what do use use

[hammercore]

i've been interested in milling for a little while now and was thnking of buying an alaskan mill, to make boards for projects and to make a new mantel. Some places i've read guys seem to say that they wouldn't mill with a saw that is less than 80cc. Right now by big saw is a 455 rancher, i'm planning on hopefully being able to buy a husky 372 within the next year. My quesion is what size saw (cc's) do you guys use for milling?

 

[BobL]

i've been interested in milling for a little while now and was thnking of buying an alaskan mill, to make boards for projects and to make a new mantel. Some places i've read guys seem to say that they wouldn't mill with a saw that is less than 80cc. Right now by big saw is a 455 rancher, i'm planning on hopefully being able to buy a husky 372 within the next year. My quesion is what size saw (cc's) do you guys use for milling?

I use from 50 to 120cc.
50cc for <8"
70cc for 8 - 16"
After that it depends what's sitting in the mill.

 

[gemniii]

Welcome aboard!
Your 455 is on the lower end, open up the muffler and get some more power out of it.
I started milling w/ a John Deere CS 62 (62CC), ~4.5HP. On red maple it did 14" with ease, and barely made it thru 20".

Since then I've got a 660 (90CC) and haven't done anything over 2 foot, and everything with ease.

Warning - They say CAD is a disease, I think CSM is an addicition.

Give us more info on what you want to do and why, and we'll advise you to the point of no return.

 

[hammercore]

i guess i would like to be able to mill logs down to boards so i could plane them down and make them into cabinets (1/2 -1") The thickest would be something along the lines of a mantel, i always wanted to make a birch mantel with the bark on it and a heavy coat of laquer. i'm sure i wouldn't be milling bigger than 30" oak logs

 

[BobL]

i guess i would like to be able to mill logs down to boards so i could plane them down and make them into cabinets (1/2 -1") The thickest would be something along the lines of a mantel, i always wanted to make a birch mantel with the bark on it and a heavy coat of laquer. i'm sure i wouldn't be milling bigger than 30" oak logs

Those logs sizes are too big for such a small saw, I'd say no bigger than 12" continuously with the odd 16' thrown in from time to time for such as small saw. 30" is 90cc + territory.

 

[gemniii]

i guess i would like to be able to mill logs down to boards so i could plane them down and make them into cabinets (1/2 -1") The thickest would be something along the lines of a mantel, i always wanted to make a birch mantel with the bark on it and a heavy coat of laquer. i'm sure i wouldn't be milling bigger than 30" oak logs

Ok, that's a start. There are two basic types CSM and BSM. Bandsaw Mills (BSM) are much better at thin lumber, less kerf waist. CSM is lighter on the wallet and the back.

My initial big setup, including an ebay 660 an Alaskan MK-III, chains, file, oil, gas cost under $800. An entry level BSM is about $2500. A BSM to handle 30" wood is much more.

As BobL wrote - you'll need a bigger saw soon. Regardless, if you want to get started (it's the time of year to cut wood), and you want to buy rather than DIY, I'd suggest a 36" Alaskan about $200.

Since you mentioned planing, cabinets, and birch you could start with smaller trees and end up with narrower lumber, but suitable for your purposes. Birch is not an extremely hard wood, often in cabinetry you don't need much over 12" and pieces can built of edged and jointed wood, rather than needing 1 big slab.

I suggest a 36" Alaskan simply because it should handle your wood if you do move up to a 90cc class saw. If you want used, a couple have popped on ebay recently.
And Bailey's has free shipping until Nov 31st on orders over $200.
good luck

 

[MR4WD]

I use my woods ported 3120 with a 42" bar for everything from 8" to 3'

I change the sprocket from 8-7 when required. The amount of cutters on the longer bar allows me not to sharpen as much as if I had a shorter bar. Also, having a longer bar creates a better balance point for such a large saw.

I use my woods ported 390 with a 24" bar for vertical slabbing. No problems with power, but the oiler and filtration don't quite live up to the 3120 so I'm happy with only using it for 2 cuts per cant.

 

[irishcountry]

I have a 455 rancher for firewood cutting and a 395xp for milling I recently put my 455 rancher on my mini-mill (vertical cutting attachment) and I had a very hard time pushing through pine (about 8-10" dia.) I put my 395xp on the attachment and it flew through. I think milling would be overall pretty hard on the 455 .

