Attachment to bar at Front end of Chainsaw Mill

[Raptor57]

I just wanted to check with people more knowledgeable than me to confirm that this placement is OK? Not to close to the sprocket is it? New bar and chain and wanted to check before running it. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[J D]

That looks to be exactly where you don't want to have it... you either want the pressure on the area where the rivets are or far enough back that its on the solid part of the bar. You should be able to tell where the solid part of the bar is from the spot welds.
There's something up with the grind on that chain too... wheel needs dressing or something. Chain should have more hook & that notch in the gullet shouldn't really be there

 

[Raptor57]

That looks to be exactly where you don't want to have it... you either want the pressure on the area where the rivets are or far enough back that its on the solid part of the bar. You should be able to tell where the solid part of the bar is from the spot welds.
There's something up with the grind on that chain too... wheel needs dressing or something. Chain should have more hook & that notch in the gullet shouldn't really be there

So right on top of that ring if rivets is where the end should be clamped? I don't want to go back any further (toward the powerhead) as I am trying to get as much cutting length as possible.

 

[GeneralKayoss]

Nope, gonna pinch your sprocket. You don't want to have the edge of the clamp much past where the tips of the sprocket teeth will be.

 

[Raptor57]

Nope, gonna pinch your sprocket. You don't want to have the edge of the clamp much past where the tips of the sprocket teeth will be.

So it sounds like i really need to move it bac toward the powerhead? Lose a lot of cutting length that way. I really don't want to drill the bar but sounds like my options are pretty limited huh?

 

[Chainsaws]

Just drill in the middle of the rivets and put a bolt through

 

[GeneralKayoss]

So it sounds like i really need to move it bac toward the powerhead? Lose a lot of cutting length that way. I really don't want to drill the bar but sounds like my options are pretty limited huh?

Yeah, it's basically one or the other buddy. You can count on losing 6 inches off your bar length when milling typically.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

No point in trying to get too much out of a bar. It's a given you're going to lose 5-6" of bar length in a mill. Buy a bigger bar to mill bigger wood. It will be stiffer and better suited to the job.

 

[Raptor57]

No point in trying to get too much out of a bar. It's a given you're going to lose 5-6" of bar length in a mill. Buy a bigger bar to mill bigger wood. It will be stiffer and better suited to the job.

Haha...i already did. Just got a 32" bar and ripping chains. How far back from the sprocket center do i need to be? If I measure from the sprocket center to the end of the bar,, and stay back that same distance, is that far enough back?

 

[Raptor57]

No point in trying to get too much out of a bar. It's a given you're going to lose 5-6" of bar length in a mill. Buy a bigger bar to mill bigger wood. It will be stiffer and better suited to the job.

Would the area below work OK without messing with the sprocket? I measured from the center of the sprocket to the outside edge of the tooth, then moved the leading edge of the clamp that same distance plus 1/4". Orr should it be completely off of the sprocket tip? Thoughts?

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

That looks perfect. The farthest I go is bridging the outer part of the joint where the nose sprocket joins on to the main bar, just as you seem to have done there. You can see that it's far enough back you won't be pinching the teeth of the rotating nose sprocket. You just don't ever want the clamp entirely on the nose sprocket steel.

 

[poleframer]

I 2nd drilling through the tip, before i had a BSM I drilled my bars center of the sprocket rivits and bolted through. Bars are pretty hard, get a masonry drill bit, they're carbide tipped, they can be sharpened on a bench grinder, HSS bits usually just burn up trying to drill bars.
Or clamp where you show, and loose a couple inches.

 

[GeneralKayoss]

Would the area below work OK without messing with the sprocket? I measured from the center of the sprocket to the outside edge of the tooth, then moved the leading edge of the clamp that same distance plus 1/4". Orr should it be completely off of the sprocket tip? Thoughts?

View attachment 1185892View attachment 1185893

Yep, that looks about where I keep mine. And if you do run into a spot in a log that's slightly big, just pull your little saw out and trim it down.

 

[Raptor57]

That looks perfect. The farthest I go is bridging the outer part of the joint where the nose sprocket joins on to the main bar, just as you seem to have done there. You can see that it's far enough back you won't be pinching the teeth of the rotating nose sprocket. You just don't ever want the clamp entirely on the nose sprocket steel.

Great, thanks for the feedback. Looks like ill get 25" of cut out of a 32" bar. Should be enough for most of what i do. May eventually drill the bar but will try it this way for a while. Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Should get a little more than 25" with the nose clamp where it is. Do you have the dogs on the powerhead still? Ideally you don't want the rear milling post butted up too close to the exhaust normally but if you want to max out a cut you can put it as close to the powerhead as possible. I get 30.5" out of a 36" bar even keeping the whole clamp behind the nose joint.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

Though I do have a bolt-on setup directly to the mill with the bar shown, never realized you could drill a hole straight thru the center of the nose sprocket for a bolt on setup. The pre-drilled GB bolt holes are both on the main bar on my 36" bar and reduce the max cutting width quite a bit so I went back to clamping. Anyway, most of this has been covered by the illustrious BobL in the CSM tricks and tips thread, here's the link. I've told BobL before that there is a more modern relevant book on CSM than Malloff's that could be assembled out of everything he ever posted on this site. https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/cs-milling-101-hints-tips-and-tricks.93458/page-2#post-1507640

 

[Raptor57]

Should get a little more than 25" with the nose clamp where it is. Do you have the dogs on the powerhead still? Ideally you don't want the rear milling post butted up too close to the exhaust normally but if you want to max out a cut you can put it as close to the powerhead as possible. I get 30.5" out of a 36" bar even keeping the whole clamp behind the nose joint.View attachment 1186035View attachment 1186036

No, I have the dogs off. Back clamp is pretty close to the powerhead, wouldn't want to bring it back any further. I thought I'd get 26" but i think I can live with 25". May wind up drilling it if i get up the nerve..lol.

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

No, I have the dogs off. Back clamp is pretty close to the powerhead, wouldn't want to bring it back any further. I thought I'd get 26" but i think I can live with 25". May wind up drilling it if i get up the nerve..lol.

Depends a lot on the bar, some have much less effective cutting edge than the length claims. I was a bit skeptical about bolting the center of the nose sprocket but I guess it's been established it works. I have good cheap carbide tipped multipurpose bits I got for a couple bucks from China that work great for drilling bars. Strangely, just about no one sells the same thing in the US. Drilling hardened steel is easy with the right kind of cheap bits (basically they're just cheap concrete bits with a sharpened edge on the carbide tips) but no one wants to sell them here.

 

[Raptor57]

Depends a lot on the bar, some have much less effective cutting edge than the length claims. I was a bit skeptical about bolting the center of the nose sprocket but I guess it's been established it works. I have good cheap carbide tipped multipurpose bits I got for a couple bucks from China that work great for drilling bars. Strangely, just about no one sells the same thing in the US. Drilling hardened steel is easy with the right kind of cheap bits (basically they're just cheap concrete bits with a sharpened edge on the carbide tips) but no one wants to sell them here.

Are all bars sprockets the same, in that, no matter the manufacturer, the center of the sprocket can be safely drilled without fear of damaging the sprocket/bar? I have Husqvarna and Forrester long bars. I am tempted to drill but fear damaging the bar. Also, what size bolt is recommended?

 

[HumBurner]

No, I have the dogs off. Back clamp is pretty close to the powerhead, wouldn't want to bring it back any further. I thought I'd get 26" but i think I can live with 25". May wind up drilling it if i get up the nerve..lol.

Is your brake handle removed? On my husqys, I generally took the brake handles off to avoid hitting the post and lose even a few grams of weight.