# chainsaw only?



## zogger (Jan 18, 2011)

OK, I am sorta interested in this little sawmill action now after looking at the pics..and having access to a wide variety of timber is a plus, and I enjoy woodworking. We have beech, oak, walnut, some ash, etc here along with your normal pine and cedar, so that's a nice variety to play with.. My question is, right off the bat it appears you need a thousand dollar chainsaw at a bare minimum, plus one of these milling devices. Can't you build one of these things using a cheaper 4 cycle engine, and just use gearing to get chain speed? Are there any sort of adapters for this? I don't imagine I am the first person to think of this, so, there must be reasons why it isn't done much and all of you guys still use the saws, I am just wondering is all. You can pick up good running 12 horse lawn mower engines for like fifty bucks. Is it then more a weight issue? Seems like that could be compensated for as well, with a stand and wheels perhaps, or an overhead trolley system.

Just wondering because it seems like it could be a lot cheaper to do it with the cheaper engines. I only have one "spare" saw and it is 60 ccs, and would rather wear out a diffeent 'powerhead" than that saw. And that saw proly isn't even big enough for the job, it looks like you guys run those 90- to over 100 cc saws, way way outside my meagre budget. I was just looking on ebay at big saws, geez loweez...they cost more than my daily driver truck...

So, the REAL question is, most likely, what is the cheapest easiest way to get into this, considering I might want to do basic shelter construction (cabin/outbuildings/sheds, etc), plus furniture and what not, the whole gamut of woodworking?

Thanks in advance!


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## Timberframed (Jan 18, 2011)

Mill frames can be made out of wood and steel cheaply enough. As far as a powerhead, Just keep your eye out craigslist, yard sales, ect. I know it sounds like a longshot but ya just never know. Some guy here paid $20 for an 090. It can happen!


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## zogger (Jan 18, 2011)

Timberframed said:


> Mill frames can be made out of wood and steel cheaply enough. As far as a powerhead, Just keep your eye out craigslist, yard sales, ect. I know it sounds like a longshot but ya just never know. Some guy here paid $20 for an 090. It can happen!



thanks for the response! ya, been looking for a year now, cheap and big ain't happening around here. 

so anyway, just say my 60 cc saw is big enough for at least smaller logs..these milling frames..any good "open source" plans out there to look at? This farm is slap full azz deep in old junk parts and stuff of every description. So, construction materials I got, money I ain't, I can try building one. And I saw that deal of using a ladder, that I got as well. ..now to find a longish bar for my saw though...allegedly it can push a 28 but I think that would be pushing it rather hard. I run a 20 on it, maybe the 24 might be big enough...start with some cedar and pine, no hardwoods.

I sorta feel silly on this because I already have access to a lot of scrap lumber, just thought it might be fun to make some myself then build with the lumber I made. Dog houses maybe, stuff like that. Just enough to get my feet wet, see if I like it.


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## Timberframed (Jan 18, 2011)

Ya you have everything you need there. Bolts and nuts. Angle iron. I run a 60cc saw on a 24" mill. It's an older Roper made craftsman but it has both torque and speed. I mill hardwood with it. I'm looking for a 30" bar for it. Some say you will burn up the saw but be easy on it and what's the hurry.


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## gemniii (Jan 19, 2011)

zogger said:


> thanks for the response! ya, been looking for a year now, cheap and big ain't happening around here.
> 
> so anyway, just say my 60 cc saw is big enough for at least smaller logs..these milling frames..any good "open source" plans out there to look at? This farm is slap full azz deep in old junk parts and stuff of every description. So, construction materials I got, money I ain't, I can try building one. And I saw that deal of using a ladder, that I got as well. ..now to find a longish bar for my saw though...allegedly it can push a 28 but I think that would be pushing it rather hard. I run a 20 on it, maybe the 24 might be big enough...start with some cedar and pine, no hardwoods.
> 
> I sorta feel silly on this because I already have access to a lot of scrap lumber, just thought it might be fun to make some myself then build with the lumber I made. Dog houses maybe, stuff like that. Just enough to get my feet wet, see if I like it.


 
1. With present lumber prices buying it is often cheaper for normal projects
2. There are many great mill designs on this forum, unfortunately noone has compiled them for you
3. 60cc will mill 20" max, 14" easy, red maple
4. Plant a tree. There's nothing like planting a tree, milling it and making furniture out of it, then using that furniture. Of course it takes time. Took me from 1984 to 2010 
5. If you choose to take the short route and use already "grown" trees it's still GREAT.
6. CSM is usually 2 stroke because the stuff is often carried around. When you go to 4 stroke people usually go to BSM.


