Thread: mini alaskan or just a slabbing machine

These photos where taken by mobile phone, so not great in a shed at night..
I'll try to get some with a camera or phone, in full light..

I shall follow this thread to see how it mills. Maybe BobL will see your mill and comment. What power rating is your saw? I believe you will need at least 70-80 cc to effectively mill with a bar that size
Willy

I "enhanced" your pics so we can at least see something.


A 2 length bar design is limited to 2 specific lengths and adds weight. I always advise not to weld the mill to any fixed lengths and make it fully adjustable in length because sure as eggs tomorrow you will come across a different length bar.
The best material to use for the longer mill rails is C channel or square channel with T-trak in it. Capral sell several ally Highway Road sign support extrusions that fit this criteria quite nicely. The lighter weight ones will suit a smaller mill and the Heavy duty ones are good for bigger mills (like mine in the last photo of this post)

It's much better to not use bar clamps and replace the upper part of the bar clamp with a piece of 19 mm solid bar and drill and tap this bar. Then drill and bolt the CS bar direct to the 19 mm bar like this. That way the chain can be removed without removing the saw from the mill.
Here I use an 8 mm allen bolt.

This also prevents the problem of toasting the chain if the clamps are not done up tightly enough.
At the nose end the sprocket bearing can be drilled in the middle of the bearing with a 1/4" drill without affecting the sprocket operation.
Depending on the bar, the bearing hub is either very hard or super-hard and requires either a Co bit or a carbide bit - I can provide more details if you need it.

A couple of other things I have found is that using anything less than 2 mm thick SHS will buckle under the pressures needed to lock mill adjustments into place.

An even better resign is to design a bracket that bolts to the CS bar bolts - this maximizes the cut width
Have a look at how this is done on this design. This is designed to get 42.5" of cut from a 44" bar


Also there are never enough handles on most CS mills I have seen.
At least one running the full length of the mill at least 150 mm above the mill rails is really worth having.
The add handles on top of the horizontal handle like this.

Hey souwester, I just noticed you are from Manjimup. I was born in Pemberton, Left there when I was quite young but still have lots of fond memories. My dad was a timber faller and I spent a lot of time with him in the bush around Pemberton and other places. One of the nicest places on earth I reckon.

Thanks Bob and willy,
Just about finished my test unit..

A bit of cleaning up and same with the saw, it was chucked into the box last time I used it and not even sharpened(Happens when a friend gives you his Stihl to use)..

The saw I am going to try out is a McCulloch, only small but should do the job slowly on the 20 inch bar..

As for going bigger, this unit is just for seeing if it will work and whether I can handle doing a few bits of wood..

If the body says no then the brain is going to have to accept it..

The shs is 3 mm, wouldn't have bothered with anything smaller, chainsaws are too vindictive to mess with a tiny piece of steel..

weight is what I want, if log can't come to me then its firewood..

I wanted to keep this simple, not complicated, but at same time as safe as you can make it using a chainsaw.


Couldn't get any done yesterday as I have been having horse and kangaroo issues, Kangaroo makes gap between posts and horses too nosy to stay home, kind of hard when there 35 k's from home too.. and when they get out, first place they go is onto the highway to see if anyone will stop and pat them(trouble is its mostly roadtrains and fast tourists)..

Anyway, some photo's from today, enjoy them while I'm out spotlighting with a mate and a couple of my kids tonight..

Hey Bob, before I go off..

I first seen this area as a little kid, about 40 + years ago..

Dad was into horses and use to compete in showjumping at the Manjimup show..(mostly to pick up a few dollars off the locals)..

I came throught here a few times over the years, with trucks and holidays, so when I kind of went into forced retirement, I decided to move here about 8 years ago..

First place was Pemberton for just under a year then upto manji from then on..

Pemberton can be different, some people I get on with, others I can't stand and some you rarely get to know..
It's a combo of timber workers that have saw dust for brains(the ones that don't won't tell you where they work), farmers that think they made the land themselves and people that just want the peaceful lifestyle..

If you can handle that then it's a great place..

Interesting to hear about Pemby. I hardly know anyone there these days. I usually just drive thru and stay in a B&B on the outskirts on the way further down south.
Good luck with the mill.

The last time I put a small McCulloch on a CS mill I milled half a dozen logs and then it dropped the little end. The roller bearings buried themsleves in the top of the piston. I still have that saw and an almost complete replacement P&C&Crank - I really like that saw and want to get it going again.

Pemby is always worth a visit and still the place to live(just need deep pockets to buy land there)..

