Better method of chainsaw milling

[Rob D]

When you first start using a chainsaw mill you tend to just through saw ie. take the top of the log off asnd then just straight plank it - it's easy and you produce lovely wide planks... trouble is they are a pain to move about, they cup or split and you end up having to saw them down the middle to plane them....

 

 

Quarter sawing is a much better way of sawing your timber but a pain to do - but here is a way of getting better quality boards out of a large log. Also it saves having to buy a larger mill/chainsaw if you come across an oversize log.

 

 

Take the top of the log off in the normal way.

 

Put a cut down through the middle (I used the mini mill here). Of course you have to be careful to secure the log using rachet straps etc so that when you complete the cut the log does not fall apart uncontrollably.

 

 

Roll the log so that it is up on the flat surface - tricky but possible using winch etc... now you can mill this using the Alaskan. Advantages are:

 

 

• you run up a smooth flat surface so no need to guide the mill around lumps and bumps
  
• boards are smaller and easier to carry
  
• you mill quicker as instead of say 36" width you are milling 18"
  
• the middle boards will be true quarter sawn
  
• most importantly you will have a better quality board which will stay straighter and be more valuable.
  

 

 

I'll update this thread as I continue to mill this log.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[carpenter1]

more pics?

once it was all milled

[easy-lift guy]

Thanks for sharing Rob, You are a True credit to this industry and all around good Man.

easy-lift guy

[Rob D]

This is as far as I have got with the log - will update in the future...

 

 

Very kind of you Ted

[Big J]

I can attest to this method producing far better quality boards. I do exactly as Rob does and halve large logs with the chainsaw mill. I then stand then up on the band mill and cut the boards off in exactly the same way. End result is much flatter boards without heart shake to worry about. Probably 80% of my stock is produced this way.

 

Good post Rob!

 

Jonathan

[Rob D]

Cheers - idea is to take 14" off the top then mill as the blue lines show.

 

 

[Big J]

Oh, I don't do that! Looks like hard work!

 

In my opinion the set up is ideal, but you would be simplest to slap a rail on the top and mill the log as you usually would. You will always have a flat edge to run on (which really does speed up the cut) and it gives you a variety of cuts. Not everyone wants quartersawn (less figure in most woods) and once the heart is removed, provided there is a bit of weight on the stack, you will get very little movement in the crown cut boards.

 

The key is good stickering and huge, heavy stacks piled on top of each other. I think it would be difficult for most of us to have a stack that was too heavy.

 

Jonathan

[Rob D]

Sorry - should have said - take that 14" section off and then re saw on the bandsaw in the direction of the blue lines...

 

 

People seem to want quarter sawn off me more than anything else at the mo and it looks really good on chopping boards.

 

 

[Big J]

Makes sense.

 

I do like quarter sawn, but there is plenty of demand here for crown cut boards, especially when pippy. I like to have a variety of stock.

[carpenter1]

how much do you charge?

by the hour?