Rob D

Ditto the above. All about chain sharpness is milling - if it's steady and progressive you've got it right. If you're thinking 'it's taking a looooong' time then the chain is dull. Try not to mill everything that moves to start with - be selective. Take time to sticker and neatly stack your timber to dry. Have some fun making things green with not so good pieces - good practice and sellable. Rest the saw down the log and let it idle for 2 mins after finishing a plank. Register on Chainsawbars ? bars, chains and chainsaw accessories - e-mail me at [email protected] to say you've done this and I can do the discount.

It's quite hard to keep it a natural colour without massive upkeep - none of the clear treatments seem to last that long - the ones with stains in do better....

I really can't believe some of these vids and posts that have cropped up recently - it's like we're living in the matrix

Def very original - not sure it quite works on the pillar but nice work and use of paint.

Nice fell - really liked the secure strapping

Ha ha! Thanks god he realised his mistake and took all the nasty 2 stroke out of it!

Another cracking bench. I think Trollspiel is not meaning to be offensive but maybe coming in from a different perspective.... I think this design is a good formula in terms of time to build, wood it uses and what you can sell it for. You could try variations on the legs but is this going to change the price you sell it for? Or be less work? Make it more sellable? Prob not and considering these last 2 have sold quick enough why change it.

Really - whereabouts?

I've seen at first hand the impact of straight lager on your system Mark - are you sure the above would be wise?

This will be the new norm - and twisting the knife - the new norm if we're lucky. Where is wealth being generated in this country now? Our deficit is still growing and our hold on the skills sector and being the financial capital of the world is slipping.... As said other countries, particularly China, will take over as world powers. We need to start producing things here again - Germany manages to have an incredibly strong manufacturing base without sweat shops.....

Sorry out and about a lot at the mo but I'd say for pure speed you'd be looking at playing with setups that use a large powerhead, .404 chain and then a shorter bar.... So perhaps an MS880 with 20" or 21" bar running .404.... then try varying the chains (i.e. try a granberg vs oregon vs stihl) and/or also try lowering the depth guages a fraction more (but not too much or you'll just get huge vibration and a faster dulling chain).

I know you can't get the stihl picco ripping chain here - but this is what I was trying to illustrate - your chain takes just over 1/4" (which makes sense as what I think this other guy measured around 7.2mm). But .404 chain was measured at 8.6mm... So for every cut you save 1.6mm So if on a large diameter tree you did 15 cuts = a saving of 1". I wouldn't describe this as a big saving at all.... So what I'm getting at is there is a myth that lo pro picco chain means you save a lot of kerf - this post seems to indicate that this is not true - savings are very small.

Nice - mind you I'd like to see that disc go round the track with 8 tons of timber on it. I reckon just the suggestions that have already been offered. Some way of stacking then pushing in with your forklift. Or what about the roller beds that feed the big sawmills? - can take the weight, should be able to find second hand, little friction.... they'd have to be customised though..... maybe two lengths in parallel.

They look the business - but yes £175 is a bit pricey - worth it if you know you'll get the money back on what you make. I use these timberfix type screws 100mm - the ones I've got now are a bit better as they have the cut out bit in the tip to help self tap. Timberfix® Plus Exterior Timber Screws 6.3 x 100mm Pk50 | Screwfix.com I should be selling them soon when the website gets updated with Husky.....

It often comes up in chainsaw milling - what about using a lo pro chain that takes a smaller kerf and therefore is less wasteful and faster? I was looking into getting some bars produced similar to the logosol bars that run the Stihl picco ripping chain. But then came across this thread here http://www.arboristsite.com/milling-saw-mills/137465.htm So in summary an idea of the kerfs taken by different chains: .404 takes a kerf of 8.6mm 3/8" takes a kerf of 8.3mm 3/8" lo pro takes a kerf of 7.2mm In my mind I was thinking 3/8" lo pro would take half the kerf of .404 chain when in fact it is only 20% larger.... So in a big log over 10 cuts this is saving 14mm or just over 1/2" - not exactly that much more wasteful on a log that would otherwise have been firewood anyway. .404 compared to standard 3/8 only takes .3mm more! A tiny difference. I used to run a 3/8 standard ripping chain on a cannon 36" bar with MS880 and it always felt slower than .404..... Also in terms of speed and stay sharp I've always found .404 faster and stays sharp longer. So it does imply that if you have the torque and power in a saw to run .404 chain for most scenarios this is the best option for efficiency when chainsaw milling.

Good thread and great pics in the post above - never realised you could do so much with an axe! Hopefully there will start to be a falling back to 'old ways' of doing things - and also using the massive amount of timber we have in this country for useful things.....

Good stuff - so i wasn't too far out then!

Have a look at this thread on walnut http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/alaskan-mill/39337-if-youre-trying-sell-walnut-butt.html As this applies to buying it as well.... as walnut can be worth anything from £2 per cube in the round to £50 a cube...

I'd agree with that. I do find on big saws and long bars you're replacing the rim pretty regularly at least every x2 chains. A spur sprocket does seem to last longer when milling with a large saw. But rims are cheaper, easier to change and as said very simple to swap a smaller one for a larger if you want to increase chain speed so if you have the choice I'd always go for a rim and sprocket set up. They offer more support to the chain drive links as well.

Nice a good solid way to show off 2 planks of wood

I did try to post a couple of times last night but comp crashed twice.... Best thing when selling wood is work out the cubic footage. Measure the width x thickness x length all in " .............. now divide that by 1728" (this figure should quickly be engrained into your head!) - and this gives you how many cubic foot you have. So with boards like the above 1728/12" means that to get a cubic foot needs to be 144" long or 12ft long. Green oak is around £20 a cube but I'd charge £25 a cube for 1". So every ft is £2-00. That's just an idea to keep your prices consistent of course you charge what you need to charge. It's hard to make much out of 1" with a chainsaw mill.... a lot more work and waste for less money really.

It's a good idea but will be time consuming? and also will this pull things together - would you have to clamp things solidly as the glue dries? If you've got the time it's prob the way to go.....

Welcome to the forum Someone was looking for a mill your way recently I think..... Can you give an idea of what your rates are and mileage etc...? Some pictures to show what you can cut and what someone can expect. You'll find you get a better response if you can give some ball park figures and as much info as possible including pictures on what you do. Remember many people would not have an idea of what a Peterson looks like let alone what it produces and how it works.

Looks very tidy - nice work - I wish I'd been better with my sticking when I started milling as it makes a massive difference to quality of boards.

Plugging looks a lot tidier but sometimes I just recess. I'll stick a vid up in a couple of weeks of using one - they're ruddy marvelous!