Mobile Electric Mill

[mooneyj]

Hello,

 

I'm building a mobile electric alaskan mill using an Oregon CS1500, a milling bar based on this instructable with power being provided by my own custom 4kWH LiPo battery pack and 3kW inverter. Given the chainsaw is 2.4kW i should be able to mill for just over an hour. I realise people talk of 70cc (4kW) as being a minimum requirement for milling, but i think this is just to get enough torque, and electric motors have no problem with torque; their max torque is near zero rpm.

 

I have the power supply, chainsaw and the materials to make the CS mill. However the bar on the CS1500 is only 18" long. This is useful for some of the projects i have in mind, but i'd really like to fit a longer bar so I can head into the woods and plank up a bunch of big windfallen beeches.

 

I contacted Oregon for advice but they correctly pointed out that they have no bigger bars that will fit and weren't interested in helping me hack a bigger one on there. The standard 18" bar (180SDEA041) has an 8.2mm wide slot. I can't find any bigger guide bars with 8.2mm slots. However it seems 8mm is a standard size. Do you think I could file out 0.1mm from each side of the slot to fit the cs1500? My plan is to get this 36" Sugihara. However the pitch of the nose sprocket is .404 not 3/8 like the original, so i'd need to change the CS sprocket?

 

Alternatively could i fit a 10mm slotted bar? This would avoid having to change sprocket since there are many 10mm bars with 3/8" sprockets on the nose. I could turn a washer with 8.2mm inner dia, 10mm outer, but i'm not sure this is the best way.

 

Any recommendations?

[Rob D]

Sounds a great project! Please keep posting as you go including some pics please.

 

 

We have a good variety of bars - best though if you are going long is to go lo pro. The bars we have are 12mm slot but we have bar adapters here - ok you may have to adapt an adapter!

 

 

Or as you said make your own custom one.

 

 

The issue you may find is running the oil up into the bar groove... the larger bars tend to have the oiler sited higher - but there are usually ways and means around channeling the oil so that this still works.

[morten]

. Given the chainsaw is 2.4kW i should be able to mill for just over an hour. I realise people talk of 70cc (4kW) as being a minimum requirement for milling, but i think this is just to get enough torque, and electric motors have no problem with torque; their max torque is near zero rpm.

 

I don't mean to discourage you, but...

 

As far as I can tell, the saw is only 1,800W (120V, 15A), which is not a lot for milling. It is NOT just a matter of torque, but how much power you can deliver to the chain. In any case, it will be VERY slow going. You should also stay with 3/8" Low Profile chain to reduce the kerf width and minimise power requirements.

 

Another issue: The built-in self sharpening PowerSharp system would probably sharpen the chain with a top plate angle of 30°, but for milling, you really need 0°-10° top plate angle.

 

Also, I am fairly certain that the CS1500 is not built for continuous operation (hight duty cycle) that milling requires, and you may end up with plastic parts melting on the saw, or worse.

 

You should look into these issues, to avoid ending up with an expensive, but useless mill.

[mooneyj]

Thanks for your replies.

An adapted adapter seems like it would work. My plan is to stick with the little 18" bar for now, but make the mill long enough that I can upgrade if it doesn't melt!

 

It's 2.4kw, which is still going to be slow. You're probably right that it isn't designed for continuous operation, though it does have a powerful cooling fan. I'll keep an eye on it's temperature, possibly remove or drill holes in parts of the casing.

Thanks for the info about top plate angle, I had no idea about this, I'll purchase a ripping chain and avoid using the built in sharpener on it.

 

I've already purchased most things, so it's too late to stop now.

[mooneyj]

Here are some pics of the power supply.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskJx6KPk

24v 160Ah (4kwh) of Lithium polymer batteries in a high impact plastic case, with an internal 300A circuit breaker. Hooked up to a 3kw continuous inverter.

[roys]

Interesting project.

You certainaly would not want to be taking that suitcase to an airport, try explaining that one:)