First Post

Greetings and Salutations !
Thank you ALL for the Knowledge and experience represented on this forum.
I am a woodworker and occasional miller.
I started out with a homemade attachment for an electric chainsaw. After burning out 3 I upgraded to an 18" gasser. I picked up a "Haddon Lumbermaker" and was living large! I used that rig for 6 or 7 years. Of course I was severely limited in what I could handle, sometimes having to make 3 or 4 cuts before I could start making planks. I didnt mind the work and only had a 13" planner so I was OK.
Then... I found you guys... started reading posts by "Woodshop" "Aggie" "Railomatic" et al... Well I had to get a 20" planner
395XP 36" Alaskan and now lookin for some REAL LOGS !
All the milling I have done was with regular chain, I just filed for rip.
My 395 came with 36" square chisel full comp 3/8" .063. Will this be OK for Milling or will there be a marked difference with say "woodsman Pro Rip chain ?

Oh since I know you guys like pics I included a couple.

Welcome, Gene.

It looks like you're coming along quite nicely! I wish I would come across some walnut like that. Just not to common here.

You would be better served with a ripping chain. Chisel chain will get the job done but it tends to dull more quickly and leave a rougher surface. You don't necessarily need to buy a chain sold as ripping chain as any full comp micro-chisel or chipper chain with out bumper links will do. Just file the top plate angle back to between 0 and 10 degrees a little at a time (or all at once should you choose to) and you're set. However, Bailey's (Woodsman Pro) ripping chain is good chain and a great value. It also has the advantage of longer service life because you start with greater tooth length.

Enjoy!

Oh- and we do like pics!!


p.s. The first chainsaw milling I did was with an electric chainsaw, too.

Welcome to AS Gene,

From humble beginnings come great knowledge and piles of sawdust.

You really do have the fever to be milling with electric saws, it's an addictive hobby as you well know, and we look forward to hearing/seeing more from you.

Wood like to see some of your finshed projects as well, and that 20" planer, wow.

welcome , wow a 20 inch planer. I just have a 13, all I need and I make my living building furniture. I find that boards over 12 inches wide are highly unstable, and it doesn't matter if they are quarter sawn, or flat sawn, wide boards warp and bow . The cheap 13 inch planer works for me. I do most all my milling with old small saws. Old school, lower rpm, high torque saws. Old stihl, Pioneer, Even used old macs. I have a 68 cc Lombard to try out next. I am the oddball of the group. I mill small trees, almost always 20 inches or under. Birch mainly, got a nice pile of cherry logs right now to do. The largest saw used on them will be 68cc's. Properly set up they work fantastic. Plus for what a new husky 395 costs, I have 2 alaskan mills, an alaskan mini mill for edging, 2 homemade csms, and 4 50 to 60 great running saws used for milling only. Most of it was purchased used, including a pile of 24 to 36 inch bars. You don't need to spend a lot to mill. Including all my milling saws, my chain making tools, bars, csm's etc I have around what a 395 sells for invested. Gotta love it. For those wondering how much I can get done in a day...I can knock down a birch, chunk it into lengths, and mill the 1st 20 feet into boards (1.5 inch normally) in a 7 to 8 hour day. This includes loading and filling my 12 foot trailer. Set up right the small saws are great, and I can still lift my arms at the end of the day. A 90 cc saw gets real heavy with a csm attached. After a few hours of milling with one of those setups, I'm done. I get more done with the small, old torque monsters.

+1 on what Aggie said about chain. The Woodsman Pro is hard to beat.

And welcome to AS!

Gene, welcome from one relative newbie to another. I joined up a couple of months ago and have learned so much since. I'm starting from a lot further back than you as I have only been playing with CSMs for about a month and am finding it so addictive made worse by having so little time to devote to it and living in an inner city dwelling and having to be really careful about when I fire up my CS. Love the pics and look forward seeing what else you get up to.

Cheers

Welcome. And dont let the lack of projects or pics from the rest of us deter you. Allot of us are getting ready to go forth and make sawdust.

Welcome Gene...

Would you be a member of the DiNardo Crabs family?

Gene DiNardo said:

Then... I found you guys... started reading posts by "Woodshop" "Aggie" "Railomatic" et al... Well I had to get a 20" planner 395XP 36" Alaskan and now lookin for some REAL LOGS !

Click to expand...

Welcome Gene... I'm glad I was at least partially responsible for your recent "acquisitions". The more of us milling, the better. So happens I also live "just outside Philadelphia". You say you want big logs? They are around... best bet is hook up with tree takedown guys in the area. Also just let friends and family know you are in the market, and word of mouth spreads. Before you know it you will have tons of wood to cut and not enough time to mill it as my current situation is. What kind of woodworking do you do? IM me with your location and maybe we can get together and swap ideas or war stories.

Hi! Great pics! Did I miss something? Did you mill all that with the electric? I would've expected that thing to melt down pretty quickly!