Homemade chainsaw mill

[Ross J]

<br />This is my Stihl 066 with a 24" bar. I needed a mill to slab some native timber in the bush. I couldn't afford to purchase one over the internet as the prices in Kiwi dollars is twice the US ones. Anyway this one cost a grand total of NZ $140 thats about US $70 to $80. Thats with the ripping chain!<br />I reckon thats OK.<br />It works well, just after this photo was taken my brother took me to a log and we milled a couple of planks of it, she worked very well indeed.<br />Ross

 

[Link]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Ive seen them before. How thin of a plank can you cut with it?

 

[JB]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Nice job, Ross.

 

[Terry H]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Well done..I have a store bought one and it wouldn't do any better than that.bytheby, that looks to be a 3'bar on that Stihl..just a thought

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Its a Kiwi sawmill, nice.<br />A Friend of mine on vancouver Island made a similar<br />rig from his stihl and milled enough wood from<br />his property to build a 42 x 40 garage "shop"<br />for his retirement boat building project.

 

[Ross J]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Thanks guys, I appreciate the thoughts.<br />Link - she'll do down to 1/2" planks, I made her to work in 1/2' increments from there up.<br />If I can get some native hardwood cut in 3" planks then my workshop is set up to convert that into thin timber for furniture or boat building material. Ideally some Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), which is a very hard wood. Anyway I'll post some photos in a couple of weeks when she goes into the Motu with me.<br />Ross

 

[radar750]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Ross, I have one that looks something like that. I bought it out of what now is Northern Tool. The key to cutting nice pieces is to take your time with the first cut, make sure it is nice and level and straight and all the others will follow. I made my own rip chain. I took and old chain and ground the teeth down to I think 10degeees and ground the rakers right off. You have to have a saw chain grinder to do that. I made some nice stuff. Have fun and good luck.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Be carefull with that gizmo. They've been known to catch and fling a chainsaw in any direction it chooses. I have an ol Navy friend who lost a 3inch chunk of his arm when it broke and caught the frame in the chain.<br />They werk great otherwise, but I'm askeered of them.

 

[Link]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Ok Ross now I'm really impressed.<br />It does not look home made, nice job. Compared to the one I saw yours is heavy duty!<br /><br />The one I saw was a older version of this one.<br /><br /> http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&productId=21326

 

[12Footer]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

You made that?! Nice werk,mate!! Say, I have this transom that needs a jack plate--- JK. Nice metalwerk tho!!

 

[Ross J]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Yes I made it, and yes it's made heavey duty on purpose. I don't want anything working loose or breaking when I'm in the middle of the bush using it! Safety first always.<br />Besides the aluminium was available so I just bought what I thought would suffice. Perchance it all worked out in the end, then again it usually does.<br />Now if you want to see a flatdeck winch a car up quickly then give me a starter motor for a DC3........<br />Ross

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Ross,<br /><br />I am curious about something, how do you season the wood so that it doesn't shrink after you dimension it? Say, for instance, you wanted to cut some pine for structural wood dimensions for a building project, say 2"x6", what size would you initially cut to, and then how would you dry it prior to planning? And what about the sap??<br /><br />I have a Stihl 250 (a little baby one) and was thinking of milling some pine, but I haven't ever done it and can't these answerers on the net.

 

[Ross J]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

There is a drying time for each species of timber to be left stacked after which you sort out the best for your use and use it. Here the timing depends on conditions like humidity, temperature and wind. Generally though the weight of a specific piece will tell you, or have the local authorities use their "timber moisture anaylser" (a device that tells them how moisture is left in the wood).<br />Hard woods take longer and timber cut thicker will need more time.<br />As for thickness cut for useable timber, I'm not up on that one, sorry. In the past when we've taken timber we have cut say 12" wide by 6" deep and carted that home to dry. Then once dry we've used our gear to re-mill it down to 6"x3" or 4"x2" depending on what we need. Most of the processed timber so far has gone into either building material for farmhouses or bridgemaking. A few thousand feet were sold for battens on local fences and that financed a lot of work on my friends farm.<br />Sap will dry out, you can speed the process by letting rain settle on the timber whilst drying it. Water displaces sap at an even rate, good for firewood also) after a couple of months in the weather cover it up and it'll dry quicker. Warpage depends on how you've milled the timber, if you simply saw through it then there'll be more wastage then if you quarter saw it.<br />Ross

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Here's a stupid question...<br /><br />How do you get the first cut square with the irregularity of the bark and other deformities in the log?

 

[Ross J]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

I can't think of a better pictorial explanation than this one - http://www.toolcenter.com/sawmill/mill_at_work.html <br />It sums it all up rather well.<br />Ross

 

[Link]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

Great minds think alike gaugeguy <br /><br />I came back to ask that exact question. Its been bugging for awhile now.<br /><br />Thanks for the "link" Ross. I would have had a hard time getting a mental pic on that without the pics

 

[Ross J]

Re: Homemade chainsaw mill

<br />Dave with a Rimu log. With 20,000 + acres to pick wood from we were spoiled.<br />

<br />Me and the owner with a Totara log going through the mill.<br />She worked well with no trouble whatsoever. We cut out 18 planks from this Totara, the owner was very happy.<br />Ross