Rob D

Yep that pretty much sums it up what the cause is!

It would be great for more vids on what you make out of the planks..... and also stacking the wood and how you dry etc etc.

No prob Si - they are a fiddle to set up I'd say as well and almost if you run a double ended set up you'd want to keep the saws on the mill most of the time (apart from maintenace).

Yes get some pics up and also some more info for instance: When did you buy the bar? How long have you used it for and is it mainly milling? What chain type? What woods? And also it would be handy to see how you had it clamped to the Alaskan.

No hard feelings - and as said these are so much cheaper it is a bit of a no brainer. The cost of the original I expect does put many people off. Part of me thinks - ah well there will be more wood being milled out there and that is no bad thing... These Chinese copies do seem pretty well made. I'm hoping it will stir things up a little for the development of a newer mill that ok costs the same as the current genuine Alaskan - but that performs better enough to entice people to buy it over this cheaper version.

Haha! Made me chuckle

Cheers Blaise - I appreciate the support and who knows some good may come of this in the end.

Nice work Alec

I've had a go at sharpening square ground - and it is almost impossible free hand! Plus the files cost a small fortune compared to a round file. ATOP - are now looking at developing a chain that comes between round ground chain and square ground. You still sharpen with a different file but it is around 100% easier than conventional sqaure ground chain.

It may come to that! But I have been dealing with Granberg for 10 years and they are a great small company to work with. There is trust and loyalty on both sides. Erik Granbergs dad built and sold the very first chainsaw mill. But this mill has killed me on ebay. Fortunetly they are selling so cheaply they have no margin to market outside of ebay. It does annoy they have called it an 'Alaskan mill'. What happens when people google 'Alaskan mill' in a year when they need a spare or need advice - who will they end up calling? They could have called it another name - but I suppose far easier to leech off the back of the name of the genuine product.... I'm not that fussed they have taken the product and had a blatant copy made. But to call it the same name and continue to do so after being politely asked to not so so tells you something about the firm importing them.

I do sort of know what you mean. It's not that the 'genuine' one is worth so much more - the genuine one just costs a lot more (made in the US), to ship (by air), to distibute so retailers get a margin (this other firms sells low margin straight to customer) and to market (from me doing shows/sponsoring this site etc. etc.) The genuine one is not worth the extra cost - but it's just what it costs when you have a properly distributed product not made in China.

Unfortunetly they have not broken any patent laws as the patent for the Alaskan has expired. I did ask them to change the name of theirs - they didn't reply to that one! It still baffles me why they have sold it so cheap - even though it is made in China they are still making very little margins on it. One thing is for sure they have totally devalued the Alaskan and let's face it how many arbtalkers will buy one off me from now on! I don't blame people for buying this version - I mean look at the price! I would buy one given the same choice. But hey ho such is life

You really need the other person at the other end Si as you do need someone used to milling as well as lifting into the first part of the cut. When it works well the double ended type set up is fantastic

Many thanks all we aim to please - (I doff my cap smilee face!) Good on Steve for running the raffle each year. Must be a fair amount of work I'd imagine

In my opinion you've done the right thing. If someone called me and told me this - no matter how good my H&S it would make me want to impove things. Only comment (if I may) on the OP is I think it's a bit overly dramatic - talk of mothers with pushchairs forced to play chicken with oncoming artics.... having to explain to someone's loved ones how their nearest and dearest were killed.... We all know and can imagine worse case scenarios. This firm does not sound that bad and this is reinforced with the attitude with which the owner recieved your phone call.

The bar can run both size chains but the sprocket can't. I would give them another call to clarify this point or the new bar and chain will not last long!

We should have the 28" and 36" pro solid Sugihara bars in 10 days time - these will fit straight to the 9010 with 14mm studs

Good point by Bill - make sure they send you a new 1/4" drive sprocket as well

Can you put a rough postcode so folks have an idea if it is near them?

Have been watching this thread with interest (naturally!). What to say! Not much I can say - I have bought one, it works fine, it is not quite up the originals standard but it is good. And look at price! However they should not be calling it an 'Alaskan chainsaw mill' as it isn't - it is a copy of one. If the Alaskan mill business goes downhill may think about a change of product... maybe it's time I went into the ramps business!

Yep that small 1/4 picco chain really is a game changer - once you have cut with it - so smooth, fast and clean - I don't think you would want to use another small chain on a small saw. Only down side is the chains are awkward to sharpen (so small!) and hit something and it pretty much writes them off/or if you do sharpen them back again it is hard to get cutting well again. But either way an amazing chain from Stihl

This saw looks the business! The laminated bars that come with Echos are Tsumura bars - the pro solid longer bars on their larger saws are Sugihara bars. In 6 months there should be some pro lam Sugihara bars which will run their very own 1/4" picco chain. These seems to be some confusion on what this saw runs as a standard bar and chain set up - some have 3/8 lo pro and some 1/4" pitch? Maybe they started off with 3/8 lo pro then changed it... The 1/4" pitch bars seem to have a Tsumura carving bar on there... Sugihara options at the moment are an 8" and 10" 1/4" sprocket nose bar or you could put one of the very small nose carving bars on there with an 10" R7 nose (and these will be cheaper soon as last order we got in much larger quanties). The R7 bar will run the Stihl 1/4" picco chain but not sure how the tiny nose will hold up over time in this application. GROUP 1 Echo chainsaws | Product Categories | Sugihara Guide Bars

Great explanatory vid Blaise - those cuts are super flat - excellent attention to detail. Certainly puts me to shame! Will link to this vid if it's ok with you?

What a good find - enjoyed it

Nice work