Rob D

Hi John - I have the 16" pro solid at the moment - but not the light type. At the end of this month I will have the 15" and 18" light type - but not the 16" bars in the light type..

Another cool vid - precision cutting as usual sir!

Ditto again! Big rings are awkward to cut and manage on the flat - handling a big saw and bar on a bank where the rings are big enough to be injury causing would need some thought. You could quarter the log with Alaskan/mini mill combo - then re saw - but a lot of work just for firewood.

Wood does not really dry well in the round as a rule of thumb. The short answer - I would fell in Nov and plank it immediately - less water in the main stem, cooler less chance of drying defects. It's tricky with questions like the OP - really you need to get online and do a lot of research - as a lot of answers only open up more questions! Wood is a complex thing and takes ruddy ages to start understanding it! For example in finding out how much wood may move or split depends on: The species of wood? How large is the tree? Whether it is first length or branch wood? When it was felled? Presence of knots or shake? How it was sawn? Method of drying? Each one of the above is almost a book unto itself!

Still not got any longer lengths of mini mill rails I'm afraid... Also not had a chance to do any mods of any sort recently - too busy! But it's still in mind.

I think it's a great system Morten - may have a go at making one of these...

Cutting a hedge yesterday with mixed fuel I really noticed the fumes. I changed to Aspen 6 years ago for everything and never once have thought to go back to mixing fuel. OK people will keep talking about the price and that's where these threads always go... make the change and I'd be exceedingly surprised if you changed back. Get a pallet load in is the most economical way of doing it.

Yes that's exactly what that would be for MS660, 066, Husky 390 and 395. I have got some Sugihara 42" bars coming for the MS660 in this next order but they will be standard 42" bars running 3/8 lp. Everyone always needs a few more inches - on their mill and so at the moment most will use a 36" bar on an MS660. This is by far the most common set up as the MS660 and other 90cc saws are more useable as a cross cut saw and a mill. So a 42" bar on an MS660 will then give you the full 36" of cut (ok just under this). So the plan will be to have LP milling bars to keep chain speed up and reduce strain on the powerhead. Trouble is like everything there will be less margin for errors ie. poor chain sharpening,poor bar maintenance etc will see more chances of chains snapping. But from all accounts it never seemed to be an issue with the logosol set ups.

Yep no worrys Jon - although am away at the mo - it may have to wait until 1st week of June! as think it's locked in my truck at the moment.

Def worth a try! If you can post up how this works out.

Yes - I will be doing an early offer - just going over exactly what this will be. It's harder this time as this time I already have in stock quite a few bars - so do these come into the offer or not? Have to be careful as complicated offers cause chaos! And as in a certain skidderoon offer can also be costly

There won't be 16" light type .325 .063 but I will get these on next order after (which is currently being put together). There will be 15" and 18" light type .325 .063 And there will be 18" 3/8 .063 (and 20",25",30",36") Bars should be here end of June/first week July.

Yes they do but they are magic and invisible and very expensive - apparently I got x10 on the last pallet but I'm still looking for them!

Yes that seems about right price wise. I'm not sure if anyone has started running the 1/4" p chain on larger powered saws - Stihl chain does seem to be strong so should be fine. But with these smaller tip bars they are delicate things - you can't really bore cut, twist, lever or anything other then very gentle and fine finishing and for getting into small cracks and crevices. Use one like a normal carving bar it will last up to an hour perhaps not even that. The Stihl one has a larger tip than the Samurai one - but still has very thin walls - it will not be strong - none of these small tip bars running 1/4" p will be - as the chain only clears a small kerf so the bars have to be quite thin. Add to that the extra power of a 201 or similar I think that combined with small tip and it just won't last - but this is 'guessing' rather than hard fact

