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  1. #1
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    Warren NSW
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    Default New CS mill owner

    27A77F07-FAC2-4B8B-82C7-46897DF545F3.jpgCA34F31F-DE2D-42CD-A590-A3537E820AC3.jpg
    The people on this small timber milling forum have a lot to answer for.

    If you’re promoting a substance that is addictive as this activity, you would all be in jail. You are all guilty of promoting and advising on the ways of this activity. You are clearly responsible for this 71 year old acquiring this brutal hunk of machinery.
    The photo shows me having a little bit of practice milling a dead Cypress
    log and the peanut gallery giving great support. Gee it is good fun.
    Cheers and I thank all the posters for giving me the inspiration
    Peter

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  3. #2
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    Perth
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    Looks like an interesting rig Pete, two about some closes up pics of how it is all put together?

    If you want to see more serious chainsaw milling action and lots of useful info try this
    Milling & Saw Mills | Arboristsite.com

  4. #3
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    Feb 2018
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
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    69
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    Looks like some hard work there Peter. Should have some nice wood out of it though.
    Funny....the "peanut gallery" actually looks interested in what you doing though!

  5. #4
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    Apr 2006
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    near Mackay
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    Looks like a capable setup Pete, shouldn’t have any trouble ripping through anything you throw at it with the double-ender.
    Are they 2 x 3120’s ?
    ​Brad.

  6. #5
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    Apr 2005
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    Nerang Queensland
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    66
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    Geez at 71 you are doing well

    I certainly recommend you get your logs off the ground, your back won't last long bending over like that
    Neil
    ____________________________________________
    Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Warren NSW
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    Thanks Bob for the link to the arborist site. Over the years I have read most of your posts on this forum but the arborist site certainly has a lot of advice and opinions.
    i think the peanut gallery must be looking at a kangaroo in the back ground Tom
    Yes Brad both 3120 and only on the 3rd chain I’m told and that is quite believable. I sort of came by this saw last year a little by impulse and I figured with the carriage it would be less physical to operate. So that is the case but Im having difficulty with the operation of the “power” and “chain stretch “ .
    The most frustrating thing about the design is sharpening the chain 🤬🤬🤬
    Neil I’m on the last cut but I haven’t found the height an issue yet. Still got the adrenaline 🥵

    Peter

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Petethebutcher View Post
    Thanks Bob for the link to the arborist site. Over the years I have read most of your posts on this forum but the arborist site certainly has a lot of advice and opinions.
    I usually don't like directing WWF members off site but the amount of CSM activity in WWF has really died off in the last few years and with the great picture loss of pre 2012? posts lots of really valuable info was lost. The same image loss issue happened on the Arborist Site (AS) but I was persuaded to reinsert some of my images in some of my old posts and there continues to be a fair bit of CSMing activity on that site. I still get lots of requests from all over the place particularly about sharpening.

    Im having difficulty with the operation of the “power” and “chain stretch “ .
    After a few logs chain stretch should settle. The main cause during a cut is not really stretch but expansion from overheating. The trick there is to keep the chain share as possible. I typically touch up the cutters after about every tank of mix when cutting Aussie timbers and swipe the rakers about after every 3-4 tanks.

    I notice you are operating the mill on an angle. I've done a few tests and it turns out that there is little benefit in terms of cutting speed to doing this. Any improvement in the the ease with which the chain attacks the grain on an angle is wiped out by the fact that there is a longer cut being made. My guess is it helps to balance you long heavy rig out?

    One of the most useful things I discovered early on was operating with the log on a slope. This reduces or even eliminates the amount of pushing needed.
    This was one of the first logs I milled with my (Brother-in-Law BIL) mill
    All I had to do was hold onto the throttle and down it went
    byitself.jpg

    Eventually I worked out that once a self feeding chain was set up very little slope was needed
    bobsmillingstyle.jpg

    The most frustrating thing about the design is sharpening the chain 🤬🤬🤬
    To help with sharpening I build myself a portable work bench (see picture above) than enables the mill to be laid over on its side - I can do one side sitting down.
    The other side requires me to sort of lay over the mill which isa a bout awkward at first but now I am used to it
    Sawr2gox.jpg

    Neil I’m on the last cut but I haven’t found the height an issue yet. Still got the adrenaline 🥵
    I agree with Neil - after a while bending over becomes a bit (no wait - a lot!) of a pain.

    What I worry about on your rig is all that bare chain exposed in front of the operator's legs/feet. That's one reason why I've always stayed with a single power head as this enables the the head to be buried up against the log exposing no chain on the operators side. This makes milling a lot safer and then enables me to lean on the wrap handle with my knee/thigh/hip.
    Like this.
    stance1.jpg

    In this photo it looks like I'm pushing with my hands but all they are doing is holding the throttle (A) and B is providing some steering
    The log is on a very slight slope and the saw is mostly self feeding - the remaining "push" is from my left thigh.
    I found at the end of the day my arms and shoulders were far less tired with this approach.
    stance2x.jpg
    This stance then means I can lock the throttle and it completely frees up my hands to do things like insert wedges without stopping - in the above photo you can see how I have pre-placed the wedges along the to of the previous cut. Once I start a cut I will very rarely stop as this improves the finish.

