Thread: My Alaskan chainsaw mill.......

Originally Posted by Dean

Is that 08 only 50cc?

Originally Posted by TTIT

I think it's about 75cc - I did look it up once but my memory...... . . .


what was the question again???????

56cc I think, I have one too.

There was a thread last year posted by Ozwinner & we dug up some details & pics.

Nice one TTIT!

Neat looking job. It looks like you used stainless steel?

Nice looking timber too, what is it? It is a cool feeling to mill up your own timber from a tree.

Now your all making me jealous with your gas guzzling axes.

Originally Posted by martrix

It looks like you used stainless steel?

Nice looking timber too, what is it?

All 2nd grade steel recycled from Honda 4-wheeler crates. They come from the US so it's all imperial sizes. Only 1/16" thick - difficult to arc-weld but light which is good for this type of thing. Pays to have a son working for the local Honda dealer! If I didn't grab them, most would end up in the dump but I can only use so much - they sell a hell of a lot of those things out here!

The log is (was) Sally wattle (acacia salicina) from the very best source - someone else cut it down and got rid of the rubbish - all we had to do was turn up with a forklift and trailer

MANUFACTURED BY: STIHL ANDREAS MASCHINENFABRIK STUTTGART, GERMANY
YEAR INTRODUCED: 1963

ENGINE DISPLACEMENT: 50 ccm (3.2 cu. in.)
NUMBER OF CYLINDERS: 1
CYLINDER BORE: 44 mm (1.735 in.)
PISTON STROKE: 34 mm (1.29 in.)
CYLINDER TYPE: Aluminum with chrome plated bore
INTAKE METHOD: Piston ported
MANUFACTURER ADVERTISED H.P.: 3
WEIGHT : 8.6 kg
OPERATOR CONFIGURATION: One Man operation
HANDLEBAR SYSTEM: Rigid
CHAIN BRAKE: none
CLUTCH: Centrifugal
DRIVE TYPE: Direct
CONSTRUCTION: Die cast magnesium
MAGNETO TYPE: Bosch flywheel type
CARBURETOR: Tillotson HL-166B, C, HL-292B series
MAJOR REPAIR KIT: RK-114HL
MINOR REPAIR KIT: DG-5HL
AIR FILTER SYSTEM: Nylon mesh element
STARTER TYPE: Automatic rewind (Fairbanks Morse type)
OIL PUMP: Automatic
IGNITION TIMING: 0.2 mm (0.08 in.) before TDC
BREAKER POINT SETTING: 0.4mm (0.016 in.)
FLYWHEEL/COIL AIR GAP: Position is fixed
SPARK PLUG TYPE: Bosch W175T1
SPARK PLUG GAP: 0.51 mm (0.020 in.)
CRANKSHAFT MAIN BEARINGS: Ball
FUEL TANK CAPACITY: 750 ml (1.45 pints)
FUEL OIL RATIO: 20:1 after break in.
RECOMMENDED FUEL OCTANE: Regular
MIX OIL SPECIFICATION: Castrol 2-stroke SAE 40
CHAIN PITCH: .404 in.
CHAIN TYPE: Oregon Chipper
SHORTEST GUIDE BAR SUPPLIED: 33 cm (13 in.)
LONGEST GUIDE BAR SUPPLIED: 43 cm (17 in.)
COLOUR SCHEME: Grey with Red air filter cover/rear handle

After starting from scratch twice, a bit of wasted SHS, and an even sorer shoulder than when I started here is the almost complete mill.
The chain saw shown is my BILs 1972 McChulloch with a 16" blade. For the moment this is all I have although I might soon be getting access to a Husky with a 24" balde.

Being in too much of rush I didn't wait for the paint to harden so there has been some cosmetic damage during assembly - no big deal, I might give it a a bit of a touch up but it'll soon get dinged up anyway.

Typical of when I spend far to much time in meetings planning what to do, its probably a wee bit over-engineered for what it does. The main differences between this and other mills are;

1) it can be adjusted to accomodate CS bars from 16 to 24 (or even 26 " if there is such a bar size). This is done by loosening the lock nuts and turning a horizontal piece of allthread. (see picture in next post).

2) The outer part of the blade is held at its tip. The way this is done has the effect of tucking the whole tip under the mill and much less chain is exposed hopefully making it safer.

3) The cutting thickness adjustment is done by all two allthreads attached to the side posts. This has been done elsewhere before.

The main handle is horizontal and is permanently welded in place. A second horizontal handle rides on the horizontal allthread and can be locked into any position within in the range of available allthread. The vertical handle is an ally handlebar mount post from a bike. The black handle cover material is hot water pipe insulation.

