A simple garden chainsaw mill

[Owl]

You certainly have my sympathy concerning your back Col.

I should imagine that a 12" x 5' log would be a fair old weight, which makes me wonder how on earth are you going to lift it up onto the bench.

Maybe a wedge at the open end of the cut would have helped?

It's worth making up a couple or so wedges to put in the cut at the end you started,
Cheers, Paul

Groundhog Day :?:

 

[Walney Col]

I'd have said that saw was struggling Col, if the log had been twice the thickness (12") and 5 ft long, I just can't see it working. He had to put all his weight behind it. Maybe a wedge at the open end of the cut would have helped?

Cheers Grayorm.

Yeah, I do take your point about his setup struggling, but to my mind there's several other things he could have done that I think might also have helped him out a little and I've tried to take them into account. The bottom line for me though is that although I'd like a little beefier setup (12" max log would be great) if I could manage exactly the same cuts as he did (bearing in mind that he had another 3 logs already cut the same way showing just outside the door at the end of the vid) it would probably do... I can get 3 foot long 12" oak ash and maple logs in abundance but my source rarely if ever has anything much less and I'm loath to switch to a petrol saw unless it turns out that electric ones are a complete failure.

Col.
Edit: Seeing as there doesn't appear to be any such thing as a standard ripping chain in .046 (electric saw) gague I'm GUESSING that the guy in the video was also using the stock cross cut chain and by all accounts that would have been a struggle regardless of the type of saw it was on.

 

[Walney Col]

You certainly have my sympathy concerning your back Col.

Thanks Owl. There are worse things that could have happened

I should imagine that a 12" x 5' log would be a fair old weight, which makes me wonder how on earth are you going to lift it up onto the bench.

Ah. You spotted that too eh. I don't really envisage getting that size log home without a helper but failing that I have a cunning plan. In fact I've got two plans.
Plan A. If the back of my bench is up to it try and make the little winch on the back rail serve a dual purpose so I can use that draped over the front of the seat to help with the lift.
Plan B. is to move the bench against a small natural step we have in the garden landscape so I can actually roll the log "across a bridge" which would be more or less level.

In fact I've got a plan C as well...
Cut em into shorter logs.

 

[Graham Orm]

Col, I also noticed that he had 2 metal tracks, probably reducing friction.

And now you're talking ripping 12" oak ?? You love a challenge don't you? ;-)

 

[paulm]

Maybe a wedge at the open end of the cut would have helped?

It's worth making up a couple or so wedges to put in the cut at the end you started,
Cheers, Paul

Groundhog Day :?:

:lol: What can I say, I was in a rush to get to my dinner :lol:

Cheers, Paul

 

[Owl]

:lol: What can I say, I was in a rush to get to my dinner :lol:

Cheers, Paul

May I then wish you Bon Apetit Paul

Brian

 

[Max Power]

Why would you bother for that quantity of timber, which you then have to have sat around seasoning for an age :?
Unseasoned timber can be had relatively cheaply from any sawmill :ho2

 

[Walney Col]

And now you're talking ripping 12" oak ?? You love a challenge don't you? ;-)

I certainly do, and a 12" oak log was just too good to pass up. I could have declined it and gone for softer wood but I thought I might as well find out right off the bat whether it'd be capable of the toughest job I'm ever likely to want it to do.

Col.

 

[Walney Col]

Why would you bother for that quantity of timber, which you then have to have sat around seasoning for an age :?
Unseasoned timber can be had relatively cheaply from any sawmill :ho2

I love the santa hat!

At the rate I work that one log represents several months worth of blanks for my mini lathe and thin boards for my scroll saw, but in any case, it's just as much about me learning the milling and drying processed as anything else. You might say I just enjoy playing.

Col.

 

[dickm]

in any case, it's just as much about me learning the milling and drying processed as anything else. You might say I just enjoy playing.

Col.

