# Revised Mini-Mill



## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

After building my fist mini-mill and using it, I found improvements that I would make it easier to use and safer to operate.

I will describe my process for building the mill. I tried not to use any special tools other that my metal lathe for one piece. I will also try to give you dimensions as I describe the parts. Here we go... jerry-


Here are all the pieces for the mill cut to size.
Rails are 2 x 4 x 1/8"wall steel tubing.
Al-thread is 1/2-13NC 12" long w/lock-washers and nuts
Bar mount is 1-1/2" x 2" x 1/2" thick stock






Main rails are scribed 1-1/2" from bottom, 3-1/2" off center.





Main rails for 1/2" All-thread





Bar mount is drilled/tapped for 5/16-18NC.
Drilled 1" on center.
Bolts are auto body mount bolts w/attached lock type washers.





Before I drilled the holes for the All-Thread, I tack welded the two main rails at each end. By doing this it kept the drilled holes perfectly aligned. After drilling I used my 14" disk grinder to remove the tack welds.






(Continued)


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 2*

Post 2 continued

This pictures me drilling both rails simultaneously.





Getting ready to start assembly





Here I have adjusted the rails to fit my rail board guide.





This picture shows that I have drilled the 1/2" holes 1-1/4" from the bottom of the rail. This is so my 3/4" angle mounted to my rail board does not touch the bolts when the mill is sliding across the board.





After drilling and taping the bar mount plate, I have drilled 5/16" holes in the rail to make it easier to locate and then weld the bar plate to the rail.





(continued)


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 3*

Here is the bar plate positioned on the rail.





You can see the locking style bolts I used for the bar mounting plate.





Bar plate welded.
_Note: when welding the bar plate to the rail, clamp the rail down to your welding table. The rail will want to warp with the concentrated heat on the center of the rail. I forgot and it wasn't fun correction my problem. I know better..._





Here I have made a drilling guide for when I drilled my bar to attach it to the mill. 1" on center and I used a 5/16" drill.





(continued)


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 4*

Here is the mounting bracket for the throttle handle. It is made from a piece of 1" angle iron, a piece of thin wall stainless steel and part of the neighbor kids old bicycle handle bars. I'm taking after BobL....





Here I have drilled and mounted the handle with 1/4-20 bolts and nylock nuts.





Here is the mill assembly starting to look like a mill.





Throttle Assembly on Saw
Here is the start of the throttle assembly mounted on my Husky saw. This shot shows the swing are that will operate the saw throttle trigger.





This shot is the opposite side of the assembly. It is all made from aluminum. Before my final assembly I lined the area on the inside that would touch the plastic handle. There is no metal to plastic contact that could wear a hole in the handle.





(Continued)


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 5*

Starting On the throttle cable assembly.
Here is one part I made on my lathe. I made it to fit the throttle cable end. after machining it round I installed my 4-jaw chuck and machined a flat side to make welding easier.





Here the sleeve has the cable installed. You can see the flat side I milled. It could be done with a grinder or file.





Here the sleeve is welded to the mounting plate. This is all steel and I have counter sunk the mounting screw hole for clearance.





Here is the bolt I drilled and taped for a 1/4-20 threads.





The sleeve welded to plate is mounted on bracket.





(Continued)


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## DRB (Dec 15, 2010)

Nice Fab work 820. opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 6*

Here is the throttle bolt with the 1/4-20 bolt. Easier done with a lathe, but could be done with a hand drill or press.





Here you can see the throttle bolt cut to proper length. I used a piece of electrical shrink tube that has the sealer on the inside that literally glues itself to the what ever it is shrunk onto.





I ended up rotating the cable pivot mount around to give the cable a straight shot at the sleeve end. It works real smooth.





On this throttle handle I have re-shaped the handle with more radius. Go slow or you can break the aluminum cast handle.


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 7*

Throttle assembly with handle, ready for attaching to mill handle.





Assembled mill ready for attaching saw. Note how the handles are not equal length and also rotated on the far handle. I built the mill to be operated on the non-blade side of the log. When operating my right hand is farther back making it comfortable to operate.





