# Update on new to site & want to mill



## Trigger-Time (Sep 23, 2006)

I have not bought a mill yet. But I did buy a brand spanking NEW
STILH MS 460 MAGUM today. This is the biggest saw I have ever
put to wood. HOLY COW it will cut compared to my 036, it is smoother
in my hands, and easier on my hand & arm to start with the decompression
valve. I bought it with the 25 inch replaceable tip bar. My wife and I have
160 acres about 110 acres open and the rest in woods. When we bought
the farm I worked at a Tool & Die and Special Machine shop. Had to work
lots of over time and did not have time to cut firewood. I now work for DOD
as a Small Arms Inspector/Repairman. So no more overtime and with the price
of propane (OR EVEY THING ELSE) we are going to have an outside wood
furnace put in. I had to give $760.00 for the saw. Would like to know how 
much they are selling for other places. Ok I need to get back to breaking
in the saw I thought I would put about ten tanks through it before try
to mill with it. One or two more things. The instruction manual says nothing
about breaking in the saw that I could find. For you experienced guys, is there any break in tips that you can give me? I know not to run it full throttle under no load but does it hurt to run it full throttle under load? And is there a non magnum 460?
I will probably post most of this under the chainsaw section. 

Guys I apologize for my grammar. I’m pretty strong @ mechanical stuff and math.
And if it wasn’t for spell check I would not even try to post anything.

Thanks, Gary


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## dustytools (Sep 23, 2006)

Hi Gary, I too asked this question about breaking in a new saw a couple of days ago. I was told to run 5 to 10 tanks through it with light cutting before sticking it on the mill. Also to run the mix at 40:1 instead of 50:1. What type of mill are you leaning towards when you do decide to buy one? Good luck.


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## Trigger-Time (Sep 23, 2006)

dustytools, I'm thinking about a 30in. ALASKAN MKIII CHAIN SAW MILL.
But I'M also kicking the idea around of building one.

Thanks,Gary


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## CaseyForrest (Sep 23, 2006)

Trigger, and you too Dusty!!!

No need to use it lightly while bucking firewood. Use it as you normally would.

The reason most of us say dont throw it right in the mill is because in a milling scenario, the saw is running full throttle for almost a full tank of fuel. 

It wont hurt the saw to run full throttle in the cut. Hold it wide open, and control you engine speed by the amount of down pressure you put on the saw.


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## dustytools (Sep 23, 2006)

Trigger, Ive heard so many people here say this and Ive come to agree, If you do decide to go with the alaskan get the 36 inch. I bought the 30 inch which is hopefully all ill ever need but for so little in the price difference youll always have the option to expand your widths a little if you ever have to. As far as building a mill similar to the alaskan I wouldnt think that it would be too difficult. I think that uni-strut, bolts and some u-clamps combined would make a nice little mill. Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.


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## woodshop (Sep 23, 2006)

CaseyForrest said:


> It wont hurt the saw to run full throttle in the cut. Hold it wide open, and control you engine speed by the amount of down pressure you put on the saw.



I agree with casey. I hope I didn't give the impression that you need to baby that saw to break it in. You don't and shouldn't. Run it as you would any saw, WOT (wide open throttle) but keeping a load on it as usual. I would even say you CAN mill with it if you are doing what I consider "light duty" milling, like slicing up a 10" pine log. With my 395, I can run down an 8ft pine log that is only 10 inches wide faster (read less time WOT under load) than I can buck say a 36inch oak log.


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## woodshop (Sep 23, 2006)

dustytools said:


> Trigger, Ive heard so many people here say this and Ive come to agree, If you do decide to go with the alaskan get the 36 inch.


