# Norwood Portamill?



## Gypo Logger (Oct 10, 2013)

Are there any Norwood chainsaw mill owners out there? Im thinking of getting one to mill some 8x2x16 ft rafters for a log home. Thanks in advance for any input.
John


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 10, 2013)

Gypo Logger said:


> Are there any Norwood chainsaw mill owners out there? Im thinking of getting one to mill some 8x2x16 ft rafters for a log home. Thanks in advance for any input.
> John



i have one ,i made a wooden frame to hold it square out of 2x6 layed flat on the ground ,then once i leveled it out it makes nice lumber,i mounted it to my car trailer and that was a nice table for it ,a cement slab will be poured later so i have nice flat ground for it ,chisel chain was a real rough finish ,once i got ripping chain ,i got really nice boards ,here is mine ,it takes all the work out of milling with a saw 

also take you west coast dogs off when milling as seen in this video towards end they may hang up on the wane

[video=youtube;3KMyV2I8fNc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KMyV2I8fNc[/video]


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 10, 2013)

after i make my kants ,i stand em up and cut my boards ,i can cut down to 1/2 inch thick and be same size at both ends for cedar siding or fence boards ,it says 20 inch bar is recomended in directions ,i run a 28 inch ,but have to freehand rip the sides off the log so it fits in the dogs for bigger logs 

also for 16 foot beams you will need a 19 or 20 foot ladder length ,longest i could find in town in stock was 16 foot ,so i am limited to 13 foot beams max right now unless i loosen and slide the beam down the rollers mid cut ,you lose 1.5 feet at each end of ladder from size of powerhead roller table 

[video=youtube;PEgumVm0BVM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgumVm0BVM[/video]


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## Gypo Logger (Oct 13, 2013)

Thanks for taking the time to show your mill. It seems the max butt dia is 14", will the mill make anything larger than an 8x8? If it could do a 9x8 you could probably get 4 2x8 boards.
Thanks
John


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 13, 2013)

Gypo Logger said:


> Thanks for taking the time to show your mill. It seems the max butt dia is 14", will the mill make anything larger than an 8x8? If it could do a 9x8 you could probably get 4 2x8 boards.
> Thanks
> John



I can cut 20 or 22 ish slabs if i notch rhe bottom of the log to fit the dogs,if thei freehand rip the sides of a 30 inch log off ,so sides are flat when start,can mill bigger logs,but ypu waste some wood doing this,i will see if i have a pic of what i am trying to explain tomaro


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## Gypo Logger (Oct 14, 2013)

Thanks again for the quick response. That's good to know one can fit a bigger stick on the mill. It seems to have the Alaskan mill beat in many ways. Are the rollers that engage the ladder plastic or metal?
I have a saw driven bandmill by Ripsaw but it takes a lot of setup time.
John


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

here is a cedar slab ,with my 28 inch bar looks like about 20 inches ,you can see the rough sides where i freehand made the kant 







heres what i have to do with bigger logs ,rip the sides off ,but then i have a tall kant to work with 

this saw has 32 inch bar for reference on log size ,i was able to set this log on ,then start slicing slabs off 

View attachment 317595
View attachment 317596


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

Gypo Logger said:


> Thanks again for the quick response. That's good to know one can fit a bigger stick on the mill. It seems to have the Alaskan mill beat in many ways. Are the rollers that engage the ladder plastic or metal?
> I have a saw driven bandmill by Ripsaw but it takes a lot of setup time.
> John



mine are plastic rollers ,i don't sweat at all milling with this ,it takes all the work out of milling ,i have a small skid steer with forks for setting the logs on the mill ,in the bigger logs i do have to cut a notch in bottom of log ,enough to get the dogs in to lock it solid ,4-6 inches on bottom ,so the last slab has some waste ,i bet i could get a 16x16 beam if i wanted to ,if i am making board and batton ,i cut a 10-12 inch kant ,stand it up tall ways ,then start slicing my boards ,the extra oiler is a must ,the bar gets real hot without it ,the only weight on the rollers is the powerhead ,i have not had one fail yet ,being plastic they don't rust or need lubed


i could not see log pics so reposting here 

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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

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try again here ,i can not see them in my other posts


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## Gypo Logger (Oct 14, 2013)

I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'


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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

Gypo Logger said:


> I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'



i start with a round log for example ,set it on the 2 rollers ,there's 2 ways i do this that works for me ,1 traditional make a square ,cut the first pass ,flip it over so the flat spot is on the roller dogs ,then make a second pass ,now top and bottom of log are flat ,,now rotate the log 90 degrees so the flats are on the sides ,in this pic you can see metal levers to hold log square ,on rh side the lever has a bolt like off a c-clamp so you can sinch it tight ,now cut the wane off the top ,then flip 180 ,cut the other wane and you are square ,i get more wood waste this way View attachment 317607
View attachment 317608


the way i do now to get less waste ,i set the log on the rollers ,then just slab it like an alaska mill would ,then stand the slabs up tall ways and cut my boards off the slab ,so if i am cutting 2x6 i will cut a 6 inch slab ,stand it up tall ways ,then make a 2 inch cut from top and get my board ,this method is pretty quick for popping boards out,here is the mill mocked up in my shop to see the dogs ,i use a longer ladder now than these pics 

View attachment 317610
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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

here is how i make tall boards like 2x16 ,cut slabs ,then stand the slabs up ,cut the wane off ,then measure 8 inch down ,cut your first board ,flip the bottom one over cut the wane off ,for the second 2x8 

View attachment 317613
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## Trx250r180 (Oct 14, 2013)

are my photo's showing ? they upload on my end ,but i can not see in the post


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## lmbeachy (Nov 8, 2013)

I can't see them either,n but I certainly would like to.


