I am new to Chainsaw milling [faqs reworked]

[Rob D]

Have re worked this page - included more links and info [where the links now work!]. Not so much for those who have found their rhythm chainsaw milling and it's not to say there is a right way or a wrong way but hopefully if you are new to milling or want to learn more this page may help.

 

Chainsaw milling is a whole new discipline [like chainsaw carving] and it is months of work and study to start getting your eye in [years even].. it's hard to answer questions such as 'I want to cut myself a few boards where do I start?' Well the answer is start here and work your way through this - it's all relevant and unfortunately if you don't know basics such as what size chain you are using or what size files go with that chain it will take some time. There are no short cuts and believe me I spend most of my life learning this the hard way.

 

Anyways main reason for this thread is - what am I missing in this page? What questions do you have about milling that are not answered and need answering?

 

FAQS - Chainsawbars

WWW.CHAINSAWBARS.CO.UK

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  Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or require further information on any our products. Videos of all...

 

[Gareth Woolley]

Hi . Newbie-ish to milling myself.

You know when yer Mrs suggests she wants a new, bigger dining table and you have the carpentry skills to make it but are short on the wood for the project but convince her “with a few new tools” her dream can comes true…… that’s how I started!

My family owns a bit o woodland up on a Welsh hillside with mainly youngish trees within and older trees on the periphery as it was pasture and grazing land.

Just down hill from our land a new to the area couple bought a country home with a couple of acres of land with mostly ash trees on it. One of them was blown over and it was huge. I was offered all the wood if I could clear it……

(strange how 2 totally unrelated things occur about the same time) 

I had a Mitox cs 64 saw which was woefully inadequate for the main stem and the larger lower boughs so I convinced the Mrs I needed a bigger saw and a “few odds n ends”…..

i bought a Holzfforma 070 clone saw, 7’6” bar, milling chains, 43” bar and 100’ roll of 404 chain. 
I figured I was going to need something to move the limbs once cut since the new neighbours didn’t want their garden mucked about by dragging. I looked up lots of you tubes on logging trailers and quite liked the Woodland Mills “multi lander” trailer, had a heart attack at the price so I made my own version. It has an expandable main beam which allows me to move 5 m lengths of most things. I made a set of removable logging arms, interchangeable loading ramps, central side winch , interchangeable flat bars for carrying 8’x 4’ boards and an interchangeable tipping box for chucking brash into. 
I saw a you tube from a chap down Surrey way (I think) milling logs in his wood yard using industrial pallet racking for guide rails and thought it a grand idea, so I made a milling frame  using 2 different types of racking welded together on the corner posts. The longest support runners I could find were 3.7m long so the longest piece I could mill is about 3.2m long. The width support beams give me a cut width of 6’6” and I needed every inch of that to mill my first log. And I milled it on a bank on their land. I have some pictures of that op somewhere if any one is interested…..

I must say I burned the Chinese clutch out on my 070 but that was my mistake…. In my learning curve, I forgot about inserting wedges for too long in 1 cut and totally buggered it. Stihl clutch fitted and now not so dim, it mills excellent boards! And as inexperienced as I may be, I RATE the Holzfforma chain highly… I cut most fo the way through 1bar clamp bolt that had come loose on the mill attachment and it still cut well for the rest of the afternoon without needing a sharpen!

Im not into cutting trees down so much but if they’re on the floor I’m all over them like a bad suit.

The frame knocks apart readily and is assembled in minutes, levelling is by means of different thickness plates under the corner post feet and held in place by serious tent pegs inserted through holes in the corner post feet. All corner posts have slots every 50mm for the racking bars vertically and I use 2 rails on each side so 1 can be moved without the whole set up flopping about as I make my way through the log. 

Im learning all the time and hope this helps someone 

[skc101fc]

Well done, nothing better than harvesting practical ideas from YouTube and other sources, then making up something simmilar,  or sometimes even better to get the job done. Good satisfaction from using what's available and creating something to do the job

[skc101fc]

Nice idea using racking beams. They're tough as hell, though heavy.  Beware they can and do bend (we occasionally get this in our distillery warehouse when we overload the centre portion). Not a worry if you're using new ones, but very possible ifusing second hand. 

[AHPP]

50 minutes ago, skc101fc said:

Nice idea using racking beams. They're tough as hell, though heavy.  Beware they can and do bend (we occasionally get this in our distillery warehouse when we overload the centre portion). Not a worry if you're using new ones, but very possible ifusing second hand. 

You have a distillery!?

[Gareth Woolley]

I ve only got the weight of the saw, bar and milling frame resting on the long side rails…. I should imagine they’d cope pretty well 

[skc101fc]

7 hours ago, AHPP said:

You have a distillery!?

 

[skc101fc]

No thank God,  - what a bureaucratic minefield!, plus employing youngsters whose only ambition in life is to collect as many badges and titles of ill health as humanly possible,  to exclude themselves from actually doing any job whatsoever. No I'm perfectly happy just being employed as the cooper. My wife is op's director for the whole place though and now frequently wishes she wasn't.

[AHPP]

Interesting. Arbtalk remains a broad church.

[skc101fc]

12 hours ago, Gareth Woolley said:

I ve only got the weight of the saw, bar and milling frame resting on the long side rails…. I should imagine they’d cope pretty well 

Not so much a case of the weight you're putting on them as,  if they're bent when you bought them, even slightly, then so will every piece of wood you mill on them. Put them together top face to top face, if there's a gap at all between them you'll know you're not going cut to the absolute best possible.