I installed a compression spring on the linkage to be sure I get full return when I release the handle.





I also machined and welded a tube end bung for mounting a bracket I will make for holding a chip/dust deflector. I will work on that tomorrow and post a picture of how I made that part. Bung is drilled and taped for a 5/16-16NC bolt.





(Continued)


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## 820wards (Dec 15, 2010)

*Post 8*

Here the mill is final assembled sitting on my guide rail board. Once I get the dust/chip deflector made it will be ready for milling. I have a test log I got from a neighbor, only problem is we're going to be getting rain for the next 3-4 days. Bummer.... :-(

Hope you all like my rendition of a mini-mill?

jerry-


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## 820wards (Dec 16, 2010)

DRB said:


> Nice Fab work 820. opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:




Thanks DRB, I like building things.

jerry-


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## Brmorgan (Dec 16, 2010)

Lookin pretty sweet, especially your throttle rig. Just wondering though, you planning on milling with the topside of the bar or is the saw just like that for show right now?


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## john taliaferro (Dec 16, 2010)

this needs to be sticked nice work Jerry. John t


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## cowboyvet (Dec 16, 2010)

Great work and thanks for the great step by step. I have only used the Alaskan style so far but I'm looking into building a mini soon to compliment it. I have a couple questions. What is the longest bar you can get away with? Second, is there any thoughts about setting it up so it could cut at 45 deg instead of 90 deg to make it cut easier? Many of the logs I mill are located where it is hard/imposible to roll them and some are to big for my current 36" cut so the mini would only be used to narrow the sides for me.


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## 820wards (Dec 16, 2010)

Brmorgan said:


> Lookin pretty sweet, especially your throttle rig. Just wondering though, you planning on milling with the topside of the bar or is the saw just like that for show right now?




Brad, Thanks

I am planning to mill using the top side of the bar. If I ever decide I want to mill in the opposite direction and use the bottom of the bar, the throttle linkage will work. 

I'm headed out to the shop this morning to start on the dust/chip deflector. When I used my first mini-mill turned around so the top of the bar was facing me, I looked like a snowman covered in sawdust after making one pass. So I turned the saw around, cutting with the top of the bar and didn't get as much dust in my face and all over me. 

When I looked at the oiling of the chain for this saw, it oils the top of the chain going towards the tip of the bar which is what most all saw do. So I set this mill up for top of the bar milling. I didn't experience any problems with the saw wanting to rise on me while milling. I hope to use it next week after the rain stops.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Dec 16, 2010)

john taliaferro said:


> this needs to be sticked nice work Jerry. John t



Thanks

Wait till BobL see's what attachment I have in store for this mill. Bells and whistles Bob....

jerry-


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## willbarryrec (Dec 16, 2010)

*Wow!*

Nice job mang!

Posts like this are what make this great site even greater!


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## mtngun (Dec 16, 2010)

Thanks for the detailed fab pics, Jerry. Pretty fancy !


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## 820wards (Dec 16, 2010)

cowboyvet said:


> Great work and thanks for the great step by step.



Thanks, I wanted to build it so that anyone with some basic tools could build the mill. Granite, the throttle linkage piece is specific to my saw, but could be adapted to most any saw.



> I have only used the Alaskan style so far but I'm looking into building a mini soon to compliment it.



I built this mill for the same reason. Side trimming logs or making lumber and beams. I need to get a piece of 3/16" thick aluminum plate so I can make an attachment that would allow me to quarter saw or just make thinner boards from smaller logs. 



> I have a couple questions. What is the longest bar you can get away with?



I think you are only limited to what your specific saw can handle. My saw has a 20" bar. Maybe someone on the list has used a mini-mill with longer bars could let us know. I think the longest bar I would use on my Husky 365 Special would be 24" bar.



> Second, is there any thoughts about setting it up so it could cut at 45 deg instead of 90 deg to make it cut easier? Many of the logs I mill are located where it is hard/impossible to roll them and some are to big for my current 36" cut so the mini would only be used to narrow the sides for me.



