Thread: Chainsaw milling iron bark

Wow. I'm adding Iron Bark to my list of favourites now, I really love the colouring and grain. Thanks for sharing mate!

No worries. I am pretty keen on iron bark now too! Will need to think about my setup though to hopefully make it a bit easier to mill

Looks like a bit of desperation see sawing.
Don't worry did the same with my first Iron bark.
If it had been my first log I would have given up chainsaw milling on the spot.
I also had the bar diving because the vertical adjustments came loose.
Cut was coming from the RHS - see how it dived,
Bironbark_bark.jpg

IN is a goo way to test if you have the sharpening right.
Taking the bark off protects the chain.

Eventually it cam good Try this for a nice finish.
grain1.jpg

Man that's a nice log...really stunning timber. Where abouts are you Bob? I thought you were in WA, do they have iron bark over there ?

Is it ok to flog the saw for so long when milling? I tend to have it loaded up, but not bogging down and not screaming at full revs either.

Yes I am in Perth. IB's are not native to WA bit there have been a lot of IBs planted in parks and back yards. Same with Sotted Gum and quite few other Eucs. The park where I walk the dogs every morning by the Swan has dozens of IBs which s a bit of a shame because the local coastal plain Tuarts are increasingly taking a back seat.

Provided the saw is in tune, best quality lube is used in the mix, and the saw is allowed to cool down at idle for a while when you finish the cut its fine to run flat out. On Arborisite site a Stihl claimed their pro saws are designed to run for at least 2000 hrs WOT under load before new rings are needed.

Oh that's a relief! I'll make sure to keep using top quality lube.

Should I consider a dedicated ripping chain? Does I make It faster or just give a better finish? I have a cross cut skip tooth chain at the moment.

Up until recently I was using a 20" bar with normal chain filed to 20°. Then I decided to get a 30" bar with a "rip" chain. I started cutting with the saw at 90° to the log. The performance was not any better than the 20" bar.....in desperation I let the saw in the cut swing back to 45° across the log and immediately curlys were coming from the saw. The surface of the cut was a lot smoother as well.

I am using an MS 380 Stihl with a mill frame I made myself. My initial thinking was to have the shortest amount of bar in the cut but it proved that this obviously did not suit the chain. I still need to get stuck into some Silky Oaks that have been sitting for too long

Originally Posted by chambezio

Up until recently I was using a 20" bar with normal chain filed to 20°. Then I decided to get a 30" bar with a "rip" chain. I started cutting with the saw at 90° to the log. The performance was not any better than the 20" bar.....in desperation I let the saw in the cut swing back to 45° across the log and immediately curlys were coming from the saw. The surface of the cut was a lot smoother as well.

I have experimented with this in detail a number of times and not had the same experience.
The cut is initially faster because the saw is simply cutting less wood but don't forget that at 45º a 1.4x longer a bar/chain is needed to make the cut so then there are 40% more cutters cutting and loading up the saw which negates to a significant extent any gains made by curly cutting.
I have timed many cuts doing this and found I could not detect any difference unless the angle was 45º or more.

The problem is getting to 45º because cutting a 36" diameter log this requires a 50" bar at 45º
Apparent gains in cutting speed made by see-sawing the saw sideways down the logs makes the cut finish worse.
It's better to maintain the same angle and steady pressure all the way down the log.

Dedicated ripping chain does cut a slightly narrower kerf than ripping chain so it slightly reduces the load on the saw. I don't believe it affects the finish that much.
Unless the saw/chain ends up washboarding - a condition which results from a synchronisation of chains speed and cut width producing a deep ripple washboard finish, 90% of finish is attributable to the operator and the mill. I goto go now but will maybe post n this later

LHS is washboarding - RHS is same chain/log but the cut is 20% wider
C0ntrast.jpg

Bob, When I was ripping a trunk of semi dries Euc, at 90° just saw dust was produced and speed was slow. As I was getting sick of swinging off the end of the CS (I was getting tired) I went to 45° to make the process lighter (weight wise) and immediately produced short curlys and picked up the pace. I thought it odd because as you say the more teeth working in the cut more power is needed to make the cut.