Milling some elm

[ashman]

Right guys, this is my first attempt at this ever, so please be gentle lol.

 

I have aquired an elm trunk, not huge, but about 24" across, i guess its about12 foot long, and very straight.

 

Now... i want to have a go at planking it tomorrow, but...this is the bit you will laugh at.....i dont have a mill, in fact i am wanting to do it with a standard setup saw ms880 and 36"bar, with a standard ripping chain.

 

Is it viable ?

 

In an ideal world i would buy a mill, bar and chain, but it aint an ideal world and i cant afford the expense right now, not for one piece of timber, maybe in the future i will look at buying a setup.

 

I was going to make a rail from a ladder, and some inch tube i have.

 

What do you reckon, am i mad ?

 

Rob.

[agg221]

Saw, bar and chain will be fine. Ladder will work fine as a rail to run down (if there are no protruding rivets etc) but what will you do to hold the bar parallel to the rail?

 

How thick do you need the planks/slabs? If rough cut, rustic is your thing, it might work. If you want decent planks, you really need some sort of mill.

 

What do you want to make with it?

 

Alec

[ashman]

Saw, bar and chain will be fine. Ladder will work fine as a rail to run down (if there are no protruding rivets etc) but what will you do to hold the bar parallel to the rail?

 

How thick do you need the planks/slabs? If rough cut, rustic is your thing, it might work. If you want decent planks, you really need some sort of mill.

 

What do you want to make with it?

 

Alec

 

I was going to make a home made mill out of some inch box section i have, but was wondering if it was worth it with standard bar and chain.

 

I might make a quick home made job, and if it works then maybe a better one for the next job.

 

Not sure what i am going to make from it, i would like a dinning table, but at the moment...who knows.

 

i was thinking of milling them all at 2", or just slightly over so when planed and sanded i am left with just under 2" boards.

 

I like chunky rustic furniture, so a few bends and scars wont upset me !!

[agg221]

If you're not in a desperate hurry you're welcome to borrow my Alaskan (work near Duxford).

 

Alec

[ashman]

If you're not in a desperate hurry you're welcome to borrow my Alaskan (work near Duxford).

 

Alec

 

 

 

Thanks, thats a mighty fine offer, but i am supposed to be out of there tomorrow, only had this landed on me at 8pm tonight !!

No vehicle acess doesnt help, i have to carry the planks (or logs) out, or i would have taken it away whole then sorted something out.

 

Just seems a shame to log such a good trunk up, hence trying to come up with a plan.

 

Rob

[agg221]

What's the ground like and how far do you need to move it? If you possibly can, I'd suggest snapping a chalkline down it, freehand quarter, drag out the quarters and mill them properly later. You can just about get a piece this size moved with a couple of wheels on an axle, four bits moved like this is OK in the course of an afternoon and it will give you a much better yield if you can.

 

Alec

[ashman]

What's the ground like and how far do you need to move it? If you possibly can, I'd suggest snapping a chalkline down it, freehand quarter, drag out the quarters and mill them properly later. You can just about get a piece this size moved with a couple of wheels on an axle, four bits moved like this is OK in the course of an afternoon and it will give you a much better yield if you can.

 

Alec

 

 

Yeah thats a possibilty, it is on a bank, about 70mts from nearest i can get the truck, through some woods, too many trees in the way to winch it out.

 

How do you mean a much better yield from quartering it ? i was thinking it would make the planks a lot smaller and less usable.

 

The wheels on an axle dont sound a bad idea though, i have my thinking cap on now.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Yeah thats a possibilty, it is on a bank, about 70mts from nearest i can get the truck, through some woods, too many trees in the way to winch it out.

 

How do you mean a much better yield from quartering it ? i was thinking it would make the planks a lot smaller and less usable.

 

The wheels on an axle dont sound a bad idea though, i have my thinking cap on now.

 

he means quarters as in slices not quadrants, like a cake slice. so four THICK slices for later refinements:thumbup:

[ashman]

he means quarters as in slices not quadrants, like a cake slice. so four THICK slices for later refinements:thumbup:

 

DOH, trust me to miss the obvious, yeah all makes sense now.

[bella wood]

Drill 2 holes in bar near ends ,,,, drill 2 holes to match in tube ,,,, use threaded rod to connect the tube to bar with nuts either side of bar and use nuts either side of tube to keep to required cutting depth ,,,