I have seen mini-mills used at 30-45 degrees. When I get the metal I need for quarter sawing or thinner lumber milling, I'm planning to set the log at an angle, I'm sure it will be much easier to mill with the weight supported at an angle vs 90deg. It will also be safer to operate working on the opposite side of the log. No chain issue.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Dec 16, 2010)

mtngun said:


> Thanks for the detailed fab pics, Jerry. Pretty fancy !



Thanks, I think it took me longer to make the throttle piece than the actual mill/parts. I do hope the pictures help anyone considering building a mini-type-mill. I know seeing pictures on this list helped me with ideas to build my big Alaskan style mill.

jerry-


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## BobL (Dec 16, 2010)

820wards said:


> Thanks
> 
> Wait till BobL see's what attachment I have in store for this mill. Bells and whistles Bob....
> 
> jerry-


opcorn:


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## jimdad07 (Dec 17, 2010)

Very good BobL...,er Jerry. Sure you haven't spent a little time in the Australian bush wrestling crocs and dingos trying to get to that hard to reach perfect dead tree to auto-mill?


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## 820wards (Dec 18, 2010)

*Post 9*

Finished the chip/dust deflector today. It was raining out all day so I just turned the radio on and played in the shop.

jerry-

Here some pictures of how I made the deflector and materials used.

Closeup of chip/dust deflrector. 
I made it from 1/2"x1/2" angle iron
1/2" x 1/2" square tubing
A piece of 1/2" diameter tubing
1ea 1-1/2"x1-1/2" x 1/8"thick metal
2ea 1/4-20 bolts and nut
1ea 5/16-16 bolt
2 ea 1/2" OD 1/4" ID bushings 3/4" long







Deflector film curving away from saw.






Deflector Film curving towards saw.






Closeup of how film is clamped to bracket.






Closeup of clamp open. You can see how I welded the bushings to the angle so it clamps the film by just tightening the two ny-lock nuts.


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## 820wards (Dec 18, 2010)

*Post 10*

I will try using the film facing both directions to see which way works the best.

The Polycarbon film is pinched by the two bolts and is very secure.






Stopped raining long enought for me to remove the saw and take a picture of the frame/throttle assembly and the dust/chip deflector.






No bells or whistles BobL, But....

I have a warning horn for those people not paying attention, an AM/FM radio for break time and a GPS so I won't get lost going to the mill site. It's endless on what I can attach.






I just couldn't find any bells/whistles....

Cool Huuuu... Had to have some fun!






Only thing let to do now is paint the dust/chip deflector piece and give it a try. We are forecast for heavy rain all the way till next Thursday so testing will have to wait.

jerry-


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## BobL (Dec 18, 2010)

GPS - Dang - now why didn't I think of that! I guess it's one way to measure linear feet cut? 

Is the deflector clamp touching the bottom of the saw? If so the saw vibe will make it rattle against the clamp and it could mangle the base of the saw.


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## htpd43 (Dec 18, 2010)

820wards said:


> Thanks, I think it took me longer to make the throttle piece than the actual mill/parts. I do hope the pictures help anyone considering building a mini-type-mill. I know seeing pictures on this list helped me with ideas to build my big Alaskan style mill.
> 
> jerry-



Jerry-
:yourock:

I am always impressed by your ideas and how you put them together. Thanks for sharing with us. Great pics too!
Lou


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## mrbentontoyou (Dec 18, 2010)

WHOA! awesome job on the mill- really nice looking fab skills. I'm going to try to get a mini together over the next few months but i'm not even going to kid myself by hoping it looks as clean as yours. 

One thing i do want to think about is having the saw mount pivot, or maybe clamp the bar instead of bolting to it as a means of regulating depth of cut. 

but this is giving me something to aim for, thanks.

Okay enough about the mills, lets see some more pics of that sweet GT350!!! Is that original????


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## 820wards (Dec 19, 2010)

BobL said:


> GPS - Dang - now why didn't I think of that! I guess it's one way to measure linear feet cut?