    You might find locking the throttles and using a winch helps in your situation.

    Have you discovered "progressive raker setting" yet/

  9. #8
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    Thanks Bob for the information. Yes I have read your articles re chain sharpening and when I first got the mill I removed the chain (quite the challenge to remove and sum what more difficult to replace) and ran in through a grinder, set the rockers to 7 degrees and started moving the filling angle from the 35 degrees it had been sharpened previously to wards 5 or 10 that I want to finish up at. As I mentioned earlier I’m having difficulty finding the best way to sharpen the chain. At present I’m using a file-n-joint and reducing the by a notch every other filing. The chain is a Oregon skip tooth and the last log I milled was a 20 yr dead Beef wood. The timber that the white ants left was very nice. That’s the log I had real trouble with chain stretch. Beefwood is quite hard and I guess the ant residue had a dulling effect on the chain. The log was only 400 max dia. So what to do. Those two 3120 laugh at 400mm. So I either apply a bit of pressure to get the saws out of fast idle mode heat the chain and it nearly jumps of the bar or do I let the cut slow down and leave the saws reving their tits off.
    Peter

  10. #9
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    Even a small amount of white anting is a chain killer.
    If you are using skip then it will definitely be faster to sharpen the chain on the bar so finding a way of doing that will save you a lot of time.

    Provided the power head is in tune and high quality lube is used (preferably fully synthetic) big modern saws are deigned to "rev their tits off" for 2000 hours before needing a P&C replacement (that statement was given to me by the Chief development Engineer for Stihl for North America) . 2000 hours does not seem like much but if you did 8 hours/day for 5 days a week that's 50 weeks of full time WOT use.

    For milling, power heads should be tuned slightly richer (set the mix screw rich so the RPMs are a couple of hundred RPMs below their usual setting) which unfortunately the 3120 doesn't have. However, my experience is those saws have a rev limit anyway and the normal fixed jet they use is on the rich side - plus you have two power heads so the load should be halved. If you are worried you can change the main jet but be prepared to use more mix.

  11. #10
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    Hobart, Tas
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Even a small amount of white anting is a chain killer.
    Whilst not wanting to derail the thread, I found this statement fascinating. Can you expand on why? I would have thought the wood being softer it would offer little to no wear on the chain.

    I should clarify that by white anting, I interpreted that to mean termite affected wood.

    Kind regards
    Lance

  12. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by LanceC View Post
    Whilst not wanting to derail the thread, I found this statement fascinating. Can you expand on why? I would have thought the wood being softer it would offer little to no wear on the chain.

    I should clarify that by white anting, I interpreted that to mean termite affected wood.

    Kind regards
    Lance
    The ants often line their passages thru the wood with soil/clay. If this lining contains even small amounts of silica it acts like sandpaper on the cutters. The chain will even appear to easily slice its way through the white anted wood but then when it hits firm wood again the cutters will have lost their edge and . . . . . . . .

  13. #12
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    Ahh, that makes sense. Thanks Bob.

    Kind regards,
    Lance

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    "rev their tits off" for 200 hours before needing a P&C replacement (that statement was given to me by the Chief development Engineer for Stihl for North America) . 2000 hours
    Bob I suspect it’s 2000 hrs that is correct but for me either 200 or 2000 hrs will see my milling days out.
    I’m having trouble posting more pics. They all end upside down. I can remember reading a post some years ago of a member having the same issue but I can’t remember the fix
    peter

    WWforums.jpg

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Petethebutcher View Post
    Bob I suspect it’s 2000 hrs that is correct but for me either 200 or 2000 hrs will see my milling days out.
    I’m having trouble posting more pics. They all end upside down. I can remember reading a post some years ago of a member having the same issue but I can’t remember the fix
    peter
    Yes it is 2000. I will try to fix fix your pic. It's probably no good me telling you how I do it as I'm on a Mac with Photoshop.

  16. #15
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    Thanks Bob
    The mill has been tarped on this little slab for 4 months. I farm with 2 sons and the drought over here has us full time keeping stock alive.
    Back to the photo.
    this shows the center support area. The angle of the carriage to the log is fixed and supported by 10 bearings/rollers. 4 carry the weight 4 take the thrust of the saw and there is 2 below that stop the mill rising. You may notice that since the first post I have added threaded rods to speed up changing slab thickness.
    The mill will mill both ways which is great if you are trying to keep up wind however I was told by the previous owner that by doing every cut in the opposite direction it shares the wear to both sides of the bar.
    ill try again to post some other pics. The 2 in the opening post worked fine.
    34098C96-3FF6-49DE-B8EF-EACF6278896B.jpg
    This shows the bearing mounts on adjustable cams for fine tuning.
    That one came right way but the next one no.
    More photos photos latter.


    Peter

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