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## mikeb1079 (Jan 19, 2011)

> My question is, right off the bat it appears you need a thousand dollar chainsaw at a bare minimum



nope. you'll be able to mill plenty of lumber with your 60cc saw. definitely not ideal, just take it easy and start small. also, if you'd like to upgrade, check out allofcraigs.com. this searches all the craigslist postings around. i've seen many many stihl 075 and 066 for well under $500. sometimes much less. many folks will not ship, but some will, and those are both excellent milling saws.
you can make a simple jig easy enough. just poke around here for ideas.
good luck!


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## IndyIan (Jan 22, 2011)

zogger said:


> OK, I am sorta interested in this little sawmill action now after looking at the pics..and having access to a wide variety of timber is a plus, and I enjoy woodworking. We have beech, oak, walnut, some ash, etc here along with your normal pine and cedar, so that's a nice variety to play with.. My question is, right off the bat it appears you need a thousand dollar chainsaw at a bare minimum, plus one of these milling devices. Can't you build one of these things using a cheaper 4 cycle engine, and just use gearing to get chain speed? Are there any sort of adapters for this? I don't imagine I am the first person to think of this, so, there must be reasons why it isn't done much and all of you guys still use the saws, I am just wondering is all. You can pick up good running 12 horse lawn mower engines for like fifty bucks. Is it then more a weight issue? Seems like that could be compensated for as well, with a stand and wheels perhaps, or an overhead trolley system.
> 
> Just wondering because it seems like it could be a lot cheaper to do it with the cheaper engines. I only have one "spare" saw and it is 60 ccs, and would rather wear out a diffeent 'powerhead" than that saw. And that saw proly isn't even big enough for the job, it looks like you guys run those 90- to over 100 cc saws, way way outside my meagre budget. I was just looking on ebay at big saws, geez loweez...they cost more than my daily driver truck...
> 
> ...


I've thought the same thing, chainsaws are very expensive HP for milling. 
But they are compact and have the clutching and bar oiling built in so its easy to stick one on the end of an alaskan mill. 
It would be some engineering involved to get a vertical shaft lawnmower engine to work but I'm sure someone has done it.


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## rarefish383 (Jan 23, 2011)

I just Googled Logosol and they have an electric motor to use on their mill, and I know I've seen video of another mill with an electric motor, so yes you can build a chainsaw mill with a verticle shaft. If you look at the 4 post set up that "poleframer" has you will see that would be a good platform for you. He has a post going now "My CSM". If you decide to build one keep the pics coming, I'd like to see it. I thought of doing the same thing with a 21hp electric start tractor motor, but by the time I started making plans in my head it was getting to the point I might as well make a Band Saw. I wound up putting the 21 hp tractor down at the end of the road with a free sign on it. Then I got to watch 2 guys fight over who saw it first, Joe.


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## zogger (Jan 24, 2011)

rarefish383 said:


> I just Googled Logosol and they have an electric motor to use on their mill, and I know I've seen video of another mill with an electric motor, so yes you can build a chainsaw mill with a verticle shaft. If you look at the 4 post set up that "poleframer" has you will see that would be a good platform for you. He has a post going now "My CSM". If you decide to build one keep the pics coming, I'd like to see it. I thought of doing the same thing with a 21hp electric start tractor motor, but by the time I started making plans in my head it was getting to the point I might as well make a Band Saw. I wound up putting the 21 hp tractor down at the end of the road with a free sign on it. Then I got to watch 2 guys fight over who saw it first, Joe.



I bet on that tractor! I would have fought over a free one too!

hahaha

I saw the...hmm Prezi? Some name like that, you use a heavy duty skill saw and attach this chain bar thing, but the video only showed it cutting off beams to size. 

I'll figure something out..still looking for a used runner in the big category now, for some reason I don't want to put my new saw on a mill. I've been hemming and hawing on that idea and...I really need it for other duties and couldn't afford to replace it if I wore it out too fast, new saws are a serious major investment for me. Heck, the two 60cc saws I just got and went into hock for and aren't even paid off yet cost more than my truck...I am sorta on the low end of the payscale for the USA... Used and maybe rebuildable is a little more affordable for a milling project. I have the capacity to get reasonably large logs out of the woods and up to the cabin, so if I build a milling area I can make it stouter/longer, etc a more permanent type of operation.

Basically want to get my feet wet on this milling, on the chance I may decide to relocate again and go further out country and build my own..well..everything. Want to get the basics down on beams and planks, etc. I have tons of soft pines to practice with. Construction-homes/garages, that sort of thing, once I have wood, I have plenty of experience in, along with a lot of cabinet shop work, used to build furniture and then tradeshow exhibits a lot. Most of my tools are gone now, so, anything I might build in the future will be "rustic". I am more looking for really stout over pristine and finished, but I will finish a few little projects if I get going and mill up some of the prettier wood around here. 

