stihl 051 as small alaskan

[muttley9050]

Bought the mill on ebay with spare 051 powerhead

 

Because its a big mill i thought about setting the spare powerhead up as a smaller alaskan forthe smaller jobs. maybe with an 18" cut, any bigger and id get the big one out. is this a sensible idea? what bar and chain would i need, whats the most suitable mill.

Thanks alot

James

[doobin]

There was a thread recently with someone running a third saw on a mini mill to reprocess cut blocks more quickly. Seemed like a good system.

[agg221]

There was a thread recently with someone running a third saw on a mini mill to reprocess cut blocks more quickly. Seemed like a good system.

 

I'd agree with that - the 051/mini-mill combination would allow you to edge things, get cants down to a width you can fit through the Stihl mill without rolling etc. It should also cut narrower boards well enough.

 

Alec

[muttley9050]

Thanks for the replies, been watching video and bar is always orientated vertical, can you use this mill in a horizontal position,or is it always vertical. What size bar would you recommend i used.

Thx again

James

[agg221]

Hypothetically you could use it sideways, but it wouldn't be advisable. It's much easier to set up a guide rail on top of a log than on the side (gravity). If you do manage it, it's hard to keep the saw truly horizontal, whereas from the top you can see what you're doing more easily.

 

The outer end of the bar is unsupported, so more likely to wander the longer it gets. I would have thought 24" would be a sensible upper limit.

 

Alec

[muttley9050]

Thanks alec, theoretical question here.

would it be safe to use the minimill in such a way that the bar was totally buried inthe wood. Eg. massive log, big alskan to flatten top, set up minimill cut top into 4" widths, backto big alaskan, cut off 2" planks for dimensional 4x2 straight off log,

Thanks

James

[agg221]

I can't see any immediate problems with what you're proposing, so long as you don't 'rock' the saw in the cut, which would result in bringing the kickback zone into play as the only cutting part of the bar, with consequent risk. Clearing sawdust is more tricky - it can't drop out of the cut and gets dragged round the nose, but it's been OK on the few occasions I've done anything like this. I made an angle piece once, out of an 8" square oak beam, by cutting out a 6"x6" block, leaving an L piece 8"x2" on each side. All went fine. I did mine with an ordinary Alaskan, just took the endpost off and re-set the bar depth. It was a bit oversize though, using a 3' bar to do the above!

 

Alec

[muttley9050]

thanks alec, will look into the mini mill further.

[Bearded Munch]

Those saws bring back memories we were using them over thirty years ago.