Old Millers for the new

[bareroots]

I made my first effort at milling yesterday.

 

Loved it but found it fairly hard work.

 

Any advice from you that are tried and trested would care to give would be well recieved.

[Cracker]

I made my first effort at milling yesterday.

 

Loved it but found it fairly hard work.

 

Any advice from you that are tried and trested would care to give would be well recieved.

 

Very sharp ripping chain. It should almost self feed. And try and mill down hill, jack up one end a bit higher.

 

Just my tuppence.

[Rob D]

Well done on having a crack!

 

I would look at the chain as 95% of the time slow milling is due to this. All the cutters need to be the same length and shape, the depth guages ramped and correct height.

 

Guide Bar & Saw Chain Menu is a good site.

 

A sharp chain is critical when milling and you know when you have it right when you're thinking 'this is easy peasy!'

[bareroots]

the chain was out the box. so should of been good. i like the down hill tip. Do you position yourself above the bar and push or pull down onto the wood?

 

I was putting in spacers every metre.

 

any anti vibe gloves you'd recommend?

 

it was a douglas fir. the butts a bit wider then my mill and saw. what's the best way to deal with that? cut it in two or saw off the sides? I'll try and take some pics.

[agg221]

A few ideas:

 

It takes a bit of time to get used to the 'wobble' of the powerhead/bar relative to the guide rail. If you lift or drop the powerhead, you get a bit of extra friction which makes the surface rough and also slows it down. If you start to go a bit off line (too high or low) the quickest way out of this situation is to advance the powerhead rather than the bar nose, round the log to the greatest angle you can go to, then bring the bar nose round to catch up.

 

Milling with the bar at a bit of an angle to the log is often a bit easier. If you do it with the bar nose slightly advanced, you direct the exhaust a bit further away from your face.

 

If you run on Aspen it really does help, with your head stuck so close to the exhaust.

 

Remember to fill up before every long cut - it's really annoying backing the saw right out if it floods on its side and refuses to start again! Touch up the chain with every tank if you can.

 

If you can arrange the log to run the powerhead side against a smooth face it helps, either by trimming down the side and rolling it, or even just hacking any lumps and bumps off (I tend to carry a hatchet for this as it's often quicker than switching the saw around if you're set up for milling and only have one powerhead with you).

 

Enjoy it!

 

Alec

[agg221]

Do you position yourself above the bar and push or pull down onto the wood?

 

I was putting in spacers every metre.

 

any anti vibe gloves you'd recommend?

 

it was a douglas fir. the butts a bit wider then my mill and saw. what's the best way to deal with that? cut it in two or saw off the sides? I'll try and take some pics.

 

I kneel behind the saw and push forward.

 

I use standard Stihl chainsaw gloves, which seem OK.

 

Is the butt wider than the mill for much of its length, and by how much? If it's much wider, I split it. If a little wider, I roll it up to skim off the face I want to run the powerhead down, then roll back for milling, if it's only flared at one end I tend to just line it up and freehand it off with the chainsaw before switching to the mill, or chop it off with the hatchet - only takes a few mins if it's bark and a bit of sapwood both sides.

 

Alec