Whats your favourite Ripping Chain?

[slabberman]

G'day Guys,

For the chainsaw millers out there, whats your favourite rip chain at the moment?? Im always interested in trying something new.
Stock out of the box rip chain, or regrind yourself?
Do you go for speed in the kerf, and deal with the rough finish later, or cut slower for a nice finish straight off the log?
Buy by the loop, or make up your own loops from a bulk roll?
Cheers
Charlie.

 

[Walkerized]

Hi I use Carlton .058 3/8 full house ripping chain on my woodbug saw mill. I leave it at the 5 degree angle and use my shop grinder with a borzon wheel. I do manly west coast red cedar and the finish is fine for the fencing and deck projects i do. I dont really vary my speed. i let the saw kind of feed itself. Works for me.

John W

 

[Dennis]

Unfortunately, I sold my mill not too long ago and only left with the Alaskan mill, but on that as well as my Jonsered mill I always used the Oregon 91R...3/8 .050 lowprofile chain..leaves a nice enough finish for projects as John W mentioned...and yeah...I let it feed itself generally...no need to push....

 

[Kevin]

Oregon RA, 3/8, full skip with a 15o top plate angle out of the box.
Kickass,smooth cut`n rip`n chain!
I have to go now, Oregon special agents justs pulled into my driveway.

 

[slabberman]

G'day Guys,

Hey Dennis, what length bar are you using the low profile chain on, and have you had any problems with the chain breaking? Are you cutting hardwoods or softwoods?
John and Kevin, do you prefer the 3/8 purely for the kerf size?
And Kevin, if you need to skip the country, let me know, I can hide you till the heats gone!
Cheers
Charlie.

 

[Kevin]

The RA is a strong chain that will take on a hefty load with little or no stress.
I found the low pro`s to be weak with lots of stretch and rightly so, they were designed for arborist work.
I dinked around with chains for a couple of years until I stumbled upon the RA by sheer accident and now I have no interest in using anything else for chainsaw milling, I`m very happy with it.
I file the top plate to 10o`s as it gets resharpened but other than that it`s a good aggressive, smooth cutting out of the box ripping chain.

 

[Dennis]

Hey there..my 600+ mill uses usually a 20" bar...and i mostly cut softwoods...except when my dad needs birch for projects....I havent experienced any breakage, but I dont push it too hard...

 

[slabberman]

G'day Guys,

I see that the size of choice seems to be 3/8. Have you tried the .404, or found the larger size isnt needed for strength, or do you just want a thinner kerf?
Cheers
Charlie.

 

[rufcut]

Which mill?

While we're on this subject, Who makes the best (or your favorite) chainsaw mill? Is there a difference?
Thanks

 

[slabberman]

G'day rufcut,

I have the Alaskan, and its great for me. I havent tried many others, but the Alaskan suited price, and portability was highest on my list of needs.
I have also tried this one, which was fun but I felt I needed a bit more!!
http://home.iprimus.com.au/eddiema/projects/csmill/mill.htm
It certainly works well though! Great for burls.
Ive not tried the likes of the Logosol, hopefully someone else can tell us about them.
Cheers
Charlie.

 

[Walkerized]

Hi Guys I use the woodbug saw mill usually with my 394xpw. It takes up to a 20" log and works really well. I had access to some cedar tops from a local logging company averaging 6 to 12" and i am milling 1/2" boards for fence panels. The mill uses a 30"bar and 3/8 chain. We thought we could save some kerf and had a 30" .050 bar from Cannon shaved down and ran oregon 91VS on a walkerized 357xp. I ground the chain at a 10 degree angle. Over the last 2 weekends i have milled 32 of these logs and have had no problems with chain breakage. And with the narrow kerf i get 1 more 1/2" board off the log.
when im doing larger logs i usually use 3/8 because im not to worried about wastage from kerf as i get the wood for free anyways.

Happy Milling

John W

 

[joemarty]

i just order 25 feet of ripping chain from baileys. have any of you used it. 404, .063.

 

[Kevin]

Joe, what style of chain is it, who makes it?