Ms460

[Tim Stobart Tree Surgery]

Hi guys, I'm thinking about picking up an Alaskan Mill, more as a toy than anything else. I have images of big slabs as picnic tables.

 

The cost of a mill seems reasonable, and I've got a couple of big beech stems coming down in the foreseeable future, but, at the moment the largest saw that I own is a Stihl MS460, with a 25" bar. I know that would give me about 20" cutting, although I see husky put a 30" bar on a similarly powered saw.

 

What are your thoughts on this saw as a milling saw, what size bar/mill would you run on it? Am I going to get frustrated by it and go out shopping for a bigger saw? To be honest, It's a great saw and I cannae see me ever needing a bigger saw for the tree work, so i would struggle to justify it!

 

Many Thanks Tim.

[mendiplogs]

Hi guys, I'm thinking about picking up an Alaskan Mill, more as a toy than anything else. I have images of big slabs as picnic tables.

 

The cost of a mill seems reasonable, and I've got a couple of big beech stems coming down in the foreseeable future, but, at the moment the largest saw that I own is a Stihl MS460, with a 25" bar. I know that would give me about 20" cutting, although I see husky put a 30" bar on a similarly powered saw.

 

What are your thoughts on this saw as a milling saw, what size bar/mill would you run on it? Am I going to get frustrated by it and go out shopping for a bigger saw? To be honest, It's a great saw and I cannae see me ever needing a bigger saw for the tree work, so i would struggle to justify it!

 

Many Thanks Tim.

HI TIM BIG JOHN ROB D BOB SLADE and others will tell you better then i can but a 460 is a small saw for milling large butts thanks jon

[agg221]

Hi Tim,

 

A 461 will cope with milling on an occasional basis for your own enjoyment. It will be fine with the 25" bar and if you take the dogs off you will get just over 20". It would still work if you put a 30" bar on and get a 24" cut, although it will be very slow and steady.

 

An alternative would be to go for a small log mill and go in from each side which gives a 40" capacity. The loss in accuracy wouldn't matter for picnic table slabs.

 

For wide cuts on a saw this size I would go for Granberg chain as it takes less power, and you would need to keep the teeth absolutely spot on sharp and even so I would go for the precision grinder.

 

I wouldn't use beech outside though as it rots too fast.

 

Alec

[Bob Slade]

Hi Tim,

 

A 461 will cope with milling on an occasional basis for your own enjoyment. It will be fine with the 25" bar and if you take the dogs off you will get just over 20". It would still work if you put a 30" bar on and get a 24" cut, although it will be very slow and steady.

 

An alternative would be to go for a small log mill and go in from each side which gives a 40" capacity. The loss in accuracy wouldn't matter for picnic table slabs.

 

For wide cuts on a saw this size I would go for Granberg chain as it takes less power, and you would need to keep the teeth absolutely spot on sharp and even so I would go for the precision grinder.

 

I wouldn't use beech outside though as it rots too fast.

 

Alec

 

Hi Tim, as Alec says it would work but take it slowly. You could get a 24" mill and leave the end riser off, this would give you a bit more stability and if at a later date you do get a bigger saw and bar you would only have to buy the rails and not a complete mill.

[Logit]

Hi Tim, I have done a bit of milling with an 046 with a 30 inch bar. The saw has been upgraded with a high flow rate oil pump which helps to improve the lubrication of the longer bar. It did the job, but it was slow. It is ok for occasional use and if you are not in a hurry, but if you were going to do much milling of bigger stems, then I would say use a more powerful saw. The sharpening has to be absolutely spot on and I use a bench grinder which I also use for setting the raker depths. For cross cutting, I usually have the rakers lower than standard, especially on the short bars/softer wood since the 046 can cope with that. I tried the same with a milling chain, big mistake, it just dug in too much so be careful with the raker depth. I used Oregon ripping chain. I guess using some kind of skip ripping chain would reduce the load on the saw.

I would also let the saw cool down a bit after each cut since there must be quite some heat build up. I also switched to using HP Super 2 stroke oil (the green stuff) since this is supposed to give higher protection than the standard red Stihl 2 stroke oil. I used Shell Vpower petrol, maybe this petrol is just marketing hype but it only costs a bit more. I will probably have a go with Aspen one day.. Note that with the high flow rate oil pump upgrade and the pump set at max, it is possible for the oil to run out before the petrol runs out, so I refilled both before the petrol ran out.

