Chilling ( Chinese Milling )

[SteveA]

I cut the boards to the thickness required, usually about 3" for turning blanks then cut into rounds on the band saw, seal with wax and leave to cook........ I cannot see why a similar approach would not work for flooring blocks.

 

S.

 

Sorry, what i meant was do you use the Chinese mill for cutting the 3' blanks?....

 

Basicly, I'm trying to find the best way of getting each face cut square to each other using my chainsaw. Then I can mark them and split using a froe.

 

cheers, steve

[Pete W]

Sorry, what i meant was do you use the Chinese mill for cutting the 3' blanks?....

 

Basicly, I'm trying to find the best way of getting each face cut square to each other using my chainsaw. Then I can mark them and split using a froe.

 

cheers, steve

Hi Steve, I assume you want to cut rings of equal thickness. I've done this by using a decent piece of plywood attached to the face and using the Alaskan with normal chain. Hope this makes sense

[SteveA]

Hi Steve, I assume you want to cut rings of equal thickness. I've done this by using a decent piece of plywood attached to the face and using the Alaskan with normal chain. Hope this makes sense

 

yep, thats right.

Thinking about it I could attach a bit of ply to the base of the alaskan mill so that would give me a flat face to work from.

I'll be cutting the rings in the woods so it needs to be easily portable.

cheers, steve

[Pete W]

Either way will probably work, just make sure the ply extends a good distance front and rear, to give you a good lead in and out. Oh and don't forget to wedge the cut. I usually use 3, one at the back and 2 at the sides just before I'm going to break through.

Hth Pete

[SteveA]

Either way will probably work, just make sure the ply extends a good distance front and rear, to give you a good lead in and out. Oh and don't forget to wedge the cut. I usually use 3, one at the back and 2 at the sides just before I'm going to break through.

Hth Pete

 

Cool thanks.

I'll be cutting them from trees on the ground so shouldn't need wedges.

cheers, steve

[Lazurus]

'Another positive for the sub £70 24" mill. Chilling may just catch on....... No more mill snobbery........

[Mike Dempsey]

I bought my original Alaskan mill in 2001 and have milled up a couple of hundred trees with it and I am still using it today. If the chinese version lasts nearly as long I will be impressed but I doubt it will. Mine has paid for itself quite a few times over and for the saws and kiln and quite a bit else in the workshop. The bonus is I am still pretty fit for a 52 year old and can chop firewood all day long with my fiskars x27.

[Pete W]

'Another positive for the sub £70 24" mill. Chilling may just catch on....... No more mill snobbery........

I have had failures using the original Alaskan mill, but that is milling big timber and using a winch, which does put much more strain on the components. I bought one of the Chinese copies to see what the quality was like. They are good value for money, but the build quality and materials are inferior to the original. I go along with RobD's comments (OK I know he's biased), these mills are useful but I would not like to use the bigger mills without a lot of extra bracing. I would guess that up to 24" will be OK but anything bigger I would be putting in some extra braces which then adds extra cost to the mill.

My general philosophy is for one off jobs buy cheap and wreck it, or for ongoing work buy the best and look after it.

Obviously these are just my opinions/observations, others may disagree.

Pete

[Rob D]

I reckon this Chinese mill is a good way to start. My first one has started to rust a little on the joins. But overall it is not bad - very good for the money. But it's easy to copy the long term hardwork and investment of someone else... time Granberg improved the orginal me thinks Long term and for big saws not so sure. I have one set up on a 660 at the moment.

 

 

What do you reckon the mount is on the Timberking? The Chinese saw? I milled with a 36" lo pro set up yesterday and with the Stihl PMX chain could not believe the speed on (to be fair only 16") oak. Felt almost bandsaw like!

 

 

Very little pressure needed to send through the wood....

[Lazurus]

I reckon this Chinese mill is a good way to start. My first one has started to rust a little on the joins. But overall it is not bad - very good for the money. But it's easy to copy the long term hardwork and investment of someone else... time Granberg improved the orginal me thinks Long term and for big saws not so sure. I have one set up on a 660 at the moment.

 

 

What do you reckon the mount is on the Timberking? The Chinese saw? I milled with a 36" lo pro set up yesterday and with the Stihl PMX chain could not believe the speed on (to be fair only 16") oak. Felt almost bandsaw like!

 

 

Very little pressure needed to send through the wood....

 

Rob, do you mean the bar mount? It must be an industry standard as I have the Oregon bar as shown on one of the first pics in this thread.

As I am only running a 20" bar I don't think the stress on the mill is too much, but on a bigger saw / bar I think the frame would be well tested. I have just switched to a Granberg ripping chain and the finish is not as good as I was hoping, perhaps its technique but I was getting a very smooth board with the Original Oregon cross cut chain.