milling long bits of timber

[Liam88]

How would one mill an 18ft length beam with an alaskan? Thats a pretty big ladder!!

[wisewood]

Could you set up two ladders butting up to each other. Adjust with wedges and check with a level when fixing down?

 

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[Daniël Bos]

Overlap two ladders slightly, g-clamp them together and set up a string to ensure flatness.

[ucoulddoit]

You can use a single ladder. Place the ladder onto the first length to be cut and use wedges to raise it parallel to the centreline using a string line tied to vertical bits of wood nailed into each end of the butt to set the height at each end of the ladder. Keep a note of the height from the pith to the string line. The wedges at the end of the ladder/end of first cut are screwed to the butt so the when the ladder is moved along, it can be supported at exactly the same height at this point. The string line is used again to set the ladder height at the end of the butt.

 

I used this method to cut three 17 foot beams with a 12 foot ladder and it worked fine.

 

Andrew

[Peat]

The way that Will Malloff does it in his book is similar to Andrew's method. !st bit is the same, then he screws in "lag bolts" which i'm guessing are coach screws, in 2 paralell rows along the top of the log so that all their tops are level with the string line. He then uses a 12x2" reinforced with angle iron along the edges instead of a ladder, which he then slides along the top of the coach screws when he needs to.

[agg221]

I have done it Will Malloff's way - bit of a baptism of fire my on my first ever milling, making 20' oak planks from trees which had been felled down the bank into a derelict canal. It worked OK but the set-up time was extremely long and trying to get the strings tensioned in the right place was very, very tedious.

 

I now have a 20' bolt-together rail, which makes life enormously easier.

 

Alec

[Liam88]

That similar to the ezy rail system?

[stihllearning]

you could go on ebay and buy a large double extension, ladder I got one for £7.00 , don't think they can be used anymore so people are trying to get rid

[Big Beech]

you could go on ebay and buy a large double extension, ladder I got one for £7.00 , don't think they can be used anymore so people are trying to get rid

 

Since when can you not use an extension ladder:confused1:

I've got the longest triple extension ladder you can get and its great for small oak reductions

[TGB]

I was wondering that too. But at £7 for a ladder, (read rails) it's a bargain. Just had a look around and I'm thinking that may be a misprint, as £70+ seems to be the norm.