Alaskan Mill Upgrades

[Yellowbeard]

Well, I had some problems with stripping a while back so I decided I should try and fix that. First, I cut off my nuts, as you can see.





Then I decided that maybe I should switch to all internal screwing, as pictured here:




Lastly, I thought it prudent to use double penetration with much larger shafts:





I am really hoping this stops the stripping problems and keeps everything from getting loose and sloppy so much which has been leading to me having to pull out way before I felt like I was finished.

Wish me luck.

 

[BobL]

While you were at it, why not remove the bottom skid and drill the bar?

 

[Yellowbeard]

I was actually seriously considering drilling the bar. Why remove the bottom skid? Less friction?

 

[BobL]

I was actually seriously considering drilling the bar. Why remove the bottom skid? Less friction?

Can swap chains out without removing saw from mill.

 

[IyaMan]

"Stripping", "internal screwing", "double penetration with much larger shafts", "getting loose and sloppy", "having to pull out way before I felt like I was finished".... "cutting off my nuts"...!!!!

Holy cow, this is the best post I ever read!! If there weren't photos of an Alaskan mill proving verbal authenticity, then this should be blocked as obscene!

 

[Yellowbeard]

Can swap chains out without removing saw from mill.

Oh, right. Should have been obvious. Sorry. I have considered drilling and doing just that. I have also been thinking about basically building my own mill using several of your designs. However, one thing I want to copy is your nose tensioner but I have a sprocket-nosed bar (at least, my longest bar is sprocket-nosed. I have a hard tipped 3 footer). I want to have the maximum length available for use on that bar so I was thinking: What if I were to replace the sprocket tip with a hard tip, then drill the hard tip (similarly to how you drilled yours)? Do you think that could work?

Frankly, I want to redesign from the ground up and now have a bunch of tools at my disposal that would make that a lot easier. This was just a temporary fix to allow me to mill this weekend. The weather is finally nice.

Oh! Last question: in order to get the maximum length out of my sprocket tip, I sometimes clamp to the center of the nose where the rivets hold the roller nose on (so I am putting the force of the clamp through the rivets). What are your thoughts on this? Do you think I could be causing a problem? The sprocket still seems to turn just fine.

 

[grizz55chev]

"Stripping", "internal screwing", "double penetration with much larger shafts", "getting loose and sloppy", "having to pull out way before I felt like I was finished".... "cutting off my nuts"...!!!!

Holy cow, this is the best post I ever read!! If there weren't photos of an Alaskan mill proving verbal authenticity, then this should be blocked as obscene!

Lolololol! Saw smut!

 

[kimosawboy]

You might consider just removing the whole bottom ''foot'' , drilling the bar, then use a piece of 7/16"threaded rod thru the whole thing//top to bottom.
Crappy pic but you get the idea
G Vavra

 

[Yellowbeard]

You might consider just removing the whole bottom ''foot'' , drilling the bar, then use a piece of 7/16"threaded rod thru the whole thing//top to bottom.
Crappy pic but you get the idea
G Vavra View attachment 528828

Yeah. Think this is basically BobL's suggestion. Thinking about it but will lose about 3-4" of bar length that way and not sure I can afford it on current log.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Yeah. Think this is basically BobL's suggestion. Thinking about it but will lose about 3-4" of bar length that way and not sure I can afford it on current log.

What do I need to drill the bar if I decide to do this?

 

[BobL]

Do you think I could be causing a problem? The sprocket still seems to turn just fine.

This should not be a problem - I have also done that on one of my mills.

What do I need to drill the bar if I decide to do this?

The inboard end of the bar can be drilled with a new cobalt bit.
Slow speed - high pressure, lube, i.e. use a drill press.

The outboard or nose end requires a hole through the middle of the nose, The middle of the sprocket is usually a very hard steel disc. Sometimes a cobalt bit can do this but on Stihl I found a carbide bit was required. A new or touched up masonry bit will do it. once again high pressure low speed and lube are a good start. I recommend drilling until the hole just breaks through and then restart from the other side. This reduces the possibility of breaking the bit and leaves any burr in the middle of the hole rather than on the edge for it to bind. Be prepared to break a bit or two.

 

[Yellowbeard]

This should not be a problem - I have also done that on one of my mills.


The inboard end of the bar can be drilled with a new cobalt bit.
Slow speed - high pressure, lube, i.e. use a drill press.

The outboard or nose end requires a hole through the middle of the nose, The middle of the sprocket is usually a very hard steel disc. Sometimes a cobalt bit can do this but on Stihl I found a carbide bit was required. A new or touched up masonry bit will do it. once again high pressure low speed and lube are a good start. I recommend drilling until the hole just breaks through and then restart from the other side. This reduces the possibility of breaking the bit and leaves any burr in the middle of the hole rather than on the edge for it to bind. Be prepared to break a bit or two.

Oh. Well that answers another question for me. I had wondered if I could just drill through the middle of the sprocket but wasn't sure. Does it have a bearing race on the outside or what? I guess if I screw it up I can just buy a new tip. It's a GB bar I would be drilling in this case (which I may have already indicated). Were I to do this, then I suppose that would leave open the possibility of setting up your outboard tensioner.

Great. I'm sure this info is somewhere in another thread and I should have looked harder so thanks for answering it anyway.

 

[kimosawboy]

What is the reasoning behind the outboard tensioner?????

 

[BobL]

What is the reasoning behind the outboard tensioner?????

Being able to re-tension the chain in the middle of the cut.