Did Some Milling Today

[jimbo1490]

It seemed like such a shame to just keep burning up all that pretty oak in endless nightly bonfires, so I bought one of those cheap Chinese milling attachments and had a go at cranking out some boards. I started with the smallest log, about 12" X 12' and made a bunch of 5/4.

By the third or fourth cut, I figured out a few things:

1) You really do need to buy or grind a milling chain; regular crosscutting chain dulls too fast and is not aggressive enough. It vibrates a lot in the cut, too.

2) I need to buy bar oil by the 5 gallon pail; I used about 2 quarts to cut up this one small log. The wood is so wet I have to keep the oiler cranked wide open; sometimes it's just barely enough oil.

3) This is starting to look like hard work, but I am committed, or should be

4) I must find a better method of attaching the guide board to the log than screws; I spent more time dickin' around with screws than cutting. Suggestions?

 

[glens]

4) I must find a better method of attaching the guide board to the log than screws; I spent more time dickin' around with screws than cutting. Suggestions?

You've got to find a better way of attaching images to the post, too!

You can only put Web entities with their full identification within

code.  Furthermore, URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) cannot include any blank spaces.

Holler if you want some help getting your web-served images included in your post.  The best way if you don't have a web-server available would be to use the "Manage Attachments" section of the reply-forming page here.

Glen

 

[jimbo1490]

Should've scrolled down.

Better?

Jimbo

 

[scottr]

Safety

Jimbo , it seems that you are putting yourself in an awkward position that is not the safest . The pictures of the Haddon lumbermaker mill shows the guy on the opposite side of the log . Maybe Max2Cam will ring in with some tips . Scott

 

[jimbo1490]

My friend Mark is a lefty (physically, NOT politically ) and likes to stand like that. I was holding the camera; did'nt get any pics of me milling. I like to stand on the other side. I probably could use a full wrap handlebar, too.

Jimbo

 

[techdave]

Hi Jimbo. If you put a smaller bar on the saw and work it at right angles to log it will probably cut easier. Less to sharpen too. Also for short lengths like that I have had good luck standing up log and cutting with log vertical. Use a stand of timbers to support it and tall steps made out of big diam pieces of the bole to get high enough to do first 3 or 4 feet of cut (on an 8 footer). HTH Dave. ps if you buy or make an alska type mill it is much easier than using the "edger" type you have. To make all you need is few pieces of pipe and dowel and GOOD drill bit to put 2 holes in bar. Use an old bar or piece of thick scrap aluminum for the guide that sits parallel to the saw's bar. Use the pipe nipples to set the depth of cut, and use the dowels so the bolts holding everything together dont move around in the pipe. Swich pipe to adjust depth of cut, very easy to do only 2 bolts. My own design, simplest and cheapest I have seen.

 

[woodshop]

To make all you need is few pieces of pipe and dowel and GOOD drill bit to put 2 holes in bar. Use an old bar or piece of thick scrap aluminum for the guide that sits parallel to the saw's bar. Use the pipe nipples to set the depth of cut, and use the dowels so the bolts holding everything together dont move around in the pipe. Swich pipe to adjust depth of cut, very easy to do only 2 bolts. My own design, simplest and cheapest I have seen.

techdave I'm curious what your homemade mill looks like, lets see some pics. I have tentative plans of making a homemade one myslef, but a big one that will cut larger than the 30" my 36" Granburg can currently cut.

 

[jimbo1490]

Yeah Dave, bring on the pics! This little Chinese POS guide is a bit of a disappointment, but I guess disappointment goes hand in hand with unrealistic expectations When you can see four or five ways to improve something before you have even used it once, you are dealing with junk, more or less. That said, it did do an adequate job of milling lumber straight enough for a planer to finish out. I will be needing something more than just adequate when I get to the bigger, longer logs. The biggest is about 30" X 25' tapering to only 22". Lots of good oak boards in that one.

Jimbo

 

[techdave]

Hi guys, no camera right now, and I might not get a chance to use it until the end of month. Concept is super simple. Mount another chainsaw bar parallel to the one on your saw,lets call it the depth guid. Set the depth guide by using steel pipe nipple with an inside diameter of about 1 inch or 1.5 inches. Pick a size almost as wide as your bar, but get one that has a wooden dowel that just fits inside the pipe. The dowel is the same length as the pipe nipple and is used to center the bolt in the middle of the nipple. You will lose a lot of bar length with the need to drill short of the nose sprocket. I get 21 inches of width out of a 32 inch bar. Different length nipple/dowel assys set the height of cut. Instead of another bar I am using a plate of 1/4 hardened aluminum I got from scrap yard. Using something other than another bar is easier cuz its pita to drill holes in bar. IMHO. I will try to get pics next time I use it might be 2 weeks if I dont get ordered to work on trails instead of slabbing planks for footbridge.