chain saw swing saw

[weisyboy]

has anyone ever thaught about a swing saw style millusing a chainsaw instead of a stationary engine and saw blade.

i will do up a bit of a sketch tonight and see what i come up with.

[BobL]

has anyone ever thaught about a swing saw style millusing a chainsaw instead of a stationary engine and saw blade.

i will do up a bit of a sketch tonight and see what i come up with.

If by that you mean a chain milling systen whereby a chainsaw can drive down a log in one orientation and then 90º to that orientation? then it's been thought of - check out Will Mallof's mills @ http://www.willmalloff.com/index.html This guy is a real CS milling guru.

Cheers

[Sigidi]

Just on a swing blade mill - there is special safeguards built in so that when swinging the blade over one doesn't bottom out. My first thought when reading this thread was, swinging a chainsaw could be a bit hairy? I dunno...

Most chainsaws would leave a kerf of 10mm or so, is that right? Why not just use a blade, half the kerf, increase recovery, decrease cutting time, increase production decrease wear and tear, increase long term gain from equipment?

Yeah I know, I'm a sawblade addict when it comes to dimensioned timber

[weisyboy]

that is the same ide but not realy what i was thinking.

Sigidi- my saw only cuts a 7mm kerf it is a matter of price what it costs to set up a swinging sawblade and motor combinationis quite expencive.

i am not quite sure what you mean but it bottoming out?

i know what i want it to look like in my head but imhavving trouble putting it on paper.

[weisyboy]

sompthing like the bellow.

the saw attaches to the brcket in the center the same way as a handhaeld chainsaw mill. perhaps with 3 clamps instead of 2.

the center peice slides back and forthe along the rail either by hand or with the use of a winch.

the peices either end o the main rail slide back and forth to allow change the position of the cut.

the rail is connected to these peices via a rotating disk that can be locked at 0* and 90* to make the seperite cuts.

the whole frame is raised and lowerd on teh legs via a winch system.

[Burnsy]

Carl, your idea looks pretty similar to the lonk Bob gave, just with a stand instead of using the log to mount the mill off - I like your design better as it allows for smaller timber to be milled. I think if you went to the trouble of making up this mill it would be best to have two saws and two mounting brackets in use. A saw with a short bar for the verticle cuts and one with a long bar for the horizontal slabs.
With two mounting brackets you could use some kind of quick release system to get it on and off the main rail without having to stuff around with the actual saw mounting when you want to change the depth of cut.

If you have power available you could even investigate using a large circular saw mounted on the rail for doing the verticle cuts when you only want to cut 60mm or so? Again using a the same quick release mechanism to get it on and off without having to undo bolts and the like.

[weisyboy]

yes it is similar to the one in the link

with the one in the link you have to remove the saw and remount it everytime you want to make a diferent cut (diferent angle). i was trying to make it as little work as possable with mine you simply pull the lever at the operators end and rotate the whole rail and make the next cut.

i was just briainstorming and would probably do a couple more sketches before i went and did anything.

i am thinking of making a small skale model and working out anny buggs. maby one to go with my little stihl 170 or the electric chainsaw. to try it out.

[BobL]

. . .with mine you simply pull the lever at the operators end and rotate the whole rail and make the next cut.

This sounds easy when you say it but in practice its not that easy. Your idea of just rotating the rail with the chainsaw on it is not how circular swing mills work - On swing mills the blade effectively ends up rotating about its outer most cutting tip.

To do this with your set up you would need to change the height of the bar and the horizontal position of the saw. One then might as well reposition the whole saw like Will Mallof does with his rotational system on big logs..

Another limitation of a chainsaw is it cannot flush cut against a surface (like a cicular can) because CS's have mounting bar bolts etc. This means it is limited to cutting a full width slab and then cutting verticals with the tip.

I've been thinking like Burnsey about a small edge trimming saw on a simple rail might be the way to go.

[Sigidi]

7mm kerf, what chain are you running? onthe slabber I'm running .404 so the kerf is around 10mm. If I could bring my kerf down to 7mm then I could cut a whole lot faster I reckon almost a 1/3 quicker for the same timber, width etc???

[weisyboy]

This sounds easy when you say it but in practice its not that easy. Your idea of just rotating the rail with the chainsaw on it is not how circular swing mills work - On swing mills the blade effectively ends up rotating about its outer most cutting tip.

i am not trying to copy a swing saw, and i am only in the early stages of design. ant i will overcome a lot of these problems in future designs.

To do this with your set up you would need to change the height of the bar and the horizontal position of the saw. One then might as well reposition the whole saw like Will Mallof does with his rotational system on big logs..

i isnot that hard you simply rotate the center rail be relicing the locking pins and then lower the rails to the desired height using the winch.

Another limitation of a chainsaw is it cannot flush cut against a surface (like a cicular can) because CS's have mounting bar bolts etc.

dose the sircular saw not have bolts sticking threw by witch it is held on the shaft.

This means it is limited to cutting a full width slab and then cutting verticals with the tip.

what is stopping you from cutting partway threw the log from the side. you could cut say 10 slits 2" apart from above than rotate the saw and cut half into 10- 2" x 2" and the other half into 20- 2" x 1" boards

I've been thinking like Burnsey about a small edge trimming saw on a simple rail might be the way to go.

this is what im trying to gt away from having to buy extra things that arnt realy nessasarty. and avoiding extra mounting and asembaling.

if you are going to be playing around with logs you will need a chainsaw anyway so why not use it for the milling also.

but i guess others just have an extra few thousand dolars lying around that they need to get out of the road

[weisyboy]

its just regular 3/8 chain i cut down into a skip pattern.

[BobL]

i isnot that hard you simply rotate the center rail be relicing the locking pins and then lower the rails to the desired height using the winch.
OK - makes sense, but then as you say then it's not a swing mill.

dose the sircular saw not have bolts sticking threw by witch it is held on the shaft.
Nope - the circulars on swing saws can cut flush.

what is stopping you from cutting partway threw the log from the side. you could cut say 10 slits 2" apart from above than rotate the saw and cut half into 10- 2" x 2" and the other half into 20- 2" x 1" boards
No problem - that's more or less what Mallof's set up does. The only thing I'd think seriously about is cutting up anything less than about 4 x 2" using a CS - it just wastes too much wood.

this is what im trying to gt away from having to buy extra things that arnt realy nessasarty. and avoiding extra mounting and asembaling.
Sure - I understand - I think it's an good project to work on - I'm just giving my opinion and hopefully some of it helps?

if you are going to be playing around with logs you will need a chainsaw anyway so why not use it for the milling also.
That's what I reckon too!

but i guess others just have an extra few thousand dolars lying around that they need to get out of the road[/QUOTE]
Not me ;-)

Sorry if I sounded critical Weisy, I like it when people experiment so please don't let me put you off.

Good luck - I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Cheers

[DJ’s Timber]

dose the sircular saw not have bolts sticking threw by witch it is held on the shaft.

Most swingsaws that I know of, have the bolts countersunk in to the blade, so the bottom face of the blade is completely flat which allows it to float right over the surface of the log.

[journeyman Mick]

.....................dose the sircular saw not have bolts sticking threw by witch it is held on the shaft........................

Both the Lucas and Lewis saws have blades mounted onto a hub with countersunk fasteners,meaning one side of the blade is completely flush. I'm not sure of the arrangement on other brands of saw.

Mick

[weisyboy]

ow thick are the blades to be able to have the bolts countersunk.

BobL- i am welcome people pointing out the flaws in the deighn how else am i going to improve it. im sure there are problems that i cant see tht others can.