CSM for milling small short logs

BobL · Mar 25, 2007

Thought you might like to see this CSM rig I made to mill small short logs that I can readily pick up kerbside from city council clean up days, and occasionally from an friendly arboriste. The rig is designed to collapse to fit into a station wagon and also to store under my house. It's made almost entirely from scrap metal from an old X-Ray machine I found in the dumpster at work. Second to last picture show the mill (before paint job and dedicated short stature horses) in action on a very awkward shaped piece of wood. Currently I only have access to a small chainsaw but hope to upgrade soon? ;-)

stonykill · Mar 25, 2007

BobL said:
Thought you might like to see this CSM rig I made to mill small short logs that I can readily pick up kerbside from city council clean up days, and occasionally from an friendly arboriste. The rig is designed to collapse to fit into a station wagon and also to store under my house. It's made almost entirely from scrap metal from an old X-Ray machine I found in the dumpster at work. Second to last picture show the mill (before paint job and dedicated short stature horses) in action on a very awkward shaped piece of wood. Currently I only have access to a small chainsaw but hope to upgrade soon? ;-)

thats quite cool. I mill shorts all the time. My setup isn't nearly as elaborate. It simply involves an old picnic table, a few boards and c clamps to secure the log, and my csm. All the time I throw shorts to the side that were destined for the owb, but I see cool spalting in them, and mill them instead. Nice job!

Railomatic · Mar 25, 2007

Good rig

That is a very well thought out rig you have got there Bob ideal for cutting up what a lot of other people would throw away or chip, well done.
If you fitted a simple wire rope winch to her operating her would be real easy, you could also fix the rig right onto the ends of a log.

BobL · Mar 25, 2007

Thanks Railo and Stony.

The winch is a good idea and I do have small winch somewhere in the attic that would be just the thing.

Cheers

olyman · Mar 25, 2007

ah--yankee ingenuity--meaning anyone with a mind to make something--look cool---take two small bike sprockets--same tooth count--and attach to the jacks at top--then attach chain---that way dont have to turn both jack handles to get it to come up--and reattach one handle---

aggiewoodbutchr · Mar 25, 2007

Good job!

It's always cool to see what other people have "engineered".

Keep the pics coming!

dustytools · Mar 25, 2007

aggiewoodbutchr said:
Good job!

It's always cool to see what other people have "engineered".

Keep the pics coming!

Agreed. Very nice looking mill.

woodshop · Mar 26, 2007

nice rig, I like the ingenuity on this site, and the willingness of people to share it.

59Billy · Mar 26, 2007

woodshop said:
nice rig, I like the ingenuity on this site, and the willingness of people to share it.

Agreed, agreed, and agreed.

The milling forum in particular... I've gone back and looked though post from the beginning, and it's like a textbook of milling.

BobL · Mar 27, 2007

59Billy said:
Agreed, agreed, and agreed.

The milling forum in particular... I've gone back and looked though post from the beginning, and it's like a textbook of milling.

And not only that, the members are so friendly and helpful. I have received a number of helpful PMs about this and my other posts. I have to admit I was a tad nervous posting the details of my baby mill in a forum where millers are slabbing with 44"+ blades and tackling serious trunks.

Today I lay my hands on a rare treat, a short (4 ft long x 1 ft diameter) piece of a desert gum from the outer goldfields/desert region of Western Australia. In an area known for its incredibly hard dense timber, it's the hardest densest timber I have ever come across. I was given a small slice of this timber about a year ago and carved it into a bowl,

and the handle of a chisel plane.

The owner just wants a guitar finger board out of it and I can have the rest!

59Billy · Mar 27, 2007

That's some gorgeous wood!~

aggiewoodbutchr · Mar 27, 2007

Nice wood! In a lot of ways the grain and color looks like the Mesquite we have here which is becoming wildly popular for lumber and flooring. I used to get a lot of it for free but now most everyone wants to sell it to you for more than what it's worth.

Nice work, too. I especially like the chisel plane. I love hand made tools.

:cheers:

BobL · Mar 27, 2007

aggiewoodbutchr said:
I love hand made tools.

You do !- OK here's a few more tools I made last year. You can then see why I only need short pieces of timber.

This is a 1/2" shoulder plane. I do all the metal work as well. The blades are retempered pieces of old files.

The next two tools I milled the timber from Western Australian Sheoak.

3/4" shoulder plane

10" screw adjustable marking gauge.

I have heaps more (hand saws, chisels, mallets, awls, clamps etc) but I should stop as we are getting off thread.

Cheers

BIG JAKE · Mar 27, 2007

No-please continue sir!

opcorn:

BobL · Mar 27, 2007

BIG JAKE said:
No-please continue sir! opcorn:

OK - I'll post as links and you can chase'em if you want to.

An Ebony Marking gauge made from scraps a friend of mine who is a luthier gave me.

A spokeshave milled from a Red Gum I grew at my inner city home.

Handsaw sharpening vice .

Leather and Cork faced mallet - Red Gum.

Pair of Bow saws.

14" tenon saw. Sheoak handle - home milled.

Chisels, Slotted screwdriver, brass and Al face mallet

That's enough for now.

rb_in_va · Mar 27, 2007

BobL,
Do you make tools for a living? If not you should! That's some nice work man!

Woodsurfer · Mar 27, 2007

Very impressive tools. Wow. Really outstanding! :rock:

The shoulder planes appear to have an extreme blade angles, like 60-70 degrees... Do they have a special purpose?

Thanks for sharing!

BobL · Mar 27, 2007

rb_in_va said:
Do you make tools for a living? If not you should! That's some nice work man!

I have been a moderately enthusiastic, on/off, amateur wood/metal worker for 40 odd years, but only started making hand tools about a year ago after I upgraded my shed machinery. Since that time I have been driven (kinda like that guy from Close Encounters of the Third Kind) to make tools and the materials that go into them (hence an emerging interest in milling). However, the thought of doing this for a living, especially production runs of these tools, sounds like too much like an ordinary day job for me.

Woodsurfer said:
The shoulder planes appear to have an extreme blade angles, like 60-70 degrees... Do they have a special purpose?

They are 60 degree blades for planing, and by reversing the blade, 90 degree for scraping. I am not an expert in plane blade angles but my understanding is that they work better for difficult and cross grain planing. The latter means shoulder planes are ideal for cleaning up tenon shoulders.

Shoudler planes can also be used to cut rebates and grooves, in some cases, especially hardwoods, faster than you can do this with a router.

dustytools · Mar 27, 2007

Very nice looking work on the tools! Looks like you will fit right in on this site. There are sure a lot of talented people here.

Matildasmate · Oct 5, 2007

Beutiful stuff Bob

BobL said:
You do !- OK here's a few more tools I made last year. You can then see why I only need short pieces of timber.

This is a 1/2" shoulder plane. I do all the metal work as well. The blades are retempered pieces of old files.

The next two tools I milled the timber from Western Australian Sheoak.

3/4" shoulder plane

10" screw adjustable marking gauge.

I have heaps more (hand saws, chisels, mallets, awls, clamps etc) but I should stop as we are getting off thread.

Cheers

Beutiful stuff Bob

CSM for milling small short logs

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