Mik the Miller

Yeah, that's the one Thanks for the info, i'll have a go removing the oil pump as I think the tubes are still blocked.

A friend bought over an old Husqvarna 61 the other day, sad it looked. First couple of pulls were more fluttery than buttery ... She started but raced. My first Husky. Fully stripped down she was gunge'd up to the nines, full of old oil and sawdust, black and congealed. The clutch is on upside down too (see i'm a Stihl man at heart). Stripped her down and I have to say the layout is pretty easy to work on. With the pot off I could see that the piston ring was oval (accounting for the low compression) and with the clutch off I could see the worm gear had seen better days. Soaked in oil and a bit of petrol she's a lot cleaner now and the oil pump turns. New sprocket and worm gear, new piston ring, a shed full of elbow grease and she's heading in the right direction. The exhaust was a wee bit clogged with over half of the baffleplate holes clogged with sticky soot. I presume the mesh is a spark arrestor ?? Is there any mileage in opening some of the holes out ? I've span the clutch drum but can't see oil appearing on the bar plate ?? I checked that the passage down to the hollow pin and it's clear and if I squib oil into the pump and spin, by hand, it it pushes it back out - any tips gratefully received. Also does anyone know the initial setting for the LA and HA carb screws ??

picture please (I have the same - a great running 020AV with a leaky tank)

Yeah, that accounts for 58p/ltr (+ VAT) .... so why is it £5 a liter (£3.30 if you buy a shed load)... ?

Having re-read my original and seen your reply I should apologise for using the term "profiteering" I wasn't implying that the resellers/distributors are "ripping people off" but it does seem somewhat at odds that in a different country the same product (composition) sells for significantly less than here in the UK ... ref: Alkylate petrol linky 1KR = 90p

I've used Motomix and will continue to do so although I cringe at spending £100 for 20 liters. It is very similar to Aspen (equitable even ?) being an Alkylate fuel that has been mixed with a Biodegradable, fully synthetic, 2 stroke Oil which meets the NMMA TC-W3 spec. What is interesting is that you can buy this in Sweden at the pumps and it's around 10 to 15% more expensive that normal Petrol. Given that the price of petrols raw material has dropped, why hasn't Aspen/Motomix ?? Is £4 a liter sustainable ? Even buying 200 liters + the cost doesn't drop to below £3.30/ltr which is well above the current 99p/ltr (for 95RON) and 115p/ltr (for 102RON sexy Nitro + fuel from Shell). Are you not profiteering here Eddie ?? Shouldn't Aspen be around £2.50 a liter these days ? Yes it's better for the environment and the saw but you are now 500% more expensive...

If you are a VAT registered firm in the UK then as Sweden are in the EU any Swedish VAT registered company should not charge you any VAT (zero rated supply). No forms, no complications, no VAT. If you are not VAT registered in the UK then they must charge you their rate of tax (25%).

That sounds like a palava, I have a couple of additional X-braces (near the power head) which allows me to 'enter' the cut with the mill @ 45 degrees. If you don't put too much force on the handle it rides in flat as glass. The bigger the mill the more difficult it is to handle of course, havin a second person helps (safer too). I like the bracket though, ace )

What are the legal requirements ref storage ?

The main difference between the Small Log Mill (SLM) and the MkIII Mill is that the MkIII has two ends (which clamp the chainsaw bar) and a round bar between the two (for rigidity) whereas the SLM only clamps the saw at one end. The most economic way is to buy a 24" MkIII Alaskan and use it as an SLM. Later on when you get the bigger saw you can get an set of longer bars to accommodate the larger saw. Rob sells the Granberg (USA made) Alaskan bar 'rail kits' and I sell a UK engineered version with any length of rail you like. A ripping chain is a must, do not try to mill with a standard 'cross cut' chain. The teeth/cutters bind in the wood and you will create a lot of strain on the chain and saw + the finished cut will be ragged and rough. If you have a spare/old standard chain for your saw, you can have it reground (sharpened) with a 10 degree, flat, cutting face.

Done. Thanks.

Hi I'll have one of the Woodchuck Dual log movers and the free wedges if the offer is still on. How would you prefer I place the order ? Can you take a debit card payment over the phone ??

I think the point is that using a 36"/660 combo to cut 150 to 230mm (6 to 9") planks from a typical pine is overkill. If you have a smaller saw you could use a 12" to 16" bar very effectively. I have two variants the 1216 and the 1820, both relate to the typical bar sizes it will take. More than 20" and you really need the support that the nose-clamp offers on the Alaskan Mills. It would be an ideal tool if you are quartering, a lot lighter and less cumbersome than a 36" Alaskan. Smaller saw using less fuel, cheaper chains, lower costs all round ? Being smaller and better balanced you can use the ubiquitous 6x2" plank for the first cut and then Mill the log with the larger set-up ? I'm close and am aiming for the SAS.1216.SAM and the SAS.1820.SAM to be less than £50/£55 inc VAT and delivery. The others I haven't 100% finalised yet but as a rough guide if you buy a 24" Alaskan (£199 + Vat from Alaskan UK) and a set of SAS.4850.AMil rails from S+AS Limited @ £75 + Vat, the total delivered cost (for both items) will be less than £275 (+Vat and delivery) and you'll have the two tools. The part numbers = the max bar size in inches. SAS.2836.AMil £55 SAS.4850.AMil £75 SAS.60.AMil £90 SAS.72.AMil £102 SAS.XX.AMil £1.40 per inch SAS.XBar.AMil £14 It depends on numbers, order more the material costs reduces per inch, the amortised shipping cost is less per item etc etc. The above prices are consequently not 'fixed' at the moment. If you PM me i'll get back with a discounted (to Arbtalk members) price. Of course you'll need to post a review