Oh yeah... don't even think of getting less than a 36 inch, as there will come a time down the road for SURE when you will wish you had spent the extra few bucks and had that capacity. Remember, you lose a few inches mounting the saw to the csm. I can only mill up to a 32 inch wide piece with my 36 inch csm and 36 inch bar. If you buy a 30 inch, you will be limited to 25" wide log. If you include a crotch piece, or irregular shaped log, 25 inches will limit what you can do. But then, who am I to tell you how to spend your money


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## John Paul Sanborn (Sep 24, 2006)

woodshop said:


> If you include a crotch piece, or irregular shaped log, 25 inches will limit what you can do.



So be sure to have an adz or small chainsaw to trim parts down. I was glad with my first log, yesterday, that i was only 10 ft from my tool truck.


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## woodshop (Sep 24, 2006)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> So be sure to have an adz or small chainsaw to trim parts down. I was glad with my first log, yesterday, that i was only 10 ft from my tool truck.


yup, the cold hard truth about milling becomes evident REAL quick... if your saw can only cut 25 inchs, and the log or part sticking out makes it 25 1/4, that quarter inch might as well be a foot, the saw AIN'T movin till you fix it.


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## oldsaw (Sep 24, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Oh yeah... don't even think of getting less than a 36 inch, as there will come a time down the road for SURE when you will wish you had spent the extra few bucks and had that capacity. Remember, you lose a few inches mounting the saw to the csm. I can only mill up to a 32 inch wide piece with my 36 inch csm and 36 inch bar. If you buy a 30 inch, you will be limited to 25" wide log. If you include a crotch piece, or irregular shaped log, 25 inches will limit what you can do. But then, who am I to tell you how to spend your money



Thank you brother woodshop, I've been preaching the 36" sermon for a few years now, nice to see someone is either listening or helping my cause.

Mark

BTW, I showed Chopwood some 10/4 x 36" x 96" walnut "boards" I cut for a friend of mine while he was over on Saturday. He was impressed. Can't do that with a 25" mill.


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## Trigger-Time (Sep 24, 2006)

Ok 36 inch mill it will be.

Now what chain or brand?

My bar is 25 in. do I need the oiler kit?
The bar takes a 24in chain 84 links I do'nt under stand that.

Price wise it looks like Bailey's is best.

I have a Eastern red cedar log that wants to be milled.
It's 22 in. dia. on the big end 12 feet long and 18 in. at the small end.
This log is limb free. The tree had to come down and did'nt know what
to do with so it's been laying on the ground for about 7 years. 
Cut the ends off tonight and it is good and solid.
I'm going to do some smaller logs first to get some experience at milling.

Thank you, Gary


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## CaseyForrest (Sep 25, 2006)

There are allot of happy useres of the ripping chain Baileys sells. Pricewise, it cant be beat. I have several loops of it as well.

I use a 28" in my mill, and dont have the Aux oiler. But adding one can never be a negative.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 25, 2006)

CaseyForrest said:


> There are allot of happy useres of the ripping chain Baileys sells. Pricewise, it cant be beat. I have several loops of it as well.
> 
> I use a 28" in my mill, and dont have the Aux oiler. But adding one can never be a negative.



Ditto 2x

Bailey's had the best deal on ripping chain (Oregon) I've found.

If your saw's oiler is wide open and working properly, you should be fine with out an auxiliary oiler for bars up to 36". I'll even use my 44" occasionally without aux. oil for light cutting in softwood. If there is a chance it will get too hot, I'll use the oiler.


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## woodshop (Sep 25, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> Ditto 2x
> 
> Bailey's had the best deal on ripping chain (Oregon) I've found.
> 
> If your saw's oiler is wide open and working properly, you should be fine with out an auxiliary oiler for bars up to 36". I'll even use my 44" occasionally without aux. oil for light cutting in softwood. If there is a chance it will get too hot, I'll use the oiler.