At the moment the allthread adjustment is just done with a spanner but I was thinking of making some small cranks - or maybe ditching the all thread altogether - at least the vertical adjustment ones. I guess I will know better after I have used it for a while.

I haven't fired it up yet. More pics in the next post.

A couple of close ups.

The first pic shows the location of the horizontal adjustment. The 20 mm SHS on the right hand side rails slides inside the 25 mm rails on the left. The handles are very comfy but I'll need it with that saw - it's a really vibrator.

Not shown are a couple of bits of 150 mm long, 25 mm SHS that ride outrigger on the 20mm rails on the rhs, especially when the mill is being used with bigger blades. The outriggers lock into where ever you put them and the help keep the mill level.

Th next pick shows the vertical adjustment. Here is where a crank would go in really handy.

The last two pics show a close up of the nose holding mechanism. I was hoping to get another inch or two out of the bar conpared to the conventional mechanism but I won't know if it works till I try it.

Cheers

Ok where do I order one?

Great stuff. Especially like the depth adjustment. Doing it manually can be a pain in the bum.

One mod I made to the bits that clamp onto the bar is to use spring washer and wingnuts. Makes removing the chainsaw a tool-less task. Depending on your setup, the wingnuts may touch the power head on the saw on that end though.

Originally Posted by Dean

Ok where do I order one?

Great stuff. Especially like the depth adjustment. Doing it manually can be a pain in the bum.

One mod I made to the bits that clamp onto the bar is to use spring washer and wingnuts. Makes removing the chainsaw a tool-less task. Depending on your setup, the wingnuts may touch the power head on the saw on that end though.

Thanks Dean.

I have these occasional thoughts about production runs but they quickly vanish because I know I would get really bored after making the second unit. BTW I have great respect for craftspeople (like my BIL who makes Al boats) who can continually turn out consistently high quality of the same thing.

RE: Wing nuts. In typical BobL over engineered style I have gone for both spring washers and nylocs. Wing nuts sound like a good idea and because the nuts are outside the line of the chain/bar they should be fine.

Cheers

Originally Posted by BobL

After starting from scratch twice...................
............I haven't fired it up yet. More pics in the next post.

Flash looking bit of work Bob - almost makes me want to put a coat of paint on mine! Have you run the McCullogh on it's side extensively to see if you need an oiler?

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

MANUFACTURED BY: STIHL ANDREAS MASCHINENFABRIK STUTTGART, GERMANY
YEAR INTRODUCED: 1963

ENGINE DISPLACEMENT: 50 ccm (3.2 cu. in.) ................
...................................
................LONGEST GUIDE BAR SUPPLIED: 43 cm (17 in.)
COLOUR SCHEME: Grey with Red air filter cover/rear handle

Where do you find all these gems Cliff - printed and included in the shed-notes! Thanks

Originally Posted by TTIT

Flash looking bit of work Bob - almost makes me want to put a coat of paint on mine! Have you run the McCullogh on it's side extensively to see if you need an oiler?

Thanks TTIT, I have not run the mill in anger yet. Today was too hot to be outside so it will probably have to wait until next weekend.

I suspect I will need an additional oiler even for teh 16" balde as that saw is a bit light on for oil power even in the upright position. It's a gutsy little saw considering how old it is and provided the chain is sharp it really gets stuck into pretty well anything up to its 16" bar length.

Yeah you need paint - kinda like a signature and a sort of saftey sign - KEEP AWAY! - even if it just lasts for a little while. The colour on my photos show up as bright red but it really is a violent orange which shoulde make it easy to see and stay away from.

TTIT, the sally you sure its salicina? Looks a bit reddish compared to the stuff I have.

Originally Posted by Harry72

TTIT, the sally you sure its salicina? Looks a bit reddish compared to the stuff I have.

Absolutely Harry. The reddish tinge is probably just because it's so green (only felled 2 days earlier) and I hosed the surface down for the pic. We were actually discussing how good it would be if you could get it to hold the red tinge.

Originally Posted by TTIT

....Where do you find all these gems Cliff - printed and included in the shed-notes! Thanks

It came of a description posted with a saw for sale on eBay.

Originally Posted by BobL

After starting from scratch twice, a bit of wasted SHS, and an even sorer shoulder than when I started here is the almost complete mill.

Hi Bob,
Well done, that is an extremely flash unit, and gives me something to work towards next time!
And BTW when I read earlier that you have a dickie shoulder I did wonder why you're getting into this sport, as it can be fairly demanding!!

Cheers,