Questions

[AIM]

I've been doing some lurking on here for a while now I my interest is up. I just got off granbergs website and I like the look of the alaskan mkIII.
Simple, cheap, mill it where it falls, etc.

Any ways now for the questions.
If I wanted a 8" X 16" X 8' long fireplace mantle. How long would it take to mill? Is it a painfully long process? 1/2 day? 2hour? I'm just kinda wanting to get a feel for whats involved.

I doubt there is any REAL money to be made at least where I live but is there typically a market for a guy with a small mill to do one off jobs for people? Ya know, a mantle for this guy, a few boards for another guy, etc.

As I said I'm looking at the mkIII and using 2X4 guide rails. I wanna keep this as cheap as possible. I have the saw for it. Stihl 076 with 32" bar and 404 chain. From what I've read I'll need a ripping chain and the mill itself. Is there other stuff that I'll end up needing to REALLY make this work?
From what I've read, about $300 and I'm good to go. Am I missing something?

Just an idea I'm toying with..

 

[BobL]

Any ways now for the questions.
If I wanted a 8" X 16" X 8' long fireplace mantle. How long would it take to mill? Is it a painfully long process? 1/2 day? 2hour? I'm just kinda wanting to get a feel for whats involved.

Unless you want live edges to make that mantle is a minimum of 4 cuts. The cuts themselves are 15 minute each and are the easy bits, its the setting up and turning of the log and getting all the cuts square that's the frustrating bit and takes the time. If you had a mini mill as well that would speed things up a bit.

I doubt there is any REAL money to be made at least where I live but is there typically a market for a guy with a small mill to do one off jobs for people? Ya know, a mantle for this guy, a few boards for another guy, etc.

As I said I'm looking at the mkIII and using 2X4 guide rails. I wanna keep this as cheap as possible. I have the saw for it. Stihl 076 with 32" bar and 404 chain. From what I've read I'll need a ripping chain and the mill itself. Is there other stuff that I'll end up needing to REALLY make this work?

You either need a mini mill or a cant hook.
I would get at least a couple of 3/8 ripping chains.
Have you got full PPE?
What about a way of moving the big beams?

 

[rarefish383]

As Bob mentioned, moving the beams. I milled 3 planks to make a park bench out of. They are about 7'X18"X3", cut from dried Poplar, and they weigh at least 100 lbs each. An 8X16X8" is gong to be real heavy, Joe.

 

[gemniii]

Depending on species your looking at 300 to 500 lbs of wood. Need wheels or LOTS of strong friends to get it out of the woods.

 

[SteveG]

Any ways now for the questions.
If I wanted a 8" X 16" X 8' long fireplace mantle. How long would it take to mill? Is it a painfully long process? 1/2 day? 2hour? I'm just kinda wanting to get a feel for whats involved.

I've just started doing some milling with the mini-mill and can offer this advise from milling less than 2 dozen logs. At first, it takes quite a while to get the log prepped for milling. Getting the guide on the log and the log leveled seemed to take the longest time. Once you're installed the mill and warmed up your cs it doesn't really take that long to mill though it does depend on the thickness and the length of the log especially when making the initial 'slice'. Subsequent cuts don't seem to take as long as you have a flat side now to work with. I'm doing mostly cedar now and would guess I from start to finish on a 8' log 12" thick I could have it milled in under an 45 minutes. If it were oak, I'd guess it to be an hour.

With the mini-mill it is suggested using the duplex type 16d nails. I did this for a while but then bolted L brackets the bottom of my rail board and screwed lag screws into the ends of the log. It's much easier to remove the lag bolts than the nails and set-up is much faster (IMHO).

Good luck.

 

[AIM]

Unless you want live edges to make that mantle is a minimum of 4 cuts. The cuts themselves are 15 minute each and are the easy bits, its the setting up and turning of the log and getting all the cuts square that's the frustrating bit and takes the time. If you had a mini mill as well that would speed things up a bit.

That's kinda my question. From getting out of my truck. Setting up. making cuts. Tearing it down. Getting back in the truck. 3 hours?? 6 hours??

I can see where a 4 sided beam would take longer than planks with rough edges. For planks I would guess just snapping a line and using a circular saw for the edges would be the way to go.

 

[BobL]

That's kinda my question. From getting out of my truck. Setting up. making cuts. Tearing it down. Getting back in the truck. 3 hours?? 6 hours??

I can see where a 4 sided beam would take longer than planks with rough edges. For planks I would guess just snapping a line and using a circular saw for the edges would be the way to go.

Well - I'd like to see the circular saw you are going to use to cut 4 x 4" beam let alone any 6 x 6's. The most I like to rip with my big makita circular is 2" thick and then it needs a 10 minute cool down before ripping another length.

In terms of time needed from when you arrive in the truck to when your can leave, thats a "how long is a piece of string" question.

Your rate limiting step is still getting the 300 - 500 lb cant in the back of the truck. If this is done by magic, then;

If the the log not too big, is clean, and laying bucked and delimbed in open firm ground, with 90cc saw and an alaskan alone an experienced miller would be doing well to do it in 2 hours.