As long as I turn my oiler up to max on my 396XP, I have never had lubrication problems on my 36" even when milling 32" max width it can mill. I only use sticky Stihl bar oil though, a little pricey, but it has never failed me. I often wonder if I use some of the cheaper thinner after-market bar oils I see at Walmart and such, if I would still have no lube problems milling. Don't want to possibly get the bar and chain really hot finding out!

btw aggie, I thought Bailey's ripping chain (which is all I use now) was not Oregon, but Carlton A1 chain... just like their Woodsman Pro brand. I just 
looked, there is an A1 stamped on every drive link. I just bought a 100ft loop of that stuff, which brings my cost per 36" loop (119 links) down to less than $19


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 25, 2006)

woodshop said:


> As long as I turn my oiler up to max on my 396XP, I have never had lubrication problems on my 36" even when milling 32" max width it can mill. I only use sticky Stihl bar oil though, a little pricey, but it has never failed me. I often wonder if I use some of the cheaper thinner after-market bar oils I see at Walmart and such, if I would still have no lube problems milling. Don't want to possibly get the bar and chain really hot finding out!
> 
> btw aggie, I thought Bailey's ripping chain (which is all I use now) was not Oregon, but Carlton A1 chain... just like their Woodsman Pro brand. I just
> looked, there is an A1 stamped on every drive link. I just bought a 100ft loop of that stuff, which brings my cost per 36" loop (119 links) down to less than $19



Woops, your're right.:bang: I got it confused with the chisel chain I bought from them. What would I do with out ya'll keeping me straight.


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## woodshop (Sep 25, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> Woops, your're right.:bang: I got it confused with the chisel chain I bought from them. What would I do with out ya'll keeping me straight.


...hey we ALL keep EACH OTHER strait... if you're like me you got 12 things going on at once, each wanting a space in the Gray matter for details, facts and figures. So how are we mere mortals supposed to keep all those facts strait without confusing stuff????????? Ain't possible, which is why we have AS when it comes to saws and milling.


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## Trigger-Time (Sep 26, 2006)

Thanks guys, As soon as a guy pays me the money he owes
me I will order the mill and chain. The new saw took almost all of 
my toy money. 

Thanks again, Gary


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 2, 2006)

I ordered the 36" mill ,2 loops of chain and 2 pre-made chokers
today from Bailey's. Also bought a new Stilh MS 200 T last Friday
So it won't be long now. 

Gary


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## woodshop (Oct 2, 2006)

Got a digital camera tigger-time? If so take some pics of your setup, and let us see 'em.


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 8, 2006)

I took the day of work Thursday to look for some saw goodies.
went to a farm store, I just bought a stihl 16" es bar for $42 at
a Stihl dealer, The farm store price for a 20" ES was $36, $6 cheaper
than the 16" so I thought that was a good deal. then I seen they
had a 36" ES bar for $62. I new I would want a longer bar than my 25" bar
some day. Took the 2 bars to check out,the woman said these are on sale.
The 20" was $28.87 and the 36" $43.37 W/tax the total for the
2 bars was $72.86. There was no really good reason to tell this
I just thought it was a very good deal.

Next stop, A small engine repair shop and picked up a used 066.
Got home and on the porch was the mill and other things I had ordered
from Baileys Cleaned the 066 up last night, today installed new
clutch springs, beaning, rim sprocket and the left front rubber mount,
also took out the H&L limiter stops, to set the fuel richer for milling.
Took the old saw out and cross cut some oak to make sure every
thing was OK, it seemed fine.

Mounted the mill and went to the Eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), 
patch, and played. 

The Eastern redcedar has a lot of sap, dose this cause
any special problems?

I don't have a tach yet, I set the saw on the rich side, this
Eastern red-cedar is soft wood, as the log got smaller I would
let up on the throttle a little bit, dose this hurt the saw if
its not pulling it down?

The older 066's with out the limiter stops, what is the starting
point for the H&L screws? 