[Rob D]

I've been giving a lot of through to this sort of situation recently.

 

 

I think there is a way forward and it sort of resurrects the 3/8 lo pro chain angle.

 

 

Before this was often looked at as a way of saving kerf and more efficient milling but it has been shown that kerf saving is minimal even from .404 to 3/8 lp chain.

 

 

But using a 3/8 lp chain does sap less power from the saw and it also seems to clear chip better than .325 chain. This is not an issue on a short bar but over length bars on smaller saws using 3/8 lp could be the way forward.

 

 

It would help keep chain speed up and would reduce the strain on the saw.

 

 

Logosol have used these for years and so it seems that certainly the Stihl 3/8 lp chain 63PMX can cope with the power (really 3/8 lp is designed for saws with less than 40-50cc).

 

Oregon now offer their 3/8 lp chain - and it looks really good with a short top plate, so ok the chain will not take so many sharpens but lots of space for chip clearance and smaller cutters give less weight and resistance.

 

I only have it on the custom chain finder at the mo here Custom chain loops

 

 

But no one makes these - you can get long bars with an .050 guage but no large 3/8 lp nose sprockets to go on the end of them.

 

Also there is the drive sprockets and rims - quite hard to find but am searching!

 

 

I'm speaking to Tom Beerens (One of the founders of GB bars who used to make the logosol 3/8 lp bars) into making some more of these style bars for just this scenario ie. you have a saw that is not quite large enough for the wood you want to mill, but you really don't want to buy another saw for £800-£1,000.

 

 

Lengths of bar would be 20", 28", 36" and 42".

 

 

How far off are these? I may be getting a few to trial in around 2 to 3 months (hopefully x3 of each for Stihl and Husky mount or possible a multi mount with spacers for Husky).

 

Cost? Not cheap but not expensive I would estimate:

 

 

• 20" bar would be £50-00+vat
  
• 28" bar would be £70-00+vat
  
• 36" bar would be £95-00+vat
  
• 42" bar would be £120-00+vat
  

 

 

 

 

 

[morten]

Hi guys, I'm thinking about picking up an Alaskan Mill, more as a toy than anything else. I have images of big slabs as picnic tables.

 

The cost of a mill seems reasonable, and I've got a couple of big beech stems coming down in the foreseeable future, but, at the moment the largest saw that I own is a Stihl MS460, with a 25" bar. I know that would give me about 20" cutting, although I see husky put a 30" bar on a similarly powered saw.

 

What are your thoughts on this saw as a milling saw, what size bar/mill would you run on it? Am I going to get frustrated by it and go out shopping for a bigger saw? To be honest, It's a great saw and I cannae see me ever needing a bigger saw for the tree work, so i would struggle to justify it!

 

Many Thanks Tim.

 

I wouldn't use beech for outdoor furniture. It will discolour within months and start to rot within a year.

 

Use Oak, Cedar, Larch or Douglas Fir, or even Spruce/Fir/Pine which will all last considerably longer.

[Logit]

I've been giving a lot of through to this sort of situation recently.

 

 

I think there is a way forward and it sort of resurrects the 3/8 lo pro chain angle.

 

 

Before this was often looked at as a way of saving kerf and more efficient milling but it has been shown that kerf saving is minimal even from .404 to 3/8 lp chain.

 

 

But using a 3/8 lp chain does sap less power from the saw and it also seems to clear chip better than .325 chain. This is not an issue on a short bar but over length bars on smaller saws using 3/8 lp could be the way forward.

 

 

It would help keep chain speed up and would reduce the strain on the saw.

 

 

Logosol have used these for years and so it seems that certainly the Stihl 3/8 lp chain 63PMX can cope with the power (really 3/8 lp is designed for saws with less than 40-50cc).

 

Oregon now offer their 3/8 lp chain - and it looks really good with a short top plate, so ok the chain will not take so many sharpens but lots of space for chip clearance and smaller cutters give less weight and resistance.

 

I only have it on the custom chain finder at the mo here Custom chain loops

 

 

But no one makes these - you can get long bars with an .050 guage but no large 3/8 lp nose sprockets to go on the end of them.

 

Also there is the drive sprockets and rims - quite hard to find but am searching!

