Best chainsaw mill for quarter sawing large logs

[Tom D]

As above, I have a lumber mate already and a few nice logs, seeing the rifle stock thread and knowing a stock maker I thought I'd make some blanks. The timber ould need to be quarter sawn to get the best stability and quality. The throat on my mill is only 60cm x 150 so in order to get the most from each log I need to split it down the middle and then again. Which chainsaw mill would be best for this? if any at all...

[Gray git]

Mini mill from rob D with being vertical and running down a rail it will be the easier of the to line up central on the logs.

[Big J]

I use an Alaskan from Rob with extensions for cutting through the heart of up to 42 inch logs. That coincides with being the approximate maximum vertical capacity for the Woodmizer, so I just pop the halves on as is.

 

Alternatively, if they are nice logs, you could just sell them to me! Or, I can pop along and halve them for you with the chainsaw mill.

[Tom D]

Taking an elm down next week in barnton Jonathan. I'll ring you if its any good....

 

Maybe you could quarter some logs for me in return.... alternatively how much would you charge for your chainsaw mill for the day? or you and the mill?

[agg221]

How big is big?

 

With a 60cm depth on your throat, you should be able to halve a 4ft log, which is bigger than the 42" that BigJ can do, unless I'm missing something? If I'm not missing something, then propping the half up on edge and then running through at full depth again should give you your quarters for 'sensible' sawing.

 

In reality, you can afford to do something a bit bigger than this by going full depth, then taking a few full width boards (which will be quartered) until you get down to the halfway point on the log, or just beyond it.

 

The other problem could be getting bits that big onto the mill though. In which case, I'd use an Alaskan rather than the mini-mill, as keeping the far end of a 4ft+ bar from drifting up or down is hard enough when it's supported.

 

Alec

[Tom D]

The width of the throat is 60cm, depth 15-20cm...

 

How deep can the alaskan go?

[Big J]

The width of the throat is 60cm, depth 15-20cm...

 

How deep can the alaskan go?

 

I think mine will do 25 odd inches with the entensions. Standard is 13 inches.

[Gray git]

Never had a 4' bar in the mimi but have used a 3' no problem with no drift, because the saw and bar are vertical there is no sag in the bar and as long as your chain is cutting ok no probs or you could 1/4 saw it in stages with a shorter bar, will tryed and make sense here so bare with me...

Place the guide rail on top of the log lining it up with the pith at either end run the saw along cutting just over half way through, turn the log 90 degrees and repeat, 1st 1/4 free, turn the log again 180 degrees and remove this part the lay the log in original positions and line the guide up to finish the 1st cut

This way all the cuts pass through the pith wich I find hard to do with a normal mill ones the log is halfed, works well if you have a machine to handle the logs or on monster logs if you dont have a long enough bar to cuts normally. Hope this makes some sort of sense.

[agg221]

The width of the throat is 60cm, depth 15-20cm...

 

How deep can the alaskan go?

 

Ah, that makes more sense. Your original post said 60cm x 150, which I assumed to be cm, but if it's mm then yes, you do need something significantly bigger and Big J's Alaskan is probably ideal.

 

Alec

[Peter]

Why not just quarter it freehand with a big saw?