A long time ago I used to make slab tables and I cut them with a crosscut. Man, that was a lot like work but they came out great, almost finished when you first did the cut. Never did talk anyone to running the other end of the saw for very long.....about fifteen minutes was all anyone would last so I had to use a whopper one man crosscut...wish I still had that thing they are real spendy now. I am seriously in awe of the dudes in the olden days who hand sawed planks and cut down huge trees by hand, like that big white oak in the old timers series of pics! 

I used some of the dutch elm that was dying all over, found a log that was *immense* and just took my time and basically cut cookies off of it, cutting from both sides. Even a cookie four inches thick weighed a *lot*. They made nice tables though. Seems...thinking about it...that tree was over four hundred rings, something like that, real old.

Too bad they don't make more doo-dads you can power with all those vertical shaft lawnmower engines out there, seems most things need horizontal.


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## discounthunter (Jan 24, 2011)

i had $400 into my first setup. look for used.


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## jimdad07 (Jan 24, 2011)

I made mine for nothing and the saw I use on it was $40.00 (045av). The first saw I used on it was a Dolmar 6400 that worked alright, but not quite big enough.


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## masculator (Jan 31, 2011)

60 cc will drive an alaskan with a 28 inch bar in softwood easily and even more so using skip chain, with an alaskan you will only mill a maximum of around 22 to 24 inches with that bar combination, This said you will cut most of what you have in the US quite well with that as long as it is within your size constraints. I have done a fair bit with an 034 (56.5cc) and a 25 inch bar in redgum, blackwood and other stuff much harder to cut than what is over there. Start with what you have, and IF you like it, buy longer rails for your alaskan and a bigger saw. I now have an MS660 and 36 inch and 42 inch bars on a GB mill.

Just remember whatever you cut needs to sit racked to dry for 12 months or more before you use it.


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## zogger (Feb 1, 2011)

masculator said:


> 60 cc will drive an alaskan with a 28 inch bar in softwood easily and even more so using skip chain, with an alaskan you will only mill a maximum of around 22 to 24 inches with that bar combination, This said you will cut most of what you have in the US quite well with that as long as it is within your size constraints. I have done a fair bit with an 034 (56.5cc) and a 25 inch bar in redgum, blackwood and other stuff much harder to cut than what is over there. Start with what you have, and IF you like it, buy longer rails for your alaskan and a bigger saw. I now have an MS660 and 36 inch and 42 inch bars on a GB mill.
> 
> Just remember whatever you cut needs to sit racked to dry for 12 months or more before you use it.


 
--ya, I was only going to do smaller stuff anyway at first for practice. I was thinking starting with smallish diameter cedar and making doghouses. Maybe just slab them on three sides and make little log cabins. Take some of the larger cedar rounds at the butt ends of the log to make shakes for the roof. Something like that.

Furniture and so on will come later, mostly because I had to sell off all my woodworking stuff when I was injured. Man I sold all my good stuff just to stay ..just to live, when I couldn't hardly stand up. All I have now is an old circular saw and a cheap chopsaw, no more bandsaw or table saw or routers, etc.. I did keep my little collection of bar clamps though....so even if I milled some good wood, it would have to wait to use it anyway. 

Just found out yesterday afternoon my little chain saw needs attention (I use this saw the most, husky 137e), so I will have to wait on getting even a cheap slabber attachment. My oiler went, well, it pumps a little baroil, but not much, not enough to do the job... so as long as I have to take the clutch off to get to it, put a new disk/sprocket and bearing as well, that is getting worn...and so on. So there goes the loot I was sort of budgeting for my "first mill".

I have worked the pizzazz out of that baby saw for five years now, fencelines and brush clearing and firewood, the cheapest semi quality saw I could find at the time for the money locally to me. For a "homeowner" class saw, I can't complain, it has stood up fine and still cranks real easy and got some oomph to it. I have always been meticulous about taking the bar off and cleaning it after every tank, plus touch up the chain,etc, blow out the air filter, all the normal maintenance. 

Used around here are almost all throw away plastic saws, those cheap poulans and homies of recent vintage, I don't even bother going to look. Any quality saws I have seen the people want so close to new price, heck with it, rather actually get new with a warranty and so on, make sure they aren't abused. I have seen a few might have been possibles, but way too far a drive for me with my old truck. My rule of thumb is, if I can't afford the tow from someplace, I don't drive there. 

bwahahahaha, I'd say real close to 100% of the guys here are all running (multiple) saws worth loads more than my truck! I've got a real old datsun 1/2 ton with a reliable diesel engine, the rest of it.........hmmm

I've robbed peter to pay paul so many times whenever those dudes see me coming they haul out their six shooters...


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