looking for a mini mill

[flatyre]

Hey folks I spent an evening making a mini mill for the 560, to be honest I don't know if I want to use it in case something wasn't properly lined up. At the minute I can't justify the price of a Granberg so close to Christmas but just wondering if anyone has an old mini mill they would sell on?

[gobbypunk]

Hi , if you have gone to the bother of making one why not give it a go if it works its all good , give it a go see what happens , good luck

[Rough Hewn]

You can buy a copy on eBay for about £60 or make your own from threaded bar and plywood for £20.

I've tried both.

Yes if it slips you start cutting steel and mess up your chain.

I recommend get a copy, then when the bug kicks in upgrade.

[flatyre]

thanks folks, I decided to give mine a trial run, but can't get it to grip the bar tight enough, the clamps are made from inch angle iron drilled and bolted at each end with a bit of 5mm flat bar in the middle to clamp the saw bar. the angle iron bends before it tightens enough. will need to replace them with something stronger. Do the factory made ones have a rubber pad or something similar on the clamps?

[54gka]

The Alaskan mill has two bolts with points on the ends to bite into the bar

[flatyre]

replaced the angle iron with heavier stuff and decided to test it with the 039, longer bar so won't foul the nose sprocket. Made the rail out of some galvanised fixing rail and the mill out of old box section, bit crude I know. Not sure what type of wood this is but heavy as hell.

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of work still needed on the mill and a lot to learn on my part, but very enjoyable, hooked:thumbup:

[flatyre]

hey folks I picked up one of those Mitox saw horses new in the box for £20, thought I might be able to use the bar clamp even if the rest of it is rubbish, problem is the clamp is no better than the one I made for the mill. Anything can be done to improve its grip on the bar?

 

https://mitox.co.uk/index.php/products/chainsaws/mitox-saw-horse-complete-with-chainsaw-holder.html

[treequip]

Ditch it and start from scratch

 

Rather than the flimsy clamp system drill the bar along its centre line and bolt the uprights through the guide bar. Stay away from the nose of the guide bar unless you have a duromatic type bar, it means an inch or two less width of cut but at the advantage of a more secure fixing.

 

You will need to weld a small plate to the end of the upright and drill and tap it. Make the plate the same width as the post so as not to reduce your maximum cut width and a shade under the width of the guide bar. Take care to get the end of the upright square to the guide bar

[Rough Hewn]

Glue fine sandpaper on both sides of the clamp.

I've done that on plywood mills.

Works ok.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[flatyre]

thanks guys, will try the sandpaper trick on the Mitox saw horse but will drill the spare bar I have and bolt it to the Alaskan.