Hey, maybe I should put a laser on it to align my cuts... 



> Is the deflector clamp touching the bottom of the saw? If so the saw vibe will make it rattle against the clamp and it could mangle the base of the saw.




Hi Bob,

No, the clamp does not touch the bottom of the saw. It's about 3/4" away from the bottom of the saw. I thought about that to when I was cutting the tube to length and figured since the bottom of the saw/handle is part of the gas tank, it had better not touch.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Dec 19, 2010)

mrbentontoyou said:


> WHOA! awesome job on the mill- really nice looking fab skills. I'm going to try to get a mini together over the next few months but i'm not even going to kid myself by hoping it looks as clean as yours.



Thanks



> One thing i do want to think about is having the saw mount pivot, or maybe clamp the bar instead of bolting to it as a means of regulating depth of cut.



I couldn't keep my bar from pivoting on my first mini-mill so that is why I built this mill with it bolting through the bar to the mounting block. If you do decide to use the pinch style for mounting your bar, be sure to space your bolts out from the chain. Too close and when the chain starts to get loose it will start hitting the all-thread rods or bolts if you use them. I speaking from experience.




> Okay enough about the mills, lets see some more pics of that sweet GT350!!! Is that original????



Yes the 66 GT-350H is real. I bought it in 1971 wrecked for $700 from Bill Maier who was going to part the car out. I ended up building SCCA/Trans Am race cars for Bill for fifteen years. It was the Red/Gold Hertz rental at the Oakland, CA Airport. #0829 His son Mike Maier just won the 2010 SCCA Solo 2 championship this year in another car I worked on. The car is Frank Stagnaro's clone 66 GT-350.

I'll see if I have any scanned pictures of my car I can post.

jerry-


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## 820wards (Dec 19, 2010)

> Is the deflector clamp touching the bottom of the saw?[quote
> 
> Bob, this pictures shows how far away the bracket is from the saw bottom. I should have noted that it does not touch the saw at all. Good call.
> 
> jerry-


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## BobL (Dec 19, 2010)

820wards said:


> > Is the deflector clamp touching the bottom of the saw?[quote
> >
> > Bob, this pictures shows how far away the bracket is from the saw bottom. I should have noted that it does not touch the saw at all. Good call.
> 
> ...


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## 820wards (Dec 19, 2010)

BobL said:


> 820wards said:
> 
> 
> > Looks good, it will be interesting to see how much if any sawdust gets through that gap.
> ...


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## BobL (Dec 19, 2010)

820wards said:


> BobL said:
> 
> 
> > Bob, was thinking about your comment. I think I could use a piece of light foam of some sort and attach to the top of the bar so it just touches the bottom of the saw if I find sawdust is spouting over the top of the bracket. I'll know when I mill.
> ...


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## 820wards (Dec 19, 2010)

BobL said:


> 820wards said:
> 
> 
> > Looking at your guard has I've started thinking about a chip deflector for my 440 when I use it in my minimill and the am thinking it might be more effective attaching it to the saw itself.
> ...


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## BobL (Dec 19, 2010)

820wards said:


> Bob, sounds good, but I would think if you were going to make it wrap around the saw, it had better be one continuous piece of aluminum tubing that you like to use. I would think you are going to get more vibrations mounted directly to the saw vs on the frame.



True, but your guard is on the end of a long arm so the initial flex is much greater to begin with and small vibe on long flexible arms have a way of magnifiying the vibe on the end of the arm. It's amazing how vibe is transmitted thru what seems like a fixed point in a system.



> I wanted my setup to take as little time to setup and take apart. I have two thumb screws on the throttle mechanism and the two bolts holding the saw to the frame. I don't have dedicated saw for my mini-mill and if you do then time switching out is not an issue.


Yep I agree - if it's your only saw then a cowling bolted direct on the saw wmayill take longer to take apart - but it maybe no slower than removing your remote trigger - anyway I will have a fiddle.



> I made my nose guard from 3031 aluminum and it hasn't cracked yet. Some plastics just don't like a lot of vibration.


