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Have you thought about adding a vertical mini-mill to your tool kit? I've been slabbing about 1/3 of the way down lately, then using the vertical mill to split the remaining 2/3 in half. Gives you two chunks with 90° sides to q-saw from. Of course I take those and load those onto the bandmill...

Pick up a small manual mill and cut beams and timbers. Don't try to compete in the dimension lumber game. If you slab heavy and box heart ties and beam, you will have lot's of offcuts for selling as firewood. Combine that with the tops and non-sawlogs and you can run your firewood business...

Wow, didn't realize it's been that long! That same MS880 is still up and running now. High compression, lots of port work, and running 3/8" 0.050" chain, it chews wood pretty well. I have a Woodland bandmill now, so only use the alaskan to get logs into quarters now. Even at only 9hp, the...

Having finally converted this year from CSM to a manual bandsaw mill, I agree with what Dave said. You know how to read a log, the feel of cutting when you hit knots etc, and how to cut for grade or quartersaw. Watching out for metal no longer means just nails and stuff in the log. I killed two...

Custom size bars are not complex to make, it's making them last that is the hard part. The above post is correct about the Cannon process, lots of specialized equipment and experiance. Thats what make them the "best bar, bar none". With hardened rails, the groove can still be re-ground if...

Hi All, Haven't been on here for a while, but saw this topic and wanted to jump in. So how do you mill a log longer than your rails? Just get longer rails! http://www.arboristsite.com/attachments/milling-saw-mills/120018d1262238525-long-rails-1-jpg...

Here's how I do it, not perfect but it works pretty quick. 1st cut, take off the top slab 2nd / 3rd cut take off a couple q-sawn slabs, say 2" thick. Split and edge these with a worm-drive circular saw to save time. With a mini-mill or similar, knock off a square face on the off-cuts...

That would make sense to stay with the 10" chain angle, should limit the amount that the cutters walk to each side to make the kerf. Regarding the rakers, do you meak to set them lower for a more aggresive bite, or shallower so it just makes fine chips? And yes this is softwood, so it...

We've had lots of posts on here discussing chain grind angles for ripping, and the chainsaw section has great info on chain setup for fast crosscutting, but what about when you need a smooth crosscut finish? For example, trimming a beam to length with a mini-mill attachment. What chainsetup...

Thanks Bluerider, Don't you need at least two faces that are square to each other for reference planes when laying out the joinery? This is new to me, still trying to understand going from mill rule to square rule on the layout.

I'm not sure how it's differant than other large planers, other than being a bit heavier? For example: Timberwolf Tools of Freeport, Maine - Makita KP312 12-1/4" Power Planer What safety features could I add, or how do you see this going wrong?

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That was my first thought, and I've seens a long carriage mill that someone clamped on a planer to finish beams. Tried out the big power planer (modified table jointer) last night and it worked pretty well. Much more even of a cut at 6" wide than the small handheld power planers, but lacks...

I've seen the router sleds, and contemplated making one with an hand held power planer. The hard part is making the ends square enough for some detailed timber joinery.

Hi all, haven't been on here for a while but am getting to the stage of finishing some beams we cut two years ago. I need to smooth, square, and straighten some timbers for our frame that are around 18" x 10" x 28ft. Too big for a planer, and might be too large of a project to do by hand...

Nice choice of splitting the center with the mini-mill before slabbing. I've been finding that saves a lot of time edging boards.

I respectfully disagree. There is a big difference between the low cost laminated bars and those milled from solid steel. The steel is heat treated to a higher hardness for longer life, and the groove will not open up as much with hard use, keeping the chain aligned. As for life, you can...

Some days I wish we'd gone with an EX75 instead, ours is an EX55. You'll have a lot more reach and lifting capacity. A lot of the 75's still have blades on the front, which has been very helpful.

You asked... Just pinch the log between the blade and the bucket and you'd be suprised how much she'll lift.

Get a Stihl Elastostart handle. They have a piece of rubber attached to the cord that help keep the kick from ripping you arm off. http://www.stihlusa.com/elastostart.html