I've been giving a lot of through to this sort of situation recently. I think there is a way forward and it sort of resurrects the 3/8 lo pro chain angle. Before this was often looked at as a way of saving kerf and more efficient milling but it has been shown that kerf saving is minimal even from .404 to 3/8 lp chain. But using a 3/8 lp chain does sap less power from the saw and it also seems to clear chip better than .325 chain. This is not an issue on a short bar but over length bars on smaller saws using 3/8 lp could be the way forward. It would help keep chain speed up and would reduce the strain on the saw. Logosol have used these for years and so it seems that certainly the Stihl 3/8 lp chain 63PMX can cope with the power (really 3/8 lp is designed for saws with less than 40-50cc). Oregon now offer their 3/8 lp chain - and it looks really good with a short top plate, so ok the chain will not take so many sharpens but lots of space for chip clearance and smaller cutters give less weight and resistance. I only have it on the custom chain finder at the mo here Custom chain loops But no one makes these - you can get long bars with an .050 guage but no large 3/8 lp nose sprockets to go on the end of them. Also there is the drive sprockets and rims - quite hard to find but am searching! I'm speaking to Tom Beerens (One of the founders of GB bars who used to make the logosol 3/8 lp bars) into making some more of these style bars for just this scenario ie. you have a saw that is not quite large enough for the wood you want to mill, but you really don't want to buy another saw for £800-£1,000. Lengths of bar would be 20", 28", 36" and 42". How far off are these? I may be getting a few to trial in around 2 to 3 months (hopefully x3 of each for Stihl and Husky mount or possible a multi mount with spacers for Husky). Cost? Not cheap but not expensive I would estimate: 20" bar would be £50-00+vat 28" bar would be £70-00+vat 36" bar would be £95-00+vat 42" bar would be £120-00+vat

You'll soon be chopping down those old veterans for the colours and swirls contained therein!.. ... joking of course Tony! Happy milling!

Yes it should indeed! Corrected thanks. Luckily the chain selector was reading correctly!

Thanks Dave - those 18" toonie bars are starting to become popular if only for saving having to mess around changing sprockets. More coming in next order then will have some different sizes in the order after that...

Sorry Tom only just seen this and then referred to from another thread. I have got a couple of these - just not got round to listing them - mainly because I was wondering if they would be able to go on other saws other than the MS150... But they seem fine - not as small as tip as the Samurai bars and yes they are laminated as in normal sandwich construction then the tip looks to be separate yet then joined on! Not sure why they would make them laminated - so hard with someone like Stihl ie. are they making the bars themselves or outsourcing? Perhaps they are unable to make them solid... I'm away at the mo - I had taken a load of pics and then promptly lost them! Ref price - I think they will be more expensive than the other Stihl carving bars... where did you see them cheaper? I'm not a direct Stihl dealer so my Stihl prices tend to be higher than others - I try and make up for this my stocking everything and having more choice... Finally - in the next Sugihara bars order expected 1st July there are some R7 light type carving bars - x20 10" and x20 12" which I expect I'll do some sort of pre order offer on...

Good stuff!

Sorry Dave only just seen this post - but yes I have got hold of a couple of the new Stihl carving bars for the MS150 and they look pretty good - they have gone for a laminated bar as well... The new Sugihara ones are solid. The Stihl bar is not as small tipped I'd say R8 (8mm diameter) although that's a guess as have not got round to measuring it. The Sugihara will be R7. The Samurai is R6. Incidentally both the carvers I sponsor Nick Speakman and Tommy Craggs (treecarver) both split the nose on their samurai bars - got replacements and these have been fine. With the samurai bars they are delicate and you cannot use them as you would a normal carving bar ie. no boring, no large cuts, they are purely and only able to be used for fine end detailing. I'll try and find that other thread you were talking about...

Nice colour, not much sapwood - doesn't look like any serious shake - a nice butt!

Next lot of bars will be here sometime in the last week of June. I am not sure about bars for the T540XP yet - there will be no dedicated ones in this order but I think it may be possible to retro fit one of the stihl small light types - but I need to look into this first.

That's got to be a plan! Chainsaw milling and sharp chain - that's the real key - it's actually quite a straight forward process... but the winch kit is a life saver after you've cut your teeth on a few logs.

I'd like to be able to get these chains but very hard in this country - logosol have the monopoly at the mo. But will be looking into getting some longer 3/8" lo pro bars made in the future for milling.