My new Panther Mill

[Lough Gur Slabber]

Hello from Ireland!

I have ordered the following mill to pair up with my Stihl MS880;

PM-48-GB48 Panther Horizon Chainsaw Mill 48" with GB 48" Lo Pro Milling Bar 3/8 Lo Pro .050 153 drive links

Delivery has been delayed until September 5th due to not being in stock but Panther Mills have offered to include some extra accessories, good folks that they are.

Not as much milling is happening on our side as there is in the UK, so I am looking forward to benefitting from your wisdom and guidance.

I will be uploading unboxing, assembly, first cuts and further milling videos to my YouTube channel and have some oak, ash, linden, cypress and beech lined up and waiting. 

Little kid on Christmas morning!

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

Welcome! Look forward to the videos 

[Rob D]

On 16/08/2019 at 10:21, Lough Gur Slabber said:

Hello from Ireland!

I have ordered the following mill to pair up with my Stihl MS880;

PM-48-GB48 Panther Horizon Chainsaw Mill 48" with GB 48" Lo Pro Milling Bar 3/8 Lo Pro .050 153 drive links

Delivery has been delayed until September 5th due to not being in stock but Panther Mills have offered to include some extra accessories, good folks that they are.

Not as much milling is happening on our side as there is in the UK, so I am looking forward to benefitting from your wisdom and guidance.

I will be uploading unboxing, assembly, first cuts and further milling videos to my YouTube channel and have some oak, ash, linden, cypress and beech lined up and waiting. 

Little kid on Christmas morning!

 

 

Yep the longer lo pro bars should be in around the 8th September - has been a long wait on this order. Apologies to those waiting.

 

Main tip is chain sharpening. It's the biggest issue we have. For some reason it seems that everyone wants to complicate why their mill is not cutting straight. It's the rails/it's the mill/it's the bar... Each time to date when we get the stuff back - it's the chain is dull - every single time [no doubt I'll eat these words!].

 

A very slight undulation in your first cut rails, a perception that the bar has a slight bend... all will not stop that bar and chain from cutting. The only thing that will stop that mill from cutting is the chain.

 

We have a case right now were a customer is so sure that the bar is too thick for the chain and that's why it is not cutting. I'm not saying it's impossible - but it is highly unlikely.

 

If the bar does not wish to enter the wood - the chain is dull. If it's a new chain then somewhere along the line it has gotten dulled! If the bar is very well used that can cause issues - but 99 out of 100 [or even 999 out of 1000] it is always the chain.

 

The very hardest part is when a customer tells us they just sharpened the chain and that they have used a saw for 20 years - is there a way to tell someone gently that they have not been sharpening correctly all this time? If there is I'd love to hear it! i tend to go down the line of 'it's hard to get the ripping chain spot on'.

 

Sharpening a saw to cross cut and get it to move through the wood is easy - you can get it 30% right and with enough force and persistence [and burning bar oil and blued rails] and you can get it to cut wood - with milling the margin is much much higher ie. it needs to be at least 70% right.

 

 

So to mill right your chain needs to be right - I can do a hand or free hand sharpen - but only badly. Every 3 or 4 sharpens I have to use a guide to get all the angles and teeth spot on. It's nothing to be ashamed about but seems people are.

 

Anyways hope that helps

 

 

 

 

[agrimog]

100% with rob on that one......Ive been cutting for 40 years now, and crosscut chains, a few wipes with a file and there fine, but milling chains, if there not spot on......welcome to a world of grief, I dont care how good you are you'll never match the acuracy of the machine, and when your doing a lot of milling, it can actually work out quicker

 

[Rough Hewn]

As Rob D and Agrimog have said.

It's all about the sharpening.

And don't think a £30 Chinese plastic one will do either.

A decent chain grinder should have NO PLAY AT ALL!!!

As I'm someone who's made nearly every mistake with chainsaw milling.

 

[emoji106]

[Big J]

I don't think it's necessarily just sharpening. It's just the inherent weakness of the system once you get onto longer bars. 

 

If you pop a 60 inch plus bar into a chainsaw mill, it will be easy to flex the bar 10mm up and down in the middle with your hand. Given that the forward momentum of the mill means an inevitable fractional forward tilt, the bar will be driven on a slightly downward trajectory. The longer the bar, the greater the flex.

 

The only way I can see around this is a super rid mill frame with a bar tensioning system. An untensioned chainsaw bar of that length is a bit like running a bandsawmill with the tension at half. It'll run flat for a while, unless it hits something challenging and the deflect. 

 

 

[trigger_andy]

Ive been using the Granberg precision 12v Gringer with the Diamond Grinders from Rob D and I have no issues at all. Its great for the field when you hit metal and need to sharpen all the teeth on a 48" Chain 1+mm or something. Takes the rakers down to a uniform height as well with a quick readjustment. 

[KristofferNJ]

On 17/08/2019 at 14:06, Rob D said:

 

So to mill right your chain needs to be right - I can do a hand or free hand sharpen - but only badly. Every 3 or 4 sharpens I have to use a guide to get all the angles and teeth spot on. It's nothing to be ashamed about but seems people are.

 

Anyways hope that helps

 

Hey Rob!
Whats your take on 0 /5 /10 dregrees? My Stihl and Oregon ripping chains are 10 degrees from factory, and i have just been sharpening them like that. Are there any benefits from lower angles?

 

[Rough Hewn]

 
Hey Rob!
Whats your take on 0 /5 /10 dregrees? My Stihl and Oregon ripping chains are 10 degrees from factory, and i have just been sharpening them like that. Are there any benefits from lower angles?
 

I use 0 degrees to give the cleanest cut.
It is a fraction slower than 5/10/15.
[emoji106]

[KristofferNJ]

4 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

I use 0 degrees to give the cleanest cut.
It is a fraction slower than 5/10/15.

Oh no, i think its painfully slow already