ,been a good truck . Got a new gmc but i like the old ford it tough and nobody pulls out in front of me



They sure did make em right back then.


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## 820wards (Mar 18, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> Haven't done much milling in a long time,



Jim,

Good to see your back at it. I have a couple of trees lined up myself for milling and will get to them soon. I've been making things with wood I milled a few years back. Bluerider and myself are working together to make some wine tables/stools, we're working on the prototypes now. 

Is that a maple tree you milled?

jerry-


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## jimdad07 (Mar 19, 2013)

820wards said:


> Jim,
> 
> Good to see your back at it. I have a couple of trees lined up myself for milling and will get to them soon. I've been making things with wood I milled a few years back. Bluerider and myself are working together to make some wine tables/stools, we're working on the prototypes now.
> 
> ...



These were are all pine and hemlock logs, I have four more on site to do and seven that I brought home on the truck. I have milled three of them so far and here are all but two of the slabs in the shop:


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## 820wards (Mar 19, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> These were are all pine and hemlock logs, I have four more on site to do and seven that I brought home on the truck. I have milled three of them so far and here are all but two of the slabs in the shop:




Once you get them stickered/weighted they should dry real nice. You know, I took out some black oak slabs I milled two years ago that were 1-1/2" thick to make this table I'm working on and when I checked it for moisture it was dead '0'. We thought something was wrong with the meter and stuck it in a tree to check it, and it gave us a moisture reading. Our climate here is pretty dry during the summer months, and I do have the slabs covered, but they still get some air movement. Out of the two pieces I took out I had a bit of cupping on the edge of one slab and that was all, so I was pretty happy.

jerry-


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## jimdad07 (Mar 19, 2013)

820wards said:


> Once you get them stickered/weighted they should dry real nice. You know, I took out some black oak slabs I milled two years ago that were 1-1/2" thick to make this table I'm working on and when I checked it for moisture it was dead '0'. We thought something was wrong with the meter and stuck it in a tree to check it, and it gave us a moisture reading. Our climate here is pretty dry during the summer months, and I do have the slabs covered, but they still get some air movement. Out of the two pieces I took out I had a bit of cupping on the edge of one slab and that was all, so I was pretty happy.
> 
> jerry-



I'm looking forward to seeing what you make, I bet the tables turn out nice. A moisture meter is something I have to invest in, I'm going to try out my multimeter set on meg ohms to see if I can get any indication. I'll try it in some kiln dried wood and in green to see what I get. I'm a cheap cuss for the most part.


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## 820wards (Mar 20, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> I'm looking forward to seeing what you make, I bet the tables turn out nice.



I'm working on a butterfly for an end crack. Just couldn't bring myself to cutting the slab much shorter. I'll post pictures of the table when I'm done in the, 'what are you building with your milled lumber'.




> A moisture meter is something I have to invest in, I'm going to try out my multimeter set on meg ohms to see if I can get any indication. I'll try it in some kiln dried wood and in green to see what I get. I'm a cheap cuss for the most part.



Never tried an ohms meter. You can get an expensive moisture meter at one of the big box stores for not much money. Maybe $40.00

I just sold two Doug fir slabs that were 2-1/2" thick x 28" wide x 9' for $250 each that were dry and now I have more $$ I can put into the shop fund for stuff. Sold them to a winery that wanted them for portable wine tasting tables at their winery and events they attend for serving wine/food. You should see if any winery in your area would be interested in your slabs for those type of uses. Mill, load in truck, haul to the winery, collect $$. I loved it!

Take care,
jerry-


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## Trx250r180 (Mar 20, 2013)

hows your bar holding up ? ,i don't see an extra oiler mounted up


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## golddredgergold (Mar 20, 2013)

Hey Jerry can you snap us a few shots of the new mill up close? Thanks


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## 820wards (Mar 20, 2013)

golddredgergold said:


> Hey Jerry can you snap us a few shots of the new mill up close? Thanks




Jim is the guy with the new Alaskan mill. If you look at my footers you will see links to the mills I've built.

Jim, take it away.... Ta Da!

jerry-


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## jimdad07 (Mar 20, 2013)

trx250r180 said:


> hows your bar holding up ? ,i don't see an extra oiler mounted up



Bar is holding up quite well, I do plan on putting an auxilary oiler on it. The Dolly puts out good oil but not quite enough.

As for pictures, I will take some more closer up the next time I take it out. It's about as simple as it gets, the whole thing is bolted together and only has one carriage bolt on each riser to loosen and tighten for hieght adjustment. Believe it or not, even with just one bolt it doesn't move a bit out of kilter.


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## 820wards (Mar 30, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> I'm looking forward to seeing what you make, I bet the tables turn out nice. A moisture meter is something I have to invest in, I'm going to try out my multimeter set on meg ohms to see if I can get any indication. I'll try it in some kiln dried wood and in green to see what I get. I'm a cheap cuss for the most part.




Jim,

Here is a link to what myself and Bluerider have been building with our milled wood.

jerry-

http://www.arboristsite.com/milling-saw-mills/47084-57.htm#post4245627


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## jimdad07 (Apr 1, 2013)

820wards said:


> Jim,
> 
> Here is a link to what myself and Bluerider have been building with our milled wood.
> 
> ...



Looks great Jerry. I just made Mary a puter desk I have to poly. Made with birch plywood and white ash I milled about three years ago.


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## 820wards (Apr 2, 2013)

jimdad07 said:


> Looks great Jerry. I just made Mary a puter desk I have to poly. Made with birch plywood and white ash I milled about three years ago.



Thanks Jim, it was fun making something that I milled a few years ago. Be sure to post pictures of your project when it's finished.

jerry-


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## john taliaferro (Apr 3, 2013)

Jim we kind of like pictures all along ,before and after ,during ,


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## jimdad07 (Apr 7, 2013)

Been milling today, cut some 4x4's with the mini-mill today. Got some with my nephew running the saw, kid sure does enjoy milling. The last pic is of cutting some 2x4's out of some of the slabs I brought home a couple of weeks ago. Was cutting seven at a time.


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## 820wards (Apr 8, 2013)

Hope that one 2 x 4 with the sticker is your milling guide? 

jerry-


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## jimdad07 (Apr 9, 2013)

820wards said:


> Hope that one 2 x 4 with the sticker is your milling guide?
> 
> jerry-



Me too...might be hard to explain...


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## Dia67na (Apr 11, 2013)

made machine. God bless the EPA and all their great restrictions.


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