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## Dave Boyt (Dec 2, 2013)

Junk Man, thanks for posting the info and the link to the youtube video. Look forward to seeing the photos. I've seen the porta-milll, but never actually used one. Seems like a good design to keep the user back from the chain saw a bit. Do you think the mill could be configured to cut bigger (5' diameter) logs, possibly with a second ladder on the other side for a fixture to support the tip of the bar (I realize that you'd need to keep both ladders perfectly parallel)?


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 3, 2016)

Gypo Logger said:


> I guess what Im not understanding is how you cut the cant when its standing on end. The max cant I need here would be a 9x8 x 16'



Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .


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## Gypo Logger (Nov 3, 2016)

Trx250r180 said:


> Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .


Not yet Brian, but hope to soon.


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## babybart (Nov 6, 2016)

Trx250r180 said:


> Did you ever get one of these John ? I realize the thread is a couple years old now ,just got a notification for it so followed up .



You have any problem with squareness due to the longer bar flexing since it is only attached to the mill on one end? I wanted to get one of theses that concern held me back. Also anyway you could repost the pics that are missing?


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

babybart said:


> You have any problem with squareness due to the longer bar flexing since it is only attached to the mill on one end? I wanted to get one of theses that concern held me back. Also anyway you could repost the pics that are missing?


A 28 inch cannon is what i am running now ,it is the stiffest bar i have found so far ,has a 32 inch oregon before that it was not too bad ,i get better cuts with the cannon though ,i used to have to run an extra oiler with a .050 guage bar it was getting hot without it ,since i wapped to .063 and .404 it oils fine without the extra oiler with a 660 stihl .
It will not let me edit my post for images because the thread is so old ,but here are a few .
I have the mill bolted to a skid i made of 3 6x12 beams so i could keep the mill square and in a strait line ,a flatbed trailer is something flat to mount it to also if have one .

This is about as big a log i can mill ,this one is 13 feet long ,to do 16 feet i need a longer ladder ,i have a 16 foot ladder ,but you lose a little each end due to the saw carriage ,

,what i do first is slice off some slabs ,if making 1x6 or 2x6 i cut 5 1/2 inch thick slabs ,when you get about a third of the way into the cut ,you want to add wedges behind the saw to keep the slab from pinching the bar ,this makes a nicer finish in the boards also .

Here is some fence boards from cedar ,6x6 and 2x6


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here is a 6x12 beam i milled it was 16 foot long ,so i milled 13-6 then slid it back and finished the cuts to get 16 foot for a header for my porch ,material is douglas fir .



Here is a cut after a slab was made


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here is a doug fir log ,notice how the heart of the tree is off center ,when they grow like this the lumber ends up being less stable ,and more likely to bend while drying after cut


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here is another doug fir slab being cut into 2x6


Finish i get with chisel chain ground at 10 degrees


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here is another shot of a 16 foot doug fir beam ,Contractor that was helping me was shocked that i fell a tree after work ,and had a couple beams ready for the am when he showed up .you can see how far i can get with a 16 foot ladder ,had little less than 3 feet to go ,so slid it back and finished the pass ,can see the 2 by slabs i cut first in the background to get to the beaam i wanted .


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here is a demo vid with an ms460 cutting cedar 

demo with a 660 cutting 1x6 cedar trim board


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 7, 2016)

These images were when i was running a .050 guage bar ,and i do not run the aux oiler anymore with the .404 chain and .063 groove ,the .404 carries much more oil so do not need it


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## babybart (Nov 7, 2016)

Wow! Awesome... more.... !


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## babybart (Nov 8, 2016)

Trx250r180 said:


> These images were when i was running a .050 guage bar ,and i do not run the aux oiler anymore with the .404 chain and .063 groove ,the .404 carries much more oil so do not need it



It appears you have to drill your bar for the auxillary oiler, is this correct?


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## Trx250r180 (Nov 8, 2016)

babybart said:


> It appears you have to drill your bar for the auxillary oiler, is this correct?


Yes ,i drill the tip of the bar below the sprocket area ,you lose 3-4 inches of bar cutting ability with the aux oiler kit .
This image shows were to drill the bar tip 


close up of the mill


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## babybart (Nov 21, 2016)

Mine should be delivered on Wednesday... gonna have to go easy on the gobbler on Thursday so I can play!


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