These are good, ideal for small stuff

And of course I can do longer rails too. Longer rails with an additional cross brace and a matching round bar. I can also supply stainless bolts (US thread) and end caps on the profile so you can easily swap rails to your existing nose and thrust bar clamps. I have presumed you would use the Alaskan handle and X-brace which fit in the rails (as per the attached photo). I am also developing a helper handle (not pictured) which will fit on a X brace at the 'nose end' of the rails so someone can guide/help that end along the cut.

I bought one. A 36" Alaskan (from Rob of course) I still need a sit down when I think about the cost Interestingly the 36" bar I have only cuts 705mm (28") - i could take the teeth off the trusty Stihl for a bit more, but it doesn't seem worth it really. The rails supplied (36"/915mm long) will obviously accommodate a lager saw bar, most likely a 42" (?) I did try out a 47" Stihl D bar, but the 36" rails are definitely too short for that. The longer bar does allow the maximum cut length is 870mm (34") so a 42" is probably about right. Trying a smaller bar the Mill becomes a unwieldy, 20" is usable but lugging it about is a bit of a pain, anything less is silly as you are losing the 4" off the nose due to the clamp. A Granberg Small Log Mill is the answer but @ circa £175 delivered that's difficult to justify. The Mills are all imperial of course (being American) so it's taken me a while to find an answer. The profile they use and the bolts etc aren't available here in the UK .... Well they weren't - but now they are

Here's mine ... Welsh slate hearth Brick slips on fireproof plasterboard Elm surround (stuck on with No-Nails) Eco Fan Humidor Temp gauge Sloe Gin and Woofy

Alycidon is not wrong in his post, you need to get the installation signed off and then it's important to keep the flue clean. Burning creosote soaked wood and burning wet wood, especially sap filled soft woods (firs etc) coats the inner-sides of the flue with a flammable tar like substance. To much wet wood creates smoke/carbon particles (soot) which can also block the flue and catch fire with expensive and potentially disastrous results. If the glass in your stove keeps getting coated and you can't see through it - the wood isn't dry enough. I'm not a big fan of these designer stoves to be honest, a cast iron or welded steel (if you must) box with a small door, ash can, baffle and rear exhaust is all you need. I really don't understand why people spend thousands of pounds on a stove when there are manufacturers like Martin Champion and Country Kiln who can provide one for just a few hundred

hahaha - you could always mix in a bit of Castrol-R and pretend your Wayne Gardner ?

This is the exhaust outlet of my 880. Will fitting a second outlet (thereby doubling the area) provide any advantage ? Drill some holes in the inner tubing ??

Both are scary ... Here are some more pics of the old and new oil drive spur sprocket (from an MS880)

I am not able to comment on GreenMech in relation to EasternEuropean or USAMech but I do believe that we are not competitive. Why i'm not sure, I think there is an element of "profiteering" certainly for the smaller buyer. As an example I needed some handwheel/knobs recently. I tried to make some frames using M8 bolts and need a knob - in the UK said knob was £7 yet in the US, a similar unit is $4, even adding vat and shipping etc etc it still works out cheaper to buy them in the US. Why ? In Germany alluminium extrusion is around €5/M, here it's £7.95 + a £1.5 cutting fee + a £10 packing fee and minimum £22.50 UK shipping charge. In the USA it's even less than Europe. The U$D is around 1.67:£1 at the moment so everything from the states is 12% cheaper than it was a few months ago. I feel a rant coming on ...

What is the ideal compression for a Stihl chainsaw, can I presume that they are different (ie an 066 will be higher than an 024 for example) ? Is there a 'look-up' table somewhere ? When this is low is this due to ring wear or barrel wear ? Will changing the rings bring it back up or do you need a new topend ?

Here you go .... stihl-spare-parts-lists/

The spring is driven by the clutch drum. The spring drives a spur gear (which sits below the clutch) and this drives the planet gear (that's the big gear you mentioned earlier). The oil pump site below this gear and is driven by it. The clutch is screwed onto the end of the crankshaft (left hand thread) so spins at the same speed as the engine. The clutch opens out (gets bigger) when it spins and so grips the clutch drum, which turns the spring, the spur and the planet gear and so pumps oil. Or in the case of this saw, doesn't. Of course this also drives the chain around and the two are linked really, if the chain is moving you need oil ... The saw (as supplied) is quite dangerous, in my opinion, although the seller doesn't agree I'm not sure how this was damaged, at a guess I would say that the saw was used extensively with a smaller bar (it was sold with a clean 47" Duro) and to stop the chain spinning on tickover the brake was applied. Often. This caused the clutch to get hot, so hot that it turned blue and melted the spur gear.... Mechanical sympathy is difficult to teach some folk