newbie to milling

[canuckdiver]

hi guys! Just getting started on the forum, and with milling in general. Thinking of building a CSW similar to an alaskan mill type of setup, just have a couple of questions for the more experienced out there.

Basing my mill on an ols stihl 038 magnum that I have, with a 32" bar that I have scrounged. Most of my milling will be 12"-24" poplar, with some red oak and a bit of maple.Do you think this saw will be strong enought to handle it?

I noticed a lot of guys that have built their own mills have eliminated the sprocket cover on the saw? Is this to help clear the sawdust?

Also have a small problem with this saw, in that the plastic fuel tank is leaking along the seam where the two halves are bonded together. Anybody know of a good goop to repair this with? New tank is $150, and don't really want to lay that out just yet..

Cheers!
Adam

 

[BobL]

Put "plastic fuel tank is leaking along the seam" into the AS search engine and you will get a range of detailed responses about this.

 

[canuckdiver]

thanks Bob!

Actually it was your rigs I was looking at for ideas to build mine, and was referring to when I mentioned the "missing" sprocket cover. Care to enlighten me?

cheers!
Adam

 

[Hillbilly3995]

Heya Canuck, bob can slap me out of the way if I step on his toes too hard but since no one answered I thought I'd give it a shot.

I expect that the "missing" clutch cover has more to do with facilitation of chain changes, that way the only thing that has to be removed is the chain.
If BobL is like me, he changes often.
HTH - Hillbilly

 

[BobL]

thanks Bob!

Actually it was your rigs I was looking at for ideas to build mine, and was referring to when I mentioned the "missing" sprocket cover. Care to enlighten me?

Sure;
I try to make my (some say overly complicated) rigs so I can remove the chain off the saw without removing the saw from the mill. There are very simple ways to do this, such as drilling holes in the bar on both the inboard and the nose ends and bolting the mill thru these holes direct to the bar (see Mntgun's mill), but this reduces the inboard cutting width and moves the powerhead away from the log which adds to unbalancing the mill especially when a large saw is used.

The other way to do this is connect the mill to the bar bolts and then connect or bolt the nose of the bar on the top of the bar like my new mill ( see B2 in

) or with a one point nose clamp, the top of which can easily be removed,

. The chain then can be removed up and over the saw. Its hard to explain but it does work.

Bolting the mill direct to the bar bolts can be done with bar bolt standoff bolts such as on the 4 poster GB mill and also on

. This then means the standard clutch cover can still be used, but on a big saw this means the saw can the rock back and forth (even just a small amount) on the stand offs and it is a 4 bolt loosening-tightening PITA to adjust the chain tension, so I prefer an even more solid mount and bolt the mill direct to the bar bolts themselves. This means losing the standard clutch cover so I usually make up a custom cover of some kind to suit.

On the BIL mill adjusting the chain is a 3 bolt loosening-tightening action. Slower than the 2 bar bolt loosening-tightening action on CS's with side tensioners but much faster than saws that have to be removed from the mill to have their chains tension.

Removing the chain from the BIL mill using the 880 requires removing the 3 allen screws holding the clutch cover and a 3 bar bolt loosening-tightening action (1 more bolt when using the 076). Is it faster than removing the saw from a standard alaskan mill (which is the same number of bolt loosening-tightening actions), probably not that much, but it is far easier than manhandling a big saw (especially with the 60" bar) in and out of a standard mill.

On my new mill, chain tension will be a 2 bolt loosening-tightening action. I'm still working on the clutch cover design so I won't know how many bolt loosening-tightening actions will be needed just yet.

 

[betterbuilt]

I noticed a lot of guys that have built their own mills have eliminated the sprocket cover on the saw? Is this to help clear the sawdust?

As I found out the hard way the clutch cover does have a function other than a chain cover and a saw dust clearer. The cover actually aids to move the dust clear from the Chainsaw's air filtering system.

In this picture I had the cover removed and was simply bolting the bar to the saw. Look at the dust it wasn't clearing the air filter and it was just a PITA to have to clean the filter every few minutes.

In this picture I put the cover back on and the problem was fixed. Notice the saw dust exiting in an orderly fashion.

I'm not saying don't get rid of the cover. I'm saying be aware the cover actually aids in saw dust removal. There are a few designs on here of easy to remove clutch cover mods.

 

[BobL]

As I found out the hard way the clutch cover does have a function other than a chain cover and a saw dust clearer. The cover actually aids to move the dust clear from the Chainsaw's air filtering system.

I agree, the more sawdust you can move way from the operator the better.

 

[mtngun]

Sure;
Idrilling holes in the bar on both the inboard and the nose ends and bolting the mill thru these holes direct to the bar (see Mntgun's mill), but this reduces the inboard cutting width and moves the powerhead away from the log which adds to unbalancing the mill

This is news to me. Compared to a standard Granberg Alaskan, the bolt-on mod increases cutting width, and there is no change in the position of the powerhead.

Pretty fancy BBM (back breaking mill) you are building there, Bob. I applaud you for thinking outside the box.

 

[canuckdiver]

Thanks everybody! This is exactly the type of info that I am looking for!

Magnificent work Bob! You have great ideas, and make them look really professional!

I'm planning on using the bolt-through mounts (it's only a 32" bar after all).

Does anybody have any input on whether this saw is going to be strong enough for this project? It IS a magnum, so at least it is the biggest of the 038 line.

:chainsawguy:

 

[mtngun]

Does anybody have any input on whether this saw is going to be strong enough for this project? It IS a magnum, so at least it is the biggest of the 038 line.

72 cc is not going to be satisfactory in the long run, but go ahead and give it a whirl. If you catch the milling bug, chances are you'll eventually upgrade. If you decide milling is not for you, then you're not out much money.

 

[BobL]

This is news to me. Compared to a standard Granberg Alaskan, the bolt-on mod increases cutting width, and there is no change in the position of the powerhead.

I meant in comparison to a "bolt onto the bar bolt"

Pretty fancy BBM (back breaking mill) you are building there, Bob. I applaud you for thinking outside the box.

. . . . . and getting heavier by the day.

. . . . . . . (it's only a 32" bar after all).

Does anybody have any input on whether this saw is going to be strong enough for this project?

32" bar bolted to a mill is going to mean 26 to 27" of cut but a 70 cc saw is, pardon the pun, not really going to cut it at these widths.

I use my 441 with lopro chain on my small mill ~20" of cut but as soon as the log is bigger than 18" I switch to bigger saws.
Even above about 12" its slow.