A mill set up for beginners - suggestions pls.

[Rob D]

We are in a similar situation.

 

We don’t have a big enough saw to run a big mill.

 

Our saw is a Makita 6401 so 64cc.

 

We went for the 'small log mill' and 'mini mill'. As the small log mill only clamps on one side you get more cut so with a 20" bar you get an 18" cut.

 

alaskan mill I home of the portable chainsaw mill

 

By the time you have taken the sides off with your mini mill you will be just right for planking with the small log mill.

 

 

As Ty has said - if you are def going to stick with that saw - a small log mill and mini mill combo will give you the most use out of it....

 

 

Sharp chain is the key to milling!

 

 

[campanula]

The milling is for our own use - we don't have to make money from it so are keen to build treehouses and climbing stuff for granddaughter, make a nicer composting toilet, build a decent logstore - you know, that sort of stuff. We earn a crust doing gardening and cannot really forsee us making much money with a 5acre poplar plantation (although I have ramped up the plant propagation considerably now that I have space).

I am aware we are very new to this and really appreciate the help and advice to be git from this forum.

[se7enthdevil]

poplar would not be my choice for a tree house as it will rot too quickly and your granddaughter will come plummeting to the earth.

 

larch would be good for a tree house.

[delabodge]

ditto steves coments!

[agg221]

At 70cc I might be inclined to stick a 25" bar on it. I would still go for the 24" Alaskan rather than the small log mill as you want to make planks and the outer nose support helps with this.

 

I would also be happy to use poplar for the purposes you describe, but only if you are prepared to treat it. Poplar is surprisingly strong, very durable if kept dry (there in an early cruck frame in poplar which has been re-erected at Avoncroft) and makes very good cladding if you detail it correctly and are prepared to treat it regularly. It responds very well to being treated as it is naturally much more absorbent in cell structure. It is not the low-maintenance option that larch would be, but is fine if you are prepared to work within its characteristics.

 

Alec

[campanula]

Thank you, Alec. We know there are constraints to using poplar but had decided to either clad it or use it just for internal construction. It is what it is and we have 300 of them! We are not attempting to make wide planks either - we rarely work with anything wider than 200mm, glueing, dowelling and clamping if we need extra width.

So I am thinking we can stretch to the 24inch Alaskan and mini-mill, granberg chain, precision grinder and 24inch bar.

As for extra rails, we can get the youngest to weld something useful for us, when we fully understand the processes involved.

Again, many thanks for your thoughtful and encouraging response.

 

Sigh....larch would be wonderful....but so would an endless source of thuja pliata, english oak (although we do have some of that), hornbeam and alder......and in 20-30 years we (or most likely, our children) will have....and there are always timber merchants. Although, having seen the falling standards of building timber over the last three decades, we are fairly confident that we can do as well, given patience, good racking and drying, shedloads of preservatives and barrels of tung oil.