Rob D

Another pain with the Echo saws is that the mounts on the newer ones all seem to be as follows.... Small saws - Oregon A041 Mid/small saws - Oregon K041 Med/Large saws - Oregon D176 So this means only oregon bars at best - although I am planning to get some Sugi bars that are multi mount to fit these.... Then there are the drive sprockets - can't seem to find a parts list that gives all the various drive sprocket part numbers - unless any one can help with that? Have looked on the echousa website http://echoinc.arinet.com/scripts/EmpartISAPI.dll?MF on the parts look up but only gives part number for whatever is standard sprocket not other options...

I was thinking the same thing Si - I will do a time trial between: Sugihara standard 42" with Oregon 75RD ripping chain - new set up. GB 42" with Oregon 91R ripping chain - new set up. And cut consecutive planks off the same tree! Really the GB bars are just for milling....

Welcome to forum and interesting first post. There's a lot of myths and legends about using 3/8 lo pro for milling. First of all - thin kerf chains are really not that much thinner at all - they save very little wood compared to a standard 3/8 chain as demonstrated here~ http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/milling-forum/44074-some-interesting-facts-about-3-8-lo-pro-chain-milling.html But I think they do have their use in that a 3/8 lo pro chain requires less power to pull it through the wood than a standard 3/8 chain. Looking at the set up you have though - a 20" bar on a Stihl 066 - there is oddles of power there so I can't see the benefit of going down the 3/8 lo pro route for that size bar/saw combo... It's more if you were running a 36" or 42" bar on a 90cc saw I think you'd see benefits. I have just got in some GB lo pro bars - not had a chance to run them myself yet but hopefully will be able to next week. They are in the selectors for Stihl saws here Guide bars

Plenty - mills fine - it's a very light coloured stable wood - makes good indoor stuff...

Not going to get into the what's faster debate - but I have the 15" Sugihara bars in all guises in 15" found here (so as not to upset the guide bar selector!). Products for the category: Special Offers I think the reason when these type of threads throw up a lot of answers is because there is no right answer! Soooooo many variables - what wood your cutting/what chain you use/how you sharpen/is saw modded/is saw running correctly etc etc. You change just one of the above and it could be a different set up that is quicker. I would set yourself up with different drive rims and see what works for you. Also the chain type and how it is sharpened - experiment with both Stihl and oregon chisel and micro chisel (x4 diferent chains) to see what works best...

Ok no worrys

Ha ha! And yes the winch is loverly isn't it - well done for getting round to fitting it Tony (vid here if anyone needs ) I have a theory that if there is a load of home grown rustic made furniture out there then it will stimulate demand so that customers will then be asking for it 'ie we've seen a bench like so and so - can you make one'

I reckon these may have the K095 mount or similar in which case they won't work - but if the slot for the bars is 9mm then possibly but I think they may be too small for the large mounts on these bars even with spacers.

You have it there Alec - I was thinking thick enough steel so could be counter sunk in order that you would not have an issue with the screw heads.

Thanks for the link CJ - it seems to be really hard to get info on some Husky parts. That's handy to know will feedback to customer and see if it works.

If that fits both the 135 and 140 then it makes sense - thanks - where did you get the info from for that?

Yep - few nice slabs to come out of that!

Has anyone found an oregon sprocket that fits their Husky 135?

Def an idea - although I was thinking to avoid if possible needing to use the router... I know this would be neater to use one. But that sort of idea though - angle would be great but may look a bit messy if the thickness of the the uprights were thick than the width of the angle iron - unless maybe get some wider angle iron.... that with holes in would work pretty well and would give good strength. Also all the fixings would be hidden under the table.

I'll be doing something with these bars - once order is in place I expect there will be a pre order offer! It will be well advertised on here.

I know - but at x30 to x40 bars per mount, type and length it does take time to grow the range... it's not that they don't make bars for all mounts it's just that I can't afford to get them all in in one hit but the range is growing rapidly. But worry not - the 16" small Husky mount light type in 3/8" are on the next order. Unfortunately the replaceable noses are different sizes on the x2 types of these bars ie. the .325 nose is a smaller size than the 3/8" nose so you can't just change the noses over. So the bars like this are VH2 mount while the 'normal' .325 nosed bars are BC3 mount.... I'm still coming to terms with the Sugi part numbers... I'm doing another thread today on the different part numbers etc that go with all the bars which you may find interesting to look through... in fact I'll see if I can do it now!

Most of the time these days I tend to always look to quarter a log then re saw on a bandsaw. Still looking to develop a method that is all chainsaw based - but instead of producing massive wide boards I've found it much better to have half sized boards that are much easier to stack, move around, plane and sell. You don't get nearly so much degrade on planks that are half the log size (even if not true quarter sawn). Here's a few vids of doing this recently and how the mini mill is such a useful tool - especially for only doing the odd cut here and there. Also just experimenting with new ways of doing things! ie. winch attached to tree to pull it over (those cheap winches that work well on the Alaskan are not even close to being up to the job!). Walnut (courtesy of Davis treecare - treefrog on arbtalk). Walnut (courtesy of Paul Goulden Hardwoods) Oak done for Nick Speakman in return for his carving skills! Awkward walnut - again with Paul Goulden Hardwoods

Ah yes - I made a vid of that - the whole process so have not made anything but it has been milled: Not a great vid but gives the idea!

Good solid looking bench - this design works very well as is simple yet effective - I have an idea to make the fixing of something like this easier using sheet metal with holes in it.... Hard to explain in words but a strip of metal with x3 rows of holes Make the legs - screw strip on top of each leg through middle holes Then fix main slab seat to legs by screwing through outer holes This would be very strong, very fast and very easy... Would be great to by strips like this in longer lengths and you could then just cut the lengths down.

Yep will be getting 40 of each size 12",14",16" - no need to pay up front..

I don't think I'll get involved with the Harvester bars side of things as don't really know much about them and don't feel I can give the same advice and backup...

Nice work Agrimog and kinder I did start to do courses - but then found that was not insured and also really it needs to be done properly ie. an NPTC course written.... Not got the time at the mo to go through all that but maybe one day!

The idea is to do it just with chainsaw mills as you may not have electricity/big circular saw - the furniture will be pretty rough anyway ie. non planed, also the table top was 3.5" thick so you'd need a pretty heavy duty circular saw...

Yep - that should be a fast set up indeedy!

Hi Martin - it will be an ongoing one this for a month or so I think - it's a new idea that takes a bit of digesting so don't expect too many people to jump on it...