My nose guard is only supported at one point which is when stuff vibrates itself more easily to bits 



> My vote is for aluminum, you can also isolate the mounting points with rubber washes and use a ny-lock nut.


Good idea 



> If you use a solid deflector and my system has the flexible polycarbon we could be testers for anyone else wanting to make a dust deflector for any mill.


Another Good idea



> I won't be doing any milling to soon with all the rain we will be getting forecast through next Thursday.


Dryest year on record here and it's been raining all day (mid summer) but we have over 100F forecast for Xmas Day.


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## 820wards (Dec 28, 2010)

*Post 11*

I've been fighting off the Christmas cold and decided I needed to get out of the house and into the shop.

So, I made a quarter saw attachment for the mini-mill. I had some 3/16" aluminum that cut down to make the piece with. It is adjustable to what ever with boards I want to mill. I need to make some fence boards and this could be just the ticket.

jerry-

Quarter saw attachment mounted on mini-mill.






Here is a top view with the quarter saw attachment adjusted to a 1" board thickness.






Angle view of 1/2" adjustment bolts. I will cut thickness blocks for milling different thicknesses.






View with a bar mounted. I have a friend who has a custom aluminum fabrication business and he let's me dumpster dive his scrap. It's heaven!


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## 820wards (Jan 10, 2011)

cowboyvet said:


> Great work and thanks for the great step by step. I have only used the Alaskan style so far but I'm looking into building a mini soon to compliment it. I have a couple questions. What is the longest bar you can get away with?



This mill can be used with what ever saw/bar combination you have. I'm thinking of getting a 24" bar for this saw which is about max I would think.



> Second, is there any thoughts about setting it up so it could cut at 45 deg instead of 90 deg to make it cut easier? Many of the logs I mill are located where it is hard/imposible to roll them and some are to big for my current 36" cut so the mini would only be used to narrow the sides for me.



With this setup you could operate it at a 45* angle. You would just need to be sure to keep the mill on the board and not let it lift off. I would say, cut the first cap cut at a 45*, then the rest of your cuts will follow that angle. Once you have milled enough boards from the log, it could be rotated to 90*. I'll try that on the next log I mill and post how it worked. I'll be getting more logs on Monday, then it's more rain the rest of the week. :-(

jerry-


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## ProfessorGT (Feb 13, 2011)

*Beautiful Job!*

Jerry,

You have done an excellent fab job on your mini mill. 

I too am considering building versus buying both a mini and a full-size 36" Alaskan type mill, so I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to share detailed pictures and explanations of your very nice buildup. 

I noticed that your last post was a bit ago so I'm wondering if you've had time (and weather that has cooperated) to operate your mill. Let's see how it's working out for you!

I was talking to Eric at Granberg, about mills and specifically with reference to minis, about bar length. I was thinking about a 28" bar on an 80cc Mac w/404 ripping chain (dedicated to the mill) and he said that woud be fine, and for smaller logs I could adjust the saw upwards for clearance at the bottom of the log. I'm assuming that the Granberg Mini uses the bar-pinch mounting method so it makes it real easy to adjust saw height, although with the method you've selected additional bar holes takes care of that quite easily as well. In fact I think I like direct mounting through the bar as you've done better, as it is a more secure and safer way of doing it IMHO.

I'm really curious as to the saw wanting to lift the mill off the log. That's my only hesitation in using the top of the bar to cut with. Does it exhibit *any* tendency at all to want to lift?:msp_confused:

Thanks again for sharing. This is great stuff. Keep it coming.:hmm3grin2orange:

BTW, did you post similar info on your full-size mill build? If so where can I find it?

Whoops, just found your other post which shows you in action. Here---> http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=164433


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## 820wards (Feb 14, 2011)

ProfessorGT said:


> Jerry,
> 
> You have done an excellent fab job on your mini mill.



Thank You



> I noticed that your last post was a bit ago so I'm wondering if you've had time (and weather that has cooperated) to operate your mill. Let's see how it's working out for you!



