Thread: First crack at a CS Mill - Cypress Pine

Hey all,

Finally had a chance to give my chainsaw mill a proper try out after purchasing it at the WWS in 2014.

Its a Granberg small log mill on my Stihl MS251. I had a chain ground for ripping at an angle of 15o (I think, was a while ago)......I know BobL will have a go at me about an underpowered chainsaw for such operations (only 45cc), but when I purchased the saw I wasn't sure how deep into the woodworking I was going to get, and when I purchased the mill I wasn't sure how deep into the milling I was going to get.

If this first experience is anything to go by, a new saw and larger mill will be on the cards sooner rather than later. At least I will still have a smaller, manageable saw to get the cross cutting and small jobs done!!

Onto the show. My Auntie dropped quite a few trees at her place over the year. A great looking Southern Silky Oak (currently being looked after by another valued member of the forum) a messmate (same boat as the oak) and a massive cypress pine. The cypress main trunk was about 4m tall with a multitude of offshoots above that. The offshoots were what I was cutting up as are all between 300mm and 500mm DIA. The main trunk was apparently a nightmare to cut down, so that has been turned to firewood (and some very rustic steps, seats etc).

There are about 12 logs in all, all straight and cut to about 2.4m length. Given they were pine, I thought it would be a great way to get introduced into the art of milling. Both due to the general softer nature of the timber, and also the fact that it isn't worth MASSIVE money, so if I/when I stuff up, it isn't wasting a beautiful slab.

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Lucky it was pine, as I hadn't really thought the whole process through. lifting the logs onto my stools wasn't impossible, but with myself and Adam (trusty BIL) we managed without too much grunting. If they had of been any sort of hardwood, I'm guessing the milling would have happened at ground level.

I don't love the initial setup for the first cut, but I'm planning on getting rid of the alloy end brackets, and just screwing something to the log, and then the cross rails down to them. would save some hassle, and feel a little more solid. We ran a couple of batten screws up from the saw stools into the log to hold it in place. Just means I had to make sure my final cuts were either above this screw line, or I took the screws out at the last minute.
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After the initial pass, the size of the saw/bar and my sharpening skills were really put to the test. This is where I will invest a bit more cash into it (but it still is only a hobby, so can't really justify it straight away), but will really work on my sharpening skills as I'm sure it could have been quicker if my skills with a file were better.
We managed to get through about 3 logs in 5 hours. Given it was our first real attempt at it, I think it was reasonable going. I managed to cut most of the heartwood out in a single hit so I'm assuming those slabs will be throw away jobs, but thinking about it, cypress posts are generally cut from the heart, so maybe they'll be fine.

Anyways, enough of my ramblings, but i'll include a few more action shots, and the final haul for the day.

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Oh, I'm the balding fellow in the yellow, the trusty BIL, Adam, has the ginge tinge....

Cheers all

Gabriel

P.S.
Thanks Mum for all the action shots!! (I think the olds had almost as much fun watching as we had doing)