Woodshop yes I (WE) have a digital camera, but my wife has it with
her some where in CA. she will be back on Friday

Thanks, Gary


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 21, 2006)

*No set up yet*

Woodshop, You ask about pics of my set up, well I don't
have a set up yet, but here is 2 pics of my saws and my
first real try at milling, This old oak has been dead for about
10 years, So I cut it down, Thought it (wood) be a good one to
practice on. The log is from just above the crotch, about
20 feet up, the bark and most of the sap wood is gone.
It is 16" dia. 56" long and still very solid. I cut some 2 1/4"
thick slabs. Is this what you (wood) call 9/4 or 9 quarter.

I'm glad you guys talked me into the 36" mill. I will need it
for the trunk of this tree, its about 29" dia., with out the
bark & sap wood. The used 066, done pretty well if I let
it do its thing and not push it to hard. It is neat to cut a slab
then turn it over to see what it looks like, and a bonus my
wife thinks so to  

Thanks, Gary


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## dustytools (Oct 21, 2006)

Congrats.. Trigger, Yes it is an awesome feeling when you open that baby up and see the wood that you have cut. Nice looking job. Nice looking collection of saws too. Good luck.


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 21, 2006)

*Bench*

Thank you, dustytools
OK, Milled my first wood today. And decided to make a heavy
rustic bench, with my chain saw, skill saw, drill and a miter saw.
Cut it out, screwed it together, sanded the ruff off,
slapped a coat of boiled linseed oil on it, 
Yes it's very rustic, I even like the bug holes in the wood,
for my first project I wanted to be able to
tell it was done with a chain saw. The plan was for it to set on the 
porch, but the wife said she liked and had a place for it. As fast and
easy as this was to make, I think I will make a few more.

Here are a few pics. the top is 2 1/4"X12"X48"

Gary


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## flht01 (Oct 21, 2006)

Trigger-Time said:


> Thank you, dustytools
> OK, Milled my first wood today. And decided to make a heavy
> rustic bench, with my chain saw, skill saw, drill and a miter saw.
> Cut it out, screwed it together, sanded the ruff off,
> ...



Gary, that really turned out nice. Keep the pictures coming, sure enjoy seeing them.

Kevin


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## woodshop (Oct 21, 2006)

I like your rustic bench trigger... how did you attach that top, screw from bottom through the outer parts of the legs?


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 21, 2006)

Woodshop, yes
I just used what I had on hand. I run a 7/8 wood bit to counter
sink my 3" deck screws I had on hand, the legs are good and solid
but next time I will get lag bolts. The picture makes it look worse
than it is, but it dose have a wicker at the end of the bench.
when I took the pics I had the bad side out. 

With wood that has been dead this long will it still check and crack?

And the only reason I used a 7/8 bit it's the only wood bit I have.
Going to need to buy more tools (HEY HONEY!)

Thanks Guys, Gary


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## woodshop (Oct 21, 2006)

Trigger-Time said:


> With wood that has been dead this long will it still check and crack?
> Thanks Guys, Gary



Depends... I have milled logs that have been dead for couple years, but the wood was still very wet, and didn't dry till I stickered it like any other log. With planks that thick, you might get away without major warping and splitting as it shrinks and dries. It will move as it dries, but you might be fine. Only one way to find out... no?


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 21, 2006)

Woodshop, This wood is wet, it was the reason I went
ahead and put the boiled linseed oil on it. Do you think
it will help?

Thanks, Gary


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## woodshop (Oct 21, 2006)

Trigger-Time said:


> Woodshop, This wood is wet, it was the reason I went
> ahead and put the boiled linseed oil on it. Do you think
> it will help?
> 
> Thanks, Gary


Not to put a damper on things (pun intended) but linseed oil will do very little to keep moisture IN the wood. It will still dry and shrink a bit. Multiple coats once the wood is dry will give you some protection against moisture, but not a lot. You can start with a good oil finish like Danish oil, Tung oil etc... but then follow up with a good poly, water or oil base to protect that wood once it is dry.


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## andrethegiant70 (Oct 22, 2006)

*Tung vs. Danish*

Hi, Gents!