ProGT,

I have actually used the mill a few times since I finished building it and have built a second mini-mill for my neighbor. I have found the mini-mill easy to setup/operate. A few basic things to do before milling and it's all fun after that. I have found that using the rail board makes the cuts very accurate. Here is a picture of a cant I cut this past weekend and you can see it is square and is square on all four corners.








> I was talking to Eric at Granberg, about mills and specifically with reference to minis, about bar length. I was thinking about a 28" bar on an 80cc Mac w/404 ripping chain (dedicated to the mill) and he said that woud be fine, and for smaller logs I could adjust the saw upwards for clearance at the bottom of the log. I'm assuming that the Granberg Mini uses the bar-pinch mounting method so it makes it real easy to adjust saw height, although with the method you've selected additional bar holes takes care of that quite easily as well. In fact I think I like direct mounting through the bar as you've done better, as it is a more secure and safer way of doing it IMHO.



The very first mini-mill I built was a close clone to the Granberg version how it clamped the bar. Yes it is easy to adjust the depth of the cut by rotating the bar forwards or backwards. I just didn't like the idea of the blade possibly moving while milling that is why I decided to drill the mounting holes on the bar. Just my preference I suppose.



> I'm really curious as to the saw wanting to lift the mill off the log. That's my only hesitation in using the top of the bar to cut with. Does it exhibit *any* tendency at all to want to lift?:msp_confused:



I have milled a verity wood from pine to oak and really haven't experienced a problem with the mill wanting to lift while milling. I'm sure the weight of the mill/saw combination would be a factor, but I'm only using a 65cc saw. If you plan to use a 80cc+ saw it won't even be a issue. If you were experiencing a problem with a particular piece of wood you could always pull the mill through the log vs pushing. Pulling the mill backwards would be pulling the mill down onto the wood. In fact, I will try it the next time I mill to see if I see a big difference.



> Thanks again for sharing. This is great stuff. Keep it coming.:hmm3grin2orange:


Everyone here comes up with some great ideas and I have used many of them on my mills and other pieces like log lifters, etc.



> BTW, did you post similar info on your full-size mill build? If so where can I find it?



If you look at my signature you will see the links to my big-mill and mini-mill builds and operations. The guy with the ponytail is my neighbor so he get's his picture taken a lot.

Good luck on your build and let us all know if you need help.

jerry-


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## cowboyvet (Feb 14, 2011)

First off I want to say impressive work as always. In the back and forth discusion between you and BobL on the deflector, another idea popped into my head so I'll throw it out here for thoughts. If you live in farm country, belting that goes into round bailers looks like it would also work for a strong yet flexable deflector guard and I know vibration won't hurt that stuff for a long time. It is sold locally by the foot at Tractor Supply or other farm supply stores.


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## 820wards (Feb 14, 2011)

cowboyvet said:


> First off I want to say impressive work as always. In the back and forth discusion between you and BobL on the deflector, another idea popped into my head so I'll throw it out here for thoughts. If you live in farm country, belting that goes into round bailers looks like it would also work for a strong yet flexable deflector guard and I know vibration won't hurt that stuff for a long time. It is sold locally by the foot at Tractor Supply or other farm supply stores.


 
Cowboy,

Haven't seen the material you have described, but don't see why it wouldn't work as a dust/chip deflector. The material I'm using is very similar to that you would have on a plastic full face shield. If what you have described has similar properties, it should work fine.

jerry-


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## cowboyvet (Feb 15, 2011)

It is an industrial rubber belt material with nylon cording impregnated into it. It is about 3/16 thick and about 15" wide. It is very simular in construction to some belting you see on factory conveyor belts. I'll give it a try and report when I get a chance to build myself a miny one of these days.


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## hitlist (Oct 2, 2015)

new here and think I would like to build a simple one of these for a few large pine in yard that need to cone down. I would rather use lumber than burn it . Problem is I can not see any of your photos for some reason. I can see photos from other posts so confused.
Anyway thanx at least for some dimensional help[.

Thanx


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## mdavlee (Oct 2, 2015)

Old thread. They were lost in the big hack. What style you want to build?


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