Well said that lad! Let's all applaud your determination.
But having said that, while sawing up the latest load of stuff for our woodburner with a Stihl E220, did notice one thing that might need a bit of thought. Even cross cutting, it's much easier and quicker if you can raise and lower the saw a bit so it's not cutting the full width at any time. And when ripping awkward (i.e. difficult to split) stuff, it makes an even bigger difference. You've already mentioned fixing the saw so that the tip of the blade leads, which will certainly help. Being able to "wiggle" the saw in the plane of the blade would be even better, but your current design doesn't allow that. One advantage of the alaskan mill is that this wiggling is possible and if you watch most users, they do make use of it.
Picking up on the "stealth saw" issue raised earlier, you could hide an alaskan mill type thing rather than leaving it out pretending to be something else . But take your point about back problems - we most of us have encountered those one time or another.

 

[Walney Col]

Even cross cutting, it's much easier and quicker if you can raise and lower the saw a bit so it's not cutting the full width at any time.

Hi ****.

I've already encountered the phenomenon you're on about when cross cutting, and you're right, it helps a lot.

I've also noticed for myself how the alaskan mill operators achieve the same thing, and although mine wouldn't allow that as it stands - in the plans but not noticable in any of the screen shots I already have the basics of a 1-bolt setup which would allow me to pivot the saw to reduce the effective cutting width. It's the one on the left below.

While I'd definitely like to be able to pivot the saw for exactly the reasons you state I'm not 100% convinced that I personally would be very safe doing it bearing in mind that when the pain comes on I pretty often start to shake uncontrollably within seconds and would very much appreciate the safety aspect of that second bolt preventing any sudden movements.

If all goes according to plan however and it turns out to be physically easier than I worry it might be, some sort of pivot at the base of the blade will definitely be on the cards for the future.

Col.

 

[Walney Col]

The cruudy weather abated enough to make a little bit of progress on the metalwork today.

The bottom piece in the above photo now needs welding onto the carrier it's resting on and has two 10mm threaded holes into which the high tensile bolts that clamp the saw blade will go. The black lines on the clamp faces indicate the areas that need still grinding out to accommodate the kerf of the chain.

She who must be obeyed let me bring the bench into the house to drill thread and glue the three 12mm bolts into which hold the back on. It it's fully raised position (shown) the highest possible cut on any log will be 315mm above the seat of the bench. I'm a little shorter on length on my chainsaw bar than I'd anticipated (who knew a 16" bar only gave you a 13" cut!) but it's looking good for 12" logs which is what I was hoping for. You can actually get an 18" bar for my saw but there's no point in investing in one before I've found out how it performs as-is.

I could do much bigger washers to spread the load around the adjusting slots but these should do for a first try out.

Col.

 

[Water-Mark]

Looking good so far.

You'll get a better finish of cut by not see sawing the saw as it moves so i wouldn't worry too much about that.

Rocking the saw is usually helped with the dog teeth biting into the log and you'll lose that ability with this set up so any speed gains will be minimal.

 

[Walney Col]

Thanks Mark.

I think the see-sawing idea was mainly a way of dealing with either an underpowered saw or an underpowered pusher (me) both of which may well be pretty likely if the logs ever approach the full length of the bench. If it's me that turns out to be underpowered I'd deal with that by adding a small winch to tow the saw along, but if it's the saw that's underpowered and I can't uprade to a larger one the see-sawing action might just save the day.

Col.

 

[dickm]

Just a suggestion, but rather than filing grooves to clear the chain why not tack a piece of 2 or 3mm steel to the plates between the drawn lines?

 

[Walney Col]

I've just done that very thing ****. Obvious really when you think about it isn't it

 

[swb58]

In my experience, the urge to see saw the blade only occurs when the chain needs sharpening. Keep the chain sharp and it'll lower the strain on everything, saw and bench.

 

[Walney Col]

Just got to make some sort of gauge for setting the height of the rail equally at both ends and some sort of grippers for securing the log to the bench and we're ready to give it a try.

Oh... and I've yet to sharpen the chain to 10 degrees so it's more suitable for ripping.

Col.

 

[RobinBHM]

Its beginning to look like an execution bench, 'sit down sir, make yourself comfortable, face the front, in a minute you may feel a sharp scratch'

 

[paulm]

Its beginning to look like an execution bench, 'sit down sir, make yourself comfortable, face the front, in a minute you may feel a sharp scratch'

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Looking forwards to seeing how you get on

Cheers, Paul