 

[hammercore]

Well i guess my milling plans will have to wait a little till i can get a bigger saw, maybe a 390 or 395 instead of the 372. I'll just have to hide the receipt from the wife. We were cutting some bigger stuff a while ago and i was just barely able to get it cut with my 18" bar. The wife actually told me that i've got to get a bigger saw, but she doesn't know how much a good big saw cost, she thought my 455 was expensive

thanks for all the input

 

[irishcountry]

Hammer, I was in the same boat not too long ago , my wife thought the 455 was pricey too !!! I waited almost a yr. for my 395 . Baileys had a sale on them at that time and had to jump on it. In the meantime I pesterd these poor patient millers on here with anything I could think to ask !! Got alot of info , this is a great site with some good knowledgeable people !!!

 

[sachsmo]

100cc Sachs Dolmar, and 2 99 cc Husqvarnas.

I have used a 95cc Sachs Dolmar once, It couldn't hold a candle to the 100cc Dolmar. The Huskys are a bit better than the 143, but the 153 rules!

 

[stonykill]

I've used everything from 48cc stihl 031 to a 80 something cc pioneer. I have quite a few old threads showing how I have milled a lot of wood with a mid 50's cc saw. Here is a link to one of them.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=47500&highlight=stonykill

Now I've always milled with oldschool 50 something cc saws. low rpm...big tourque saws. My father has helped me mill before and insisted on using his stihl 029..... a similar saw to your 455. One of the days we milled together I was using a stihl 031 (48cc's) and he was using his 029. We were milling birch. I didn't quite mill twice as much wood as he did, but it was close. I was running a 24 inch bar with 3/8 lp chain. The tree was around 18 inches in diameter. He was runnig a 20 inch bar with .325 chain. So obviously I was milling the larger pieces.
So I guess what I'm getting at is.... start milling, like Bob L said on the smaller side with your saw, then move up to either a bigger or at least better milling saw.

 

[Brmorgan]

Heh, I think I might hold the record for using the widest variety of displacement of milling saws... I successfully milled some small Juniper last year with my little 26cc Homelite XL-2. And for the big stuff I have the 137cc 090, though I haven't needed to use it much. The 066 or 395 do the majority of the milling, with the 084 now for larger pieces that don't need the 090's torque. I'll occasionally throw the 371XP on the vertical mill for edging smaller stuff, but it's been ported and muffler modded and whatnot, and can do almost as much work as my ~90cc saws anyway. If you had a good woods ported 372 you could get away with the occasional 30" cut, but you'd still have to take it a bit easy.

 

[markvanzee]

I have a homemade chainsaw mill made by my grandpa. he's a really good blacksmith and in my opinion my mill is better then the granberg one.

the chainsaw i use is a stihl 070 AV with a 36 inch bar and 404 rip chain.
i haven't milled any really small logs but when i have some i'll grab my husqvarna 281 xp with a 20 inch bar and regular chain.

i also use a ladder to start the first cut:msp_biggrin: works really good

 

[rarefish383]

Well i guess my milling plans will have to wait a little till i can get a bigger saw, maybe a 390 or 395 instead of the 372. I'll just have to hide the receipt from the wife. We were cutting some bigger stuff a while ago and i was just barely able to get it cut with my 18" bar. The wife actually told me that i've got to get a bigger saw, but she doesn't know how much a good big saw cost, she thought my 455 was expensive

thanks for all the input

Saying your milling plans will have to wait is taking our big saw advice too far. I was out with the Boy Scouts a few years back. I had a little Echo 305 with a 14 inch bar in the truck, I think it's something like 33 cc's. We were camping on our private 40 acre campsite. I was digging around in the back of the truck for something and found an old cheapy mini mill. Found a 2X4 and nailed it to a 10 inch Black Locust log. Locust is way harder than Birch. The saw had a brand new chian and it split that Locust log fine, slooow, but fine. I never pushed hard enough to bog it. I then cut V notches in some rounds and made benches. The boys in our patrol were so tickled, it was funny. I think we had 6 or 7 patrols on that camp out and our guys were the only ones high and dry on those bright yellow benches. That camp out got me hooked. Luckilly I still had some of my Dads big saws from when he was in business in the 60's-80's. I now have a 77cc, 82cc, and 2 100cc saws. All old Homelites. I've never used the Echo on a mill since, but it was fun, and proved a point. If you let the saw run free in it's rpm range, don't bog it, and dog it, you can get some milling in. Plus, you just might see if this is something you want to do before you dump a ton of money in it.

Just remember, if your chain is sharp it will cut without leaning on it, maybe slow, but it will go. If you have to lean on it and bog and dog it, your chain is dull or something else is wrong, and you'll hurt the saw.

Good luck, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Forgot to mention, I've cut lots of 6X6, 3 sided beams out of Virginia Pine on my farm in WV. Most of these logs were just big enough to get one beam out of. I'm guessing 10 maybe 12 in at the most. I used the MS 290 with an 18" bar, and it would cut that soft Pine about as fast as I cared to go with it. here are a couple pics of the beams, Joe.