Maccas have always facinated me..some love them, some hate them, I have had only a couple and they have always been faithful and fairly tough, simular to a stihl..

Mostly used chainsaws around farms, so they get used and abused, cheapy's will die quick but maccas, stihl and spose husky too, kind of last the best..

Husky's I havent had a lot to do with, seen them wear out when a Stihl just keeps going when totally stuffed(if it starts it'll work) and the maccas just get neglected, but a bit of tlc and you find they will run well again..

As for major failures like piston outside of crankcase and so forth, well nothing survives that and any engine will do that if given the chance of it..

This little macca cost $300 on sale in Perth, have done about 50 tonne of firewood with it, over the last 3 years, cutting jarrah down here, redgum up in the Swan Valley and lots of other jobs including fence posts and felling about 20 or so dead redgums. has paid for itself many times over, so if it dies, so be it..It don't owe me anything now..

Mind you, I will put some effort into making sure its ready to go, with a good clean and service..

The 24 inch setting on the lil mill, is for a Stihl 066 Magnum, thus I'll still be able to test the mill out and work out what needs changing before I get a larger bar and build a larger mill..

So long as the body lets me(seems I'm still pigheaded)..

Reading what you posted, I think i'll take some of your ideas and use them once I've had a play with this lil mill, and use them in the larger one.. One thing is, the way the bar is attached, i'll be using the bar only for the mill and disconnecting the engine once job done, so bar can stay put..

Another thing I'd like to find out, is a good bar for slabbing.. I like the life of the Stihl bars and I'm considering a Duromatic bar.. ( mind you, I might just worry about that after I've had a play with this unit first).,

Thanks for the chat and advice Bob..

GK

Said it before and I'll say it again - Geese you make some great stuff Bob!!!

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Said it before and I'll say it again - Geese you make some great stuff Bob!!!

Thanks Allan. I really enjoy making it, sometimes more than even using it.

Gee Bob if that's true I can help you out. I'll give away mine if you give me that one, then you can make another one

ok, done a small log with my new toy..

Bit hard on the body, but it went ok..

Will grab a decent chain and bar for the 66 to use on the mini mill and make a couple of changes..(drilled the bar for a pin(Thanks Bob, made it easier to aline(oh and Oregon bars are pretty soft compared to the Stihl bars))..

One thing I noticed that I need to do is weld a bar front to back, level with the running rails to help when starting into the wood..

Building the mini mill For a try to see if it would work, turned out well..

Have to take 66 off friday, off to get some firewood and find a nicely seasoned log for a friend to turn into a bowl..

Once a get a chain suitable for the 66 and set it up in this frame properly, I can see it being a little easier to use..

Will post a couple of pics of the job(it will be turned into a bench in the fern garden)..

Hello Southwester
Good read so far, need more pics of milling though.

The chain you are about to buy for your mill. I assume you are aware of the angles for the teeth specific for milling, happy to be corrected (BobL), but I belive 10-15 deg for milling.

Bobl
I agree with previous sentiment, you do make great stuff. What a shame you are nearly retired and will run out of time!!

Sincerely
Willy
Jarrahland

Originally Posted by Willy Nelson

Hello Southwester
Good read so far, need more pics of milling though.
The chain you are about to buy for your mill. I assume you are aware of the angles for the teeth specific for milling, happy to be corrected (BobL), but I belive 10-15 deg for milling.

The main reason for a 10º top plate filing angle is to obtain a slightly smoother finish and possibly slightly narrower kerf but otherwise there is nothing inherently undesirable milling with with a 25º top plate angle.
I buy rolls of regular chain and file it over successive sharpenings from 25 to 10º. During the change over period I don't see the smoothness change all that much - smoothness of cut is primarily operator dependent. Blunt chains pushed too hard in a see-saw action down a log will generate a rough surface even using a 10º top plate. The slightly wider kerf results from the cutter diving a little more sideways in the cut than a 10º top plate. The load on the saw is about the same for both cutting angles, the higher angle cutting slightly more wood but as the cutter edge is on the skew it's not as bad as it sounds, in contrast the 10º top plate cuts the end grain more on the square. I would not recommend a newbie learns how to mill with a regular chain on a long bar. The extra grab/vibe and chain chatter of standard chain on a long bar can be a little daunting and can lead to new chain jumping the bar on start up unless particular attention is paid to chain tension.

I agree with previous sentiment, you do make great stuff. What a shame you are nearly retired and will run out of time!!

Cheers Willy, I'm looking forward to having the time and trying out some different things.