Regarding the finish, Woodshop brings up a good point. I did a few projects this year and used both danish oil AND tung oil. In retrospect, it was a pretty good lesson. The danish oil sinks into the wood nicely and gives a beautiful color, but it had a pretty long dry time and did not provide ANY form of glossy finish. I also feel that it would be a bit harder to keep clean. The tung oil gave me a nice, glossy finish that reputedly provides good protection. It was a bit stinky to use, but unlike polyurethane, the odor dissipates pretty quickly (to my wife's great joy). I have not used it, but there is also an improved version of tung oil known as polymerized tung oil. It is quite a bit more expensive, but it has an excellent dry time and provides an even tougher finish.

Having said all that, boiled linseed oil still has a HUGE following and it does add a VERY pleasing tone to the wood. Reapplication every now and again is recommended and serves to reinvigorate the finish nicely. 

REALLY nice looking bench. I'm hereby inspired.


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 22, 2006)

Thanks for the reply's.

Used the boiled linseed oil, so maybe it would not dry as fast,
check and split. After it drys for some time, I will put Minwax
Wipe-on Poly clear satin on it, It has worked very well on 
gun stocks for me.

Crap! Woke up at 3:30am thinking about milling.
Beaning I have no wood working tools, more rustic furniture

Gary


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## woodshop (Oct 22, 2006)

andrethegiant70 said:


> Having said all that, boiled linseed oil still has a HUGE following and it does add a VERY pleasing tone to the wood. Reapplication every now and again is recommended and serves to reinvigorate the finish nicely.
> 
> REALLY nice looking bench. I'm hereby inspired.


One more thing while we are on this subject... boiled linseed oil will darken over time, especially in direct sunlight. I knew of somebody that had beautiful white pine kitchen walls. They decided to put a coat of boiled linseed oil on every year to bring out the character of the wood... it did... but in less than 5 years their kitchen walls were more like a dark tan and they regretted doing it. 

Again... I like that bench and think I will try and replicate it in my shop. It's simple and sturdy. Only thing I think I will change is to use maybe an inch dado where the legs meet the top. Either that or mortise and tenon the legs to the top. If the top is 2 inch, that is possible and would make it almost indestructible.


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 22, 2006)

For grins, I weighed the bench, 58 lbs.

Gary


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## woodshop (Oct 22, 2006)

Trigger-Time said:


> For grins, I weighed the bench, 58 lbs.
> 
> Gary


Quick and dirty... each board foot of oak weighs about 5 lbs right off the log, and about 3 lbs dried to about 15% moisture content. So figure out how many bd ft in that thing, and you can figure roughly what it should weigh when its done drying. Using your 58 lbs, you have about 11 bd ft in that bench. It should lose about 23 lbs of water (about 3 gallons) in the next few months depending on the temp and humidity of where it is. These are all rough estimates of course, but should give you ballpark figures. I know that sounds like a lot of water, but that's how wet wood is before it's allowed to dry. It will be interesting to watch your "green" bench as it loses all that water. Keep us informed.


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 22, 2006)

Woodshop, Read your post, thought I would figure the board feet.
Wife ask what I was doing, she informed me the scales are five
pounds LIGHT. So 58 lbs plus the 5 light lbs = 63lbs. 
Board feet minus bevels & chamfers =12.599 board feet X 5 lbs = 62.995lbs
I know it won't always be that close, but man thats right on the money!

It weighs a little less now. I knew I had a old hand plane, so I planed
the saw marks off the top It came out good if I do say so myself,
took about a hour and a half of hard work. Not knowing what I was
doing, set the plan very shallow and shaved it off.

Gary


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## gumneck (Oct 23, 2006)

Nice work TT, 

For rustic furniture, my dad will gouge out places, use cut nails, plug knot holes, and use checked end pieces. Presumably your bench is going to dry some and the splits/cracks will only add to your rustic appeal.

What JD are you running there?


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## Trigger-Time (Oct 23, 2006)

gumneck, Thanks

It's a 4030


Gary


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