 

 

I'm speaking to Tom Beerens (One of the founders of GB bars who used to make the logosol 3/8 lp bars) into making some more of these style bars for just this scenario ie. you have a saw that is not quite large enough for the wood you want to mill, but you really don't want to buy another saw for £800-£1,000.

 

 

Lengths of bar would be 20", 28", 36" and 42".

 

 

How far off are these? I may be getting a few to trial in around 2 to 3 months (hopefully x3 of each for Stihl and Husky mount or possible a multi mount with spacers for Husky).

 

Cost? Not cheap but not expensive I would estimate:

 

 

• 20" bar would be £50-00+vat
  
• 28" bar would be £70-00+vat
  
• 36" bar would be £95-00+vat
  
• 42" bar would be £120-00+vat
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Rob that sounds like a good idea. I have a Logosol bar + chain, 20 inch I think and for sure that type of chain saps less power. I would imagine there are a few people out there who would like a shot at milling and like me wanted to use an existing medium sized saw. I ended up using a Stihl 30 inch bar which I already had and the Oregon chains from you. The long 3/8. lo pro bar + chain sounds a better match for an 046 size of powerhead especially if someone didn't already have a long bar. A key thing will be to ensure that the bars are really rigid to ensure a straight cut especially at the longer lengths.

[bobh]

I've been giving a lot of through to this sort of situation recently.

 

 

I think there is a way forward and it sort of resurrects the 3/8 lo pro chain angle.

 

 

Before this was often looked at as a way of saving kerf and more efficient milling but it has been shown that kerf saving is minimal even from .404 to 3/8 lp chain.

 

 

But using a 3/8 lp chain does sap less power from the saw and it also seems to clear chip better than .325 chain. This is not an issue on a short bar but over length bars on smaller saws using 3/8 lp could be the way forward.

 

 

It would help keep chain speed up and would reduce the strain on the saw.

 

 

Logosol have used these for years and so it seems that certainly the Stihl 3/8 lp chain 63PMX can cope with the power (really 3/8 lp is designed for saws with less than 40-50cc).

 

Oregon now offer their 3/8 lp chain - and it looks really good with a short top plate, so ok the chain will not take so many sharpens but lots of space for chip clearance and smaller cutters give less weight and resistance.

 

I only have it on the custom chain finder at the mo here Custom chain loops

 

 

But no one makes these - you can get long bars with an .050 guage but no large 3/8 lp nose sprockets to go on the end of them.

 

Also there is the drive sprockets and rims - quite hard to find but am searching!

 

 

I'm speaking to Tom Beerens (One of the founders of GB bars who used to make the logosol 3/8 lp bars) into making some more of these style bars for just this scenario ie. you have a saw that is not quite large enough for the wood you want to mill, but you really don't want to buy another saw for £800-£1,000.

 

 

Lengths of bar would be 20", 28", 36" and 42".

 

 

How far off are these? I may be getting a few to trial in around 2 to 3 months (hopefully x3 of each for Stihl and Husky mount or possible a multi mount with spacers for Husky).

 

Cost? Not cheap but not expensive I would estimate:

 

 

• 20" bar would be £50-00+vat
  
• 28" bar would be £70-00+vat
  
• 36" bar would be £95-00+vat
  
• 42" bar would be £120-00+vat
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very interesting, a 42" LP on my 660 could be of interest to me

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Arbtalk mobile app

[Rob D]

Very interesting, a 42" LP on my 660 could be of interest to me

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Arbtalk mobile app

 

 

Yes that's exactly what that would be for MS660, 066, Husky 390 and 395.

 

 

I have got some Sugihara 42" bars coming for the MS660 in this next order but they will be standard 42" bars running 3/8 lp.

 

 

Everyone always needs a few more inches - on their mill and so at the moment most will use a 36" bar on an MS660. This is by far the most common set up as the MS660 and other 90cc saws are more useable as a cross cut saw and a mill.

 

 

So a 42" bar on an MS660 will then give you the full 36" of cut (ok just under this).

 

 

So the plan will be to have LP milling bars to keep chain speed up and reduce strain on the powerhead.

 

 

Trouble is like everything there will be less margin for errors ie. poor chain sharpening,poor bar maintenance etc will see more chances of chains snapping. But from all accounts it never seemed to be an issue with the logosol set ups.