Hi

[Old Blue]

Hi all.

Wanted to say hi and introduce myself.

49 years old with wife and two kids and not enough common sense to keep me out of a lot of things.

I’ve been reading the forum for a while and have learned a lot and enjoyed it. I found it after getting interested in milling and woodwork.

I wound up jumping in and picking up a couple of saws. I don’t have any trees or wood to cut but am counting on saving some urban arborist removals from the dump.

My brother and I have rigged up a homebuilt Alaskan mill for a 20 inch bar to see if we could get it to work and learn more about it. We’ve made a few cuts and have had a little success but learned a lot.

Old Blue

 

[deeker]

Hi all.

Wanted to say hi and introduce myself.

49 years old with wife and two kids and not enough common sense to keep me out of a lot of things.

I’ve been reading the forum for a while and have learned a lot and enjoyed it. I found it after getting interested in milling and woodwork.

I wound up jumping in and picking up a couple of saws. I don’t have any trees or wood to cut but am counting on saving some urban arborist removals from the dump.

My brother and I have rigged up a homebuilt Alaskan mill for a 20 inch bar to see if we could get it to work and learn more about it. We’ve made a few cuts and have had a little success but learned a lot.

Old Blue

Welcome to the site Old Blue!!

Now that you have started to mill....your hooked now!!

Kevin

 

[discounthunter]

welcome. sounds like you are on the right track.post some pictures of your mill. what saw(s) are you using , size of the saw helps define how big of wood and how fast you can cut. theres a ton of info and knowledgable people here to help you out. enjoy

 

[Old Blue]

You're right...

about being hooked after you start milling! I think that I've cut maybe 5 or 6 boards now and one of them even came out straight - ha ha. I can't wait until I can make it look as easy as the guys in the videos do, although I think I'm on the right track.

I bought a Husky 455 new that we jigged up and has so far done all of our very limited milling.
I also bought a used Stihl 084AV. It's a pretty big saw and I plan on using it to mill with. I used it to fell a walnut this last weekend and it doesn't feel overly practical to be using for anything other than what the 455 won't handle ( or I don't have the experience to use it on ). We still need to build a jig for that one. I think we are going to make a simple carriage for it to ride on for the milling.

Thanks for the welcome guys

Old Blue

 

[Old Hilly]

Yeah, welcome Old Blue. Mate, have a look at some of the gear "Bob L" has made. Bob is a pretty cluey sort of bloke and all the gear he has made so far is pretty well thought out. You will find him around here somewhere. For those people that are "computer literate" (that does not include me!:censored there is this "search" function up the top of the page. That should find him pronto.
Dennis.

 

[Andrew96]

new or not Old Blue...I'd be interested in seeing the mill you made. Always interesting to see how you did what to get there. Use the search function to figure out how to post some photos. Let's see that mill of yours! Oh...you're already hooked. It gets worse.

 

[BobL]

Welcome Old Blue!

Yeah, welcome Old Blue. Mate, have a look at some of the gear "Bob L" has made. Bob is a pretty cluey sort of bloke and all the gear he has made so far is pretty well thought out.

Yo - here I am - still stuck in bulgaria under the ash cloud trying to get to italy

if you feel lazy maybe follow some of the links in my sig file to some of my stuff.

I also encourage you to post pics of your mill.

Cheers

 

[Old Blue]

Old Hilly, I agree....

That BobL character is a pretty cluey mate. I have already spent some of my time here looking at what hes been up to.

I've also followed a bunch of links from here and learned an awful lot. In fact one of the links from here took me to a sight that gave a brief on line safety course regarding arborist work. That gave me a lot of confidence regarding safety gear, and what was enough knowledge to go ahead and fell my first tree weekend before last.

This site is really neat and has been a great resource for learning for me.

Old Blue

 

[Old Blue]

Andrew 96

my picture taking is not up to speed so the pics will have to wait. You're not missing out on too much regarding the mill. We built it as quick and simple as we could. The only thing on it that may be novel to this bunch is probably the bar mounts and trust me, they are not that interesting. But as soon as I get a pic I will be sure to post.

You're right, it does get worse. Between the "Fancy CSM" link and the Procut website and the Logosol, I'm getting a definate itch for a nice smooth rolling carriage that just might allow even a rookie like me to cut some nice lumber.

Ultiimately I would like to cut some walnut and make a pair of heirloom wallclocks for my kids and maybe one for our house. Of course I've never done anything like that before but I'm going to try not to let that stop me but I do know it will take me 10 times longer than if I actually knew what I was doing!

Old Blue

 

[Old Blue]

BobL, thanks for....

posting all the cool stuff you do. Just a ton of neat stuff and ideas. Thanks for sharing.

I've already checked out all of your links and am always getting some new ideas and learning a lot from them. You guys really have a neat site for sharing info and ideas. Can hardly wait to hear how the Cant dragon works.

That BIL mill is a mighty fine piece of work. Looks like it cranks out nice lumber and slabs.

Do you move the rails down onto each new slice as you progress through a log or do you slide it on top of a flat cut?

Old Blue

 

[BobL]

posting all the cool stuff you do. Just a ton of neat stuff and ideas. Thanks for sharing.

No Worries OB.

I've already checked out all of your links and am always getting some new ideas and learning a lot from them. You guys really have a neat site for sharing info and ideas. Can hardly wait to hear how the Cant dragon works.

I have used the cant dragon many times since I made it and it works really well. It is easier to use than my bigger cant hook probably because it is a little lighter.

That BIL mill is a mighty fine piece of work. Looks like it cranks out nice lumber and slabs.

Cheers OB, I'm sorry if the others have heard me saying this before but it is one of the few tools I have made that exceeded my expectation of how well it works. A good portion of CSM is of course learning how to sharpen chain properly and never letting the chain go blunt.

Do you move the rails down onto each new slice as you progress through a log or do you slide it on top of a flat cut?

I have done both but use the log rails most of the time, it's slower but easier for the mill to slide while it's cutting.