It has been inferred that all I do is crazy stuff with chainsaws. I resent that, but it may be true.
In order to damage my reputation even more, here is my current chainsaw madness:
It's a cradle for the chainsaw, which runs on a track (like an inverted t-track):
The point is to mill logs into planks/boards - call it what you will. I tried freehand, and that is serious effort, and rubbish results. I tried making an "Alaskan mill" arrangement, and that is also hard work, and still not good results. This system is virtually no effort at all,and seems to do very well. I'm getting flat, square boards about 35mm thick, so all in a good days work. Completely made from scrap I had lying around, there are no frills, and it could be much better, but for now it is working well.
First cut straight through the middle, at whatever point it happens to be.
Then put the flat newly cut side down to keep everything square, and cut again. Raise the work up on blocks, for the next cut, and the third.
Here's the result still covered in sawdust:
The spacers I use are 45mm thick, but with the chainsaw kerf being huge each plank is about 35mm, and the surface is quite uneven from the saw but not as bad as I was expecting.
And the big reveal (also known as a bucket of water):
And a close-up to show the surface:
Here are some I made earlier:
These have been sealed at the ends, firstly with a latex paint, but when I ran out of that with wood glue, because it's all I have. It's an expensive waterproof D3 wood glue, so that must help, surely...
So far I have only cut up olive wood - I also have a fair amount of walnut logs which are longer, wider, and much straighter than the olive wood, but I have more olive wood so I am practicing with that first. If anyone has any pointers as to how to do this properly I am very open to suggestions, but I am happy with the results so far.
