Home made Mini Mill

[dave k]

Did'nt want to jump all over Steve G's thread so here is a few pics of the mini mill I had made last week.
I had been thinking about buying one or making a very close copy but was trying to avoid carrying more straight edges /rails so thought about just turning any of the different lenths of unistrut I use as rails on their side and away you go ! As you can see the unistrut I have are double thickness so it gives a good solid rail for the mm to run along all I have to do is drill some holes for screwing down.
As you can see in the pics I just found the first log any where near straight just to see if I had got some thing that would work and Im more than happy, all to do is find some small wheels to run on the inside of the rail just in case I ever hit something nasty and through the saw and mount off. I do intend to try a good sized saw and bar, 070 36", for spliting down large logs ready for a pals band mill.

 

[gwiley]

Sent you some rep - nice pictures.

How does the finished flat side look up close? Is there much washboard? How square are getting the edges?

 

[Kicker_92]

Just a suggestion, try turning the saw around and tilting it forward a bit so that the chips eject in front away from you. Nice idea with the unistrut!

 

[mtngun]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[fffrosty72]

How does the braket mount to the saw?

 

[dave k]

Thanks for the comments guys, the finish was better than I expected the chain was .325 on one of my 028's and was not the sharpest also on the first cut I took the saw out of the cut to re-tune and when started again the bar wandered abit over the sawdust left in the cut. You can just see the right side is s bit rough but the second cut which is the section on the left is well finished. It was a bone dry dead chestnut log.
I had never used a mini before so thought using a small saw and mount it pulling into the cut was better but I take on board mounting away from you to spray sawdust out of your face !
FFFrosty the bar is clamped between the two rectangular sections which have flat steel sections welded on to give clearance of the chain.
I used over the top bolts to tighten the bar clamp since I will be using a much bigger saw and the 19mm combi spanner fits them.
I will do another few cuts in the next few days with bigger saw and see how it works out.
Thanks again guys !!

 

[BobL]

Looks good and well made too.

Another to turn the saw around is so the saw sits over the top of mill. That way the saw will be better balanced and require less effort to keep vertical.

Like this

 

[Little Monkey]

nice one dave thats a nice piece of kit, I have those rollers if you want to try them out, :monkey:
i will be ordering more save edge files soon if you need a top up

 

[dave k]

Got a chance to try an 090 on the MM this afternoon.
The timber is beech and I was just cutting up ready for firewood so excuse the cluttered work space !
As I said earlier I wanted to add a couple of wheels to keep things on track if I hit anything and to help keep things square well I made do with a couple of short 8mm bolts with some tube over the threads and it worked well.
The 090 had a 41" cannon bar and a Stihl semi chisel chain which I cut all of the tree with so not as sharp as perhaps it could have been. Im happy with the finish considering and it was nice and straight.

 

[mtngun]

Thanks for the pics.

 

[BobL]

Dave, If you turn the saw around in the mill the centre of gravity of the saw will be further over the rails and you will find the saw won't be so tippy.

 

[dave k]

I knew you would see that Bob ! with the studs under the rail if it tips as you see in the pic the mill will not slide along the rail so it's only at rest and if you don't support the saw you get that tip. Again with a saw like the 090 I wanted to do the first run with the saw pulling in against the timber I will in future turn the saw as Im happy all will go ok.
Thanks mtngun for putting up the pics, I've followed the instructions for embbeding in the post but there seems to be something amiss with what Im doing !

 

[BobL]

I knew you would see that Bob !

It's called "an experimental scientists eye" :biggrinbounce2:

with the studs under the rail if it tips as you see in the pic the mill will not slide along the rail so it's only at rest and if you don't support the saw you get that tip.

I can envisage that.

Here's what the turned around saw will look like - well sort of!!!

 

[dave k]

Did a bit more with the MM and as suggested mounted the 090 cutting with the top of the bar and it did not go well.
I found that the saw wanted to climb away from the rail and about half way through I remounted the saw. So I may make a bit of a hood to catch the sawdust and work it like that.
I had given the chain a quick rub and was very happy with the finish, considering the exercise was to see if I could split a large log easily and with the minimum of set up I'd say it worked well and with a smaller saw and bar will be edging slabs nice and quick.

 

[BobL]

Did a bit more with the MM and as suggested mounted the 090 cutting with the top of the bar and it did not go well.
I found that the saw wanted to climb away from the rail and about half way through I remounted the saw. So I may make a bit of a hood to catch the sawdust and work it like that.

I hope you didn't think I suggested turning the saw around meant you had to then cut with the top of the bar? I just suggested turning the saw around for balance. To cut with the top of the saw (especially an 090) needs some seriously engineered bearings and rail. What you experienced with the saw climbing out of the is exactly what I thought would happen which is why I didn't suggest it.

To be able to cut with the top of the bar this is what I made and the biggest saw I use in it is my 066. Even then it is a borderline situation and mainly I use the 441 to slice beams off slabs with it.

A hood or chip deflector is a good idea. I'm looking forward to see what you do because I also need to do the same on mine.